Remember what God told Moses to tell His people? Tell them that "I AM" has sent you (Exodus 3:1-14). In this name is the very essence of God. Here God is saying that I am everything you need me to be. When you are faced with an enemy I am there to deliver you and fight for you. when you are lacking in something I am there to provide for you, I am the creator and possessor of everything.
El Elyon: God Most High, Creator and Possessor of Heaven and Earth. El Shaddai: God All-Powerful and All-Sufficient. Jehovah Jireh: The Lord Who Sees and Who Provides. In Genesis 14:1-22 we find the first war ever recorded in human history. In this war we find Abram rescuing his brothers son, Lot. Two recognizable names occur here, Sodom and Gomorrah. There was a confederation of kings that came against these two cities and overtook them. They pillaged the cities of all their goods and took many people captive, including Lot and his family. Abram was given word of this war and the capture of Lot. Abram took his servants and traveled 140 miles before they overtook the invaders. Abram and his servants defeated the invaders with little problem. Abram regained all the wealth and goods of the two cities plus all the captives including Lot and his family.
After Abram had defeated and captured these confederations of kings, Abram was meant by Melchizedek, who was referred to as The "King of Salem" and the "Priest of the Most High God," Genesis 14:18. This dual description tips us off as to who Melchizedek was a type of. "Having both descriptions of king and priest alerts us to Melchizedek's role as a type-a living picture-of Christ Himself", According to David Wilkerson's book "Knowing God By Name." We find in this portion of scripture how Abram came to put his full confidence and trust in El Elyon. First we find that Melchizedek served Abram a covenant meal of bread and wine. Then as King, Melchizedek accepted a tithe, a tenth of all that Abram had. Abram during this encounter came to understand that God, El Elyon, was all he needed and therefore did not need anything from the King of Sodom.
After the encounter with Melchizedek, Abram was approached by the King of Sodom who made this very generous offer to Abram. Genesis 14:21 says this "Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself." Quoting from David Wilkerson's book the "The Names Of God" we will find the reason why the King of Sodom made such an offer;"
To gain the full impact of the King's offer here, we need to examine the scene more closely. Here was godly Abram, leading home all the freed captives of Sodom and Gomorrah. Satan must have been enraged at the sight. His plan, I suspect, for spreading Sodom's wickedness had been demolished. He was probably seething! I can imagine his thoughts running along these lines: "This holy man has become the people's hero and deliverer. Worse, I just saw him communing with Melchizedek, the priest of God! The Lord must be planning to convert all of these Sodomites."
At that point, I believe, the devil filled Sodom's king with a spirit of jealousy. You can almost hear Satan's scheming voice speaking through this vile king: "Keep all the spoils, Abram. You can have everything we possess. Just give me back my people." In reality, the devil was pleading, "Please, Abram---take everything you want. Just don't take these souls away from me.
You must understand: The goods that Sodom's king offered to Abram were more than just a wagonload of groceries. These were the spoils of two prosperous city-states: thousands of cattle, sheep, camels, donkeys, weapons, clothing and furnishings---treasures of gold, silver, diamonds, jewels and precious stones.
Yet Abram refused the offer without hesitation. He told the king, "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich" (Genesis 14:22-23).
In other words Abram was saying, you can have all the riches and people, I'm taking Lot and his family with me.
What mattered to Abram most was preserving God's reputation. During his meeting with Melchizedek Abram came to the realization that God, El Elyon, was the creator of heaven and earth and everything in it belonged to Him. He had no desire to receive anything from a mere earthly king. God, the creator was now the most important aspect in Abram's life. Nothing else mattered except to please Him. Abram had his eyes opened to the fullness of God and he wanted nothing else. Read Genesis 14:19-20, He (Melchizedek) blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand."
Embedded in these verses is the name for Jehovah God: El Elyon. It means literally, "God Most High, creator and possessor of heaven and earth." Melchizedek was declaring to Abram not just the greatest of all the gods. He is the creator of the entire universe. Everything in it belongs to Him. (David Wilkerson, Knowing God by Name).
Every devoted Christian has discovered the Lord as his savior from sin. David Wilkerson ask these questions: "Yet have we also discovered Him as El Elyon, God Most High, creator and possessor of all things? Have we begun to see Him with new eyes as Abram did? Are we convinced that He holds our entire lives and well-being in His hands? Hebrews 13:8 says that "He is the same yesterday, today and forever." Are you persuaded that God is in absolute control over all things in your life? Are you able to face the storms, tests and trials in your life, calmly testifying, "My God, El Elyon, has everything under control? Do you trust His power to help you resist every temptation the devil throws at you? Can you trust that if God has created a new heart in you, He also has the power to create in you a hunger and thirst to know Him more intimately?
We obtain this kind of power only by laying hold of the revelation that our God is El Elyon. This means, in contemporary terms, there are no accidents in my life, no such things as fate, happenstance or luck, either good or bad. Every step I take is ordered by the Lord. Everything in my life, in fact, everything in this universe, is under HIs control. His Word tells me that Satan cannot tempt me any more than I can bear. My boss is always faithful to show me the way of escape." (David Wilkerson, know the names of God).
I hope this has been helpful in coming to know the one and true God. We will look at more names soon, but until then take the time to understand your position with El Elyon.
If you would like to see a more detailed look at this name, click on the following link for further insight.
