Genesis 14.5-12-Eastern Kings Defeat Dead Sea Kings and Capture Lot
Wednesday November 30, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 14:5-12-Eastern Kings Defeat Dead Sea Kings and Capture Lot
Lesson # 69
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 14:1.
Last evening we began a study of Genesis 14 by noting Genesis 14:1-4 where the Dead Sea Kings in the days of Abram rebelled against the Eastern kings of Mesopotamia.
This evening we will study Genesis 14:5-12, which records the defeat of these Dead Sea kings by the Eastern kings.
This battle had a major impact on Abram since these Eastern kings captured Lot his nephew who lived in the Dead Sea area.
Genesis 14:1, “And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim.”
Genesis 14:2, “that they (Eastern kings: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim) made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).”
Genesis 14:3, “All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).”
Genesis 14:4, “Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled.”
Genesis 14:5, “In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim (“giants”) in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim (“roving creatures”) in Ham and the Emim (“terrors”) in Shaveh-kiriathaim.”
The invasion of the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition first destroyed all the tribes north, east and then west of the Dead Sea before it reached the Dead Sea rebellion of the five kings for the purpose of eliminating the possibility of an attack from the rear while they were occupied with the five Dead Sea kings.
The first tribe that the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition defeated was the “Rephaim” who lived in Canaan and east of the Jordan (Gen. 15:20; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 17:15) and were of giant stature, such as the king of Bashan (Deut. 3:11, 13).
Several groups were regarded as Rephaim, including the Anakim, Emim and Zamzummim (Deut. 2:10-22).
Genesis 14:5 records the “Rephaim” as being located in “Ashteroth-karnaim,” which was named for the two-horned image of the goddess Astarte or Ishtar and was located about twenty miles east of the Sea of Galilee on the “King’s Highway” in what is now known as Syria.
The second group was called the “Zuzim” who are the same as the “Zamzummim” (Deut. 2:20) and were also of giant stature, located in “Ham,” which was a territory later occupied by Ammon, somewhere in the Transjordan, between Bashan and Moab.
The “Rephaim” and the “Zamzummim” were possibly tribes of the Anakim (“giants”), who were descended from Anak, the son of Arba (Josh. 15:13).
The third group was “Emim” which was located in “Shaveh-kiriathaim,” which was in Moab, southeast of the Dead Sea, in the vicinity of Zoar, which today is Jordan.
Genesis 14:6, “and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.”
The “Horites” who were located in “Mount Seir” were the next group defeated by the Eastern Mesopotamian Coalition.
They were cave dwellers and were driven out of their land by Esau’s descendants, the Edomites and were displaced by them (Deut. 2:12, 22).
The name “El Paran” means, “the terebinth of Paran” and was located on the border of the Sinai desert whereas “Mount Seir” was located southeast of the Dead Sea along the Arabah.
Genesis 14:7, “Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites (“dwellers in a valley”), and also the Amorites (“mountaineers”), who lived in Hazazon-tamar.”
Genesis 14:7 records that the Five Eastern Kings circled back west to “En-mishpat,” which means, “well of judgment” and was later called “Kadesh” (“holy”), an oasis about seventy miles southwest of the Dead Sea.
“Kadesh” is also called “Kadesh-Barnea” and was located west of Israel’s western boundary, the River of Egypt or the Wadi el-Arish, in the southwest Negev.
The Five Eastern Kings also conquered the territory of the “Amalekites,” who lived primarily in the Negev and the “Amorites” who lived in “Hazazon-tamar,” which was the west side of the Dead Sea.
Genesis 14:8, “And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim.”
Genesis 14:9, “against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar -- four kings against five.”
Genesis 14:10, “Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country.”
Genesis 14:8-10 records that the Four Eastern Kings defeated the Five Dead Sea Kings decisively and were routed, falling into the tar pits in the Valley of Siddim as they were fleeing the battle.
“Tar” refers to a dark, bituminous substance that in ancient times was used as cement and mortar.
Genesis 14:10 records that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies fell into these tar pits, which was part of the Lord’s judgment upon these two cities.
Notice, that before these two cities were completely destroyed, they were first defeated on the battlefield.
The Lord Jesus Christ who controls history gave these Four Eastern Mesopotamian Kings victory on the battlefield over the Five Dead Sea Kings since these Dead Sea Kings were under judgment for their gross immorality and wickedness.
2 Chronicles 20:15, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, "Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.”
1 Samuel 17:46, “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”
1 Samuel 17:47, “and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands.”
Genesis 14:11, “Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.”
Genesis 14:11 records that the Four Eastern Kings led by Chedorlaomer plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Goods” is the noun rekhush (vWbr+) (rek-oosh), which refers to “possessions,” which in the context of war would include women, children, servants and prisoners of war as well as the goods, outfittings, and equipment of the defeated army, which are part of the spoil gathered by the victorious army.
Genesis 14:12, “They also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.”
Lot and his possessions were part of the spoils of war for these Four Eastern Kings.
Lot is in the wrong place at the wrong time simply because he is out of the “geographical” will of God, which means that he is not in the place where God wants him to be, which was to be with Abram.
There is a specific geographical location where God wants us to be in order to perform that which He has planned for us from eternity past.
Just as we studied in Genesis 12 where Abram was out of the geographical will of God by going down to Egypt to solve the problem of famine in the land of Canaan so in Genesis 13, Lot is out of the geographical will of God by separating from his uncle Abram.
When we are not in the geographical will of God we are in danger and will suffer the consequences just as Lot suffered the consequences for not being in the place that the Lord wanted him to be.
Lot is under divine discipline as manifested in that he is made a prisoner of war.
Lot’s decision to leave Abram is another manifestation that he is “backsliding” or in “apostasy” or in “reversionism” meaning he is disobedient and negative towards the will of God and is under divine discipline.
Abram stayed in the land of promise and the place of blessing, obedient to the Lord and thus in fellowship with Him whereas Lot has settled in an evil place, which is the result of his disobedience and prevents him from experiencing fellowship with the Lord.
The capture of Lot teaches that when a believer is out of fellowship with the Lord and backsliding or in reversionism or apostasy, he will be severely disciplined by the Lord, which is an expression of the Lord’s love for the believer.
The Lord disciplines His disobedient children by permitting adversity, trials, and irritations to come into their lives that are beyond their capacity to handle in order to get their attention and to focus upon their number one priority in life as children of God, which is conformity to the Father’s will.
The Lord disciplines His disobedient children by permitting them to reap the fruits of their bad decisions so that they might learn that conformity to His will is the only way to true joy and happiness and blessing in life (Ezek. 16:43; Gal. 6:7-8).
Hosea 8:7, “For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind.”
Just as any good father disciplines his children because he loves them, so God the Father disciplines His children because He loves them.
If God did not punish us when we are disobedient, then we would be illegitimate children, thus divine discipline in the sense of punishment and training is the mark of a child of God (Heb. 12:5-11).
Revelation 3:19, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”
Hebrews 12:6, “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”
Job 5:17-18, “Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal.”