Rescue, Righteousness, and Reward

We are in week 2 of a sermon series called Promises and Patriarchs. The whole purpose of this series is for us to see and appreciate the glory and power of our promise-keeping God, and to see how he is steadfast and faithful in spite of our unfaithfulness. Last week we watched as God called Abram to follow him, promising that all the peoples on earth would be blessed through him, and you might be thinking man, this Abram guy must be amazing. Maybe God saw some potential in him that he didn’t see in himself, and God just you know wanted to honor Abram’s faithfulness and his holy lifestyle or whatever.

And we weren’t 2 sentences into the story and saw Abram already proving that this whole thing of following Yahweh is going to be a bit of a process. He takes along someone he was supposed to leave behind, and then, the first time things got tough, Abram puts his wife in a very dangerous situation in order to save his own skin. And I hope you walked away last week rejoicing in the patience and faithfulness of God, going, goodness, if God can use Abram, he can use me. Because that guy does not have his act together.

That’s why I think this series will be such good news for those of us who continue to fall into the temptation to believe that God needs me to be perfect for his plan to work out well, or that he can’t use dysfunctional people to accomplish his purposes. It’s good to know that Yahweh is working things out in our world by his own power and perfection and holiness – not mine.

Today, the message is called Rescue, Righteousness, and Reward, and those will be our three stops as we go along through the text today. Rescue, Righteousness, and Reward, and then we’ll close today with the Lord’s Supper. Looking forward to that!

Let’s pray, and then get started.

PRAY

We are back in the very first book of the Bible today, picking up in Genesis chapter 14 and 15. Last week, we saw Abram being called by Yahweh in Genesis 12: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

RESCUE

We saw last week how Abram’s faith started out a little shaky – he didn’t actually leave ALL of his family behind like God instructed him to – instead he brought his nephew Lot with him. Lot’s dad (Abram’s brother) had passed away, so maybe Abram felt a sense of responsibility there, culturally it would have been expected – but we wondered if Lot would give him trouble along the way.

Sure enough. When Abram and Lot both had so many possessions and herds and flocks that they couldn’t stay in the same location, they had to split up, and Lot chose the best, well-watered green part of the land, settling near a city called Sodom, leaving Abram with the leftovers.

Now, in chapter 14 we learn a little more about the part of the land that Lot chose. We’re not going to take the time to read each verse, but I’ll summarize it for you.

In the land that Lot chose, there were 5 cities, verse 2, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar, each with their own king. We don’t know a whole lot about those cities right at this moment, but Genesis 13 gives us two parenthetical statements that sort of clues us in on what’s coming. Verse 10 says (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)”, and then verse 13 gives us this information “(Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning immensely against the Lord.)” That’s what we know right now.

But apparently those 5 kings had been overtaken by a king from the east named Chedorlaomer, and they served him by sending him a portion of their taxes for 12 years. Apparently that got old, and in the 13th year, verse 4, the five kings rebelled. They stopped paying their taxes.

Well, King Chedorlaomer didn’t care for that, so over the course of the next year he rallied three other kings to help him go teach these Jordan Valley kings a lesson what authority and power looks like. These kings assembled in the North, and headed south toward the Jordan River Valley. And as they traveled south, they ran up against some very formidable people in v 5 – the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horites. These were some bad dudes. Tribes of giants that were in the land. The word “rephaim” means “the terrible ones.” Now why would the Bible take the time to tell us that King Chedor… defeated all of them?

The author of Genesis wants you to know that King Chedor is a force to be reckoned with, and these 5 little kings in the Jordan River Valley don’t stand a chance. And that’s exactly what happened. Verse 8, the four kings lined up against the 5 and crushed them. Then verse 11, King Chedor took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and went on. v 12, They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.

In verse 13, one of the survivors found Abram and told him what happened. Now we have no way of knowing what Abram was thinking at the time, but if he’s strictly human, he might be thinking, uh huh – who wants the good land now, Lot ol’ buddy? You might have picked the greener grass, but your promised land has a famine now too, doesn’t it?

But it doesn’t look like that’s what Abram is thinking, because in verse 14, When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men (Not 318,000 – just 318), born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he and his servants deployed against them (King Chedorlaomer and the other 3 kings) by night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus.

16 He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people. This is the stuff movies are made of! David beats Goliath! King Leonidas leads the Spartans against the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae with 300 men.

But it’s not a story of war. There would be a lot more details if it was – it’s a story of rescue. Does Lot deserve to be rescued? Not on paper. He’s not even supposed to be here, He’s kind of a spoiled punk that is really causing Abram some headaches. But Abram left his home on a rescue mission to seek and save his nephew who was captured by a very powerful enemy. We’ll come back to that later on.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, he gets interrupted along the way by two kings who have very different motives, very different views of Abram. One is…the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley). And the other, verse 18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

Melchizedek speaks first, in verse 19: He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 20 and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you.

Abram, who has just conquered the incredibly powerful kings of the east and delivered the 5 kings of the Dead Sea region with only 318 fighting men in a brilliant surprise attack, had more or less just earned the title ‘king of kings’, if he wanted to take that position. I mean if God has promised you the land, promised to make you into a nation, here you go Abram – become man of war. Become the king. Your reputation now precedes you, and these two kings should bow their knee to you, begging for your mercy because who can stand against YOU!?! Move in, take the land. Become king.

And yet, Abram doesn’t reach for that. In the blessing of Melchizedek is the powerful truth that the Most High God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is the one responsible for this incredible victory. It’s a powerful reminder to Abram to not think of himself more highly than he should, and he recognizes that a) he’s not the only one in the land who worships Yahweh, and b) Melchizedek has probably been about it a lot longer than Abram was. So, in a move of submission, deep honor and respect, Abram gave him a tenth of everything (Baldwin, 47-48). This is Abram’s way of saying, you are greater than me.

And at the same time, it’s God’s way of keeping his promise. I will bless those who bless you.

The author of Hebrews picks up on this whole scene, in Hebrews 7 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace.

Then, the author of Hebrews noticed when he read Genesis 14, that Melchizedek never had a genealogy mentioned. There was never a sentence that said, so and so was his father, so and so was his mother, nothing that says, “And Melchizedek died and was buried here or there” like it does for so many other people in Genesis.

Now we can all safely assume that he died, but the author of Hebrews says, in a way, Melchizedek, the first priest mentioned in scripture, is a kind of priest that is eternal – and that points us to the Son of God – “…Because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. He permanently, always and forever, represents us to God. Therefore, here’s why it mattered then and here’s why it matters today – THEREFORE. Because Jesus is a permanent priest – he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.

The author of Hebrews looks at the scene in these 3-4 or verses of Genesis 14, and draws that out into the bigger story of redemption and says, one of the ways God blessed Melchizedek for blessing Abram is by making him a priest that points us to Jesus, who is the true king of righteousness.

Because Jesus is a righteous King, we must obey him and submit to him or face his wrath and judgment; because he is King, we pray that his kingdom comes, that his will is done; that his rule and reign happens on earth as it is in heaven. But Jesus isn’t only a king. 

Like Melchizedek, Jesus is also a priest. Because he is also priest, he is the great mediator between God and humans. He is with us, and knows us, and is compassionate and merciful. He hears our prayers. Comforts us. Heals us. Restores us. Intercedes for us. He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west! When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and forgives us of our sin. And because he is alive, he will never term out. He’ll never be replaced. He’ll never die or retire or take a sabbatical.

But there’s another king standing there. In verse 21, the king of Sodom, who had most to be grateful for, offered no word of thanks, no blessing, but only demanded the return of his people. Then, he wanted Abram to keep the spoils for himself.

We already know this guy is evil, and has led his whole city in sinning immensely against God. So we know his motives aren’t pure. He’s got something up his sleeve, and based on Abram’s response, it looks like this king wants to take credit for Abram’s success. Yeah, sure, you can say it was Yahweh’s promise or that he’s blessed you, but just everyone around here knows – I let him keep the other 90% of my goods and possessions.

And In verse 22, Abram replies, look, I already talked to God about this, and I wouldn’t even take a shoelace from you. You and I have no partnership or alliance. Neither am I going to take advantage of your misfortune here – I’m trusting Yahweh.

And in two weeks, we will watch as God pours out judgment on Sodom for their sin. “I will curse those who treat you with contempt.”

God keeps his word. His promises are not “maybe’s”. What he says he’ll do, he will do.

So Abram turns down the reward from king of Sodom, and in verse 1 of chapter 15, God shows up again. After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.

REWARD

There’s only one reason God commands someone, “Don’t be afraid” – it’s usually because you’re afraid! Abram just won a huge victory – what does he have to be afraid of??? Well, he now has a target on his back. What if some of the other local kings try to gang up on him. It was one thing when he was on the offense, able to do a sneak attack at night and carry about an ambush. But when he’s on defense, he has no city, no walls, no fortress, no military, no protection. God commands him: Do not be afraid. Why?

That’s the second part of Abram’s vision: God assures him, “I am your shield…” You don’t need to defend yourself – I am your defender. Trust me. I just proved I’m with you. The king blessed you. I’m keeping my promise to you as we speak.

And the third part of the vision is a little tough to interpret. Some translations, like mine, make it a third statement, saying Don’t be afraid, I am your shield. New statement: Your reward will be very great. Other translations, like the NIV or King James link up like this: Don’t be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.

So does this mean God will give Abram a reward? Or does it mean God himself is Abram’s reward? Either way, the point is that when Abram says no to the rewards of men, God adds to the original promise – I am your shield, and I’ll give you a reward the king of Sodom couldn’t begin to fathom.

But Abram seems to be a little discouraged too, because in verse 2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

Abram’s attitude is like, oh wow, great, Yahweh – my reward will be great – but none of it matters if I can’t have kids! Abram is looking at his wife who is not able to have children, he’s over 75 years old now, and humanly speaking, there is just no way. The promise is slipping away more and more every day.

Abram seems frustrated with God, because he says to the Lord, look, YOU have given me no offspring. Land doesn’t matter if you can’t give me a son! Blessing doesn’t matter if you can’t give me a son! All the nations of the world being blessed through me – great, but it’s no good if I can’t have a son!

In other words – God, I don’t really care about your future promise if you can’t or won’t change the immediate circumstances I’m in.

Are you that honest when you pray? Or does that feel wrong? Maybe you want to say certain things to God, but you feel shame or you feel guilty for being so real – he’s God, I shouldn’t say what’s on my mind. I’m a Christian, I should have more faith than that. I should be stronger. I shouldn’t talk like that to the Creator of heaven and earth.

But God doesn’t scold him or tell him to watch his mouth. God is so patient and kind with Abram. He knows Abram is frustrated. He knows Abram is disappointed. He knows Abram can’t see how this all works out. So, God says, no Abram, it won’t be Eliezer who gets your inheritance. Genesis 15:4 “…instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir. 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”

Look at the stars, Abram. How many are there? Too many to count, right? Well do you remember how I made them? I made them just by speaking. I didn’t need materials to work with. I didn’t need to buy supplies. I didn’t need help – I simply gave the word, and they came into existence out of nothing. Abram, I can do the same with you if you’ll trust me.

In other words – keep waiting. Keep trusting. Keep seeking me. And at the right time, I’ll make it happen.

And verse 6 gives us one of the most important and powerful verses of the whole Bible: Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. In other words, Abram let God be God, and the Lord rewarded his faith by declaring him righteous.

I love how the story of the gospel is on display here in Genesis 14 and 15.

It starts with rescue. Like Lot, everyone of us starts off captive to sin and helpless to do anything about it. We’ve belonged to the kingdom of darkness, as we followed whatever our sinful nature craved.

Romans 5:6 says that “...while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Then four verses later, Romans 5:10, it goes a step further – “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”

On paper, I am helpless, ungodly, and an enemy of God – not because I’ve committed the worst atrocities known to man, but because I was spiritually stillborn, dead in sin, but very active in my deadness, making myself the Lord of my life instead of the One who rightfully deserves that seat.

Abram left his home at great risk to himself to rescue the helpless Lot from the clutches of a powerful enemy. Jesus also left his home on a rescue mission at great risk to himself to seek and save those who had been captured by a very powerful enemy.

Just like Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, came out to meet Abram, Jesus – the true king of righteousness, has come to us, and like Melchizedek brought bread and wine to feed Abram and the troops, King Jesus sustains and refreshes and renews us day by day as he comforts and intercedes for us as our high priest.

Just like the king of Sodom offered Abram the treasures of the world, we too are offered all kings of earthly pleasures. We’re tempted every day to find our satisfaction and hope and our blessings in the things of earth. But God’s desire and great delight is that His people be satisfied in Him—He is “our exceedingly great reward.” When our relationship with the Lord is our most treasured pursuit, the ultimate prize is a deeper, fuller, and better knowledge of Him.

Listen to how the apostle Paul writes this in Philippians 3:7–14 “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

Paul says knowing Chris is the greatest reward of all. You can have all the kings of this world offer me all the spoils of all the wars – it’s manure compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and having his righteousness applied to me.

This reward is an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4, ESV). When God himself is our exceedingly great reward, we can say, like with Psalm 73, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

So today as we participate together in the Lord’s Supper, we are reminded of the rescue mission that brought Jesus, our high priest and king to this earth. As king, he is worthy of our highest praise, and our deepest worship. As priest, he is our shepherd, our comforter, and a friend of sinners. And in the Lord’s Supper we are reminded that although we have his promises that he is coming again, and as of today we are told like Abram to be patient and keep waiting, Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.”

If you’re a guest with us here with us this morning, we practice open communion, which simply means, we invite you to participate with us even if River City is not your home congregation. If your child has made a credible profession of faith, they are welcome to participate as well. Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So if you have confessed out loud at some point that Jesus is Lord of your life, and you believe in your heart that he is alive right now, seated at the right hand of God, and is ready to return to gather up those who believe in him – then you are invited to participate this morning.

If you have not confessed or believed Jesus is Lord, today is a great day to make that decision. I would invite you to pray this simple prayer right where you are today. These aren’t magic words – your heart is what really matters. But simply pray this – Lord Jesus, like Lot I don’t deserve to be rescued by you. I have sinned against you, I have lived my life for my own glory instead of yours.

But I believe that Jesus came to save sinners like me. I had no hope on my own, but He died to take away my sin and make me righteous, and give me the greatest reward of all – being restored to right relationship with you, Father. His blood cleanses me of all of my sin, and when Jesus rose out of that grave, a new me came out with him. I no longer want to live for my own sake – I want to live for Christ Jesus who is the Lord of my life from this moment on. And you have promised that your Holy Spirit will right now fill me, baptize me, strengthen me, help me, encourage me, and show me how to live in such a way as to bring you glory with all of my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you sincerely prayed that prayer today, welcome to the family of God! We’d love for you to please come and talk to myself, someone on the praise team, or someone wearing a lanyard before you leave, and we would be happy to celebrate with you.

I invite the ushers to come to pass out the elements today – when you receive them, just hang on to them and I’ll come back and lead you in just a few moments.

SOURCES

Robert D. Bergen, CSB Study Bible: Notes, 2017

Abigail Dodds, Woe Is Me: The Sin of Self-Pity (Article at DesiringGod.org; August 15, 2020) accessed February 17, 2026.

Kenneth O. Gangel and Stephen J. Bramer, Genesis, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary, (B&H Publishing Group, 2002)

Joyce G. Baldwin, The Message of Genesis 12–50: From Abraham to Joseph, eds. J. A. Motyer and Derek Tidball, The Bible Speaks Today, (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986)

https://www.gotquestions.org/exceedingly-great-reward.html

James G. Murphy, Notes on the Old Testament: Genesis, (Boston: Estes and Lauriate, 1873)