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Gen. 14:1 "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."
There was a
time when Chedorlaomer, king of Elam had
nine kingdoms or nations under his control.
There came a time when five of those kings
rebelled against the control and authority
of Chedorlaomer. This set up a war between
the four who remained with Chedorlaomer and
the five who rebelled against him.
Chedorlaomer was like Nimrod and Asshur
before him a kingdom builder. He desired to
have control of other people and to be
considered a great king upon earth.
Ultimately, people like him are really after
world-wide dominance. This pattern carries
throughout man's history.
A kingdom
builder who has dominance does not easily
give up that dominance against those who
rebel against him. We are not told why the
five kings rebelled, but there had to be
something that they and their people did not
like or agree with. This does not matter
with a kingdom builder. Their desire is for
world-wide conquest and they will stop at
almost nothing including ruthless
destruction of those who would oppose them.
The next thing
we see about Kingdom builders, they use
occasion of conflict or trouble to expand
their kingdom. They justify this by saying
such things as we need those lands to
protect our borders against our enemies. Or
these lands are strategic to the well being
of the kingdom. Chedorlaomer used the
conflict to expand his kingdom by moving
against some of the kings and nations of
people in the land of Canaan: "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." As
you will notice the Rephaims, the Zuzims,
the Emims, the Horites, the Amalekites, and
the Amorites really had nothing to do with
the conflict between the nine nations, but
were just in the way of Chedorlaomer. He
used the occasion of the conflict against
the five nations who rebelled to smite their
armies and enslave those people.
Gen. 14:8-12 – War between the Kings
Gen. 14:8 "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."
The war
between Chedorlaomer and those who were with
him and the king of Sodom and those that
were with him was fought in the vale of
Siddim. In verse three we were told that
the vale of Siddim is the salt sea. Also,
the slimepits to which the kings of Sodom
and Gomorrah fled are believed to be tar
pits. The salt sea would later form a part
of the boundary of the nation of Israel.
As
Chedorlaomer and those with him were
victorious, they did as conquering armies
often do, they gathered from the losers a
bounty. They took all the goods of Sodom
and Gomorrah, and all their victuals.
Next, they did
something that would result in their
destruction: they took Lot, Abram's
brother's son and his goods and departed.
Gen. 14:13-16 – The Amazing Victory
Gen. 14:13
"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."
No number is
given of the size of Chedorlaomer's army,
but reason would suggest that since it was
composed of the soldiers of four kingdoms
that it would have number in the thousands
at least. This goes to show that the
victory is not always to the largest or best
trained army, or to the best armed army.
When God is on your side, the other army has
no chance. Abram had 318 trained servants,
but they had no reason to have been trained
in natural warfare. He had the confederacy
of three men but far greater than that he
had the arm of the Lord who delivered his
enemies into his hand. This truly was an
amazing victory.
Now all this
teaches us that we have enemies in this
life. We have many battles to fight.
Oftentimes, our enemies in life are far
greater than we can handle ourselves. Just
as Abram loved his nephew Lot, so the Lord
far more exceedingly loved Abram and
delivered him. Likewise, the Lord loves us
and has the power to deliver us in our
battles and warfare. The victory is not to
an arm of flesh, but the victory comes in
our trust in the power and love of an
Almighty God.
We see from
the above the completeness of the victory.
Abram brought back all the goods, and also
brought again his brother Lot, and his
goods, and the women also, and the people.
He brought back everything that was taken.
Our God is truly an amazing God and can give
us amazing victories in the battles of life.
Gen. 14:17-24 – Abram met by two kings
Gen. 14:17
"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."
Two kings went
out to meet Abram. One offered a natural
kings reward from the spoils of victory.
The other gave Abram bread and wine.
The far
greater of the two kings was Melchizedek,
king of Salem. According to the New
Testament the word, Melchizedek, literally
means king of righteousness. The word Salem
means peace. So Melchizedek was both king
of righteousness and king of peace.
Melchizedek who met Abram is either the Lord
Jesus Christ or the strongest type in the
Old Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is not my intention to debate that issue in
this writing. Melchizedek brought forth
bread and wine to Abram. As emblems, bread
and wine are used extensively in both the
Old Testament and the New Testament.
Unleavened bread and wine were offered daily
with the morning sacrifice and with the
evening sacrifice. They were also a part of
several other feasts in the Old Testament.
The communion service of the New Testament
worship also includes unleavened bread and
wine. Jesus, in establishing the communion
service equated bread to his broken body and
wine to his blood. Thus, bread represents
the pure, perfect, complete, sinless, and
holy body of Christ. Wine represents the
blood of Christ which he gave to redeem his
people from their sins.
Like
Melchizedek, Christ is a king. He is King
of kings and Lord of lords. He is the king
of peace and the king of righteousness. He
reigns over those he has made righteous.
Moreover, he has brought peace to the same
ones.
Melchizedek
blessed Abram: "And he blessed him, and
said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God,
possessor of heaven and earth." In the New
Testament, we read where the less is blessed
of the greater. As great a man as Abraham
was and as faithful a man as Abraham was,
yet Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. No
matter what deeds God may bless us to
perform or what sacrifices we may be blessed
to make, Christ will always be far greater
than us. We should recognize his far
superiority and give him the praise and
glory that he deserves.
"And blessed
be the most high God, which hath delivered
thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him
tithes of all." Lest anyone doubt how Abram
was victorious over the host of Chedorlaomer
and his army, Melchizedek tells us that it
was God who delivered Abram's enemies into
his hand. Abram could not have had the
victory he had unless God had blessed him
with deliverance. The true glory goes to
God. Abram recognized this and gave tithes
unto Melchizedek. A tithe is literally a
tenth. Abram gave a tenth of all that he
possessed unto Melchizedek. From all
indications this was a free-will offering.
Abram was not commanded to give a tenth, but
he willingly gave it to Melchizedek.
"And the king
of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the
persons, and take the goods to thyself."
Abram was not impressed with the offer of
the king of Sodom. He had no intention of
being materially enriched by a victory that
God had given him. How different this is
from many servants today, who think they
should be materially enriched for the
service they render unto God. Abram's
response to the king of Sodom was: "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."
The Lord said,
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness…" Abram had his priorities
right. He knew where his strength came from
and who had blessed him. If we are to give
the praise and glory to God, then we cannot
seek the praise and glory for ourselves.
Certainly, Abram could have had the worldly
goods that the king of Sodom was offering.
However, he would have been prospering from
something that God had done for him. Abram
knew he could not have had such a
deliverance without the providential
intervention of God. While Abram refused to
be enriched by the king of Sodom, yet he did
not force this belief on the men that were
with him, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. He did
not begrudge them taking their portion of
the goods if they so pleased. Worship of
God is on an individual basis. We worship
not because we are forced or coerced into
it, but because we are willing to do it. |
