Abram Rescues Lot

Genesis 14:1-15:6¹

April 9, 2006

[Prayer]

Today’s message is from Genesis 14:1-15:6. These chapters describe a war in which Abram became involved, Abram’s being blessed by Melchizedek, priest of God Most High and the Lord’s encouragement to Abram. As we’ve been doing most of the time in Genesis, we won’t read the entire passage before I get into the message. (It’s reproduced at the end of the message as it appears on the LHF website.) In any case, remember that the text of the passage is the word of God breathed by the Holy Spirit of God. It’s able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Also, as always, I exhort each of you to read your Bibles every day. As we go through Genesis, read ahead so that you will already have read the passages before I talk about them.

The Lord had called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan, the land he would show Abram. Abram’s family left, but they had stopped and settled in Haran instead of continuing to Canaan. When they were in Haran, the Lord again called Abram to go to the land he would show him. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and his servants and possessions and went to Canaan.

After Abram was in Canaan a while, there was a famine. Abram took his family and all his possessions and people, left Canaan where the Lord had sent him and went to Egypt where there was plenty (but not where the Lord had told him to go). Abram got into trouble in Egypt. He was rebuked by Pharaoh, the pagan king of Egypt, and sent back to Canaan where the Lord had originally called him to go.

By the time Abram returned from Egypt to Canaan, both he and Lot had each accumulated so many animals and so many possessions that the land was no longer able to support them. There was quarreling between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives.” He proposed that they separate. Whichever way Lot went, he would go the other way. Lot chose the choicest part of the land, the land along the Jordan river valley. Abram took what was left. The land Lot chose was the land where Sodom was located. The men of Sodom were evil and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

After they separated and Lot left Abram, the Lord told Abram to look in every direction. He told Abram that he would give to him and his offspring the entire land as far as he could see, forever! He told him that his offspring would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. He said to Abram, “Get up and walk from one end of the land to the other, for I will give it to you.” Lot had chosen the best part of the land for himself, but all the land would—actually, will—belong to Abram and his offspring forever! The Lord encouraged Abram with these words. Abram built an altar to the Lord.

Now let’s go on to chapter 14. Chapter 14 is about a war. This is the first war recorded in the Bible, although there probably had been others, especially before the flood.

If you look at the first seven verses of chapter 14, you will see that four kings, Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, fought against five kings, Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and the king of Zoar. I don’t expect you to remember all the names of the kings, but remember this, that there were four kings that fought against five kings.

The five kings and their people had apparently been conquered by the four kings and had been subject to them for twelve years. After the twelfth year, they rebelled. One of the four kings, Amraphel, was actually the king of the land that Abram had originally come from. Amraphel was the king of Shinar. Shinar is that land that Abram had been called by the Lord to leave. Abram was called to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to Canaan. Shinar was the land of the Chaldeans.

One of the five kings who had rebelled against the rule of the four kings was Bera, king of Sodom. Abram’s nephew Lot lived in Sodom. The four kings, the ruling kings, defeated the five kings. All the people of Sodom fled. The four kings plundered the goods of Sodom and captured some of the people. Lot was among the people who were captured. (verse 12) One of the people who had escaped came and told Abram what had happened.

When the survivor came to Abram with the news of Lot’s capture, Abram was at the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite. This is where Abram lived and where he had built an altar to the Lord. Abram had a treaty with Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner. (verse 13) When Abram heard what had happened to Lot, he assembled his 318 trained men and along with Mamre, Eshcol and Aner, he pursued the army that had captured Lot. (verses 14, 15) They caught up to them at Dan and freed Lot and the other people that had been captured as well as recovering all their goods. (I checked a Bible map book and it shows that they pursued the captors for almost 150 miles before they caught up to them. Then they pursued them another 50 or 60 miles before they recovered the people and the goods. So this was quite an expedition. Also, the four kings had apparently traveled several hundred miles to put down the rebellion of the five kings.)

You know, these four kings were from pretty large nations. At least the kings of Shinar and Elam were. And I didn’t mention it before, but the four kings not only defeated the five kings, but they also defeated a number of other kings along the way. They were able to defeat all these kings and their forces and yet Abram and 318 men plus a few others defeated them! It’s good to have the Lord on your side!

When I was looking at the commentaries, one of the expositors pointed out that Abram probably could have offered a ransom to recover Lot and his family and belongings and thus avoided a confrontation. Abram was rich. But he didn’t do it that way. Instead he chose to rescue all those who had been taken captive, not just Lot. You know, these people of Sodom and Gomorrah were sinning greatly against the Lord (and sin, by the way, is ultimately against the Lord, not just against men). They were sinning against the Lord and the Lord would destroy all of them except for Lot in a few years. But Abram rescued all of them, not just Lot! John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus died for all of us and for all of our sins—and not just for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world as well. The Lord is not willing for any to perish, but want everyone to come to repentance.

Now let’s go on. Let’s look at verses 17 through 21 in today’s passage. Listen while I read them. This section is entitled Melchizedek’s Blessing. Here’s what it says:

^{17After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. ¹⁹He blessed him and said:

Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,
^{20 and give praise to God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:17-20)

This passage starts out by saying that the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram after he defeated the four kings, Chedorlaomer the king of Elam and the others. Then it says Melchizedek brought out bread and wine. It says that Melchizedek was priest to God most high. Why was he there with the bread and wine when the king of Sodom came to meet Abram? It doesn’t even say that he went to meet Abram; he was just there. His name, Melchizedek, means King of Righteousness. He was also king of Salem, which means King of Peace. Some people think he was Jesus. I don’t know whether he was or not, but he was certainly there because God sent him. He pronounced a blessing over Abram and praised God who gave Abram victory over his enemies. The writer of Hebrews says that Melchizedek was greater than Abram because it is the greater who blesses the lesser. (Hebrews 7:7) If you had any doubt about how Abram was able to defeat the armies of the four kings, Melchizedek didn’t! It was God Most High who gave the victory. And it’s God Most High that gives us the victory over our enemy the devil and over sin and death. “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” (Eph. 6:12) Jesus will reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death! (1 Cor. 15:25, 26) There will be no more grief or crying or pain or death! God will wipe away every tear from our eyes! (Rev. 21:4) Moses says that Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had recovered. (Moses wrote Genesis.)

Now let’s look at verses 21 through 24. Here’s what they say (and I believe this explains the immediate reason why Melchizedek was there):

^{21Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
^{22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.” (Genesis 14:21-24)

The king of Sodom wanted to reward Abram for rescuing his people by giving him all goods that the enemies had captured. But Abram had sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, to not take the smallest thing from the king of Sodom so that he would never be able to say that he had made Abram rich. I believe that it was Melchizedek who told Abram that he must swear that oath. If he had not done so, he would have been obligated to a man who was presiding over a city that was evil and sinning greatly against the Lord, a city that the Lord would destroy along with all of it’s inhabitants except for Lot and his family. What sorts of things do we do that cause us to be obligated to people who are in rebellion against the Lord and who, if they don’t repent, the Lord will destroy. Those who are lost in sin and without Jesus should be obligated to us for blessing them and loving them and showing them Jesus and never the other way around.

Now let’s go on to chapter 15. Here’s what verse 1 says:

^{1After 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.

“Do not be afraid. I am your shield. Your reward is very great.” Some of the translators make it so that Abram’s very great reward is the Lord himself: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; I am you very great reward.”)

Abram had just come back from a great victory over a large army. Sometimes when the Lord gives us a great spiritual victory, we crash spiritually the next day. Maybe Satan takes advantage of us at that time. Has that ever happened to you? Abram had had a great victory and part of that victory was to not take any material payment for it. He could have been even richer than he was, but he refused to take anything from the king of Sodom. Have you ever been in the situation where you have been convicted that you had to give up some material blessing or honor or job or whatever because you knew it was God’s will for you to do so, and you did it and you felt good and thought that you had won a great spiritual victory. And then a short time later you said to yourself, “What have I done?” I think the Lord came to Abram to encourage him and to protect him from that kind of thinking: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward is very great.” But look how Abram responded. Let me read verses 2 and 3:

^{2But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”

The Lord had told Abram that, not only would he give the land to him and his offspring forever, but that his offspring would be as numerous as the dust. Abram had completely forgotten about the Lord’s promiise. We do the same thing too. We forget about God’s promises.

The Lord had to reassure Abram again. Verses 4 and 5:

^{4Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”

The Lord speaks to us when we forget his promises too, sometimes he speaks the way he spoke to Abram, in a vision or in a dream or by speaking into our minds; but we have the word of God recorded by the prophets; and we have the Holy Spirit to make it alive and powerful. Most of the time that’s the way the Lord speaks to us—through the Scriptures—through the written word of God. That’s why I tell you every Sunday to read the Bible every day.

Now let’s look at verse 6. This is one of the key verses of the Bible. It’s the key to salvation. I’ve quoted it lots of times before and it’s also quoted in the New Testament as the way to salvation. So listen carefully. Here’s what it says. It says, “Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

There is only one way to righteousness. There is no righteousness by “being good”. There is no righteousness by trying harder. There is no righteousness by self-discipline. All these things can be good and useful, but they will not make you righteous in God sight. In fact, without faith, they will only make you proud! Righteousness only comes by believing God, by faith in him. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sin? Do you believe he rose from the dead? Do you believe that he is Lord and is reigning over all creation? Do you believe he is coming back to make everything right? Have you entrusted yourself to him for your salvation? If not, you will certainly perish. You will be condemned to eternal punishment. The Lord is patient and is not willing for any to perish; but there is a time when the owner of the house will get up and lock the door and it will be too late.

We’ll stop here. I was going to continue with the covenant that the Lord made with Abram, but I’ll go on to that another time. Next Sunday is the day we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection from the dead. It’s the event that confirms all that is taught in the Bible.

[Prayer]

END NOTES
^{1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

^{2 Genesis 14:1-15:6

Chapter 14

Abram Rescues Lot
^{1In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim ²waged war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, as well as the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³All of these came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). ⁴They were subject to Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in the mountains of Seir, as far as El-paran by the wilderness. ⁷Then they came back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they defeated all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
^{8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and lined up for battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, but the rest fled to the mountains. ¹¹The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on. ¹²They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.
^{13One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was at the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵And he and his servants deployed against them by night, attacked them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus. ¹⁶He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people.

Melchizedek’s Blessing
^{17After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. ¹⁹He blessed him and said:

Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth,
^{20and give praise to God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
^{21Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
^{22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”

Chapter 15

The Abrahamic Covenant
^{1After 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.

^{2But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no • offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
^{4Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” ⁵He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
^{6Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}