Genesis 12:1-3 English Standard Version

¹ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Searching for the meaning of El Shaddai is difficult as this name of God is best described in how God acts or interacts with His creation. Descriptions vary in definition from Storm God to pours out. The opening verses indicate that God Almighty chose to speak to this one individual who is over 20 generations removed from Adam. God Almighty’s first contact with Abram is loaded with promise and blessings and curses. But why Abram? He was from the Haran.

Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. Ref. Easton’s Bible Dictionary

Abram was born in a land laden with pagan worship. There is no history of Abram’s affiliations with worship of any kind. There is no indication that Abram was special in any way except lineage.

Matthew’s lineage of Jesus begins with Abraham, Luke’s lineage backs in via Jesus son of Joseph, son of Heli, etc. etc. etc. There is no exceptional reason for choosing Abram beyond lineage.

Considering this as a valid reason to choose Abram, then God Almighty’s characteristic in personality could be seen as foreknowledge. God Almighty sees everything from one end of eternity to another and chooses to interact with His creation at times and places to enact His will with purpose of forethought. God Almighty knows the outcome of His interaction with man.

Exodus 6:2-3 English Standard Version

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.

Psalm 19:14 English Standard Version (ESV) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

We begin from a position where this meditation is sourced. What we discover is found in this personal relationship with our Lord and Savior. This is a spiritual effort, not a matter of reasoning with a mind that is still in training to align its thoughts with those of our Lord.

We are in the later years in this experiment in knowing God, not knowing Him as only the God Almighty but rather in multiple aspects of God’s identity. In this effort we must move ourselves from this relationship into one that was meaningful to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What we know of God Almighty should be seen in how He interacts with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It will not be right to identify all the aspects of His identity as the Almighty if He does not act in a manner which is not shown to these three men.

The first character of the Almighty is self-sufficiency. He is God alone and needs no one to enact or force His will upon His creation. He does not show Himself to be self-sufficient even though that is true. He offers Himself up in speech. He speaks with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God who desires to be known.

What the Almighty says to them sets the tone for a lifelong relationship that is rooted in faith. God speaks, they believe, they obey. There are conditional promises made and unconditional promises made. It is in these promises that the parts of the identity of the Almighty are shown.

Not every part of God Almighty is seen in these relationships, only those that serve God’s will and purpose.