El Shaddai

 

Many of us have heard messages on the names of God used in the Bible. One of the classic titles bestowed on God is El Shaddai, which is first seen in Genesis 17 where God introduces Himself to Abraham. Most English Bibles have translated El Shaddai as “God Almighty”— “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless (Genesis 17:1).’”

 

Almighty is a great word. Unfortunately, this translation causes us to miss out on what God was really trying to say about Himself. We often use this verse to speak on God’s omnipotence, to portray Him as a commanding military general able to save the day. There is a better title for that. Yahweh Sabaoth is translated as Lord of hosts or Lord of heaven’s armies, as in Psalm 24:10– “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.” Shaddai definitely does have connotations of might and power (See Joel 1:15), but I don’t believe that is the main idea.

 

El Shaddai is not so much about God’s might and power as it is His power to supply our needs. Shaddai comes from the Hebrew root shad, which means breast (we see it so translated in Genesis 49:25, for example). Dr. Charles Parkhurst has written that Shaddai could be thought of as “The Breasted One,” and Dr. Herbert Lockyer agrees, saying that El Shaddai “supplies us with a delicate yet precious metaphor, seeing it presents God as the One who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies.” 

 

Continuing this thought, Dr. G. Campbell Morgan points out that the idea behind the use of Almighty to translate Shaddai was intended to highlight God as “the mighty One of resource and sufficiency.” He went on to say that Shaddai suggests “perfect supply and perfect comfort. We should reach the idea better by rendering [it] ‘God All Bountiful’ or ‘God All-Sufficient’…To gather sustenance and consolation from the bosom of God is to be made strong for all the pilgrimage.” Parkhurst has also translated Shaddai as the pourer forth of blessings. 

 

This makes sense in light of Naomi’s statement in Ruth 1:20-21. Her name meant “pleasant,” but she told everyone instead to call her “bitter” because, “The Almighty (Shaddai) has dealt bitterly with me.” In calling God Shaddai, she was emphasizing the fact that God was supposed to pour forth blessings, but in her estimation He had failed to do so. Just as she made a play on her own name, she made a play on God’s name. The supplier stopped supplying, so pleasant became bitter. 

 

El Shaddai, God Almighty, is a God of blessings. That is why Isaac invoked that name when blessing Jacob— “May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples (Genesis 28:3).” Just as a child is dependent upon his mother to nurse him, children of God must never fail to reach up to heaven and ask our Father for His blessings, that He may nourish us for the pilgrimage that is this life. 

 

 

 

   

 

Lion of Judah

 

Our family recently took a trip to the Greenville zoo. That is a trip that is fun for the kids, but in truth, I always enjoy seeing the animals and reading the facts posted about them. My favorite part is the African area, where giraffes tower over the buildings and lions walk harmlessly just feet away. This was the closest I have ever been to a lion. There was only about an inch between us and his powerful jaws (that inch was glass in the viewing area). 

 

The lion is an intimidating animal. I could not help but think about the biblical references to the lion; for example, Isaiah 31 compares God to a roaring lion, and at the zoo I read that a lion’s roar can be heard from an astounding five miles away. The most prominent lion passages, however, are the ones that bookend the Bible. 

 

In Genesis 49 the dying Jacob is blessing his children, and when he gets to his son Judah, he said, “Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him (v.9)?” This was part of a messianic prophecy that looked forward to the day when Jesus would return to earth to judge the nations. 

 

In Revelation 5:5 we see the prophecy come full circle: “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’” The genealogies of Jesus provided by both Matthew and Luke show that Jesus was a descendant of Judah (from the line of Judah) as well as David (the root of David).

 

The lion is called the king of the jungle, and for good reason. It is a fierce yet majestic creature. This is a fitting picture of Jesus, the King of Kings. He is fierce, yet majestic. His roar is terrifying, but only to His prey. Romans 11:22 contrasts “the goodness and severity of God.” He is severe to the wicked, yet good to His children. To the unbeliever God is that severe lion—fierce, terrifying, and dangerous. But to those of us who have trusted in Him, to those of us who have been saved, we can be an inch away and have no reason to fear.  

 

The Importance of Pitch

Pitch is very important. No, I’m not talking about hitting the right note with your voice or instrument. And no, I’m not talking about the person on the mound trying to get a fastball past a batter. I’m talking about the asphalt-like substance found in the Bible. 

Pitch is found in connection to Noah’s ark. In Genesis 6:14 God instructed Noah this way: “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” The word pitch in Hebrew literally means to cover, specifically with bitumen. Bitumen was an ancient asphalt used by many different people groups in the Middle East similar to our cement and mortar. Since the word meant to cover, it was used figuratively for covering a debt, as in forgiveness or appeasement. 

The same Hebrew word translated as pitch in Genesis 6:14 is translated as atone or atonement throughout the Old Testament. This is incredible. The reason the ark was covered in pitch was to ensure that water did not come in the cracks and spoil the vessel. Remember, the floodwaters were part of God’s judgment on man’s sin, so the pitch, or atonement, kept Noah and his seven relatives safe from God’s judgment. In a similar way, Moses’ mother used pitch to cover the basket that she placed her young son in (Exodus 2:3). 

That bitumen used as pitch covered Noah and his family from God’s wrath, and animal sacrifices were later made for the same reason. Leviticus 17:11 says blood makes atonement for the soul. In the Old Testament atonement was made to cover sins, but sin could not be forgiven because the blood of goats and bulls is not sufficient for that task. In this regard God’s wrath was appeased, but a better covering was needed. 

In the New Testament atonement carries the idea of man being reconciled to God, but that is only possible because of the death of Jesus. Pitch—whether covering a boat, a basket, or a believer—was only a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do once and for all at Calvary. Moses and Noah were covered; so were all who trusted in God’s sacrificial system. The only question now is, have you been covered by the blood of Jesus?   

The Sun and Moon

Which is bigger—the sun or the moon? I’m sure you know the answer: the sun is much larger than the moon. But let me ask you another question. How did you know that? You would not come to that conclusion with the naked eye because the moon often appears to be larger than the sun. This is a fact we have learned in school as a result of science. 

The moon is big. It has a diameter of more than 2,100 miles, making it about twenty-five percent of the Earth’s diameter. While the moon is big, it is dwarfed by the sun, which has a diameter of almost 865,000 miles. Our sun is so massive that if it were a cookie jar and the moon were cookies, it could hold 6 million moons! 

When Moses was writing down the history of how God created the world, he described the fourth day in this manner: “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also (Genesis 1:16).” I cannot help but wonder how Moses knew the sun was larger than the moon. In the book Exploring Genesis, John Phillips wrote, “Ordinary observation would lead to the opposite conclusion. We have all seen the giant harvest moon, seemingly eight feet in diameter, hovering over the skyline, dominating the evening sky. We have never seen the sun look as large as that. Ancient peoples thought the moon was far greater than the sun, and accounted for its lack of light and heat, as compared with the sun, by assuming it was very much farther away from the earth than the sun.” 

In truth, the moon appears to be larger than the sun because it is much closer to Earth than the sun is. While the sun is 93 million miles away, the moon is fewer than 240,000 miles away. By the way, the precise location of the sun and moon in relation to the Earth is optimal for life, proving God’s intelligent design of the universe. 

The only way Moses could have known that the sun is larger than the moon is if God told him that was the case. The prevailing thought for thousands of years was the exact opposite, and when the Bible appeared to be incorrect, it was later justified by science. Not only can we trust God’s Word, we can be reminded that we never have to altar our interpretations of it just because the prevailing thoughts today say the Bible is wrong. When there is a contradiction between God’s Word and man’s, just hold on; soon we’ll find out that man was wrong once again, and God is always right.  

Before and After Sin

I had wanted to visit the Ark Encounter since it opened in 2016, and we finally had the opportunity to go. The life-sized recreation of Noah’s ark is located in Williamstown, Kentucky, with its sister attraction, the Creation Museum, just down the road in nearby Petersburg. We bought combo passes and went to both places in one day. 

To drive home the idea of how the world was in its infancy, both places had beautiful gardens as part of the attractions. Visitors get a Garden of Eden feel as they meander through parks, and they are constantly reminded of how things were before sin. In the Bible’s first book it tells us that sin led to the fall, and ultimately to the flood recorded in Genesis 6-8. The landscaping was breathtaking, and as someone who wishes his thumb were greener, I enjoyed the detail in each square foot. After a little bit of enjoying, however, I began to sneeze. Then my eyes began to water. Then my nose was running. Soon my face broke out and I was a mess, forced to buy Claritin before my trip was ruined. 

That experience hit me in more ways than one. I was struck by a powerful object lesson. There I was trying to picture the world before sin, and ultimately what it will look like after sin, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of my allergies. The wonderful irony is that allergies are a result of sin and the curse, so I couldn’t enjoy those thoughts for long before I was brought back to the reality of this fallen world. Every thing that ever goes wrong has sin as it root. We have not God to blame, but Adam. But hallelujah, we have the Last Adam, Christ Jesus, to thank for giving us victory over sin, and in the future victory over its full effect! 

Instead of trying to think back to how nice it would have been before sin, we can look forward to how nice it will be after sin. In the Bible’s last book it gives us a glimpse of this anticipated state: heaven comes to earth, Jesus sits on the throne, and we live with Him in bliss for eternity. Whenever things don’t go your way, just remind yourself of what you have to look forward to if you belong to the Lord.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has in store for those who love Him.”

I Corinthians 2:9

One

God has an interesting thing He likes to do. From the beginning of time God has made a unity from a plurality. In the Garden of Eden He joined Adam and Eve together in holy matrimony, saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).” Through biblical marriage (“a man…his wife”) two individuals become. There was still Adam and there was still Eve, but they were one.

That isn’t possible. How can they be separate, yet still be one? This is something only God can do. In fact, He leads by example. Notice how the same word onecomes up as God describes Himself: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)!” The word one is the same Hebrew word in both passages. God or Elohim,is plural (literally “the Gods”). We know He is plural because He is Father, Son, and Spirit, and yet He is one God. This is another unity of plurality. He can be three distinct individuals, and yet be one God. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit who died on the cross, it was Jesus; it isn’t Jesus that seals the believer’s heart, it is the Holy Spirit—but both are a work of God. They are unique, and yet they are one. 

God leads by example in uniting that which is plural, and He does something similar when He unites us in marriage. There is still another way that He does this, and that is in bringing Christians all over the world into one body. In Ephesians 4 Paul uses that word one seven times in verses two through five, and he uses the word all three times in verse five. Speaking to “you all,” he says, “There is one body.” As part of the collective Bride of Christ, believers around the globe comprise one large body, and each local church is also composed of many members, and yet is one. This is what Paul is talking about when he said, “For as the [human] body is one and has many members…so also is Christ…For in fact the body (church) is not one member, but many (I Corinthians 12:12-14).”  

Part of the way we are created in the image of God is in the unity of plurality. If you are in a biblical marriage, God has turned two into one; and as part of the true church, God has made many into one. Your marriage can only work if you are willing to be part of something bigger than yourself, and the same is true of church. Your local church body is counting on you to be faithful and use your spiritual gifts, so don’t let them down. If you aren’t involved in a local body, you need to be. Until then, you are an individual, and God wants to unite you into His plural family. 

Bethlehem's Story

What is Bethlehem famous for? Our first thought is that Bethlehem was the birthplace of Jesus, but for a long time the little town had a bad reputation. In Genesis 35 we read that Rachel died and was buried “on the way to Bethlehem,” just after she gave birth to her second son Benjamin.

Remember Rachel’s story? She was the beloved wife of Jacob, who was the grandson of Abraham (and whose name God changed to Israel). Jacob was tricked into marrying Rachel’s older sister Leah, and eventually he married Rachel as well. Leah was having no problem having children, but Rachel was barren. Both sisters gave their handmaidens to Jacob for the sake of childbearing (a common practice then), but Rachel continued to struggle with her infertility. This was a cause for sorrow, leading Rachel to lament, “Give me children, or else I will die!”

She finally had a son, Joseph, whose name means, “The Lord will add.” Rachel was glad to have a son, but she believed God would give her another. He did, but it would cost Rachel her life. Knowing her life was leaving her, Rachel named her son Ben-oni, “Son of my Sorrow,” but Jacob changed it to Benjamin, “Son of my Right Hand.” For Israelites, Bethlehem was always thought of as the place of death for their mother.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem King Herod put out an order to kill all baby boys two years old and under. Matthew said that event fulfilled Jeremiah 31:15, the voice of Rachel weeping for her children. When Jeremiah wrote those words he was speaking of Israelite mothers weeping for their children being taken into captivity, but Matthew saw it as a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy.

For so many years Bethlehem signified the birth of Benjamin, but the death of Rachel. Now, because of Jesus, Bethlehem represents not the Son of Sorrow, but the Son at God’s right hand. It is no longer a place of death and sadness, but of life and victory. So what is Bethlehem famous for? It is no longer death, but life.

That’s what Jesus does. He redeems things. He turns death into life. When we were dead in our sins and trespasses, Jesus brings us to life in Himself. I was once like Bethlehem, a picture of death because of my sin; but now thanks to Jesus, I am alive and well.

Possible to Sin

Posse non Pescare

Non Posse non Pescare

Non Posse Pescare

Those three Latin phrases are how Augustine explained man’s relationship to sin as part of a famous dispute with the liberal Pelagius, who believed man had the ability to live a sinless life.

Posse non Pescare (possible to not sin). Before the fall in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had the capacity to live without sin. We do not know how long they lived in this condition (between Genesis 2-3), but we certainly know they did. They had free will, but for a time they chose to keep their trust completely in God, and they lived totally without sin.

Non Posse non Pescare (not possible to not sin). After the fall everything completely changed. Adam and Eve still had free will, but they lost the ability to live a life free of sin. This does not mean that all we do is sin, because with every temptation there is a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13); but it does mean that being sinless is not an option for us. There is none righteous, and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This is why we need a Savior.

Non Posse Pescare (not possible to sin). Once we go to heaven and exchange our perishable bodies for ones that are imperishable, we will no longer be able to sin. In Glory sin will be but a distant memory, and like Christ, we will be perfect.

To transition from two to three, to go from not possible to not sin, to not possible to sin, something major has to take place. Only Jesus can account for this transformation. He offers you more than just heaven when you die; He offers a different kind of life right now.

And God Said

Most of us are familiar with the Bible’s account of the fall of man as recorded in Genesis 3. We know about the sneaky serpent and the forbidden fruit, how Adam and Eve chose to treat themselves instead of trust in God. Last week I wrote about how the doctrine of separation is found in Genesis 1, and now I want to show you how the doctrine of inerrancy also has its roots in the opening chapter of Scripture.

Have you noticed how Satan chose to tempt Eve? He twisted God’s words. In Genesis 3:4 the serpent said, “You shall not surely die.” He added a single word to God’s earlier warning (“You shall surely die”)that greatly changed the message. You may have also noticed that Eve herself got the words of God wrong. In verse 3 Eve told the devil, “God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” She added the clause “neither shall you touch it,” which is not recorded in Scripture. Eve added to God’s words and Satan subtracted from them. Both were in error (Deuteronomy 4, Revelation 22), although Eve’s was unintentional. 

If we turn the page back to Genesis 1 we see no fewer than ten instances of “and God said…” Just as this chapter established the idea of separation, we also see Moses laying the foundation for the importance of the spoken word of God. The author connects God’s words, spoken ten times, with perfection, then contrasts the manipulation of His words with sin and the curse.

God’s Word, preserved for us as the Bible, is infallible and innerant. We may have differences of opinion among ourselves as to how to interpet a certain piece of Scripture, but if we agree that the Bible is from God, then we must agree that it is free from any error. What is inspired is surely inerrant. 

The original sin in the Garden of Eden came as a result of not trusting God’s word, and we repeat that sin as often as we choose to live outside of it. Christians, as people of the Good Book, let us determine to make this our creed. The opening chapter of the Bible establishes God’s words as perfect, so every succeeding chapter is likewise perfect. We can and should trust it.

Separation

In the Bible’s opening chapter we see God create every tangible thing in the universe, but He also created some intangible things. For example God created time, days, the seven-day week, and the Sabbath concept of a day of rest. But He also gave us a glimpse of something that would prove to be the imperative doctrine of separation.

Notice the repetition of the verb separate in just five verses of Genesis 1:

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so…14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years…17 God set [the sun and moon] in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.

Four times in five verses we see separation. I believe God inspired Moses to emphasize this separation because it was a foreshadowing of salvation and the Christian life. Separation is synonymous with holiness, and God is holy. God is completely unlike anything in the universe, so we can say that God is separate. He is separate from Allah, separate from Buddha, separate from Zeus. That is why He declares, “I am Yahweh, beside me there is no other (Isaiah 45:5).”

In order for us to be saved we must also become separated from the world. The Father instructs us to “Come out from among them and be separate…Do not touch what is unclean (2 Corinthians 6:17),” and “Be Holy for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).” We must chose to become so unlike the world that we stand out like a sore thumb.

Holiness, the process of separating ourselves, remains an ongoing work as long as we live down here. A third synonym for separation and holiness is sanctification, which Paul stated was the will of the Lord for our lives (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The more we are sanctified the more the world will notice our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.

Just as the Creator separated light from darkness during the first week, He will one day separate the sheep from the goats. To the former He will say, “Well done;” to the latter He will say, “Depart from me.” Separate yourself from the world now, or you may be separated on Judgment Day.