By John Mitchell
El Elyon
The second name of God is in Genesis 14:18-22In Acts 7:2 "The God of glory appeared unto Abraham when he was still in Ur of the Chaldees."
What kind of God did Abraham have? The first revelation to His friend Abraham was by the name El Elyon, the Most High God.
God calls Abram out of Ur and he did. What made him follow?
Genesis 14:18-23 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for thyself.” And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the Most High God [El Elyon], the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe strap, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say,‘I have made Abram rich’.”
Now, the offering of the king of Sodom seems nice, but Abraham is not going to fall for its trap. He knows his God is El Elyon, possessor of everything. It is God Who has made me rich, and he was not going to rob God of that glory.
The Most High divided the nations.
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
Paul had seen that men were worshiping a god without name and explained to them who that God was,
Acts 17:26-27 And He hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.
God put the nations in the best place to find Him.
History showed us that men was not satisfied with the place God gave them. Nations were not satisfied with the portion God gave them. That is why the history of mankind is plagued with war.
When El Elyon separated the nations, He did it according to number of the people of Israel. Battling the Most High God will take you to destruction.
Daniel 4:24-25, 32, 34-35 this is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen; and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen. And seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.” “And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay His hand or say unto Him, ‘What doest Thou?’"
Nebuchadnezzar found that a decree from the Most High God can't be changed.
Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
What place could be safer than by El Elyon, the possessor of everything?
Now let us look at Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus is called the son of El Elyon.
Luke 1:32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David.
You find in the Gospel of Luke Jesus casting demons. You don't find this in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is the revelation of Christ as manifested in flesh. You find three miracles of creation, three miracles of healing, and one of raising the dead. He picks up seven signs to prove Jesus' sonship. But Luke's gospel is our Lord in the midst of men.
Luke 4:33-34 And in the synagogue there was a man, who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee and who Thou art — the Holy One of God!”
Luke 8:30-31 And Jesus asked him, saying, “What is thy name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many devils had entered into him. And they besought Him that He would not command them to go out into the deep.
Demons not only know Who Jesus is but know the power He holds over them.
Acts 16:16-18 And it came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed by a spirit of divination met us. She had brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, crying out and saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who show unto us the way of salvation.” And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, “I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that same hour.
Interesting how she was right, but Paul hushed the demons just as Jesus had because demons have no right to testify concerning the Saviour. It is not in the providence of demons to bear testimony concerning the Son. This is the believers responsibility to share the precious story of redemption.
We find that El Elyon is the possessor of everything, the One Who separated the nations, the safest place to abide in. And we find that reflected in Jesus.
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds
He is the heir of all things! Jesus is the owner of the universe! And to top it of, He has made us heirs with Him.
Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so it be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.
We have come into relationship with the One Who owns everything. My! How rich we are! And yet most of us live as paupers. Rich spiritually, not seeking treasure on Earth were the moth and thieves can ruin it but with and inheritance that is eternal, uncorruptible, held by El Elyon. What a great God Who would hold an inheritance for us in heaven, for He is the possessor of everything!
El Shaddai
The Almighty God, the All-power One, the One Who is sufficient.
Genesis 17:1-2 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, “I am the Almighty God. Walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.”
God wants to reveal Himself with different names because He wants us to know what kind of God we have.
Is your God big enough to meet your needs?
Yes! He is El Shaddai, the Almighty! He has power to do His will.
But man has made his own god; he has deified himself. Man doesn't want God to interfere with him. People are becoming more and more bold against God. They don't want to hear about Him and don't want others to hear about Him. We don't want Bibles in the schools!
And mankind sows what he reaps. They sow corruption and reap corruption. And still man hold they don't need a Saviour.
I may not understand all that God does. How could I when He is omnipotent, omniscient, all powerful, supreme, and unlimited? We are limited in knowledge, experience, in gifts. It's a gift that He has revealed Himself, so we can know Him. One day God is going to complete His purpose for men and for Earth, whether you believe it or not. Just as sure as He is on the throne, He is going to do what He wants to do.
People ask what kind of God would allow the things that happen on Earth. The answer is simple: men are reaping what they have sowed.
He is the only One Who can deliver you from the bondage and the penalty of sin, from the fear and power of death, and sit you in the presence of God. He can use us to reach nations for Himself.
When God revealed Himself as El Shaddai in Genesis 17:1 to Abraham and gave him the Abrahamic covenant, He did so to show that He is the nourisher; He is able to impart Himself, impart His power, and perform His precious will.
Genesis 13:14-16 And the Lord said unto Abram after Lot was separated from him, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Abraham was 75 at this point and Sarah was 65.
And you come to chapter 16, and still no children. Abraham is 85 and Sarah 75 years of age. From chapter 13 to 16 God is promising Abraham descendants. It is very hard for you and me to wait God's time. We say and teach that God is always on time, but one of the hardest things is to wait for God's time. If He doesn't answer right away we assumed He didn't listened to us. Sarah couldn't wait and took her servant Agar and gave her to Abraham to procreate. Ishmael is born. And from that point you get 13 years of silence and no revelation between chapter 16 and 17. Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born. In the next chapter, he is 99 years of age. For 13 years he is out of the will of God. He was given a promise at 75 years of age and for 11 years did not receive it. At Sarah's 89 years of age there is no hope for them to conceive. But we know that Abraham kept believing.
Romans 4:18-19 Abraham, against all hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall thy seed be.” And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, nor yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
But up until chapter 16 of Genesis they both know God as El Elyon, the Possessor of all. In chapter 17 He reveals Himself as El Shaddai, the Almighty One. It was at this point that Sarah also believed.
Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
We can trust the All-sufficient God is faithful.
Jesus is El Shaddai.
John 8:56-58 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!”
He is the One Who never fails. Abraham failed, Sarah failed. And they got 13 years out of fellowship with God. How long have you been out of fellowship with God for not being able to wait? You might judge Abraham for not waiting though he had been waiting 11 years when he failed. Do we wait God's time? How much do we know about El Shaddai? How much do we wait on the All-sufficient, the One Who when He speaks He is going to keep His word?
He is the God Who is enough for you and for me.
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