Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (18.1)
The Book of Genesis
Genesis Chapter 14 - Read this Bible passage
once through before referring to the notes below.
The War of the Kings and Abram’s Victory
v.1-11 In great detail, a typical “international” skirmish in the
ancient world is described.Invasions of this nature, where powerful kings formed a coalition
to subjugate rebellious vassals, were frequent activities for Mesopotamian kings.
The kings of Jordan (v.2) served (i.e. sent him tribute in the form of produce and money) Chedorlamer (v.1)
for 12 years but they rebelled (i.e. they did not sent him anything) in the 13th year. In the 14th year,
Chedorlamer came from the East with his allies to subjugate them.The campaigns of the 4 kings from the East were immensely successful.
They fought against at least 11 different groups of people living in the land of Canaan, and won every battle.
They probably commanded powerful and superior armies.
v.12 In the campaign Lot was taken captive along with the people
and the food (“victuals”) of the cities of the Jordanian plain. The reason Lot was captured
was because he had moved from tenting (13:12) to dwell in Sodom.The point of this text is that, if he had not “dwelt in Sodom”, he might not have been captured and Abram might not
have been drawn into the war.
v.13-16 Abram’s “dwelt” is a different Hebrew word from Lot’s “dwelt”, which refers to a temporary abode in contrast to Lot’s permanent
stay.Even with a temporary dwelling in the plain of Mamre and his brothers
required Abram to make a treaty with these Amorites.Because of the treaty (“these were confederate with Abram”), when Abram had to go to battle,
they would be bound to go with him.The introduction of Abram’s allies informs us that Abram probably
went to war with more than his own 318 men (cf. 14:24).
Even if Abram went only with 318 men, they could have still routed the armies of the 4 kings through a surprise
night attack from different sides (v.15 cf. Judg. 7).Abram is
depicted here as a man of faith and courage.Although Abram had to contend with armies that were probably larger, more experienced and powerful than
his own forces, it did not deter him from launching an offensive.Using all the resources, help and wisdom that God had provided for
the confrontation, Abram won a great victory over the superior foes.When Christians enter into spiritual battle against our Enemy and
his forces, we would often encounter great odds against ourselves.But like Abram, we must gather all our available resources and battle
courageously for our LORD, and He will give the victory!
v.17-20 After the great victory, Abram emerged as a force to
be reckoned with – a powerful tribal leader on the international scene. However, the challenges for the victorious
Abram were not over yet. The two kings who came out to meet Abram posed two different tests to the faith
of Abram.The first was a test of humility. At this point in the life
of Abram, he is enjoying great spiritual privileges, material prosperity, and military power and prestige.
There is now temptation for Abram to claim the glory for his recent military victory.
Melchizedek, the king of Salem, was “the priest of the most high God”. Out of an obscure Canaanite valley
in a land filled with pagan people, an unknown Canaanite king-priest, who was nearer to God than Abram was, appeared
to pronounce a blessing on Abram.This incident shows how limited our thinking often is! While
our attention is focused on Abram as the one who carried the spiritual hope of the world, came a man who is Abram’s
spiritual superior (cf. Heb. 7:6-7).
Melchizedek is a mystery figure in Genesis but later revelation teaches that he stood as a type of Jesus Christ
(cf. Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:1-10), in that he united the offices of the high priest and the king
in the city of Salem.When Hebrews 7:3 says that he was without father and mother, it may
mean that in a book filled with genealogical records, Melchizedek appeared on the scene without any such notice.
There is no evidence that Abram knew exactly who this Melchizedek was when he met him.How was Abram (called of God, wealthy, powerful and respected) to
respond to this king-priest?
This king of righteousness brought out refreshments for Abram and pronounced a blessing on Abram and on the one
true God. Abram humbly acknowledged the truth in the blessing pronounced by Melchizedek that it is the sovereign
Creator God (“the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth”), who deserved all
the glory for the victory (v.20). Abram recognised Melchizedek as his spiritual superior and so he accepted
the blessing from him and paid him tithes (cf. Heb. 7:4)
In the same way, whenever Christians enjoy great victories in their personal life or public ministries, they must
be careful to give God the glory. There will ever be the temptation to pride and to consider themselves as
the only specially privileged people in the kingdom of God. If God were to bring along a “Melchizedek” to
lead us to worship God and give to Him alone all the glory for our success, our response to such a spiritual brother
will reveal the condition of our heart in the aftermath of a victorious battle.
v.21 The second test was one of contentment. There is also
now a temptation to greed, claiming a reward for oneself over a good job well done. The spiritual reality
is that the tension Abram faced with the king of Sodom was far more critical than the physical battle because the
reputation of the LORD was at stake. This is a more subtle threat, which came after the success in the conflict,
and it was an offer that would confuse worldly benefits with divine blessing.
v.22-24 Abram flatly rejected the offer of reward from the king of
Sodom. He did so with perfect perception of what he was doing. Having humbled himself before God (cf.
1 Pe. 5:6-9), he knew with certainty
that both the victory and the blessing came from God. Therefore, the victory must not be in any
way tarnished through the offer from the king of Sodom, who was the ruler of an extremely wicked city. He
did not want to allow Sodom to take the advantage to say that he was the one who made Abram rich, especially since
he knew what he knew about the people of Sodom.
Clearly, Abram was not one who sought after wealth for he flatly rejected a very attractive offer, which he could
rightly enjoy as the victorious conqueror (14:21 cf. 11). But he wanted something far more enduring than
the spoils of war; he wanted the fulfillment of God’s promise that would be miraculous and enduring (cf. 13:14-17).
And he was jealous for the name of God that when the promise is fulfilled, there will be no occasion for the king
of a city of great wickedness to claim any credit (14:23-24).
We must not imagine that Abram’s ability to discern that the possible motive of the king of Sodom might be dangerous
to the reputation of God’s programme in the future is an easy thing to do. God does want to bless His people
today as He did back then, not just with heaven but with good gifts as well (cf. Ja. 1:17). How may believers
today discern when a blessing is from God and when it is not?A principle we may glean from this passage is that Abram knew the
wicked nature of the people of Sodom and the man over them. A discernment of the natureof those who offer to give is basic. Another test for evaluation is “if
we call something in our lives a blessing from God, can it be explained in no other way than from God – miraculous,
spiritual and enduring.”
Abram was able to discern successfully because his own motive was right – he was not so much interested in material possessions; he was jealous for the name of God.
He was simply not willing to say that the best that Sodom had to offer was the blessing from God. Finally,
Abram was strengthened by the blessing he accepted from Melchizedek to look and give to God alone the glory in
worship (14:22). Believers today must likewise
frame their entire life so that for all success, joy, comfort, and prosperity, they depend on God alone.