In Song of Songs 2:3 we can read about the shadow of the apple tree, which is the bridegroom who gives shade to His bride, under which she desires to sit.

 

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

 

God put potential in the fruit of the trees in the form of spiritual empowerment, which we can understand even more according to the principle of Genesis 2:9.

 

9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

 

In the Word of God, we learn that there are different shadows with purpose and qualities, which are, for example, His protection, His glory, His supernatural procreative power or His healing power (cf. Psalm 91:1-2; Matthew 17:5; Luke 1:35; Acts 5:15).

 

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty [Note: Shaddai].

2 I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’

 

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’

 

35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

 

15 As a result, people brought those who were ill into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.

 

These shadows include various forms that interact with the presence of God in the form of His being, which is light [Note: consuming fire; cf. Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29].

 

24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

29 for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’

 

Sitting under the shelter of the Most High and dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty – Shaddai according to Psalm 91 goes hand in hand with the inner testimony that God is the refuge and fortress in whom you personally put all your hope.

 

 

The shadow of the Almighty – Shaddai is the caring shadow of His love, which we can clearly see in the following explanation.

 

=> The name ‘Shaddai’ is derived from a word that is used eighteen times in the Word of God for ‘mother’s breast’. Applied to God, it has the meaning: ‘He is the One who loves.’

This leads us to speak of God’s motherly love.

 

‘El-Shaddai’ is the name most often used to express the relationship between God and His children. The mother is everything and enough for the infant. He snuggles up to her breast, knows he is safe there and is cared for. There he receives everything he needs.

 

The name ‘El-Shaddai’ is a vivid image of God’s caring and protective love. God is the helper who gives His people full sufficiency.

 

Applied to the various names of God, it can be said that the soil of nature is created by ‘Elohim’, whereby ‘El-Shaddai’ furrows it with His omnipotence and scatters the seed of promise in it. ‘YAHWEH’ brings the seed of promise to blossom and bear fruit, so that the entire old creation is transformed by this fruit.

 

The covenant with Noah is made in the name ‘Elohim’, the covenant with the patriarchs in the name of God ‘El-Shaddai’; the covenant with Israel in the name ‘YAHWEH’. God’s covenant with Noah is about the created and renewed nature, the covenant with the patriarchs contains a groundbreaking newness against nature and against all hope; the covenant with Israel is the effect of a new beginning that has grace and truth at its core.

 

The name ‘El-Shaddai’ is mentioned forty-eight times in the Tanakh and is used thirty-one times in the book of Job. The fact is poignant. It is not that the author of the book invented this name for God; rather, it is the Holy Spirit, the author of the genuine Scriptures, who allows God to be called by this name. No book in the Tanakh reveals the omnipotence and the offer of God’s love in such a wonderful way as the book of Job does. <=

(Note: The text set in ‘=>’ is based on a name explanation of the name ‘El-Shaddai’ from the German book ‘Die Namen des Ewigen – The Names of the Eternal’, pages 141-144 by Abraham Meister.)

 

Being under this providential shadow of God’s love results in a high degree of security and safety that is like a fortress. The Hebrew word used for ‘fortress’ in Psalm 91:2 is the word ‘mâtsûd’, which means, among other things, ‘net, …’ and comes from a Hebrew root word meaning a ‘net for catching fish or animals’. (Note: The word explanation for the Hebrew word for ‘fortress – mâtsûd’ and its root word is based on an explanation from Strong’s Concordance with the word key number: H4685, H4686.)

 

 

It is no coincidence that Jesus chose the boat of the disciple Simon in the facet of the teacher and instructed him to go out on the water because of the large crowd of people who wanted to hear Jesus’ words. From there, Jesus taught the people (cf. Luke 5:1-3).

 

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding round him and listening to the word of God.

2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.

3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

 

In this context, it is necessary for us to carry out the cleansing of interpersonal relationships within our God-given network according to our responsibility.

 

We know that when God ushers in a new age, His Word interacts with the Spirit and ‘the water’ to establish His order and reveal the new time to us (cf. Genesis 1:1-3 i.c.w. John 1:1-4).

 

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.

 

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

 

Psalm 119:105 teaches us profoundly that the Word of God is a light, which encompasses revelatory truth.

 

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

 

 

It is the new time that goes hand in hand with a great catch that is currently in the deep dimension of God in the crystal sea before the throne. This great catch has not yet come into view in the earthly realm despite the action of the ecclesia in faith (cf. Revelation 4:6a).

 

6a Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. …

 

The Holy Spirit first leads us into listening to the Word of God, which Jesus as Rabbi – Teacher speaks from the facet of the human face in the spirit of counsel and understanding.

It is hidden truth in the form of wisdom and knowledge that we need to receive at this time (cf. Colossians 2:3).

 

… 3 in whom [Note: Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

 

This leads to this great catch. It requires us and needs from us to internalize and apply the truth in order to respond to the coming command of the LORD and move deeper into the presence of God. This is where the great catch is located, which is connected to the providing and protecting nature of God (cf. Luke 5:4-7).

 

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’

5 Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

7 So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

 

 

It is the power of the Word of God that must be believed and acted upon. This is revealed by the meaning of the Greek word for ‘to teach’. It can also be described as ‘the open outstretched hand held out in the form of granting something to someone’. (Note: part excerpt from the Strong’s Concordance to the Greek word ‘didạskō – to teach, instruct’ with the word key number: G1321)

 

Based on this, we can see that the teaching of the truth by Christ leads to establishing strength and faith for the coming catch in order to pull it into the boat with outstretched hands or arms (cf. Romans 10:17).

 

17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

The result of the power of the Word of God is that the time of the past is redeemed.

 

And the redeeming of time includes the measure of our faithfulness to Him, despite the non-occurrence of the expected result in the past, so that there is a breakthrough in this time for the future period (cf. Ephesians 5:16 i.c.w. Colossians 4:5).

 

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

 

5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

 

 

The greatness of the coming catch requires spiritual cooperation on a regional, national and international level, depending on the calling, so that God can be and is recognized by the people as the Almighty in the form of the fortress and the place of refuge (cf. Luke 5:7).

 

7 So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

 

Let us internalize the bread of Heaven, which is Jesus Christ, and in the power of His ‘spread Word’ over the waters, which is His governing presence, let us move forward strengthened in faith and enter into His protecting and providing presence in the form of the great catch (cf. Ecclesiastes 11:1 i.c.w. John 6:32-35).

 

1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

 

32 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

34 ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’

35 Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 

In a ‘fast-moving world’, it is we who are allowed to manifest the perfect work of redemption in Christ for the glory of the Father, and this is by no means possible without our surrender to the revelatory truth of the Word of God.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm