The Names Of God Series - El Shaddai

El Shaddai - God Almighty

In 1982, John Thompson and Michael Card changed the face of Christian music. The two friends combined efforts to write a new type of song that would put a young and unknown Amy Grant on the map. That song is entitled El Shaddai.

What is so unique about it? While the music and vocals are great and the song is much like any other Christian ballad, it has a very unusual feature. Half of the chorus is written in Hebrew.

I was young and in my last year of seminary when I first heard the song. I loved it because I had never really spent much time thinking about the Hebrew names for God. All of a sudden, those names meant something. It really changed how many of us now think of God.

El Shaddai means God Almighty. The most profound use of this name is probably in the book of Exodus. Moses was on a mission to procure the release of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt but he wasn’t getting any respect from the Hebrews or the Pharaoh. So, God spoke to him.

Exodus 6:2-3

“God spoke further to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty.’”

God is telling Moses that His name is God Almighty. He is powerful and able to get this job done. Moses was doubtful of his own ability to do what God had asked. He couldn’t speak well, he was a wanted man among the Egyptians, he knew the power of the Pharaoh’s magicians and he was not being accepted by the Hebrew leaders.

He needed some reassurance and God was giving it to Him. His help came from the fact that God held the name El Shaddai. He is God Almighty. He is not like those false idols and fake “gods” that the Egyptians worshipped. This God is real and He is about to come in power and might to lead His people! To Moses, He is El Shaddai ... God Almighty.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

El-Elyon na Adonai,

Age to age You're still the same,

By the power of the name.

El Shaddai, El Shaddai,

Erkahmka na Adonai,

We will praise and lift You high, El Shaddai.