Why God as Our ‘El Elyon’ Brings Us Victory
El is a Hebrew word meaning “god” that was commonly used by many of the pagan nations during the time of the ancient Israelites. The Canaanites, for example, called their gods El. But it was the one true God—the God of Avraham (Abraham), Yitz’chak (Isaac), and Ya`akov (Jacob)—who proclaimed that He, the God of Israel, is not only El (God) but El Elyon (God Most High), the highest, exalted One. We see this in Genesis 14, where God first revealed Himself as El Elyon. Abraham, then called Abram, received word that four kings had conspired to attack Sodom and Gomorrah and had taken his nephew Lot hostage and seized all Lot’s possessions. Abram gathered 318 trained men from his household and pursued the kings, not only rescuing Lot and reclaiming his goods but also saving the others who had been taken captive and recovering their possessions as well. It was a tremendous victory.
Afterward Abram met Melchizedek, a priest of El Elyon who blessed Abram in the name of God Most High.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High [El Elyon]. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High [El Elyon], possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High [El Elyon], who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” —GENESIS 14:18–20
The New Testament teaches that as a king and priest, Melchizedek foreshadowed Messiah Jesus, who is the incarnation of El Elyon. The Scriptures say of Yeshua: “He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:9–10).
When Abram and Melchizedek met, Abram received bread and wine from Melchizedek and then gave the priest-king a tenth of all he had. This is in stark contrast to the way Abram responded to the king of Sodom when he offered him some of the spoils of the war. Instead of accepting the king’s gift, Abram said, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High [El Elyon], possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me” (Gen. 14:22–24).
When Abram came to know God as El Elyon, he vowed to serve Him alone. He knew no one—no god, enemy, or king—could hold a candle to the Most High God. I pray the same revelation grips your heart and mine. When we realize that our God is El Elyon, we’ll no longer be fearful in the midst of our enemies. We’ll have the courage to face them because we’ll trust that El Elyon has given us authority over them and ultimately the victory will be ours. Yeshua told us in Matthew 28:18 that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
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