The Advent of El Shaddai

As my heart turns in anticipation toward Advent, the theme song of my heart thrums with the celebration of the God who bound himself to humanity, to save humanity.

I think it’s easy to celebrate his human side—his birth, growing up, even his death and burial. From the prophecies and the stories read during this time, we learn confidence in our connection: he knows our griefs and our sorrows. This knowledge captures our hearts and tenderizes our response to the Christ child. “He is one of us!” we rightly claim, and our hearts celebrate.

And yet, we cannot forget he is both fully man and fully God.

We cannot lose the perspective that this infant child is El Shaddai, come to dwell with us as he promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The full meaning of El Shaddai is probably too deep for us to plumb the depths of, especially in our inadequate English language. Many scholars debate the root words that could possibly have made up the Hebrew name that God chose when he first introduced himself to Abraham in the covenant-making ceremony. Some scholars theorize that it comes from a Babylonian word for a protective spirit who would destroy enemies that came against the house. Others point to an Akkadian word for “mountain of sustenance,” the meaning of which would have likely been known to Abraham since it was the language of his home town.

Others stretch farther to a Hebrew word, Shaddad, which would’ve meant something along the lines of “mighty teat”—not this recent ridiculous notion of a “many breasted one” that is sheer pagan imagery and nonsense. The translation might be two breasts at the most, but more likely the word is “mighty” breasted one, which may be why some of the original Bible translators went with a more male version by using “Almighty.”

Lastly, the rabbis postulate that it comes from the Hebrew sounds “sh” and “day,” creating a uniquely Hebrew word that would mean something like “Your Sufficiency.” In our language, the word “sufficient” is a measly word. Just enough. Barely enough. It implies what is needed and not more. In Hebrew, the words would have been spoken against the backdrop of “El” or the El of all Elohim, the God of all gods. The sufficiency here, would have been God’s all-sufficiency for the person to whom he revealed himself.

With this uniquely Hebrew backdrop, it is likely the name by which God revealed himself to the patriarchs means something like “Out of my abundance, I am your sufficiency.”

Now that meaning lines up with the nature of God revealed to us in the Bible! It also encompasses the meaning of the other words scholars point to. He is our mountain of sustenance, the one who vanquishes the enemies of the house he established—even our life-sustainer as a mother sustains her child. It is possible that to someone in the Old Testament hearing the story of the covenant of Abraham around the campfire, that this name meant all these things, all rolled into one.

He introduces the covenant and himself as the covenant-keeper, saying to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and to us…I am more than sufficient for all your needs, in every way, always.

So, we return to the nativity, to our abundant sufficiency wrapped in the strips of cloth of a sacrificial lamb, lying in a manger. There’s nothing measly or half-measure in the actions of the Creator of the Universe, binding himself to humanity, dwelling with us, healing us, and finally, sacrificing himself because he knew it was the only way to save us.

This is what leads Paul the Apostle to exclaim:

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. - Ephesians 3:18-19

When we say Christ is the promised one, we are also saying he is the one who promised. He is the promiser of promises, fulfilled. He is our El Shaddai.

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Grace is more than enough.