El Shaddai –
'God Almighty' or ‘All-sufficient one’
some bible verses - Ex. 6:1; Ps. 91:1, 2;Isaiah 60:16, 66:10-13; Gen 17:1; Gen 28:3; Gen 35:11; Gen 43:14; Gen 48:3; Gen49:25; Exod. 6:3; Num. 24:6; Ruth 1:20; Job (various references);  Psa. 22:10; 68:15; 91:1; Ezek. 1:24; 10:5

You might be asking why do I spend time on either God names or trying to find out the meaning behind them?  “How does this practically help me?”

This does practically help.  For then we know who our God is.  What His attributes are.  This doesn’t only just help in our worship to God but it helps us when we hear people make statements about God.  There are so many false or not 100% true things said about God.  Then we can take those statements and compare it to what we have learned and know about God.  And even share with those people why it’s not true and how we know it. 


“Most English translations render El Shaddai as "God Almighty," probably because the translators of the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek translation of the Old Testament) thought Shaddai came from a root verb (shadad) that means "to overpower" or "to destroy." The Latin Vulgate likewise translated Shaddai as "Omnipotens" (from which we get our English word omnipotent). God is so overpowering that He is considered "Almighty." see Hebrew4christians

Everyone seems to agree that the exact derivation is uncertain or unknown.

Do read myredeemerlives on the background of this name, it’s really helpful, it also looks at ‘shad’ as well as ‘shadad.’ -
“The Hebrew word "shad" or "shadayim" (meaning "breast" or "breasts") occurs 24 times as "Shaddai" and signifies One who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies (Isaiah 60:16, 66:10-13). Combined with the word for God, "El", it then becomes the "One mighty to nourish, satisfy, and supply".

This illustration of El Shaddai keeping us to His breast reminds me of day 2 and how we looked at the verse Isaiah 40:11 “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.”  This takes it one step further.  A mother feeds, nourishes her baby while keeping him or her close to her heart.  The baby is 100% reliant on the mother for all their needs.  God is giving us that picture to us.  That El Shaddai will meet all our needs, He will completely satisfy us.  Because El Shaddai is mighty, and He has the power and strength to do so, He will let nothing stand in the way of it.

For Hamish, Anthony and I are the ones who satisfy his needs.  We love, exercise him, feed him, try and keep him from getting bored, we have rules and discipline him.  He needs discipline like a child, to know the boundaries, what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour.  

When Hamish was in the dog park one day, a big dog came straight over to him – owner nowhere in sight.  From feet away Hamish began to cower and I saw this dog wasn’t friendly (by its body language) and I stepped in before it turned nasty, while the dog was still feet away.  And the unfriendly dog turned and ran away.  Hamish can rely on me to be the ‘mighty’ one for him, not letting anyone get in the way of our time together, not letting anyone harm him.  I will protect him.  We have that with God Almighty.  There may be a dog one day that will attack me and I can’t defend Hamish but there isn’t anyone who can do that with God.  El Shaddai is ‘the almighty.’ 

If you think of a mother and her baby if anyone threatens her child, she will do anything to protect the baby, even dying for him or her if it means they have a chance to live.  Maybe that is why the Hebrew ‘shad’ and ‘shadad’ are so similar? 
I honestly don't know, but the picture of El Shaddai being so powerful to overcome anything or anyone compliments the picture of El Shaddai being our all sustaining – All Sufficient One; the one who supplies all our needs.

Do you let him satisfy and supply your needs? 

So many people try and satisfy their God-shaped hole with work, addictions, even work for God.

If you don’t draw near to God often, like a baby to their mother’s breast to get nourished, taking time to feed, then nothing or no one will fill that hole/hunger.



El Shaddai - Amy Grant

El Shaddai, el shaddai
El-elyon na adonia
Age to age you're still the same
By the power of the name
El shaddai, el shaddai
Erkamka na adonai
I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

Through your love and through the ram
You saved the son of Abraham
Through the power of your hand
You turned the sea into dry land
To the outcast on her knees
You were the God who really sees
And by your might
You set your children free

(chorus x 2)

Through the years you've made it clear
That the time of Christ was near
Though the people couldn't see
What Messiah ought to be
Your most awesome work was done
Through the frailty of your son

I will praise and lift you high
El shaddai

This is a lovely song to reflect on a couple of names of God.
What other songs can you think of?

(you didn't think I was going to let you away with El Shaddai?!)

I found myredeemerlives and blueletter bible to be the most helpful for this name. All of the meaning  of name, link to verses (Isaiah 26:4) were from my redeemerlives.  The singular most helpful website for me in this complete study.
There were so many more gems there and in other links I gave that I deliberately didn't put in these studies, so you have the joy of finding them for yourself! 

There are numerous studies and websites online and in books that I haven't mentioned.

El Olam
“The God of Everlasting Time (Eternity) or
The Everlasting God”

bible verses Gen. 21:33, Ps 93:2; Jer 10:10; Isaiah 40:28;


"Trust in Yahweh forever [El Olam]; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock." Isaiah 26:4
(Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.”)

Also “the everlasting God who never changes” as seen in Psalm 90:1-2, Isaiah 26:4

When I have forgiven someone and I think it is forgotten (it can be years ago); sometimes it comes back to me in my mind and on occasion has even annoyed me all over again. I have to go back to God, apologising for my own thoughts as well as forgiving and leaving it again with God.

I can be tired and something that normally wouldn’t bother me suddenly annoys me. 
Hamish can be ‘trying’ some days when nothing seems to have changed. He will leave an ornament or something alone for ages then suddenly decide to go after it.  I can have patience with him one day and the next have none. 

We are all fickle!  I am so ‘changing.’ 
Thankfully we have a God, El Olam who never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
He will never change His mind about saving me, never stop loving me.  
When God forgives He forgets completely.(Psalm 103:12)
You don’t need to live in fear that one day He will surprise you with your past forgiven sin and hold it against you.

When events just seem to be ever-changing around you, like photos cycling through a screensaver; one minute everything is fine the next everything is crumbling around you.  Remember God is unchanging; He will always be El Olam. 
So you can trust El Olam, put your worries, burdens onto Him. 
El Olam is the rock eternal – nothing can crack, puncture, shake, drill, explode, prod, or damage the Rock eternal.
If you are saved, nothing can pry you out of His hand (John 10:28).  Our salvation is assured! 

Do you believe that or doubt it sometimes?

Or do you need to come and know you are saved from your sins so you can spend eternity with God?

I was trying to think of all the songs that had reference to God the rock. 

Looking at lyrics relating to the different names of God is another way to remember, worship and apply what we have learned.

Ascribe greatness was the first song I thought of.

ASCRIBE GREATNESS to our God, the Rock,               
His work is perfect and all His ways are just.
Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock,
His work is perfect and all His ways are just.
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Good and upright is He;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Good and upright is He.

For some reason it was the old hymns I remember not the new songs.  Even if these hymns aren’t to your musical taste the words are lovely. 

Rock of ages is a very old hymn, this website gives the history of hymns as well as music.
My hope is built

Hiding in thee  Another website with music, history and lyrics although you would have to open up two pages as you can’t view the lyrics and the music together. 
Cyberhymnal (above links) also gives this song.

How many can you think of?  These are just a start.  Try and do it with all the names of God!

Just two more days in the ‘and now for something completely different’ style post.              

I have been giving you links to the places I found when doing this study.  I have only given you a couple of links a day as I don’t want to overwhelm you, but you can find for yourself which ones are personally helpful to you.    

preceptaustin.org    this is more general.
smilegodlovesyou.org gives a list of names of God, their meaning and 1 or 2 bible verses.

Have you ever wanted to have eyes in the back of your head?  It wasn’t until I got Hamish that I found myself wanting that. There are many times I would love to be able to see where Hamish is and what he is up to, at all times.   
Sometimes I find him doing funny or cute things that I have just missed out on.  Other times it’s because he is about to eat a battery or other things he shouldn’t be doing. 

I would love to have eyes in the back of my head so I could warn Him of the danger or encourage him when he is doing something good.  I don’t have that with my dog but thankfully we have all that with our God. 

El Roi
'The God who sees'

Hagar used El Roi in her prayer when God saw her misery and spoke to her.  

Genesis 16:13  “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me." 

Do you think God is too big to care about you, or wonder if He knows about your situation or need?

El Roi sees everything and everyone all at once outside of time, knowing the fine details (basically what omniscient means.)  El Roi knows the motive of our hearts, our thoughts before they are formed. 

Psalm 139 has to be one of the most comforting and awe inspiring passage in the whole bible if we are Christians.  Knowing that God knows us that well! As verse 6 says “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” 

We can experience what Hagar felt. 
When God answers prayer, changes circumstances and comforts us; seeing God working, then we too can say “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

There will be a day, what an amazing day that will be, when we will physically see Jesus. 
In the meantime we can see God at work. 
Have you prayed about your situation?
God wants to answer our prayers so we know that it was God that made it happen so our faith is strengthened. But we have to take it to God first!

And if the answer is ‘wait’ or ‘no’ then God wants us to trust Him as He is El Roi.  We can’t see everything only God can – El Roi sees the big picture.  When God says no it’s because He has something better planned for you!

Do you know El Roi sees all – the secret sin, the wrong motives: do you need to repent (turn away) from something(s)?

El Roi also sees

- All the good that you do in secret.

- The love in your heart when you do the sometimes unthanked jobs for the church or ministry for Him.

- The love and unselfishness of being a stay at home mum, and or spending time teaching your children the bible and how they should be as people.

- The unseen background jobs in service to Him.

- Your faithfulness to God throughout, and in those difficult situations.

God sees it all and you will be rewarded and thanked for it. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 
So don’t give up!

El Roi - either comforting or terrifying!
If terrifying, come to El Roi today and trust, confess and repent of your sins so you may find the comfort and peace from walking with God.

Are you enjoying the study we are doing together?
I know I am.  Today we continue our learning together looking at the name El Elyon.

On day 1 we found out that “El” means strong, might, power.   ‘El’ is translated God. 

“When used of the true God, El is almost always qualified by additional words that further define the meaning that distinguish Him from false gods” - hebrew4christians.com

"elyon" is an adjective and derives from the Hebrew root 'lh, meaning to "go up" or "ascend". 
The shortened form Elyon occurs more frequently throughout the Old Testament and when translated is “most High”.

El Elyon –
“The most high God.”

  Bible verses (occurs less than 50 times) –

Elyon – Deut 32:8; Psalm 7:17, 83:18, 91:1, 97:9, 2 Sam 22:14, (Myredeemerlives.com gives a longer list of bible verses)

El Elyon – Psalm 57:2, 78:35, 78:56, 9:2; Daniel 3:26, 4:2, 5:18, 21, 4 times in Genesis 14:18–22

God is sovereign.  All things have been God-filtered (as my Dad says) so you can trust God that if it has been allowed in your life, then God can work in it and bring some good out of it.  

Remember that this fallen world – disease, earthquakes etc is the result from Adam and Eve sinning.  God didn’t want this!  
If it hurts you looking around and seeing the causes of sin – illnesses, disease, infidelity, murder, wars; then think of how God must feel.  What we have done to His creation, the choices we make.

Elohim made everything perfect, as He is perfect. 
God can’t abide sin, sin destroys, hurts, is selfish – everything that is the complete opposite of God. 
In Eden the choice for sin changed everything. 
Even though we messed up, El Elyon didn’t just leave us and give up, El Elyon gave us a rescue plan - Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

What does this mean for us?

Psalm 57:2 – “I cry out to El Elyon, to El who fulfills his purpose for me.”

In everything that is in our lives - illness, death, circumstances we can trust El Elyon, knowing He is in control. 
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

He works IN all circumstances the good and the bad.  Although we live now in a world with the effects of sin, if we are following Him as Christians - God will take it and turn it around for good.

If you are wandering “why doesn’t God stop all the wars, bad things and just end it and have a peaceful nice world?”  El Elyon is going to! 
He will bring in a perfect world, with no sin or effects of sin.  But because it is perfect only those who have had their sins washed clean by Jesus, made righteous in Him, will be able to live there.

So God is patient because He wants as many people to repent and come to Him as possible. 
2 Peter 3:9 puts it this way about God’s second coming -“The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

Do you need to come and know El Elyon as sovereign of your life? 

God is coming back; it can be anytime - right now, tonight!  Are you ready, do you know Him?

Reposted from 'thought of the day' 12/21/2011
All links in this website are underlined and usually in dark blue.

By now you know for a few days we are doing something different.  I have never been to bible college so am giving you a very basic outline of what the experts say about the individual names of God. All links given will be good for a more detailed study on all the names of God.  We will then look at how we can apply it.

"Adonai" is another Hebrew masculine plural noun.  The plural form of "Adon", meaning “Lord, Lord, LORD, master, or owner”. 

It occurs over 400 times in the Old Testament and 200 times in Ezekiel alone.  Adon is used to describe a human lord and the plural Adonai for God.

Adonai Yahweh.  Adonai is used over 300 times with Yahweh.  Most modern bibles have Yahweh in small capital letters – LORD and Adonai as “Lord”.  See bibletopics for more explanation.

Yahweh (YHWH): Comes from a verb which means “to exist, be” – (God is self-existing – He always was, is and is to come – “I AM”).  YHWH when used with other names reveals additional facts about God’s character see bible.org.

It was Adonai who sent Isaiah (chapter 6). Daniel used Adonai in his prayer of confession (chapter 9).

So what does this mean for us? 
One of the leaders of my bible study once said, becoming a Christian isn’t like getting insurance:  Another thing ticked off the list and then you can forget about it and do what you want.

If we are Christians, God should be Adonai of our lives.  We live to please Him!  (2 Corinthians 5:9) 
He should be our master, obeying him in everything. 

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Luke 6:46

It’s when we obey Him that we realise God wants the very best for us even if we don’t see it at the time.  Dogs don’t know that chocolate is very toxic to them (a small amount can kill.)  If we see a dog going for chocolate we will do anything to stop them - acting in their best interest.  They may wonder why we yanked the leash so hard, but it’s only in response to how much energy they are using in trying to get at it.

A master provides everything.  Just like we are our dog’s master (or should be!) our dog doesn’t worry about his next meal, exercise or shelter.  He faithfully expects we will provide it.   So does God – when we make Him our Adonai.  God has promised He will provide all our needs.

It’s not an oppressive thing like we may think but a truly liberating one.

When we acknowledge that God is Adonai in all areas of our lives and let Him have control: then it is freeing, knowing Adonai wants the best for us and loves us so much.

Dog owners may find this concept easier to grasp.

We can be like dogs – fighting for the top dog position but when a dog gives it up, you know as an owner how much more relaxed and balanced they are. 
If they are nervous or anxious they want and look for you to take control or they will be unstable. 
If a dog tries to be top dog it’s because they know someone has to be top dog.  They aren’t relaxed or happy if they have to take the job, they would much prefer it if you took charge although they don’t know that until after they give it up. 
We also know it has to be a daily thing being a top dog.  In the same way we have to daily give it over to Adonai.

Do you know Adonai?
Is God Adonai in all areas of your life?

Let Adonai "take the wheel"

Elohim.  As this is the first name used in the bible (Genesis 1:1)
I thought we’d start with
Elohim – Creator and Judge 

Hamish has many names and sometimes one name but many meanings!  HAMISH can be shouted when I am angry at him, whispered when I am endeared by him.  Hamish is also known as rascal, NO, cutie and given his full name when I mean business – Hamish Ponton!

God is perfect so all His names have positive, unique and amazing meanings. In the bible different names are given to God; sometimes modern translations take out the nuances of the original names.  These different names help us to appreciate, worship and better understand the different attributes, abilities and nature of God. 
Meanings of names were very important in the bible as it showed who you were as a person.

I bought 6 Christmas baubles of God’s names which I will share with you what I found in my study to be the basic meaning of those names.  But there are many more names of God.  Maybe next Christmas I will make some more.
I urge you to do a full study on God’s names – it’s really interesting and enlightening.

There are many different places you can start (strong’s exhaustive concordance is one), but here are a couple of many websites which I found helpful in studying the names of God.
www.blueletterbible.org
www.myredeemerlives.com (loads more info on Elohim)


Elohim – Creator and Judge  ‘El’ means mighty or strong.  Elohim is the masculine plural Hebrew noun of El or “Eloah”.  This does not mean there are many gods as the usage is mainly within singular verb, adjectives and pronouns.
Many believe it to be plural in majesty and the intimation of the trinity.
Elohim is used in the Old Testament over 2200 times.

Some verses where Elohim is used - (Isa. 54:5, 45:22; Jer. 32:27; Gen. 1:1, 1:27, 6:13, 9:12; Isa. 45:18; Deut. 5:23; 8:15, 4:39, 32:39; Ps. 68:7; Ex. 20:2-3 ).

So how does all this help us?  There was no big bang or random events.  God is the one and only - creator of all heaven and earth and of you and me.  God was and is and is to come.  There is no one and nothing greater than God.

We can also give everything over to Elohim knowing He is the perfect judge.  We can leave that hurtful situation with Him, He knows each heart.

There will be a judgment day when everything will be judged by Elohim – all the injustices of this world; the evil people that seem to have gotten away with it, will not on that day. 
If you are a Christian we do not fear the judgment day, as we are not under condemnation of judgment of sin anymore, (John 5:24) but we will have to give an account of what we did in our life, to Christ.

Do you need to trust Elohim today? 
Trust and know that Elohim made the earth and it wasn’t a random series of events?
Believe that Elohim is the perfect judge so you can trust Him?
Or do you need to come and know God personally so you do not need to fear the judgment day?