Names of God – El Shaddai

Names of God – El Shaddai

If you are as old as I am, and grew up in the church, you probably remember a song by Amy Grant titled, El Shaddai. This song actually uses several of the Hebrew names of God. Names like; El Elyon and Adonai, which we have already looked at, but I want to look at the title name today. The name El Shaddai is another of my favorites, it means Almighty, and Most Powerful, and The Lord is More Than Enough. That’s sort of a “drop the mic” kind of name, isn’t it?

So far, we have looked at 16 names of God, and we’ve only scratched the surface. Originally, I didn’t have this one as the last on the list, but I decided to make it that because it just sums the rest of them up. I mean, think about all the names we have looked at. Names that mean The Lord is My Provider, My Banner, My Healer, etc. But, this name ties them all together…The Lord is More Than Enough.

Once again, we see a name of God that brings us back to the fact that we have no need to fear. He is our Provider, He is our Healer, He is Peace, He is our Shepherd, He is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and He is More Than Enough. This name just brings it all together and wraps it up in a neat package. Are you afraid? God is more than enough to calm your fears. Are you tempted? God is more than enough to deliver you from that temptation. Are you distraught? God is more than enough to comfort you.

We first see this name in Genesis 49 in Jacob’s last words to his sons. When he is talking about Joseph in verses 24 and 25 he says, “²⁴But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. ²⁵ May the God of your father help you; may the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.” In these two verses, Jacob uses several of the names of God, names like El Elyon, Jehovah Ra’ah, even one we didn’t look at, Eben Yisra’el, the Stone of Isreal, and El Shaddai. Notice he ends his list with, El Shaddai, here it is translated, The Almighty. Every one of these names is good, and every one is true, but this one just sums them all up.

We see examples of this all throughout Scriptures. Like in, 2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others” Here we see that Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, is El Shaddai, more than enough. Again, we see it in, Philippians 4:7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” In this one we see Jehovah Shalom, The Lord is Peace, is El Shaddai, more than enough. Also in, Hebrews 13:5 “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So, He is Jehovah Ra’ah, our Shepherd, who is El Shaddai, More Than Enough.

He is Jehovah, the Great I Am, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, He is the All-Powerful, Almighty God…The one true God. This is something that you will see me repeating over and over in my writings, because it is so important, especially in today’s world. The fact is that all paths do NOT lead to the same God. We do NOT all worship the same God. As we have seen, we worship El Qanna, a jealous God, and He refuses to be shared with other gods. Jesus said, John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” The Bible also tells us in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.” I know this is a polarizing subject in today’s society of all-inclusiveness, but I can’t bury the truth. Buddhist’s do not worship the one true God, neither do Hindu’s, nor Shinto’s, nor Muslim’s. This is displayed all throughout Scripture. We see it in Deuteronomy 4:35, 39, 6:4, 32:39, 2 Samuel 7:22, 1 Kings 8:60, 2 Kings 5:15, 19:15, 1 Chronicles 17:20, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 18:31, 86:10, Isaiah 37:16, 20, 43:10, 11, 4:6, 8, 45:21, 46:9, Hosea 13:4, Joel 2:27, Zechariah 14:9, and in the New Testament in Mark 12:29-34, John 17:3, Romans 3:30, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Galatians 3:20, Ephesians 4:6, 1 Timothy 1:17, 2:5, and James 2:19, to name a few.

Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t harbor any animosity toward anyone for what they believe. You can be wrong, and not be a bad person. I have friends from other beliefs, I have friends who are, according to the Bible, living in sin. I don’t hate them for this. In fact, it makes me love and care for them that much more, because they just need God. They need to experience Jehovah Shammah and Jehovah Jireh. They need to be healed by Jehovah Rapha and comforted by Jehovah Ra’ah. They need to know that El Olam is always there for them and that El Shaddai is all they will ever need.

So, please, take these names of God to heart, and then take Him to the world. Don’t be stopped by political correctness, just trust God for the strength and boldness you need. Remember that 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” We must always be ready! So, if you don’t know what that hope is, get into His word and find out for yourself. Let’s show the world who our God really is.