Introduction: After Abram and his household were ordered to leave Egypt, they returned to Canaan. Genesis 13 describes how Abram and Lot both realized there wasn’t enough room (and probably food) for both of them to live together. Abram gave Lot the first choice and said that he would go in the other direction from Lot to keep the peace. Lot made a bad decision, choosing to live near Sodom, even though it looked like a good choice, humanly speaking.
Lot’s decision was doubly bad when war broke out and he and his goods were captured. He and his property, such as remained, were now at Dan, the far north of Canaan. Word eventually reached Abram, Lot’s uncle, then Abram led a rescue mission to save Lot and the other captives.
1 What Abram heard
Text, Genesis 14:1-12, KJV: 1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2 That these 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, which is Zoar. 3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. 7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. 8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; 9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. 11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
This section is background material for the rest of the message itself. Moses explains how one of the first world wars started, with Semitic peoples from Shinar, not far from Babylon; Ellasar (location not certain); Elam (modern day Iran) and the “king of ‘nations’” came to fight against some Hamitic peoples south and east of Canaan. Some of the locations mentioned are known, such as Mt Seir, which was later given to the Edomites or descendants of Esau many years later (compare Genesis 33:14-16 with Deuteronomy 2:1-12).. Other locations are not certain. The thing to remember is that a large army from the north and east of Canaan, led by four kings, came to fight a rebellion led by five kings of the south. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were included in the group of five kings.
Not much is said about the battles themselves, except to note that the “Vale of Siddim” was full of tar pits (“slime” pits, KJV). The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah “fled, and fell there”; the others fled to the mountains. Nothing really is known about these pits, as to size, depth, or anything else, but they were apparently large enough for people to become trapped in them. The time of day this battle took place is never stated but it is likely the people of Sodom and Gomorrah fled at night. Otherwise, if this happened during the day, chances are the people would have seen these pits and avoided them.
The invading army, led by the four kings of the north, didn’t seem to have any trouble avoiding these pits. They didn’t have any trouble capturing or plundering all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah. Even worse, they captured Lot, Abram’s nephew, and all his goods or property. Lot had chosen to live near Sodom, in chapter 13, but now he is paying the price for that decision. Instead of living in fellowship with Abram, he’s now living in fear of an invading army—and he wasn’t even a resident of Sodom at this point! None of that seemed to matter to the invaders, who came, conquered, plundered, and left.
“And they departed”. None of the captives knew where they were going but some might have guessed that it was going to be a long way from their homes. And none of them seemed to have any way of escaping the fate or future awaiting them. What hope they might have had was probably gone by the time they were out of sight of Sodom.
But all was not lost. Somebody was able to get word to Abram.
Then, things were going to happen, and things were about to change.
2 What Abram did
Text, Genesis 14:13-16, KJV: 13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. 14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
Sometimes in war, there are more captives than captors. It’s possible some tried to escape in this conflict, even as other captives have escaped in other conflicts. Here, one person did manage to break away from the line of captives heading for an uncertain—but probably not pleasant—future in an unknown land. Whoever he or she was (most likely a male, given the treatment of women in those days), he at least knew about Abram, found him, and told him the sad news. Remember that Lot had settled in Sodom, and Abram had relocated from Bethel to near Hebron (Gen.13:3-18) and there was a great distance between these two cities.
What this escapee told Abram is not recorded, but the message had to mention Lot in at least some aspect. Would Abram have become involved in a dispute that didn’t involve his family? But now that he knew Lot was in serious trouble, Abram decided to act.
And act quickly.
Verse 14 tells us that Abram first armed his trained servants. How he got these arms and where he stored them is never stated, but when time came to act, Abram did indeed act. Note also that these “trained servants” were born in his own house. This doesn’t mean these men were children of Abram: if so, for one thing, the oldest would have been heir to Abram’s estate, not Isaac; second, Abram would have had to have quite a number of wives and concubines and there is no record of this; third, these servants would not have been old enough to even handle the weapons! Suppose Abram left Ur of the Chaldees at age 65, then stayed at Haran until he was 75 and his father had died there (compare Genesis 11:32 and 12:4) and maybe one year in Egypt. These servants wouldn’t even be 12 to 13 years of age! So, most likely, Abram selected some of the best to be his own guards, soldiers, however he wanted to use them as he saw fit.
We do know he had 318 of these trained servants, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Once Abram gave them their weapons, he led them on a rescue mission to find Lot and take him back. They were a small number and could advance a lot farther and faster than the combined armies of the four kings. These invaders were leading the people taken captive, the property or goods, and anything else they could plunder, no doubt.
So off they went, trying to find this enemy army that had taken Abram’s nephew captive, along with Lot’s “goods (Gen. 14:12). Abram led his group from Hebron, far in the south, to Dan, far in the north. Once there, he arranged for a surprise attack at night. How he did this, as to whether he and the 318 attacked the invaders/.captors all at once or split into smaller groups is not stated (compare this with the campaign of Gideon against the Midianites in Judges 7).
At any rate, the strategy worked, and the invading army fled. Abram and his 318 followers “pursued them into Hobah”, on the “left hand of Damascus.” The location of Hobah is not known for certain, but it seems to have been a place of refuge for the (former) invaders. When this battle or campaign was over, Abram and the 318 “brought back” all the goods, plus Lot and other people. Strangely enough, there is no mention of the response from Lot or anyone else expressing gratitude for their rescue.
Abram, though, was extremely grateful, and he demonstrated this as soon as he could.
3 What Abram gave
Text, Genesis 14:17-24, KJV: 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion
It seems there was at least a little time between the return of Lot and the other captives to their hometowns. The king of Sodom went to meet Abram at the valley of Shaveh, or the “king’s dale” or valley (location not certain but may be near Jerusalem). While there, a surprise visitor came: Melchizedek, king of Salem (another name for Jerusalem). This man was not only the king of the city, but he was also a priest of the Most High God, one of the names for the True God and the God of Abram/Abraham.
Now comes one of the classic passages in the Bible. Melchizedek approached Abram then brought bread and wine. After this, Melchizedek blessed him, saying, “Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand”. This is one of the first, and best, blessings by a priest of God to a follower of God. But this wasn’t all, because Abram was going to do something, too.
Abram gave tithes, or 10 per cent, of “all”, to Melchizedek. Of note, this is one of the few times, if not the only time, Abram gave tithes of anything during his lifetime. This was a very special occasion, when God gave Abram and his men victory over a much larger force and Abram was probably glad to honor God for all He had done for Abram. This tithe, also, was completely voluntary: there was no law or commandment to give a tithe at this time, such as what was commanded later in the Law of Moses.
Surprisingly, the king of Sodom came to Abram and said, “Keep all the goods for yourself but let me have the people (the captives, perhaps?)”. Why he said this is not certain, but Abram’s reply was absolutely certain: “NO!” His actual words were “I have lift (ed) up mine hand to the LORD, the most high God (note how Abram recognized the LORD as also “The Most High God” at this time, maybe even sooner) . . .that I will not take a thread or a shoelatchet (a piece of a shoe to fasten it over a person’s foot), lest you say I have made Abram rich” Abram seems to have learned from his journey to Egypt that even though he had received many things, the Pharaoh would always have the right and ability to say something like “look what I did for Abram! He got rich because I did it for him!” No, Abram wasn’t about to let anyone say that “I made Abram rich” ever again, no matter who it was.
Conclusion: Lot made a very bad decision by choosing to move close to Sodom, a wicked city even then/ He was captured, along with an unknown number of others, and was on his way to an unknown fate. Someone escaped the line of captives and got word to Abram, who promptly armed some of his men. They went to the far north of Canaan and rescued Lot, plus other captives, and took them back to their homes. When Abram heard about the problem, he did something about it, and best of all, gave thanks to God along with tithes of all.
When we come against something similar, or any kind of problem, may we be quick to hear and ready to act, even as Abram, when we know what to do. When victory comes, may we also be prompt in giving thanks to the LORD God, the One Who gave us all that we need!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
