Genesis 14:1-24
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 14:1-24
Genesis 14:1-24
A few weeks ago, actually like a month and a half ago, we were talking in Genesis 13 about Abram and Lot. They returned from the promised land with lots of money, lots of stuff, and lots of people working for them too. What happens to people when they get rich quick? They change, don’t they?
When they came back from Egypt, Abram realized he had made a huge mistake lying about Sarai being his sister. He should have relied on God and believed He would have protected them, but he didn’t. Why were they in Egypt anyway? Because Abram didn’t have faith in the Lord after He told them this was the land of his ancestors.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Abram returned from Egypt, to the place where he set up a tent to live in, and an altar to worship the Lord from Chapter 12. What did Abram do once he got there? He “Called Upon the Lord.” In other words, he repented. Where was this tent and altar situated? Does anyone remember the name of the cities? Between Bethel on the West, and Ai on the East. What does Bethel mean? The House of the Lord. What does Ai mean? Heap of ruins, or the dump.
Abram was where we always are when we have a decision to make. Between The Rock, and the waste. Do we do what is right? Or do we do what makes us feel good? The hard road, or the easy road? The company around us helps us with that decision, don’t they?
In that light, there was a dispute. It was between Lot’s herdsmen, and Abram’s. Because they had too much stuff, too many livestock. The land where they were couldn’t support all of them. So, Abram, being elder, and a peacemaker gave Lot the choice. You choose the land you want, and I’ll go the other way.
Lot surveyed the land and saw the land to the east and south was green and lush, and he started calculating the increase in his head. I say this because of the upcoming chapters, and I’m not going to go into that until we get there. Abram, being the man of honor he was, let him go.
Once separated, the Lord had Abram where He’s wanted him all along. Just them together, and the Lord says let’s take a walk thru this land, and get to know it. It is the land I have given to you. There are Canaanites in the Land, but this time, Abram would do a better job of relying on the Lord to provide and protect him.
PRAY
1 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, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.
8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Did everybody catch that? Good, now on to verse 13...
I know what you all are saying…what in the world just happened to my ears?
When I read to my kids, I give them voices. I try to make characters jump out of the book. Here, we have a story that sounds like something Tolkien would write, don’t we?
I start this way because, of all of these names…very few have any real background about them. There is a lot of weight put one way or the other, but the gist of the story is this: 5 kings in the Jordanian valley to the Southeast of the Dead Sea, or the Salt Sea as they call it here had a parasitic relationship.
For the kids in the congregation today, what is a symbiotic relationship vs a parasitic relationship? When you’re in a symbiotic relationship, you work together. A baseball team is a symbiotic relationship. Each person doing their job, serving each other so they both, or all benefit. A parasitic relationship means one member benefits more than another.
In this case, the 5 kings of the valley were servants to the 4 kings of the east, around the area of Babylon. The 4 kings were Shemites, and the 5 that were form the valley were from the tribe of Ham. So, Noah’s prophecy that Ham would serve his brothers held accurate here.
And those 5 kings served long and hard for 12 years and they got tired of being servants, so they rebelled. After a year of that nonsense the 4 kings said they’d had enough and declared war on the kings of the valley. Those 4 kings of the east came in and crushed the 5 kings of the valley and stole all of their good people and stuff and carried them off. Including who? Abram’s nephew Lot.
I want to draw your eye to a few words here. In verse 5 and 6 we see some descriptive words, so I want to put them back up here again:
Genesis 14:5–6 (NKJV)
5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
What do these words mean? The word Rephaim is translated “Giants.” Zuzim means “roving creatures” probably describing nomads. Emim means “terrors.” and the word Horites means “cave dwellers.”
We know there were Giants in the land of Canaan, but what were these “roving creatures?” These “terrors?” These “cave dwellers?” I don’t know…What I can tell you, is this tells me, that the armies of these 4 kingdoms were bad dudes.
Something else to install in your mind. Genesis 14:10 “10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.”
Why are asphalt pits important you might ask? No real reason…yet. We’ve got a few more chapters to stay tuned to for that. Just remember, this is the south east area of the Dead Sea where these battles took place.
After the battle, the kings of the east took off with the spoils of war, AND LOT. Last we heard about Lot was that he pitched his tent in the direction of Sodom, right? Looks like he got there, AND he must have made a name for himself there too, if they hauled him away with their “goods.”
Isn’t it amazing, when we start walking towards sin, it often succeeds in pulling us all the way in…
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. 14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
This is the first time the word Hebrew is used to describe someone. The word means “One from beyond.” It is a word used to describe Abram. He came from a far-off land. He actually came from where these kings attacked from. One of the prisoners of these armies escaped from the captives and obviously knew of Abram and went to see him.
It says Abram heard his brother, the word used here is also translated as “kin,” had been taken captive so what does he do? Abram protects his family.
Had Lot gone his own way? He had…which means he suffers his own consequences, right? Exactly. Why does this bother Abram then? Because he LOVES his nephew. What do you do if you love someone? YOU DEFEND THEM. You go after them.
So, what does Abram do? He gathers 318 of his trained servants BORN IN HIS OWN HOUSE. These were HIS men. Not his sons, but the sons of all of those who worked for him. That means some time has passed since Egypt, because a lot of those servants came back with them from there. These were TRAINED, which means, thruout the growing of his endeavors, he took the time to teach the men how to defend themselves. Does that sound like what we do today with our boys?
My cousin Cole lives in Washington, and he’s a rancher. Every year, him and a few of his friends put on a Christian ranch academy. They teach a TON of life skills, they also teach rodeo to them. One thing he said they have one night during this week long camp is a fight club.
I thought, Really? That sounds irresponsible, and I told him that. He countered me with this. He said “Aaron, these kids are so full of themselves, pride, ego, they are tough and want to prove their tough. The problem is, they fight the wrong way, and for the wrong reasons. We have this night to show them, they’re not the toughest. It’s not about beating each other up, it’s about understanding the fact that, as men, we need to fight for what we love, what we stand for, our families. They don’t know that. Their fighting is only used for attack and it’s all wrong.” He sets the ground rules, again, it’s not about beating each other up, but afterward, he goes to scripture and they talk about that training that we must do, what we must be ready for, and how to do it right.
Abram did just that. He made sure they had men who could defend and fight. How many was it? 318. Against the armies of 4 kingdoms that just routed 5 king’s armies. That sounds unfair, right?
So I put up a map here illustrating the journey. The kings from the east came from the north, thru the Giants, thru the roving creatures, thru the terrors, thru the cave dwellers, then back up to the area where Sodom and Gomorrah are thought to have been, these asphalt pits in the south east shore area of the Dead Sea.
Now, they’re on their way back, and Abram finds out about them. So from Hebron, HE, and his men take off and travel 170 miles to Dan chasing down these 4 armies. That’s a long hike! Probably 8 days of nothing but hiking. THEN, they’ve got to fight, right? Let’s go back to the Word and see what happens next:
15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
So, Abram divided his forces, I would assume 80 per army to fight (318/4). And they fought from Dan to Hobah, north of Damascus. Dan to Damascus is 113 miles. Either the armies ran and dumped their stuff, or Abram’s men totally destroyed them. Either way, almost 300 miles traveled, for 318 men to be victorious…what a feat.
Abram returned with all of the stuff the kings of the east took. Including Lot. I find it interesting, they took Lot captive, but left the king behind in Sodom. What does that say about Lot? More importantly, now that this king knows about Abram and his men, do you think this may bode well for Lot as well? It’s always good to know people in high places, very beneficial to business, and politics.
This is a miraculous victory, but Abram isn’t the old man he used to be. Something changed in him when he was in Egypt and when he returned home. He had matured in his faith, and he had taken off the shrewd man and had started acting in righteousness.
As he is returning to Hebron with all of these people and all of this stuff to meet the king of Sodom, a man comes to meet him. Let’s continue on:
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
Who is this man? To find out, we need to go to Hebrews 7:1-10
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
If you want to find out more, you can read on. We’re going to stop there. The writer of Hebrews, which most scholars say was the apostle Paul explains who this man Melchizedek was. His name means King of Righteousness, and Salem means Peace, so he is also the King of Peace.
There are verses we become familiar with at Christmas time:
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
These point to Jesus Christ. Prince of Peace, the word for Prince is the Hebrew word “sar” and Peace is the word “sa lam” which means he’s a representative, or representation of the King of Peace.
This man Melchizedek is what we call a Christophany. A few chapters back, the Lord showed himself to Abram in Bethany, that was a Theophany. That is where God shows himself and tells Abram to walk thru the land.
Theophany starts with the word Theos which is the Greek word for God. Christophany starts with Christ, which translated means “anointed one” and is the label given to Jesus.
What does Melchizedek bring with him according to Genesis 14:18 “18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” Bread and wine. Last week, we took communion together. We do that on the last Sunday of the month. What is the bread a reminder of? Jesus body that was broken and pierced for us. And the blood? The life that was poured out for us to be free.
The blood is the life, we talked about that when God made the first sacrifice of animals when Adam and Eve sinned. Blood is important. It’s important to me…if I don’t have any of it, I’m dead, right? Jesus poured out his LIFE for our life. He knew it would take no less than every drop to make us clean. Folks, Jesus is referenced so many times in the Old Testament, it’s truly amazing. As I’m studying thru this to teach you about it, I’m going to point it out every time. This may not have been Jesus in the flesh, but this was the Priest before the priesthood. Abram knew it, so what did he do for him? Genesis 14:20 “20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.”
Tithe means a tenth part. He gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoil of war? No, we’ll read in a minute what he did with that. Was it a 10th of his wages? No. It was a 10th of EVERYTHING HE HAD. What a generous gift? Abram was a rich man, successful…but what did all that stuff bring him in chapter 13? It broke up his family.
That one hurts, doesn’t it? Puts into perspective the parable of the rich young ruler from Matt 19:16-22 .
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Imagine meeting a man you know in your heart, because of your relationship with the Lord, that this is the King of Peace. And you look at your stuff, your house and the equity in it, your cars, investments…add up all of those assets and write a check for a tenth of that. Most of us are so indebted we can’t do that. I can’t do that…I’m working on it.
Let these verses ring true with you:
24 Some give freely and still get richer, while others are stingy but grow still poorer. 25 The person who blesses others will prosper; he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.
This is an obscure translation of the Bible, it’s from the Complete Jewish Bible, but I think it’s a very easy way for us to understand it. Why do we hold on to so much stuff? Why do we always look out for ourselves? Do you not think the Lord is not just? Do you think His promises aren’t true? Why is it that the people who have the most stuff are so depressed? They’re focused on keeping their stuff.
Do you satisfy others? The NKJV says Proverbs 11:25 “25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.” Do you water people? Do you give them what they need of YOU? Do your kids get the time they need? Are you their hero? Or do they just see the back of your head as you’re working. As I wrote this…one of my kids was talking to the back of my head. What am I doing, I’m trying to satisfy the hunger of this church body…but I must recognize when I am being deficient. Do my kids say “Dad’s too busy.” I am busy, but they’re worth it.
Do you satisfy those around you? Are you giving people the Living Water? How gracious is our Father who wants to give us good things! I’m a dad. I want to bless my kids ALL THE TIME. Do you know what keeps me from being able to bless them? Another person. It’s never things, it’s always another person. Their brother, sister, mom, dad, cousin, friend…What stands in the way of our blessings? The way we treat other people. Jesus says it will be obvious that we love Him because of our love for one another. If we’re winning the spiritual battle, we’ll have more peace with one another. If you have a problem with your brother or sister or friend, the Lord can’t bless you until you’ve done all you can to make that relationship right.
Give freely. Don’t worry about yourself so much. The stores in Egypt that Joseph watched over were not for gain, they were to be measured out for ALL OF EGYPT. What is so important to you that you must hold onto all of that? Clean it out. Give it away. Free yourself of the boat anchors that are holding you back. Call on your church family, let them know, “Hey, I need to get this stuff out of my house and donate or trash it, can you come help me?” Sorry honey…That’s what the church does! We free people from their bonds. We have fellowship with one another and have the audacity to tell each other ‘THIS MUST GO.’
Here is another nugget from Abram as we close out this chapter today. I could go on and on about Melchizedek and explain all of the amazing things about him, but I had to stop here, otherwise we’d not get done this week. Let’s finish this chapter here.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Abram was given permission by the king of Sodom to keep the stuff that was stolen from them, but again, Abram was righteous. He had learned hard lessons about collecting things. More than that, though, Abram didn’t want labels. The only thing they took was what they ate…because you can’t really get that back. You can, but you’re not giving it back.
But as you can see, this chapter can easily get caught up in the information. It’s not about the kings, or where they’re from, what happened during the rebellion, or what caused it. It’s not about the 5 kings and their motivation, or the 4 kings and their savagery.
It’s about the fact that God honors those who do what is right in His eyes. Abram was prepared for battle, wasn’t he? He had a small army among the servants of his household. They were not mercenaries, they were defenders. Disciplined, and they listened to their righteous leader.
When Abram heard his nephew, whom he loved, had been abducted, he and his men chased down armies that had slewn giants, roving creatures, terrors, and cave dwellers.
Was their goal to get rich? No. It was to protect family. Those men went after the 1, and in turn saved many more. They met Melchizedek, who may have been Jesus Christ in the flesh, and gave him a tithe in worship of more than any one of us would be comfortable giving today, and he gave it out of respect for the Most High God.
They left with respect for the people they were. A reputation of righteousness, led by a man worthy of their honor.
What did Lot do as thanks for being rescued? What we all do, often, he returned to his city, at the doorstep of his sin. Why do we do this? Why don’t we learn our lesson when our heroes come and save us? Why do we return to the trough, to the bottle, to the needle, to the screen? What will it take for us to repent and turn from our sin?
It takes us walking to the cross, kneeling at the foot of it, and hammering home those nails with tears in our eyes, and walking away from it FOREVER. We aren’t addicted to anything. 1 Corinthians 10:13 “13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
That cigarette isn’t calling your name, you’re calling its name. That mouse doesn’t move on it’s own. The right friends won’t encourage you to sin. Where does that burden lie? It lies with US. He can’t bless us if we won’t surrender our sin. Truly, he can’t.
My wife and I didn’t start out in our relationship the best way. We started wrong…but my wife wanted to be a woman of God. I wanted to be a man of God. We knew we needed a reset, so we moved out, and in turn that eliminated even the slightest scent of impropriety. Paul says it’s not about how you start the race, but that you play by the rules and how you finish that matters.
For years, who has built on the foundation of your life since you turned it over to Christ? You did. Some of our spiritual houses are held up by the plaster on the matchsticks we call walls, waiting for one stiff wind to blow them over. The day will come when our house will be tested with fire, and only the things made with gold, silver, and precious stones will remain.
Your sin is not an addiction, it’s a decision. Clear your head of the fact that you can’t overcome it, confess it to God, dig in with those close to you and fight for every step until you kill it. That sin was carried to the cross and paid for, in blood.
If you call Jesus your King, honor Him. We’re having a baptism this month, come and help us celebrate with those who are making that public proclamation that they are under new management. They need examples, and not worldly ones. Those who have been trained for battle and strengthened for war. It’s unfortunate that we re being conditioned to roll over and let sin consume us.
Let’s lay it at the feet of Jesus today. Let me pray for you, with you. Let today be the day that you say “no more” to those things that so easily ensnare you. You are, and will be the change this world needs to see, that your kids need to see. If it hasn’t started yet, start it today.
PRAY