Jesus Is the Lord God Almighty (El Shaddai)
The Bible tells us that no one has seen God the Father at any time (John 1: 18, John 5: 37, 1 John 4: 12). Well, who was it that appeared to Abraham more than once?
When Jehovah (sometimes spoken of as Yehovah or Yahweh) appeared to Abraham, in Genesis 17: 1, He said to Abraham, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” (NKJV). Notice that it is Jehovah who appeared to Abraham and spoke to him, saying, “I am Almighty God”. In Genesis chapter two, Jehovah is seen to be the name of God (Elohim). Elohim is a Hebrew word for ‘God’ and is plural.
In Genesis chapter 1:1 we read, “In the Beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.” The name Jehovah is not mentioned. Later in verse 26 we read, “And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” The Hebrew word used for God is Elohim which is plural. In Genesis chapter two, the name of God, Jehovah Elohim, is used and is repeated over ten times. Jehovah is the name of the plural God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), when it is used it is representing the Triune Godhead.
The name of the Lord, Jehovah, has been replaced in many versions of the Bible with the word “LORD”. I am told that this is to stop people accidentally taking the Lord’s name in vain. Wherever you see the word LORD (all capital letters) it is used for Jehovah (YHWH). Jehovah can also be pronounced Yehovah or Yahweh.
The name “I am”, which is also a name of God, has a depth of meaning, such as, “I that ever will be”, “The ever existing One”, “He that is to come” or “the Coming one” (Thomas Newberry, introduction to The Englishman’s Bible).
In Deuteronomy 32: 39, (J. N. Darby version), it says, “See now, that I, I am He”, in Darby’s footnotes to “I am He”, he says, “’The Same,’ ‘the self-existent one.’ This expression becomes virtually a name of God.” In other words, “I Am” is, the never changing one, “The Same, yesterday, today and forever.”
In Hebrews 1: 11-12 when talking about the earth and the heavens we read, “They shall perish but thou continues still; and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a covering thou shalt roll them up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the Same, and thy years shall not fail. ” In JND’s Bible notes he says, ‘The existing one who does not change, — a divine title.’ In Hebrews 13: 8 we read, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” So, if Jehovah, the Almighty God who appeared to Abraham is the one who is the same and does not change, and Jesus is also the same, yesterday, today and forever, then Jesus is the Almighty God.
Furthermore, when Jehovah appeared to Abraham in Genesis 17: 1, He said to Abraham, “I am the Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.” The significance here is the name, it is “I am” followed by Almighty God. In Exodus 3: 13-14, where God met Moses at the burning bush, Moses was concerned that the children of Israel wouldn’t believe him and ask what was God’s name? “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Now when we come to the New Testament in the gospel of John 8: 56-59, there is a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews, Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was I am. Then they took up stones to cast at Him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (KJV). The point here is that when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was I am” it was obvious to the Jews that He was saying “I am that “I AM”,” that is why they took up stones to stone Him.
Is Jesus, Jehovah Saviour?
Elohim meaning “God” is plural and I believe represents the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Godhead consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so Elohim represents the Triune God, or we can say, the Godhead, Now Jehovah (or Yahweh as some prefer) is the name of Elohim (see Genesis 2: 4, 21, 22. 3: 8, 9, 13, 14, etc.) So, Elohim is plural, and inclusive of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is Jehovah. The name of Jesus means “Jehovah is Salvation”, Saviour being the specific ministry that Jesus came to fulfill.
Jesus came to save us; He is Jehovah Saviour. Saviour represents the work He came to do and which He did. He is our Saviour and Redeemer. In Isaiah 60: 16 God tells us, “— and thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Isaiah 49: 26 says the same as Isaiah 60:16, I will use the JND version, “— And all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” God is saying that He is their Saviour and Redeemer, and in Isaiah 43: 11, He says, “I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside me there is no Saviour.” Now, as we know Jesus is our Saviour and Redeemer, there are a lot of scriptures testifying to this, such as 2 Timothy 1:10, 2 Peter 1:1,11. Romans 3:24, Ephesians 1:7, Galatians 3 :13, 1 Peter 1: 19. So, if Jehovah says that He is our Saviour and there is no other besides Him and Jesus is our Saviour and Redeemer, then, Jesus in the New Testament is Jehovah in the Old Testament.
If God is our Saviour and Redeemer, and there is no other, how can He save us or redeem us, because a redeemer must be a near kinsmen (Leviticus 25: 47-49), in other words to save man he would have to be a man. God would have to become man, which surely is impossible? Well, no, not with God, the impossible became possible and Jehovah became a man. The angel Gabriel told Joseph concerning Mary, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS (Jehovah Saviour): for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21). Then in verse 22-23 we read, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which being interpreted is, God with us.”
Jehovah chose to become a man in order to redeem us. His name is Jesus.
Christ Jesus was made in the likeness of men, “And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2: 8). All this, that He, Jehovah, could be our Saviour.
The Mighty God
In Isaiah 9: 6 we read, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (NKJV). Why does it say, “Mighty God” instead of “Almighty God”. The reason is because “Mighty God” is a name that is given to Him to distinguish Him in His character for what He is and what He will do.
Almighty God is El Shaddai. El Shaddai simply means “Almighty God”, while “Mighty God” is a different word in the Hebrew language. The word mighty or mighty one is “gibbor” and it means, powerful, warrior, champion, mighty one, strong and valiant man. This is why His name is called “Mighty God” because He came as a mighty warrior, a champion to fight for our deliverance. When He came to earth, He came to take on the devil and all the forces of darkness. One man against a massive army of evil. He took on the fight and He won; He got the victory over them all, what a mighty man of valor. That is what His name stands for, it is what He is and what He came to do. Jehovah is His name, and ‘Mighty God’ is who Jehovah is. In Jeremiah 32:17-19 Jerimiah says, “Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm; there is nothing too hard for thee: who shewest mercy unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, thou, the great, the Mighty God,– Jehovah of hosts is His name; great in council and mighty in work, —–.” (JND).
He is the Almighty God, but He is also the mighty warrior the powerful fighter, our deliverer.
Psalm 24: 7-10 says, “Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates; yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is He, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah” (JND). This is the time that Jesus ascended to heaven after His great victory over all the powers of darkness and over death and hades. He is called Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.
Isaiah 42: 13 says, “Jehovah will go forth as a mighty man, He will stir up jealousy like a man of war: He will cry, yea, He will shout; He will show Himself mighty against His enemies.” (JND).
Jesus was the Mighty One.
1 John 3:8 says, “— For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil” (KJV).
When Jesus came His ministry was proved by His mighty works. He upbraided the cities where most of His mighty works were done because they repented not (Matthew 11: 20-24 KJV). Jesus said to Capernaum, “And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which had been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day (Matthew 11:23).
Mark 6: 2 says, “And when the sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands?” (KJV).
Jesus the mighty warrior, is Jehovah the Almighty God.
Finally, it has been a difficult subject to explain simply, so I think it best that this next point has come last.
I have explained that Elohim is plural, and is used for the triune God, however not all Hebrew words for “God” are plural. El is singular standing for The Mighty God.
When Jehovah, the triune God appeared to Abraham, He said unto Abraham, “I am the Almighty God.” Here the word for God is El which is singular.
Thomas Newberry in his Newberry Bible, also called The Englishman’s Bible, says that El signifies “strong”. He goes on to say that “The persons of the Godhead are three— Father, Son, and Spirit; but in nature and essence God is one. Each attribute of God is infinite. One infinite eternal love, one infinite almighty power, and so on; hence the attributes are connected generally with the singular name for God, El.”
I hope you understood that, there are three in the Godhead, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, however they are all one when it comes to their nature, essence and attributes. So, what I am saying is that they share the same attributes. You cannot have one being Almighty and the other being Mighty. God (El) is Almighty, and God (El) is Mighty, two attributes of the one God. Elohim is plural and El is singular, they are the same God, Jehovah is His name (Genesis 2: 4, 2 Samuel 22: 32).
Understanding John 1:1 might help. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Now I will just adjust it slightly to say what it actually says in the Greek, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God and the Word was God.” The Greek article, which we use the word ‘the’ to express, comes before the first mention of God but is missing before the second mention of God. What the Greek is showing us, is that the first mention of the God is talking about the Father, while the second mention of God is talking about God’s nature, attributes and essence.
Kenneth Wuest explains it better, “The Word was God. Here the word “God” is without the article in the original. When it is used in that way, it refers to divine essence. Emphasis is upon quality or character. Thus, John teaches us here that our Lord is essentially Deity. He possesses the same essence as God the Father, is one with Him in nature and attributes. Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, the teacher, is very God.” (Taken from, Word Studies in the Greek New Testament volume III, Golden Nuggets, The Word of God, page 50-52).
Another point that is worth mentioning in John 1:1 is that the word “with” has more depth in it in the Greek than we show in the English language. It means that the Word was in face to face communion with the Father. In other words there were Two in face to face loving fellowship, yet while there are Two, they are equal and One in their essence, nature and attributes (see John 5; 18, Philippians 2: 6).
Mark Greenwood. September – November 2025.
Contact: mgreenwoodctm@gmail.com