Genesis 24
Last week we saw how there was a difference in the way that Abram and Lot approached life. Abram was a man who lived for others. Lot was a man who lived for himself. That theme will continue through tonight’s passage as we’re going to see Abram act very selflessly while dealing with the selfish people of the day.
Have you ever felt moved to help someone who really didn’t deserve your help? You know, “You got yourself into that mess, so you get yourself out of it!” That’s a real temptation isn’t it? “Maybe they’ll learn this time!” And you know, sometimes people need to learn the hard way. But sometimes they need help from us even if they don’t deserve it. Lot’s gotten himself in a mess here, and even though he probably didn’t deserve Abram’s help, help is what he got.
Now chapter fourteen of the book of Genesis records typical events of the day – warring between neighboring tribes and nations. And usually that warring was because of simple greed. Somebody wanted someone else’s land or someone else’s stuff so they fought over it. But that kind of greed will eventually do you in some day. And that’s the first thing we see here.
I. Greed takes you captive
Now at first glance this passage can be a little difficult to follow. But basically what’s going on is the four kings of the East were in control of the five kings of the Jordan valley for twelve years. On the thirteenth year the five kings of the Jordan valley were tired of being under their rule so they rebelled.
[Read Genesis 14:1-9.]
So these five kings of the Jordan valley wanted to large and in charge and decided to war against the kings of the East who they lived in submission to. But their rebellion didn’t work and they were defeated and even taken captive by the four Eastern kings.
[Read Genesis 14:10-12.]
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” My Dad used to tell me that when I was a kid and we’d go to Luby’s cafeteria. There was so much good food there that I would load up my tray but not be able to finish it all.
That’s what’s going on here. These five kings thought they could take the four kings and rule the entire region. But the plan backfired, they were defeated, and now instead of just living under their political authority now they had been utterly defeated, plundered and captured. And their greed is what caused it all.
And not only were these kingdoms taken captive, but Lot had gotten caught up in it since he lived there in Sodom. Now the last time we saw Lot he moved towards Sodom and lived in the cities of the valley. Despite the wickedness of the people, he moved there because of the rich land that would help grow his business. Over the years he moved into the actual city of Sodom and was consequently taken captive like all the other Sodomites. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But you know what, Lot brought this upon himself.
II Peter says that Lot was a man of faith when it refers to him as a righteous man.
[Read II Peter 2:7-8.]
So if Lot was a man of faith who was tormented by the sinfulness all around him, why didn’t he just leave? Why did he choose to stay there? Why did he choose to raise his family there? Why didn’t he move somewhere else? Because that was where the money was. Greed and selfishness was Lot’s downfall and it took him captive.
How often do we see greed as the downfall of people today:
- World leaders and dictators that want more and more but eventually loose it all. Napoleon, Hitler, Saddam Hussein
- Corporations that cheat and steal to get all they can but eventually loose it all. World Com., Enron
- Politicians who loose it all because get caught illegally making millions of dollars because of the power of their office.
- And millions and missions of people today who are slaves to their credit card bills because they wanted what they wanted when they wanted it.
Greed can take you captive and never let you go. As Lot sat there a captive of the
Eastern kings he had only himself to blame. But thank goodness Lot had an uncle that cared about him. Thanks goodness Abram had some love for his nephew. Because you know what love does?
II. Love makes you active
Listen to how Abram comes in and saves the day for his nephew.
[Read Genesis 14:13-16.]
Abram comes in like Mighty Mouse and saves the day! Abram is allied with two other groups of people in his area and under his leadership they go and defeat the much larger armies of the Eastern nations. Not only do they utterly defeat them, but they liberate all who had been taken captive in the battle along with all of their good that had been plundered.
Now, they didn’t have to do this. This wasn’t their fight. They were living in another region of the land, minding their own business, not bothering anybody. They could have easily just said a prayer for Lot and hoped for the best. But instead they risked their lives and the lives of their people for Lot and the others that had been oppressed.
And as we’re going to see in just a minute, they didn’t do it for the lands and the goods that they could have accumulated in winning this battle. They didn’t do this for themselves. They did it out of love for Lot and the people that were caught in the middle. You see, Love does. Love doesn’t just talk a good game – love makes you active!
[Grandpa buying me a car at the end of the summer of working for him story.]
Did I deserve for my Grandpa to buy me a car? No. I had gotten myself into this mess. But he loved me and saw an opportunity to help me out. Love makes you active!
Abram had love for his nephew and it caused him to do all that he could to help him out of this terrible mess. But along with that love, Abram was a man of faith. And:
III. Faith keeps you focused
This was a great victory for Abram. This was something to be proud of. This was an opportunity to gather more power and prestige for himself. But Abram’s faith kept him focused on what was important.
After the battle was over and the people had been freed the king of Sodom came out to meet with Abram who had delivered him and his people. They’re met by another king who is also a priest – Melchizadek. So before we go any further and look at Abram’s faith, let’s talk a little bit about this king/priest Melchizadek.
Melchizadek is one of the most mysterious persons mentioned in the entire Bible. First of all because so little is known about him. And secondly because the book of Hebrews compares him so extensively to Jesus Christ. So who is this man Melchizadek?
- King of Salem, ancient Jerusalem
[Read Genesis 14:18a, Psalm 76:1-2.]
- Priest of God
[Read Genesis 14:18, Psalm 110:4.]
- Melchizadek means “king of righteousness”
[Read Hebrews 7:2.]
- No written genealogy
[Read Hebrews 7:3.]
Now it’s possible that Melchizadek was an angel or even Jesus Himself in the form of a theophany, (a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus on earth like when He appeared in the fiery furnace with Shadrack, Meshak and Abendigo).
But that’s really not the point of the comparison. The point the writer of Hebrews was making was that Jesus was a new kind of priest as opposed to the Jewish priests in the order of Aaron. Those priests were human, temporary and insufficient. Jesus is God, eternal and able to once and for all atone for our sins.
This is also an amazing display of God’s working through ancient events like the one we’ve been talking about to establish Jesus as Savior thousands of years later. Amazing!
So, we’ve got Abram and the king of Sodom having a little post-victory meeting in the valley of Shaveh with this king/priest Melchizadek. What a trio. Melchizadek this Jesus-type figure, Abram a man of faith and Bera a man of the flesh. Let’s see what happens.
[Read Genesis 14:17-20.]
Melchizadek blesses Abraham and gives glory to God for his victory. It was an obvious act of God that Abram and his small army would be able to defeat the Eastern kings. So Melchizadek gives credit to where credit was due. God deserved the glory and God would get the glory. Abram obviously agreed with what Melchizadek was saying because he gave him the first ever recorded tithe of all that God had given him. Abram saw Melchizadek as God’s priest on the earth at that time and he willingly gave him a tenth of all that he’d gained in the victory. Abram’s faith kept him focused on what was important. And he would need that faith because he’s about to get a real chance to get side-tracked by king Bera.
[Read Genesis 14:21-24.]
Now this is truly amazing. The king of Sodom is making Abram an offer that would make him an incredibly rich and powerful man. But in accepting this offer then the king of Sodom would get the glory for making Abram rich instead of God getting the glory for how He was blessing Him. That’s not what Abram was about any more. Abram wanted God to get all the glory for he knew it was God who was watching over him. God was the One who gave him that victory and He deserved all the credit. Besides, Abram wasn’t in it for the money anyways! But you know what, it looks like Abram had decided to do this even before Bera made his offer.
[Read Genesis 14:23.]
Abram probably knew beforehand that Bera would try and align himself with the victorious Abram so he had already decided that kind of alliance would never happen. Bera and his kingdom were known for their exceedingly sinful lifestyles. How could a man of God be associated with something like that.
Now that doesn’t mean he can’t be kind to them or reach out to them. But to align himself with an immoral man just for profit isn’t something that a godly man should do. It reminds me of something that happened in Tampa in 2006.
[Without Walls church July 2006, Joe Redner, Tampa strip club king,
self-professed gay man, speaking on a Sunday morning about his running
for a county seat, standing ovation, also spoke in 2003 story.]
Our faith needs to keep us focused on what’s important – giving God the glory for what He’s doing in our lives. He is worthy! So let’s stay focused and make sure we don’t allow greed or a lack of faith to cause us to do things that’ll end up holding us hostage.
Next week, Abram’s promised a son.
