What's In a Name? Part 4

What's In a Name?   Part 4

To date:

Elohim (Hebrew) = Theos (Greek) = God 
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (Hebrew) = I Am Who I Am
Ehyeh, meaning "I am," represented by the derivation YHWH
YHWH, given vowels = YaHWeH = Yahweh (pronounced YaaWay)

 The name of God is Yahweh, I am who I am.

Davar (Hebrew) = Logos (Greek) = Word 
Word = The revelation, mediating principle, the perfect revelation of God’s self in the flesh = Jesus

The Word is Jesus; Jesus is the Word.
God became flesh out of love for us, in order to extend intimacy to us through God’s relationship in the flesh. 

The intimacy that God has shared with us as name and Trinity is consummated in our flesh as we imitate God’s self.

When this truth is truly embraced, new life is given to all things in us. The understanding of Trinity as the basis of a life of faith illuminates as it self-explains. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31, Matthew 22:39) and we hear through the Love of God, we can only interpret it as: “Love your neighbor as BEING yourself.” The other person is not other than you in essence.  

Now as we have embraced–and struggled a bit–with the relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Trinity, we return to our exploration of God’s names and titles.

El-Shaddai is most often translated “God Almighty.” In Hebrew, “El” means “God” and “Shaddai” is interpreted to mean “almighty.”  Other translations include “all-sufficient One,” or “Over-powerer,” or even “the God who is more than enough.” In all instances the term is understood to indicate God as absolute with absolute authority.

El-Shaddai appears only seven times in the Bible, five times in Genesis, once in Exodus, and once in Ezekiel.

In Genesis 17:1 God approaches Abram, saying, 
“I am God Almighty [El-Shaddai]; walk before me and be blameless.” 

In 35:11a, 
God said to him, “I am God Almighty” [El-Shaddai]; be fruitful and increase in number.” 

In 28:3, Issac calls to Jacob, saying,
“May God Almighty [El-Shaddai] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.”

In 43:14 Israel spoke to Judah, saying,
“And may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your other brother and Benjamin come back with you. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

In 48:3
“Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty [El-Shadai] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me.”

Later in the Book of Exodus (6:3) just before God reveals God’s name (Yahweh) to Moses, God self-identifies as El-Shaddai, saying,
“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.”

And, lastly, in the Book of Ezekiel (10:5):
“The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty [El-Shaddia] when he speaks.”

In these few passages, God is setting the bar, making the statement of who and what God is. There is no room left for supposition, no need to wonder; God has proclaimed God’s self as the one mighty over all.

Praying using El-Shaddai to address God is a powerful and comforting expression of trust and relinquishment. So often in life we feel that we are being overpowered. We battle with many sins day in day out, failing and struggling, feeling overwhelmed and alone. Praying to El-Shaddai, we proclaim–even as we cry out to God–that Yahweh is the Almighty, the God above all and the God whose Almighty hand can and will hold and protect us. 

We are not overpowered by sin or the tumult of this world, because the God to whom we turn is the Over-powerer. Our pain and suffering cannot defeat us as God has claimed us as his own and will overpower all that afflicts or confronts us.

May El-Shaddai be your strength and protector,

Fr. Bill+