Genesis 14

As we open up Chapter 14, we see that a war breaks out in the Middle East.

Verse 4 tells us that Chedarlaomer (King Chedar) conquered the territory 12 years ago. Since that time, he has been taxing the other nations and territories and controlling the trade routes that run through their land, because that is simply what kings did back then.

But now, in the 13th year, the territories of Palestine decide that they have had enough, so they rebel against King Chedar and say, “We’re not paying your tributes any more and we will control out own land for ourselves. King Chedar obviously wasn’t going to take this lying down, so he gathers his loyal kings together, and the four of them wage war against the five kings of Palestine.

*** Show map of the 4 kings of Babylon

We have Tidal, king of nations… or king of Goiim, here at the top in orange.

Then there is Arioch king of Ellasar here in pink.

Then there is Amraphel king of Shinar here in Green.

And lastly, there is King Chedar of Elam here in Red at the bottom.

Verse 1 lists all four of these kings.

They are going to war against 5 kings from Palestine:

*** Show map of 5 kings of Palestine

Bera, king of Sodom (Top)

Birsha, king of Gomorrah

The king of Zoar (Bela)

Shinab, king of Admah

Shemeber, king of Zeboiim (Bottom)

It tells us in verse 3 that they met up for battle in the Valley of Siddim (The Salt Sea).

***You can see where this is on the map in Purple.

King Chedar and his band of misfits make their way from the East and conquer certain territories along the way.

*** Show map of their travels

*** Show zoomed in version and places they hit.

King Chedar ends up winning the war. In the process, he and his fellow soldiers venture into Sodom and Gomorrah to collect the spoils of war. In doing so, they took captive all of those who had not run away, Lot and his family being amongst them.

Verse 13 tells us that someone escaped and went and told Abraham what had happened. The fact that this man knew to go to Abram, means that Abram and Lot stayed in touch even after they separated. This is important, because it speaks to how important family is. We should stay in contact with our family and stay close to them.

It also tells us that Abram had made some allies: Mamre and his two brothers Eshcol and Aner.

Abram readies his 318 servants, along with his allies forces and pursues King Chedar. Abram was smart. He no doubt knew that King Chedar’s forces were much more than his own, so he divided his people up and attached at night. In this way, he was able to overcome the enemy forces and save Lot and his family.

Not only did he save Lot and the family, he also brought all of the spoils of war that was taken from the Palestinian region back when he came. Bera, the king of Sodom, comes out to meet him as he returns, and verse 21 tells us that Bera tried to give all the goods to Abram for bringing back his people. But Abram refused and said that all he required for this was the food and supplies that was already consumed during the journey. He did ask the king to give a portion to his allies though: Mamre, Aner, Eshcol.

But we also see a new figure come into play here that we haven’t seen before. Interestingly enough, we will also not see him again.

Melchizedek is the king of Salem (also known as Jerusalem) and a priest of the Most High God. This is a very interesting individual. Unfortunately, we simply do not know much about him from the text. We see him only here and one more time in the entire Old Testament (Psalm 110). We see him referenced one more time in the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 6-7). Outside of that, we have no more Biblical records of him.

Because he is so vague in the Scriptures, there are many references to Melchizedek in extrabiblical sources, but the information ranges from being a total stranger to being a semi-divine godlike figure. These sources are purely skeptical as far as we know, so all we can really go on is what we have.

Melchizedek comes to greet Abram on his return trip from saving Lot from the wicked kings. Melchizedek brings bread and wine, which were both proper symbols found within the temple. He then blesses Abram for what he has done, saying that Abram is blessed by “God Most High”, and that it was in His power that Abram’s enemies were delivered into his hand.

Abram then responds to Melchizedek by giving him a tenth of all the spoils. This is the first mentioning of giving a tenth, or tithing in the Scriptures.

Melchizedek is interesting, because he is called a priest of God before the priesthood even existed, meaning that his priesthood was not through genealogy, but rather God appointed. Hebrews uses this information to point to Christ:

***Take them to Hebrews 6:19-20 and then walk through Hebrews 7, expounding upon the priestly order of Melchizedek.