Aloha Dearest
Family,
When studying how God takes care of us and blesses us today, it is vital that
we first look at how God blessed Abraham. We will start our study in Genesis
chapter 17.
“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.”
It is important for us to
recognize how God refers to Himself in this verse; Almighty God (El
Shaddai). God uses many terms for Himself in scripture that are not just
haphazard in their usage but are meant to teach us about His nature. In Genesis
1, he refers to Himself by the Hebrew word Elohim-
the creator. In Genesis 2 He refers to Himself as Johovah-showing Himself in relationship to what He has created. But
in Genesis 17 He uses a new term, El Shaddai. Why is this
important? As we keep reading we will find some of the attributes of God as El
Shaddai- God Almighty.
“And
I (El Shaddai) will make my covenant between me and thee, and
will multiply thee exceedingly.” (verse 2)
25 years earlier God had
promised Abram that he would have a son. Here in verse 1 God is reiterating
this promise to him. In fact God says that He will multiply Abram’s seed
exceedingly. We must realize that at this time in Abraham’s life, Sarah his
wife, was barren. She is unable to have children. So in order to get Abram’s
vision up to where it needed to be, God changed His name from Abram (father
of height) to Abraham (father of multitudes).
“And
I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings
shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee
and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be
a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Verses 6 and 7)
God
tells him that He will make him exceedingly fruitful and will make nations of
him. Furthermore God would establish this covenant to Abraham’s seed after him,
even though physically it was impossible for Abraham and Sarah to produce
children. This was the promise that God (El Shaddai) made with Abraham. And
because Abraham believed this promise, Abraham and Sarah begat Isaac. Remember
that God can always bring the impossible to pass.
In chapter 28 God restates the promise to Isaac that he made to his father
Abraham.
“And God
Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that
thou may be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee,
and to thy seed with thee; that thou may inherit the land wherein thou art a
stranger, which God gave unto Abraham”. (Genesis 28: 3 and 4)
Again
God refers to Himself as El Shaddai, God Almighty. He promised Isaac what He
had promised to Abraham his father; that He would make him fruitful and multiply his seed
and God would make him a great nation. As we read the record we will find that
this is exactly what God did.
To
Isaac’s son Jacob, God says, “Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be
called any more Jacob, but Israel
shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel
Again we see that God Almighty (El Shaddai) is
still intent on blessing the descendants of Abraham. God also promises Jacob
that He will make him a great nation. God was true to His Word because out of
Jacob came kings such as David, Solomon, Hezekiah and the king of all kings -
Jesus Christ.
When we study the term God Almighty
(El Shaddai), we see that it refers to the God who promises bountifulness,
fruitfulness, blessing and support. And one who will defend His people and
provide them with endless supply. And this is how God blessed the descendants
of Abraham throughout their generations. This is the true meaning of why God
refers to Himself as El Shaddai.
Now
you may ask, “Why is this important to me to know today”? Remember that God
promised Abraham that he would bless his children after him. Let us now go to
Galatians.
“Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of
Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7)
According to the scripture, there are two
ways of becoming children and the off spring of Abraham. Either by bloodline or
by faith. Very few of us can say that they are
children of Abraham by bloodline, but ALL of us have believed on Jesus Christ
and therefore are the children of Abraham
by our faith.
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor
is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise.” (Galatians 3:28 and 29)
We belong to Christ so that makes
us Abraham’s seed and partakers of God’s promise to Abraham. All of the
promises God made to Abraham regarding His promise to greatly bless his
descendants now falls on us. Because we are Abraham’s seed God has
promised to make us fruitful, bountiful and supplying us with every good thing.
“And my God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
This promise is available to us because we are the seed of Abraham. And God is
not slack concerning His promises.
Since
we believed on Jesus Christ, we are a blessed
people. We not only are blessed with every physical blessing available through Abraham, but we
now are blessed with every spiritual
blessing through Christ as well.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)
We as believers should never ever feel
down-hearted, depressed or abandoned. Every blessing that was available to
give, God (El Shaddai) gave to us, His children. We lack nothing in this life.
Let us live every day basking in this eternal reality.
Love always, Ray
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