GENESIS CHAPTER FOURTEEN OVERVIEW
Overall what is happening in this chapter is that Lot is captured and Abram rescues him. Also, Abram meets Melchizedek king of Salem.
Thomas Coke (1801) – Genesis 14
Four kings, having conquered five kings of Canaan, take Lot captive. Abram, with his servants, pursues and vanquishes them, and delivers Lot. Melchizedek blesses Abram.
Joseph Benson (1857) – Genesis 14
We have in this chapter:
(1) A war with the king of Sodom and his allies, Genesis 14:1-12.
(2) Abram’s rescue of Lot from captivity, Genesis 14:13-16.
(3) Abram’s return from that expedition, Genesis 14:17, with an account of what passed:
1. Between him and the king of Salem, Genesis 14:18-20.
2. Between him and the king of Sodom, Genesis 14:21-24.
Matthew Henry (1714) – Genesis 14
We have four things in the story of this chapter:
I. A war with the king of Sodom and his allies (Genesis 14:1-11).
II. The captivity of Lot in that war (Genesis 14:12).
III. Abram's rescue of Lot from that captivity, with the victory he obtained over the conquerors (Genesis 14:13-16).
IV. Abram's return from the expedition (Genesis 14:17), with an account of what passed,
1. Between him and the king of Salem (Genesis 14:18-20).
2. Between him and the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:21-24).
So that here we have that promise to Abram in part fulfilled, that God would make his name great.
Thomas Constable (2012) - Abram's Military Victory
Sometime later a powerful coalition of kings from Mesopotamia invaded Canaan and, in the process, took Lot captive. Abram retaliated with a surprise attack at night and recovered Lot and the possessions those kings had taken. Upon his return to his home Abram received a blessing from Melchizedek, king of Salem, and he received an offer of reward by the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:2). Abram declined to accept the reward because he did not want to tarnish God's promised blessing of him. Abram's realization that victory and possessions come from God alone enabled him to avoid the danger of accepting gifts from the wicked and to wait for God to provide what He had promised. In this chapter we see a much different Abram from the coward who endangered his wife in Egypt.
KEY VERSE
Genesis 14:18 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.”
KEY EVENT
Abram rescues Lot.
KEY CROSS-REFERENCE
Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
KEY THOUGHT
Melchizedek blesses Abram and Abram gives Melchizedek a tithe from the spoils of war. The King of Sodom receives the rest of the spoils of war. No one can say that Abram became wealthy by being a mercenary or by the generosity of another man.
KEY QUOTE
“Jesus Christ, our great Melchizedek, is to have homage done him, and to be humbly acknowledged by every one of us as our king and priest; and not only the tithe of all, but all we have, must be surrendered and given up to him.” Matthew Henry
