“El Shaddai and Yahweh Rapha” START As your Connect Group time begins, use this section to introduce “One of the great the topic of discussion. benefits of knowing God personally is that you will What are some ways we can really get to know people? become increasingly How has current culture made it easier to know others? bold for Him. Bold to speak for Him, Bold to How has it made it harder? What can we learn as we represent Him think through these differences? regardless of the It takes effort and intentionalitty to get to know other people. The consequences, Bold to same is true in our relationship with God. He wants us to pursuit confront evil because and know Him more intimately. 2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the you know who has your back – like the psalmist grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him you know He will protect be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.” As we continue you.” to learn more about God and His character during the “Above Every Other” series, let’s discover how we can know Him in new -Paul Coleman and fresh ways. We will learn more about God today as we look at two more of His names-“El Shaddai” and “Yahweh Rapha.” READ GENESIS 17:1-5 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless. 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.” EXODUS 15:22-27 “Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. 23 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah. 24 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. 26 He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water.” REVIEW Context/Commentary/Background GENESIS 17:1-5 LIFEWAY SMALL GROUP COMMENTARY 17:1-2. Thirteen years passed between the end of chapter 16 and the beginning of chapter 17. Ishmael was now a teenager, and Abram received a visit from El-Shaddai, the Almighty. This was God’s special name for confrontation with the patriarchs. God asked Abram to continue walking in righteousness and confirmed the covenant of the seed. This chapter raises Abram to a new level of spiritual experience. Apparently his continuing need for confidence and reassurance occasioned this fresh revelation from God. 17:3. God again emphasized to Abram that this promise was my covenant with you. Bible scholars consider this the third covenant of the Old Testament. This covenant took the form of a suzerainty- vassal conditional pledge in which both parties played a role. This was significantly different from the unconditional promise of chapter 15. 17:4-5. The name change from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of many”) indicates the sovereign authority of El-Shaddai and an additional pledge that God would fulfill his promise. Every time Abraham and Sarah heard their new names, they would be reminded of God’s promise and encouraged by his faithfulness. In these verses Abraham was quiet before God, who did all the talking. GENESIS 17:1-8 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY 17:1–8. God’s promises to Abram grew more and more magnificent. As God Almighty, He was fully capable of accomplishing all His promises. (This is the first OT occurrence of the title “God Almighty” [’ēl šadday], which is used several times in Gen. [17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; cf. 49:25]. Some scholars suggest that šadday is related to the Akk. word šadû that means breast or mountain or both. [Some words describing parts of the body were also used for geographical descriptions; e.g., “mouth” of a river, “foot” of a mountain.] So šadday, when used of God, refers either to His ability to supply abundantly [“the Abundant One”] or to His majestic strength [“the Almighty One”].) Now, God said … you will be the father of many nations (17:4; cf. “a great nation,” 12:2), and kings will come from you (17:6; cf. v. 16). And, God said, the covenant will be everlasting (v. 7). Also the land of Canaan, which Abram would possess (15:7), would be an everlasting possession of Abram’s descendants. 2 The patriarch’s name change was crucial. The name Abram (17:5), meaning “exalted father,” harked back to Terah (11:27) and implied that Abram came from royal lineage. But in Hebrew the name Abraham (’aḇrāhâm) sounds similar to “father of a multitude” (’aḇ hămôn) of nations (17:4– 5). His new name implied a look ahead to his descendants. One can well imagine that Abram was hurt by the suppressed smiles on the faces of his men when he told them to call him Abraham, meaning the father of a multitude of nations—when he was 99 years old (vv. 1, 24). Yet Abraham knew that God had not deceived him. His new name and his wife’s new name were perpetual reminders of God’s sure word. Every time someone addressed him he would recall God’s promise, until finally Isaac, the child of promise, would call him “abba” (father).1 EXODUS 15:22-27 THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY 15:22–26. Leaving the lakes region the Israelites entered the Desert of Shur in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula. That desert was also called the Desert of Etham (Num. 33:8). Traveling southward the Israelites went three days … without … water until they came to Marah (probably present-day Ain Hawarah). But they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. So they complained against Moses. This response is amazing in light of their recent deliverance and triumphal songs of worship. They were so privileged; yet hardship quickly induced them to impugn Moses (cf. Ex. 14:10–12; 16:2; 17:3; Num. 14:2; 16:11, 41). The sight of undrinkable water greatly discouraged the people, but God responded mercifully to Moses’ prayer and made the water drinkable (Ex. 15:25). The wood that Moses tossed into the water did not have a magical effect on the water; it was simply a symbolic act in anticipation of God’s working a miracle (like Moses lifting his staff over the sea, 14:16). Then the Lord gave the people a simple principle: obedience brings blessing, and disobedience brings judgment. The diseases (cf. Deut. 7:15; 28:60) may refer to the plagues, or more likely, to boils (cf. Deut. 28:27) common to the Delta region of Egypt. The sweetening of the water with a branch was another of God’s miracles for keeping His people safe. Today the oasis at Ain Hawarah has only bitter water. 15:27. From Marah the people went to Elim, probably Wadi Gharandel about seven miles south of Marah, where there was abundant water and shade as is true today. There were 12 springs and 70 palm trees at Elim. Exactly how long the people camped there is not stated. Perhaps Moses’ knowledge of the region helped the people locate Elim.2 1 Allen P. Ross, “Genesis,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 58. 2 John D. Hannah, “Exodus,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 133–134. 3 EERDMANS BIBLE DICTIONARY El Shaddai (el shad´ī), a name that God used to reveal himself to the patriarchs in the Priestly source of the Pentateuch. Outside of the passages Gen. 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; and Exod. 6:3, it occurs only in Ezek. 10:5. El Shaddai is like other Hebrew names of God in Genesis beginning with the element el, ‘God,’ plus a substantive or adjective, e.g., El Olam (‘the Everlasting God’), El Elyon (‘God most High’), El Elohe Yisrael (‘El the God of Israel’). The etymology of Shaddai is not certain; ‘God, the One of the mountain’ is plausible, the mountain being the divine residence.3 BAKER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE Yahweh-Rapha (rapha, “healer”) appears in Exodus 15:26, when Israel is assured that God, their healer, will prevent the diseases of Egypt from affecting Israel.