Divine Names: El Shaddai. Pt. 2 Almighty God who is Sovereign

Good evening, Dear Readers!

We have some iris flowers in our backyard. This year, they have the most vivid, deep purple blossoms of any year since we planted them. 

An iris has tall, majestic, bluish-green stalks topped with large blooms that have a unique, lovely shape, as you can see from a photo I took this morning.

The Iris lies dormant all winter long, even into spring. Then it begins to show some signs of life. Suddenly, it puts out buds and then the stunning flowers. 

There is no rushing the process along. We just maintain an attitude of waiting for its glorious display to appear. We accept this life cycle for the iris when we plant them, and we can worship our wonderful God for the marvelous things He has made for our enjoyment.

In some ways, the cycle of the iris teaches us about the sovereign nature of God as we will see in the narrative about Abraham's life. God knows what is best because He is all wise. He loves us and wants to give us what is best for us. He is sovereign and will do what He says He will do according to His timetable, not our schedule!

In this post, we continue to study the name El Shaddai and today we will see His sovereign control on display. 

Abraham really knew God. He left his familiar home and family behind, when he trusted and obeyed God's call to leave Ur of the Chaldees. He acted boldly by having faith, because God gave him several promises.  Abraham withstood the test of waiting for many years for their fulfillment.

There were other times when Abrams faith wavered and he sought to help or assist God in keeping His promises.  For example, he took matters into his own hands by following a cultural custom for fathering children when your wife was childless.  (Genesis 16)

Abram listened to Sarai and the plan she made for Abram to father a child with her handmaiden, Hagar. Ishmael was the offspring of their scheme but God did not accept Ishmael as the promised seed.
In response to this lapse of faith, God let Abraham know that the promise would not come through any scheming by Abram and Sarai. The promised son would be born according to the sovereign will and work of the Almighty God and he would be born by Sarai and Abram.

God Almighty sovereignly allowed 13 more years to pass until it was no longer possible, humanly speaking, for Abraham and Sarah to conceive. Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah 89. The scripture makes it very clear that Sarah could no longer conceive due to  advanced age and Abraham was “as good as dead” which is to say he could no longer father a child at his age.

Hebrews 8:11-12 Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Then in Gen 17, God confirmed the promise He previously made in Gen 12:2, 13:16, and 15:5, concerning Abraham’s seed becoming a great nation and a channel of blessing to the whole world.

It is in this particular context that God reveals Himself to Abraham as El Shaddai, mighty in sufficiency and sovereign in dispensing His bounty. He shows Abraham and Sarah that He is sovereign over all and will bring things to pass according to His good pleasure.  Is anything too hard for God Almighty? No, He is more than able to complete all His promises to us. 


God Almighty is Sovereign and we must
wait on Him to do what He said He would do. 

Psalm 25:5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Abraham and Sarah had to learn that what God promises, only God can do. They had to learn that the promise was not secured by works of the flesh. Abraham had to be taught of his own insufficiency, the futility of relying upon his own efforts and the folly of impatiently running ahead of God. He had to trust the Lord and live by faith. 

We naturally do not always trust in His promises. We often fail to fully rely on His unchanging word. Instead, we seek to do things our own way, doing things that seem right to us because we want to solve the problems of life on our own. 

We must patiently wait on El Shaddai. He is sufficient to keep His promises, He is sufficient to solve our problems the right way and He is sufficient to always do what is right.

Genesis 17:1-6 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

In this text, Almighty God gives Abraham one command, to “walk” before Him. The word “walk” refers to our behavior and the choices that we make by either obeying or disobeying God.

God Almighty is Sovereign and we must walk before Him by faith. 

Walking “before” Him means walking  in the presence of the face of God. This means that as we make choices, we must do so recognizing that our wonderful God sees and knows every choice and every decision that we make. He knows whether our choices bring honor or dishonor to His name. 

Our behavior will change in a positive manner, if we walk through this life cognizant of the fact that God sees our heart, knows our thoughts and sees our actions.

The word “make” is used 4 times in this section. This word refers exclusively to the work that God is doing, in order to fulfill His promises to Abraham. It is a word that means bringing all necessary things together to make these things happen and then generously showering them upon Abraham. 

What did God promise to do? Almighty God made a covenant with Abraham. He promised to make Abraham a father of many nations.  He promised to multiply Abraham’s children exceedingly so that he would have innumerable descendants.

Almighty God promised to make Abraham exceedingly fruitful. The word "exceeding" means great abundance with strong power and the word "fruitful" means having a large family. 

Remember, Abraham is 99 years old at this point and Isaac has not yet been born, and at 89 years old, Sarah is also well past her child bearing years.

God Almighty is Sovereign and we must accept that He knows what is best for each one of us. 

Almighty God  “talked” with Abraham. This is a very personal and tender expression of the heart of God toward us. He truly knows what is best for Abraham and He is committed to bringing much blessing upon the patriarch. He truly knows and wants what is best for each one of us.

This is El Shaddai speaking to Abraham just as God spoke to Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Enoch and others before Him. It reminds us that God wants a relationship with all people. Almighty God, El Shaddai gave Abraham a new name which means father of a multitude.

God Almighty gave Abraham one more command and that was to be “perfect.”  The word translated “perfect” usually refers to a sacrifice that is offered to God as a sin offering. The idea is that Abraham would consistently confess his sins to Almighty God in a timely manner, by offering the specified sacrifice as needed. 

Abraham's response to the goodness of God Almighty was falling down before Him with worship. We must worship.

Points to Ponder....

• Am I patiently waiting on the Lord or trying to do things my way?

• Am I walking by faith before Him or looking for an earthly solution?

• Am I willing to accept whatever God Almighty gives me, because I know it is best?

• Am I worshipping God Almighty because He is worthy?

The sovereign nature of God is on display in the name El Shaddai. He makes promises and He keeps promises. He does this on His own timetable, not ours. He is not affected by conditions that seem to be insurmountable issues in our eyes. He will always do that which is right and good and perfect. We can fully trust Him with our lives.

Bob