Meno Kalisher, the Pastor at Jerusalem Assembly
– House of Redemption in Jerusalem, Israel, has written several books including
one entitled Jesus in the Hebrew
Scriptures. His primary conclusion
is that the Messiah is El Shaddai,
the title for God in the Old Testament when He appeared to people such as
Abraham (Gen. 17:1) and Jacob (Gen. 35:9-15; cf. also Ex. 6:2-3). This is the Name of God in His appearances to
men; and His ultimate appearance to Man was in the person of the Messiah.
The nature of Jesus seen in the four miracles
in Luke 8 bears this out. We have noted
Jesus’ divine nature as the Creator and Sustainer when He quieted the sea; as
Lord of Hosts and Judge in casting the legion of demons into the pigs; as the
omnipotent God in healing the woman who touched His robe; and as the giver of
life, the resurrection and the life, in the raising of Jairus’ daughter. When we step back and see the whole picture,
and when we understand the meaning of El
Shaddai, we can easily make the connection.
In
our church we regularly used a worship chorus entitled He’s More than Enough. It
was about God Almighty/El Shaddai and went like this:
He’s more than enough, More than
enough;
He is El Shaddai, the God of plenty;
the all-sufficient One, God Almighty;
He is more than enough.
The reason I like this chorus is
because it’s accurate. El Shaddai speaks of God’s ability to do
anything that meets our need and satisfies His will. God did not use the title in Gen. 15:1, but
Gen. 15:1 defines El Shaddai: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great
reward. It speaks of God whose arm
is never too short, who satisfies us not only materially but in the soul. As Kalisher put it, He can supply all their needs, as a mother’s milk provides all the
needs of her newborn child (MK, p45).
This is what we see of Jesus. We noted that there is no typical miracle, no one-size-fits-all for blind people or demon possessed people or
oppressed people. He deals with people
in a way that not only meets a physical need but which gets to their true heart
issues. Those who trust in Jesus will never
be ashamed or disappointed. As El
Shaddai, Jesus never misses the mark with us; He is our shield, our exceedingly great
reward.
In God’s profound meeting with Abram in Gen.
17:1, the place where this title of God is first used and defined, God spoke
this way: I am Almighty God; walk before
Me and be blameless. It is the
powerful, all-satisfying goodness of God that compels us to walk in holiness
before Him. Nothing is more powerfully,
all-satisfying than the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Let us know Jesus in truth. Let us bow in worship of Him. Let us walk blamelessly before Him.
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