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CHURCH LETTER
` Like the Voice of Shaddai '
As is well known by Bible students the Name of our Mighty God is written in many forms in Scripture, and each one, when read in the context of the particular revelation, direction or encouragement given, reveals to us the God in Whom we can trust in the particular circumstance in which we find ourselves.
The more familiar names are: Elohim, which we find in Scripture 2,700 times. It is written in our English Bibles as God and speaks of His creative power, as seen in Genesis chapter 1: `In the beginning God (Elohim) created . . .' We also read of `the LORD', often referred to as Jehovah, or more recently, Yahweh, which speaks of His Eternal Nature: `He Who was and Who is and Who is to come', revealing His Covenanted purposes for those to whom He speaks as LORD. As we move into an understanding of a personal God we find the use of His Name Adonai, usually written as Lord, revealing Himself as One who cares and provides and protects, Who asks for acceptance and trust from those who are His as He releases His blessings. More rarely noticed and written in our Scriptures as GOD is His name EL, revealing Himself as God the Omnipotent, and when written as Elohim we see the Creator God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit putting His omnipotence into operation.
And so we come to His Name Shaddai, written in our Bibles as Almighty. It has a meaning of `One who supplies all we need to follow Him'. Shaddai is often used with the prefix `El', but now not as a Creator God or a God of strength but as One of Grace. If we put the two together as El Shaddai we see an all-bountiful God of Grace revealed to those who know Him and are called into a walk of trust as He leads us. We see this in Genesis 17:1:
" When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and
said, `I am El Shaddai; walk before Me and be perfect. I will make
My Covenant between Me and you and will increase your numbers. "
Shaddai is one of the most intimate personal names of God, for it has the sense of the all-powerful EL yet He is able to reach out to His people in a warm and tender relationship - not unlike that of a child who lays in its mother's arms, satisfied with the milk from her breast, content and safe. Psalm 131 expresses this safe place:
" But I have stilled and quietened my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother. "
The setting of those words is that of Hezekiah - surrounded by the armies of Sennacherib who are bent on the destruction of Jerusalem - who has caught sight of the LORD, a Covenanted God who will deliver both him and Jerusalem for He has given His word that this will be so. Therefore Hezekiah could rest in the arms of El Shaddai, for there the blessings of peace and security are found.
And so with that background in place we come to our title which we find in the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel: (v 24)
" I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the
voice of Shaddai, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host. When
they stood still, they lowered their wings. "
Ezekiel's name itself gives us an understanding of what lies ahead of him, for it has a meaning of `God strengthens'. EL's creative power would strengthen Ezekiel and enable him to fulfil his calling, for Ezekiel was taken into captivity in the first wave of the onslaught of the Babylonians. Now eleven years after his captivity he was called and strengthened to prophesy the coming desolation of Jerusalem, and as is recorded in these opening verses he was given a terrifying vision of the angelic hosts of the LORD's power and authority through which Ezekiel's prophecy would be fulfilled. As to the exactness of the date of that prophecy we see it recorded in the opening verse:
" Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month,
in the fifth day of the month . . . . . "
What was the importance of the thirtieth year, for Scripture is very specific? We have written on this in our study on Ezekiel, `Son of man, will these bones live?', but in this Letter it is sufficient to say that it takes us back to the time of King Josiah and the finding of the Book of the Law. This led to the great Feast of Passover at that time, which was the commencement of a fourty-year Probation Period for Israel which brought them to the time Ezekiel prophesied - the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people of Judah. As we read on we see that Ezekiel was indeed in need of Shaddai's protection and care, for chapter 3 opens with these words: (v 4-7)
" Son of man, go, get yourself to the House of Israel and speak My words
to them . . . . But the House of Israel will not listen to you, for they will
not listen to Me. "
And so with Shaddai's strengthening power Ezekiel was called to speak judgement on the false prophets and the Elders, upon the Land and even upon Jerusalem itself. Zedekiah, a puppet king appointed by Nebuchadnezzar in place of Judah's rightful King Jehoiachin who was in captivity in Babylon, sought an alliance with Egypt in order to be free of Babylon. But this caused the onslaught of the Babylonian armies, fulfilling completely `the Word of the LORD concerning Judah', bringing desolation on Jerusalem and the land and captivity for its people. This Probation ended the same way as had previous ones, and as would those which followed - destruction, death and captivity!
Throughout Scripture we find many `principles' of God which often conflict with our more narrow understanding. Ezekiel, a priest called to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem, was taken captive into a foreign land, and there he would prophesy against those who were still in Jerusalem conducting their priestly duties. Little wonder, then, that `the House of Israel will not listen to you, for they will not listen to Me'. For twenty-two years Ezekiel faithfully outworked his calling, prophesying alone and in captivity to a people who would not listen. He needed to know the intimate, personal strengthening of Shaddai, for in Jerusalem following that first wave of captivity the priests were back in control again. There was no legitimate king on the throne to cause them trouble . . . no vision, only endless rituals . . . therefore with the people pacified and life continuing as before there was no common belief in the people in the land. Ezekiel was taken into captivity to shake this complacency and proclaim what were clearly prophecies in their Hebrew Scriptures, which are also within the closed Canon of our own Scriptures. We too need to hear the voice of God's true prophets who, as with Ezekiel, are in `exile'!
Ezekiel was first given the vision: (1:3)
" The Word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest . . .
and the Hand of the LORD was there upon him . . . . "
Those who speak in the LORD's Name must first have seen Him, so as to shelter under `the wings of Shaddai' and to receive His succour and strength to fulfil the calling chosen for them by the LORD. Verses 24-28 tells of this nourishing strength:
" I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the Voice of Shaddai, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host . . . . And there was a Voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness and the appearance of a Man upon it . . . . And when I saw it I fell upon my face, and I heard the Voice of the One who spoke. "
This was El Shaddai Who had called to Abram, Moses and others all those long years ago. Now He was calling Ezekiel into the same lonely (but not alone) walk, totally trusting in the same care, provision and protection which had enabled those who were called to walk in total trust in Shaddai for they had met with Him and were certain of His Grace to supply all their needs. But lest conceit be found in the hearts of those who now walk in the fulness of the `New Covenant' promised and released to `the House of Israel and the House of Judah', we need to remember that those men of old such as Abram, Moses and Ezekiel walked under the full anointing of Shaddai just as those who are called for His purpose in our own time, for truly He is `the Lord Who does not change'! The Apostle Paul was such a man, and in his way he had to hear that same Voice Ezekiel had heard, and as he experienced his own lonely (but never alone) walk he could draw on the same nourishing strength of Shaddai in Whom he learned to trust. As would be expected, Shaddai was the strength, care and protection the Patriarchs knew in their walk of trust, for not only Abraham but Jacob and Joseph too are shown in the writings of Genesis to have known this loving protective care of God who succoured them as Shaddai. God spoke to and upheld Job over thirty times as this man of God learned to trust Him in his distress, and finally at the end of his life, `the LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first'.
It was as Shaddai that God the Father upheld His Son on His lonely walk. Rejected by men unto death, He was able to walk to that humiliating cross knowing that He was totally within His Father's will. In his First Letter Peter wrote to `God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered . . .' and he encouraged them by the Holy Spirit as the Voice of Shaddai reminded them that they were: (1 Peter 2:9)
" A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of
darkness into His wonderful light. "
Among those people there will be many called today, like Ezekiel the priest who was cut off from Jerusalem where his whole life had been centered in service to God - cut off, still a priest but now called to a life of sacrifice as a prophet! But first, and then continuously, must come the testing of their priestly sacrifice to speak as a prophet - to test prophecy there must first come the testing of the prophet, `Has the prophet seen the power and glory of God and heard the Voice of Shaddai Who will uphold, protect and provide for him as he speaks the word of God to an increasingly hostile Church'? In his Letter to the Hebrews the writer speaks of those who in earlier times were also called: (11:32 and 12:1-2)
" And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak,
Samson . . . . . . Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud
of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders . . . . Let us fix our
eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. "
It was as El Shaddai that God the Father sustained His Beloved Son Jesus during His earthly work, and it is as El Shaddai that He still sustains His people as they outwork their earthly calling:
" Let us therefore run with perseverance the race marked out for us. "
Selah
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