2nd Quarter: The Promise: God’s Everlasting Covenant
Lesson 4 *An Everlasting Covenant*
Monday: ’El-Shaddai
Text: [[Gen 17:1]] KJV
_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._
Message
It’s unfortunate that we don’t understand God’s dealings with us the way he wants us to, and this is a major reason why we become too anxious about this life. God wants us to see, know, and relate him on a personal level. But we often see him as a distant God. This is how he reveals himself to us too. For Abram, when He established the *everlasting covenant* with him, he made himself known as the *Eternal one* Do you see the connection? How he wanted Abram to understand the covenant was linked with who he was. But something interesting happened years later.
Several years after the covenant, Abram had not gotten any child with Sarai, rather, Ishmael had been born to him. But God’s covenant wasn’t through Ishmael. Abram was running out of time. At age 99, it appeared nothing would work again, and probably, the covenant wasn’t going to work. At that point, the LORD appeared again to him, but this time, *not just as Yahweh, but as El Shaddai* What’s the significance? *El Shaddai means God Almighty. So at the time Abram thinks it’s over, God says, I’m the Almighty God, just focus (see 17:1)*
Abram needed reassurance, and God did exactly that. His self-existence wouldn’t mean much to Abram as the knowledge that He is the all powerful God. This was a great consolation. *Even today, God wants to relate to us on such a personal level. In our sickness he wants us to know him as Jehovah Raphah, when we feel rejected and alone, He’s Jehovah Jireh, in our sorrows, He’s our comforter.*
Reflection
Some have argument that names doesn’t really matter. But think about this. How much comfort and hope would you have if the Lord’s name was “The Frail God” or “The Weak God”? What personal consolation can you find in the Name, El Shaddai?