The Life of Abraham: Heaping Grace (Genesis 13-14)

Prodigal Son

wax on about prodigal son’s wastefulness

bring into question—who is the prodigal?

prodigal definition

1. spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant

2. having or giving something on a lavish scale

does not the Father lavish GRACE on His errant son?

when you receive God’s grace, you become a gracious person

are you a gracious person?

The Life of Abraham: Heaping Grace

after the blip in Egypt, we see why Abraham is a man of faith worth imitating

13:1-13 pew Bible # 11

MAP

Abram and Sarai return from Egypt

Lot with them

Abram worships (13:4b)

despite 13:2

Abram not distracted from worshiping

Abram understood God provided his wealth (not from self)

Abram had money, but the money didn’t have his heart

stress

too many possessions occupying too small of a space

Abram generously presents Lot with a choice

different takes on Abram’s actions

1. Abram almost gave away the Promised Land

God’s promise is secure, in spite of Abraham…Nothing can stand in the way of God’s promise to Abraham.

2. Abram was generous in letting Lot choose

trusting the Lord to take care of him

a model to follow of generosity and trust in the Lord

Lot chooses the “best”

outside God’s blessing of Abram

chooses the east

attracted like Eve to forbidden fruit (13:10)

Garden of Eden (3:24), Cain (4:16), Tower of Babel (11:2)

Lot was attracted to the beauty of the land

yet distracted from the wickedness that lurked within

which would not be for his good (13:12)

Abram in land

Lot in the cities

Biblical—city is seen as a cesspool of sin or human arrogance

even today—Albert Mohler observation

3 Cs—closer get to a coast, city, or campus

moral progressivism or liberalism (opposition to Bible)

black screen

Abram has a different perspective on life than Lot

Lot perspective Abram perspective

wreck not my “baby” everyone’s alright; got insurance

new phone $1,000 isn’t bad my flip phone still works

time all the time in the world time is short, so I use it wisely

money I don’t have enough I don’t need much

13:14-18

God reaffirms promise to Abraham

even seems to bless Abram’s actions with Lot (offering land)

great nation (12:2) turns into countless offspring (13:16)

dust—particles of top soil (plenty in Israel—think Nacogdoches with no rain for 1 month)

offspring = “seed”

even though childless (recurring theme)

Abram worships (13:18b) he built an altar to the Lord

evaluation

Abram’s type of generosity is applauded throughout Scripture

because so central to God’s character—He is gracious God

people of faith respond graciously to undeserving people (13)

Abram did not earn God’s promises (12:1-3)

Abram did not have a cornered market on God’s grace

but he sure knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of God’s grace

recipients of grace can be tempted to hoard it (have market cornered) as though earned it

must look to God’s grace and be a stream, not a dam (angry, grumpy)

extending grace costs you time, energy, money, self

simple as picking up dishes that aren’t mine when someone is sick

Lot was no saint (see later) and didn’t deserve Abram’s gracious offer

sprinkler guy situation with friend who has 16 year old son thinking he is gay

dad’s tendency (knowing the Bible is clear on the sin) is to drop the hammer

disown

sprinkler guy’s advice is to look to Jesus’ relationship with sinners

Jesus hung around sinners to pull them out of their sin (GRACE)

everything hinges on whether the son claims to be a follower of Jesus

if not, graciously point to Jesus (HS does the cleaning)

if so, let’s open our Bibles and see what God says about homosexuality (sin to repent of)

people of faith should respond graciously, especially to people who don’t know Jesus

never compromising the truth

ALWAYS gracious in presentation

to whom has God revealed that you need to respond graciously to?

as we turn to chapter 14, Lot gets sucked into world events out of his control

4 king alliance had 5 king alliance in subjection

east/west MAP

4 kings in east

Amraphel king of Shinar

Arioch king of Ellasar

Chedorlaomer king of Elam

Tidal king of Goiim

5 kings in west

Bera king of Sodom

Birsha king of Gomorrah

Shinab king of Admah

Shemeber king of Zeboiim

king of Bela (that is, Zoar)

4 king alliance in east had 5 king alliance in west under subjection

5 king alliance in west rebelled (14:4)

the 4 king alliance fought their way towards the 5 king alliance

zoomed in MAP of west

detailed description of land, but not of battles (author is focused on the land)

finally

the 5 king alliance of the west gathered in the Valley of Siddim

and war broke out between the kingdoms of the west and east

bitumen pits wreaked havoc on the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah was plundered

Lot was taken also

Abram heard what happened

14:13-16

Abram took his trained men to rescue Lot

zoomed in MAP

318 (a lot for Abram but not a lot for war)

Abram doesn’t hesitate to go into battle against an army greater than his

@ 75+ years old

318…close to Gideon’s 300 (Judges 7:6) where GOD gets all the glory

they defeated the 4 king alliance and got Lot and all possessions back

black screen

Abram returns home from victory

14:17-24

King of Sodom (Bera-14:2) and king of Salem (Melchizedek) met Abram

compare and contrast

king of Sodom “went out” to meet Abram (14:17)

Melchizedek “brought out bread and wine” (14:18) & offered a blessing (14:19-20)

first words from king of Sodom “give me” (14:21)

first word from Melchizedek “blessed” (14:19)

king of Sodom wants spoils of war (14:21)

Abram graciously takes none of it

gives a 1/10 (tithe) for Melchizedek (14:20)

and Abram shares with his allies

we don’t expect much good coming from Sodom

but what about this king of Salem?

who is Melchizedek?

Genesis 14

priest-king of Salem

Salem — ancient name for Jerusalem

priest (1st Biblical occurrence) of God Most High [אֵל עֶלְיוֹן (El El-yon)]

Psalm 110—Psalm of David

different understandings

Qumran community (Dead Sea Scrolls)

angel or superior heavenly being

perhaps Michael the archangel

Jewish interpreters

man, anointed priest

even high priest before God Most High

Josephus asserted that he founded Jerusalem as its first king and priest

Christophany

preincarnate Christ

focus is not Melchizedek this morning (would be if Hebrews 5-7)

Gen 14 is root for Hebrews

Jesus is not priest from Levites

but from order of Melchizedek (a far superior priestly order)

considering 13-14

think of the historicity of Gen 14

Abram gets swept into an international event

gave him opportunities to exercise his faith in the Lord

rescues Lot from a strong king alliance from the east in chapter 14

face a formidable foe & win

must be a man of faith to go against such odds

by God’s grace, Abram is being a blessing

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

people of faith respond graciously to undeserving people even under frustrating circumstances (14)

can you imagine Abram’s thoughts about rescuing Lot

not even my son

was he at the wrong place at the wrong time to get sucked up into this conflict?

what’s this gonna cost me?

as far as we know, Lot didn’t deserve this one

we too will have situations like this to respond graciously

gracious response with parking lot on Wednesday

repaving parking lot (fumbled communication)

His Hill

sink hole

drain

OPPORTUNITY to respond graciously

bear one another’s burdens

children go off and make dumb mistakes…parents

help someone with home repair that built in a terrible place

help someone who smoked for years and years now dealing with lung cancer

someone who went against your advice and is now dealing with consequences

who is in your life that is undeserving of your grace? maybe they are responsible for their circumstances?

how can you respond with grace?

but why? why should I respond with grace? they deserve what they are getting

people of faith respond graciously to undeserving people even under frustrating circumstances

because they have experienced grace in Jesus

realize YOU are undeserving

you understand the definition of grace

I don’t deserve God’s favor

He owes me nothing but wrath and condemnation

people that know that are gracious people

God in Christ is the perfect model of free-flowing grace

Jesus was selfless amid frustrating people

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

not when we deserved it

not when we earned it

not because of how good/bad we are

but wholly of GRACE

Hosea and Gomer

all about God’s demonstration of love with an unfaithful people

this is GRACE

As a recipient of God’s grace in Christ, are you a stream that grace flows through or a dam that stops grace?

if not gracious person, why not? especially if a recipient of grace in Christ

who is God leading you to be gracious to? pointing them to Jesus

introduce Paul and Linda Craig