“Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” —Genesis 14:19-20 NASB
From Chapter 1 of this book, we learned El Roi was the One who sought us and found us. He called us by our name, causing us to face where we came from and where we are going. He required accountability for our choices and blessed our obedience. He saw our affliction and heard our misery. It is God Most High who shows us a glimpse of our future and continues to want to be wanted. It is to Him we give our praise, for He has answered our prayers by delivering our enemies into our hand.
We studied Abraham, beginning with Chapter 15 in Genesis, when God renewed his covenant with him to make his name great and promised to give him a son. Two previous chapters in Genesis before this account reveal more about God Most High. Lot, Abram’s nephew, tagged along on the journey to the land God would reveal. Lot also had many flocks, tents and herdsmen. When they came to the plain of the Jordan, quarrelling arose among the herdsmen on both sides because their possessions were very great. Abram suggested, “We are family, but we need to separate. If you choose to go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”
Lot chose the best, fertile, green, lush valley of the Jordan and pitched his tents near Sodom. Abram traveled eastward into the land of Caanan. After he was alone, the Lord spoke to Abram, giving him the land as far as his eyes could see—to him and his offspring forever. Abram decided to move to Hebron near the great trees of Mamre.
About this time, war broke out among nine kings, four against five. The five joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea, also known as the Dead Sea). The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah. “They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom” (Gen. 14:12). Lot and his family were no longer near the wicked city of Sodom, but inside, and now, captured.
Abram learned of the capture, rallied his 318 trained men, and took the offensive against the warring Canaanites and Perizzites of the whole land. He pursued over rough terrain to Damascus, about 200 miles, and recovered all the goods, Lot and his family and all the other people taken captive.
After his return from battle, “the king of Sodom met Abram at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the Kings’ Valley). And Melchizedek King of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.” —Genesis 14:19-20
God Most High Blesses Abram
Abram did not do as he had done so many times before and afterward, to build an altar and worship God in praise. Instead, it was the priest of God Most High who came out to meet Abram. He blessed him, even referring to him as “Abram of God Most High,” refreshing him physically and mentally. Through God Most High’s initiative, He let Abram know He had been there all the time, like the Teacher showing up after a test, and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The people of the land witnessed Abram’s God as God Most High, higher than all other gods, who gave victory to a man with only 318 men and three neighbors in a surprise night attack. The wicked king of Sodom told Abram to keep the goods and give him the people.
“And Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’” (Gen. 14:22-23 NASB). Abram took nothing except what his men had eaten and gave a share to his men, but only after giving the tithe to Melchizedek, King of Salem—Salem later known as Jerusalem.
God Most High: One Huge Priestly Presence
According to Hebrews 7, Melchizedek’s “name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace.’ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever” (Heb. 7:2-3).
This is to whom Abram gave his tithe (where the tithe originated), to one who was like the Son of God, “one huge priestly presence dominating the landscape always” (Heb. 7:3 The Msg). The writer of Hebrews interprets Jesus to be the permanent fulfillment of Melchizedek’s type of priesthood, “For it is declared, ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek’” (Heb. 7:17).
One huge priestly presence dominating the landscape always, probably no better explanation of who God Most High is. More specifically, though, who is He? As with the names of God that define His character, El Roi, Elohim, and El Shaddai, the “El” of El Elyon is a Hebrew noun for God emphasizing “might, strength and power.”[1]
Most High in Hebrew means Elyôwn (regularly seen as Elyon). It is a Hebrew adjective originating from the Hebrew word Âlâh which simply means “to ascend, to mount up, to go up, to rise; to grow up; to be lifted up, to be put up; to be led up, to be led away; to rise up; to be high, to be exalted.”[2] Thus, Elyôwn means “elevated, high, exalted, the Most High, the Supreme Being (the true God).”[3]
Who is El Elyon? He is God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, doing everything right and just, in total control always, and trustworthy and faithful to His promises.
[1] Spiros Zodiates, Th.D., Executive Editor, The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, (AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN, 1990) p. 1710.
[2] Zodiates, Key Word Study Bible, p. 1758.
[3] Ibid.