Genesis 17:1-21
1 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.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

God Almighty, El Shaddai, the one with absolute power and authority over all things, reveals Himself as such to Abraham just before He makes this covenant with him. The first thing He does is issue a command to Abraham—to walk before Him and to be perfect, meaning to be morally whole, to walk undefiled with integrity and sincerity. There is, then, an expectation when dealing with the Almighty to walk before Him with faithfulness and obedience, and these things are at the core of many aspects of our relationship with God. Abraham demonstrated faith and faithfulness through the ups and downs of his life following God up until this point. As demonstrated here in the covenant He makes with Abraham and then reiterates to Isaac and Jacob, El Shaddai is a God with the power to make promises and to keep them. This absolute power ensures His plan is able to be accomplished how He wants it to be done to bring about this great blessing that He promises.

When making this covenant, God changes Abram’s name, meaning “high father,” to Abraham, meaning “a father of many nations.” He has the power to name, and within this is the power to determine the person that Abraham would be. El Shaddai has power over our lives and who we become, what we do, where we go. He can make us into something we could have never been without Him and His working in our lives. God has the power to multiply Abraham’s seed abundantly, meaning it is ultimately El Shaddai who enables us to be fruitful in our lives. Up until this point, Abram had only fathered Ishmael, but as Abraham, he would father Isaac and birth the nation of Israel, fathering a numberless multitude, as God had promised. From his line would come many mighty men, kings, rulers, and others of renown, ultimately leading to Christ Himself.

But more than a people, God also promises a possession. He had the power to determine the land they would have and the specific location in which they would dwell. He promised to give the forthcoming nation the land of Canaan in its entirety and eternally. Likewise for us, God has the power to determine our place—our place in this world, our place in time, our place in His plan. He works these things out deliberately to fulfill His purpose within us and through us in what He wants us to do specifically where we are.

El Shaddai has the power to give life in dead places. He changes Sarai’s name to Sarah and promises a barren woman a special son of promise who would lead to the ultimate Son of Promise. Everything would pass through this lineage that God is establishing here, and Sarah, who lived all those years without a child of her own, would bear Isaac, her laughter and joy, and would become the mother of this all-important nation. God has the power to give us new life, as well. He can give eternal life to those dead in their sins. He can make us new. He can give new purpose and new blessings from the most painful aspects of our lives. El Shaddai has the power to make the impossible possible.

If we are going to trust in the promises of God, we must know that He is powerful, indeed all-powerful. He has power over every aspect of our lives and power over everything on this Earth. He has power over all powers. It’s up to us to choose whether we will submit to Him and walk before Him in faith and obedience or to turn away from Him and thus face the consequence of not trusting Him.

Geneses 28:1-5
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

The blessing is passed from Isaac to Jacob when he sends him off to find a wife from among his brethren. Again the multiplying of the nation is reiterated and the blessing that God will give to them in the land they will possess. Again it is El Shaddai who has initiated this promise and who continues to work it out in each subsequent generation.

Genesis 35:9-15
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

God appears to Jacob as El Shaddai upon his return home and shares with him both His command to be fruitful and multiply, as well as His promise to give a nation, kings, and the land to his people. As with Abraham, God changes Jacob’s name, and he goes from “supplanter” to Israel, “he will rule as God.” It is a dramatic transformation, and it is he who gives the nation its name. The God of absolute power makes these declarations to the three patriarchs with the absolute surety that this will come to pass. It must come to pass, for from them will eventually come the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the promised land into which He will usher His people.

God works in our lives in a similar way. He has a specific purpose for each one of us. We may not think of ourselves as part of some grand eternal plan like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were, but there are things that God wants each of us to do that have eternal implications. He wants us to follow Him with trust and obedience. He wants to bring about His best and His blessings into our lives. He wants us to be fruitful and multiply, to help others know Him and to grow in their own walk with Him. It’s part of every believer’s purpose to make Christ known to the lost and dying all around us.

Psalm 91:1-16
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

It is this all-powerful God who is our protection when we choose to put our trust in Him. This is the absolute power we reside inside when we make El Shaddai our refuge and our fortress. We are sheltered with His power surrounding us, so He offers a sure deliverance from everything that could come against us. No evil can penetrate through Him. All the weapons of the enemy fall short and ultimately fail. The angels are at His command and available for our help. This is the covenant giver, the promise maker, the promise keeper. He alone has the power and ability to do what He does. So will we choose to put our trust in Him? Will we dwell that near to Him and find rest and safety in Him alone?

When we need a Savior, when we need a blessing, when we need help and protection, when we need guidance, when we need hope, we can look to and trust in El Shaddai, the Almighty. There is nothing too hard for Him. There is nothing He cannot do. The only limitation is our own faith and belief—or lack thereof. He can give us a new name and change our destiny. He can make our life and our legacy something beyond what we could have managed on our own. He can provide a place of purpose and ownership where we can dwell in safety and freedom.

It is El Shaddai who fights against His enemies, one who cannot be defeated or overcome. He will always gain the victory. The judgment upon unbelievers is a fulfillment of the promises of El Shaddai and an execution of what He had warned would come upon those who rejected Him. He has the power and authority to make promises and to keep them. Therefore, He likewise keeps the promise to give eternal life to those who do believe in Him. He’s proven Himself worthy of our complete trust, and when we choose to trust Him, it is His infinite power that surrounds us always.