“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1, NKJV)
God had spoken to Abram two times previous. In Genesis 12 He had told him to leave his homeland. God had big plans for Abram, and for his descendants. In Genesis 15 God came to Abram in a vision and promised him a son, and entered into covenant with him to be a blessing to the nations.
Now in Genesis 17, Abram is ninety-nine years old and still childless. Yet God insists that the child of promise will be the product of his union with his wife. God prefaces this virtual impossibility by introducing Himself as El Shaddai. He is God Almighty, for whom nothing is impossible. Sure enough, within the year Isaac was born to them.
Years later in the fullness of time, an actually impossible conception would occur. The virgin would be with child. He would be God with us (Immanuel) to save (Jesus).
- What does it mean to your life that nothing is impossible for God?
- What does the name El Shaddai say about God’s promises?
