Hebrew Word Study – Most High – Eliyon עליון Ayin Lamed Yod Vav Nun
Psalms 91:9: “Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my refuge, [even] the Most High, thy habitation;”
The above verse cannot be read by itself. You must read the prior verses before reading this verse.
Psalms 91:3-8: “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by day; [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”
There are many Christian who believe that all these wonderful things will occur in our lives if we pray every day, go to church, read our Bible, pay our tithe and live a good life. So we are taught, yet verse 9 does not mention any of these wonderful things that we can do. We get this protection and deliverance by making the Lord our refuge and the Most High our habitation.
In an earlier chapter, I showed how the word for refuge – machaceh comes from the root word chasah which during the time of Moses who is believed to be the author of this Psalm carried the idea of atonement. Thus, to obtain all this wonderful protection and shelter from all these things I talked about in my previous chapters you must find your atonement in the Lord.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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Too many people try to find atonement in living a life of poverty, helping the sick and needy, spending hours in Bible study, denying themselves the joys and pleasures of this life hoping that their sacrifice will somehow atone for their sins. Atonement comes only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Sacrifices may come as a way of expressing one’s gratitude for the finished work of the cross but it is never to be done to atone for one’s sins.
I am sure you have all heard of the story of John Newton who in his younger years boasted that he committed every sin possible and if there was a sin he had not committed would someone please tell him so he could go out and commit that sin. He was a slave trader, he bought and sold human beings, killed them. Then one day as he watched a slave auction and saw the grief and torment of families, husbands, and wives being separated and treated like cattle, he walked away and later wrote in his diary that he believed that among the lowest possible human beings in the world, he was the worst. He got on a ship back to English and there he met Jesus during a storm which almost sank the ship. He later wrote those famous words: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost and now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”
He sold his slave ship and went into the ministry spending his final days physically blind and mopping the floors of a chapel. He chose a humble life, not to atone for his sin but to express his love and gratitude to a great Savior.
He specifically chose the word great. Jesus was not just a Savior, He was a great Savior, the Most High and as he moped the floors, he knew he was dwelling in the habitation of his great Savior. The word most high is ‘Eliyon. It is a title of majesty, supreme ruler and exalted one. There is no one higher than ‘Eliyon. It comes from the Semitic root alah, the same root that the Arabic word Allah comes from. The Islamic Shahada There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, is a declaration of ‘Eliyon. Muhammad is just a messenger of the ‘Eliyon, the Most High God.
To mop a floor for the ‘Eliyon Most High God who has redeemed us is a greater privilege than to serve as an advisor to kings and rulers. John Newton understood it, he sold his slave business which would have made him a wealthy man to dwell in the habitation or the ‘Eliyon the Most High God.
Sometimes we forget just Who it is we serve. We get caught up in the everyday cares of this life, let little frustrations wreak emotional havoc in our lives, worry ourselves to distraction over things that will not even be remembered a year from now and we allow all this to cause us to forget that we have the privilege of dwelling in the secret place of ‘Eliyon, the Most High God.
The word habitation in Hebrew is ma’own which is a word for a den or the lair of animals. You try to penetrate an animals’ den or lair and you will have the fight of your life on your hands, for that animal will defend his lair to the death. This word comes from the root word ‘azaz which means to be strong, bold, and mighty. This place that we dwell in is strong and mighty and nothing can penetrate it without God’s permission.
Sometimes I envy other ministers, preachers, and teachers who have a larger platform than mine. I get frustrated that they are able to sell more copies of one book that they wrote than I am able to sell with my total of fifteen books. So here I am after a lifetime of trying to establish a ministry, a lifetime of trying to build something for the Lord, and all I have to show for all my efforts are my presumed failures. I refuse to attend reunions from my old Bible College where I attended as a student. I am ashamed to face classmates who have achieved such wonderful recognition and honors. Some are senior pastors, directors of mission boards, successful evangelists, chairmen of departments in Universities, and here I am with a PhD driving a disability bus to pay my rent at an age where most men are long retired. I don’t attend these reunions because I know I will be approached by some successful classmate, dressed in an expensive suit asking me what I am doing with my life. I would have to tell that I drive a disability. I can just hear them say; “Why Chaim, what noble work you are doing. Of course, we knew you would never make it in the ministry, we knew you would never last but it is good to see that you are doing something very fitting for you with your little ministry driving the disabled to their medical appointments. Yes, I am sure God is pleased.”
When I am overcome with these feelings of discouragement and failure, I am amazed at how much these feelings are so like fear. The same deep dread in the pit of your stomach, the same sense of hopelessness and abandonment. I have found that I can deal with these feelings the same way I deal with fear, I go the ‘Eliyon, the Most High and when I crawl into His arms and pour out all my disappointments I can hear him whisper: “But don’t you see, I am the only one you need to please and I am the easiest to please. All you have to do is what you are doing now, just rest in the shelter of my wings and one day I will show you all that I did accomplish through you that you are totally unaware of.
So, like John Newton who mopped floors for his ‘Eliyon, I drive a disability bus for my ‘Eliyon and I would rather drive a disability bus for ‘Eliyon, the Most High than be an International best-selling author. For whatever I do, I do as unto ‘Eliyon, the Most High, and when I do I do not have those feelings that are so much like the feeling of fear.
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Chaim, I am currently on a disability bus returning from taking a group of youngsters to a day at football. It’s one of the best jobs in the world, Caron GB and loving God’s angels, pure in heart and mind. I love each and every one of them and believe that I am so blessed to work with them.
Your Hebrew word study is awesome, my dream is to study Hebrew but I cannot afford to, so God has blessed me with finding your sight. May you never underestimate the work you are doing, I know you have the appreciation of heaven.
Shalom Blessings
Dear Cham I want you to know that I am a young black minister that love your site I use you as personal rabbi hope you don’t mind you give a good understanding to Hebrew word you give me wisdom to share with my members you are making a big different.
So inspired by your writing as it is fuel for many of my sermons. And like you I work in disability support. :)
Dear Chaim,
Thanks for all.. God knows what I mean. All I want to say, thank you and God bless you..
I appreciate you and your inspiration. God knows just what I need to hear. toda raba!!!. Thank you very much.
Dear Chaim, I read your studies to my husband as part of our morning routine (on the days we are blessed to get to spend them together). Today’s reading brought me to noticable tears and emotion, as I find your work so beautiful and impactful in my life and it saddens me that you are not able to realize how beneficial your work is on such a deep heartfelt level. Everyone I have shared your writings with echoes this. I struggle with my own ability to get my message out to the people I feel called to serve, so I can relate to your pain. It is on my heart to do something to help you. It is my prayer that God gives me some insights into how I could help to share your work throughout the world💜
Brother Chaim Your ministry is a powerful great work in the Kingdom of God. He will one day show you the fullness of your ministry. I mediate over your post and have gotten closer to God because of your devotions and heart to share them.
I then share them in my preaching… I am reaching nations which means you are reaching nations Sir.
Stay blessed!
Thank you for sharing from your heart and experience. I understand as I am not at all living what I had imagined or worked hard towards. I am grateful for each day and look forward to being home with the Lord someday.
What a blessing you are to us. Thank you for sharing your innermost with us. I identify with you as I have the same understanding. God bless you mightily.
The good news is that our work is not measured by the world but by Eliyon, the True judge of value.
I have not received a blessing from other shiny ministries as I have from this ministry.
Your ministry helped me come close to the Father’s heart.
That is true success.
Hi Chaim, just want to let you know I greatly enjoy your word studies. They bless me every time I receive them. What is considered worthy or important by human standards is mostly not what Eliyon would consider important. The service you render with this study and driving disabled people on your bus has eternal value and therefore I believe is pleasing and important in the eyes of the One ‘whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is blameless toward Him’.
Be encouraged and blessed.
This was so comforting. Praise God. Thank you so much for these posts. Love from India.
Chaim, I am sure you are familiar with the story of the little boy walking along the beach after a storm in which hundreds of starfish had washed upon the shore. One by one, the little boy threw the starfish back into sea. A man came up to him and told the little boy how fruitless his efforts were – that he could not make a difference. Then the little boy picked up another another starfish and said, “it makes a difference to this one”. Chaim, what you write matters to me and you have made a difference in my life. I happened to have a dream in which I saw Jesus. Jesus has eyes that see into the heart of every individual. His eyes convey all encompassing love and they convey that each one of us matter to Him. For those who have never seen Jesus, you convey more than any other writer that I have ever read, the total LOVE that Jesus has for each of us- and for those of us that seem insignificant to the rest of the world, that to Jesus we matter, and that Jesus made us the way that we are, and put us where we are, for His purpose and He did not make any mistakes.
The good news is that our work is not measured by the world but by Eliyon, the True judge of value.
I have not received a blessing from other shiny ministries as I have from this ministry.
Your ministry helped me come close to the Father’s heart.
That is true success.
I LOVE these word studies!! Not only the knowledge & wisdom that is in each devotional, but the honesty and vulnerability of Chaim has a great impact on me. I’m GLAD he is not a successful public preacher, or a famous author of millions of books because God is doing amazing things through his humility and servanthood. His life exemplifies the gospel!!! Well done, Chaim!!! Good and faithful servant.
Good stuff, thank you brother.
I think the riders on your bus love you more and need what you offer them more than do the readers their more famous authors…
We had a dear friend recently deceased, who had an itinerant ministry with a business card that listed his title as: “Servant of the Most High” (Eliyon).
Though he rejected marketing the ministry via newsletters, social media, writing his autobiography, and videos of the ministry, wherever he preached worldwide many were ministered to under the powerful anointing of the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit).
So beloved was this man and his wife, that they always had their financial needs met without any fundraising. Friends even built them a beautiful country home to minister from, though they spent most of their time in Israel and India.
This brother knew who he was – a servant of Eliyon, moreover a bondslave. Without shame for his humble position in the Kingdom of G-d, the success of his life was based on pleasing the Most High and no other.
As Eliyon says:
“These are the ones I esteem, those who are humble and contrite, and who tremble at My word” (Isaiah 66:2b).
Dear Chaim, here alone in England I was talking to The Lord in such despair. My question was what’s its all about Lord? And much much more, having been bombarded with how to deal with the flesh, if you have sinned you have gieved The Lord and similar thoughts that were dragging me down,ready to give up. I went to my email box and there was your teaching on ps.91, Faith begun to rise in me.I thank our Father for you through your understanding of Christ I once again could press on towards the goal. You are one of Father’s precious ones,Bless you Dorothy.