Divine Names El Elyon: The Strongest Strong God. Pt. 1

Good morning to each and everyone of you.

We are going to have a warm humid day with thunderstorms coming in this afternoon. I enjoy the marvel of a thunderstorm. 

When I was a little boy, I was terrified of them. One particular thunderstorm with jagged lightning and loud crashing thunder, caused our power to go out. 

I remember our family sitting in the darkened living room and my dad saying that lightning must have hit the power plant, knocking out the electricity. In my limited understanding, I tried to imagine what a power plant looked like. I thought it was like a large bush or shrub of some type!

Today, I know our Lord Jesus Christ and I know what scripture teaches us about weather. I rejoice because I know the Creator of it all. I know that whatever the weather brings, it was dispensed from my loving Heavenly Father's hand.

I would like to spend some time looking at another name of God used in the Old Testament. This name is found during the life of Abram, later to be called Abraham. This name is used during a time of strife, rebellion and war. 

The part of Genesis we will look into covers a stormy and chaotic period of history. It introduces another person that is a picture or "type of Christ" found in the Old Testament. This text also introduces a king that seems to be a picture or "type" of Satan.  

We will work our way through the context of this narrative so that when we see the name revealed, we will better understand why it was used in that particular place. First, let's see what happens from the beginning of this section of scripture. 

Gen 14:1-3  And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;  That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.  All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. 

WE SEE A WAR WEARY WORLD BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT OF SIN.

Listed in the text are the main actors in this bit of history. 

• Nine different nations are listed as engaged in warfare. 

• Ten different geographical places are mentioned and this indicates how widespread the conflict was.  

• Four cities arrayed against the five cities were clustered around the Dead Sea area. 

• A coalition of five kings was subdued and made to serve the victorious coalition of four nations for twelve years.

Now, let's briefly identify some of these people & places.

• Shinar refers to a city on the plain near ancient Babylon.

• Ellasar was a country the area of Asia.

• Elam was a country in the north east area of the Persian Gulf which was traditionally associated with Shem.

The phrase “ Tidal king of nations” refers to a king ruling over a people so numerous, that they swarmed into neighboring lands like clouds of locusts devouring every edible thing in sight.

Sodom was a city kingdom in the southeast Dead Sea area known for wicked sexual sins. Gomorrah was a city kingdom in the southwest Dead Sea and was a companion to the corruption of Sodom.  Admah was a small city in the valley of Siddim. Zeboiim is a small city in the Valley of Siddim near the border of Canaan land.

Zoar was also called Bela, and was a city at the southeast end of the Dead Sea, grouped together with Sodom and Gomorrah as the five cities slated for destruction by God. This community was spared at Lot’s plea, as his place of refuge when God destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah.  

Valley of Siddim is the valley where the Dead Sea is located.

The term “slime pits” refers to a large exposed pools containing a tar based substance like pitch, asphalt or bitumen. It was in hot liquid form that emitted noxious odors and was very dangerous. It would be similar to La Brae tar pits in California.

The five kings of the valley of Siddim rebelled in the thirteenth year of forced bondage. The four kings that came to battle them into submission also wiped out 6 other nations on their way into the Valley of Siddim.

Genesis 14:4-12 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.
And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Takeaway in this section? When we do not honor God then chaos, oppression, loss of material goods and death will result. It is far better to honor God with every aspect of our lives. 

It was indeed, a war weary world in those days. Not much has changed in the modern era, has it?

WE SEE THE KING OF SODOM IS A PICTURE OF THE DEVIL.

In the text above, the king named Bera is brought in front of us. The name Bera means the evil one or the iniquitous one. Bera led the rebellion against his lawful master. He also was a coward who ran away when facing a superior army. Because he ran away, Bera allowed his subjects to be captured. Bera really only cared about his own selfish desires. In each of these aspects, he is like Satan.

The text below gives us a peek into heaven and the spiritual world. It tells us of war in heaven and some of Satan's names are given. He has been cast out in heaven and now feverishly does his evil work of seeking to destroy our souls, lead us astray and cause us to stumble, fall away or become apathetic toward God. 

Revelation 12:7-10 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Satan is a rebel, a murderer, the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, the deceiver and the tempter. He is the one who twists God’s truth into a lie, the one who snatches away the word of God from people who hear it, so that they will not be saved.

You can see that many traits ascribed to Satan are mirrored to some degree in the life of king Bera.

The takeaway in this section? There is ongoing spiritual warfare. God will prevail and the victory is certain, through the work of Jesus Christ. Yet, Satan will seek to strike us whenever he has an opportunity to do so. We must be in the word of God and be on guard at all times. 

We have looked at some of the key places and people in the narrative leading up to a special name of God that was revealed during Abram's life. 

We also see that today, like times of old, we live in a war weary world. Chaos, destruction, death and turmoil exist wherever war breaks out. 

We also see that we have a strong and wicked enemy, who is relentless in pursuing the people of God. He wants to ruin our testimony, destroy our children, break up our homes and send us to hell. 

We must run to our wonderful Lord for strength to endure, safety and refuge, during these times of storms. 

Our mission as believers is to live out our faith, being salt and light to those around us. We must not waver, but always press on, no matter how awful the circumstances may become. 

We must seek to learn and apply His word in order to honor God with our lives. 

In the next post, we will dig deeper into the story and see what Abram is doing, what is happening to his family and discover a man who is a picture of Jesus Christ. 

Bob