Genesis Part 055

God tells Jacob that He is “El Shaddai” (meaning God Almighty or God Most Powerful). This is now the third time this name has been used for God. The first time was in Genesis 17:1 when Abram was 99 years old and, in that chapter, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and required him and his family to be circumcised and promised that a year later he would have a son with Sarah. The second time was in Genesis 28:3 when Isaac used this name “God Almighty” when both blessing Jacob and sending Jacob off to Laban.   

Here in verse 11, we see a new piece added to this promise. God seems pleased with Jacob’s faith and obedience, as He reaffirms with Jacob the promises made to Abraham and Isaac. God even repeats His renaming of Jacob with the new name of Israel, having originally done so in chapter 32. 

God gives the promise of a line of kings again (given before in Genesis 17:4–6). But in giving the promise of national blessing, God adds something mentioned for the first time in Scripture—the promise of a single nation and a company (group) of nations. The New International Version reads, “a nation and a community of nations.” We will see more about this prophecy when we get to Genesis 48, where the birthright blessing passes on to Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh—Manasseh becoming the great single nation and Ephraim becoming the company or group of nations. (These prophecies are fully explained in our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.) 

Verse 14 is the first time we see a “drink offering” in Scripture.  It’s interesting to note how many various practices we see subtly woven into God’s Word, long before there is a nation of Israel, or Mount Sinai. We won’t see this word for “drink offering” used again until Exodus 29:40 when the priests were being consecrated and where wine was used as a drink offering. 

The John Gill Commentary states, “of wine, of which drink offerings under the law were, thereby consecrating it to the worship and service of God. Aben Ezra says it was either of water or of wine, with which he washed it, and after that poured oil on it; and the Targum of Jonathan says, he poured a drink offering of wine, and a drink offering of water.” 

Drink offerings throughout the Old Testament were usually wine, and the amount of wine varied due to which animal was being sacrificed. This wine was poured upon the altar or the object of worship. This pointed to the total devotion to the one who was being worshiped.  We ultimately understand that like the rest of the sacrifices, the drink offerings pointed to and were fulfilled by Jesus Christ (see Isaiah 53:12; Luke 22:20; John 19:34; Philippians 2:7–8). 

Besides Jesus Christ, the New Testament uses this idea of the drink offering to describe how a Christian is to give their whole life in service to the Almighty God! (see Philippians 2:17–18; 2 Timothy 4:6). 

The question for us is, are we doing that?  Are we really pouring out our lives for God and Jesus Christ? In part, we are doing that right now. We could be watching Netflix or scrolling Instagram, but instead, you’re reading this and are prioritizing the study of God’s Word when you have many demands and other options for your time. Let’s continue to pour out our lives in our daily choices and commitments.  

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.