Blessed be Abram by God the Creator [Gen 14]

Gen 14:1-24

Key Verse 18-20

Introduction: Here for the first time in Abram’s life in God, he interacts with others in form of war. In this interaction Abram’s way of thinking is revealed. God reveals himself as the God of the creator of heaven and the earth by delivering a victory for him. Through today’s passages, we will come to know how we can be blessed by God Most high, the creator heaven and earth.    

1.    Lot was taken captive with the people of Sodom [1-12]

There were 4 kings[northern alliance] that formed a super power of Mesopotamia from Mediterranean sea to Euphrates. They were Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, the head of which was king Kedorlaomer. They collected tributes from many kings of the region. Also there were five kings[Southern alliance] near Sodom who were subjected to the four king Kedorlaomer. They were Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) as we see in this map. But at the 12th year of such treaty, they rebelled and decided to refuse to pay any tributes to the four kings. So king Kedorlaomer and his alliance decided to attack the five kings near Sodom.

King k's alliance came down southward though the king's high way, that passes eastern side of Jordan valley, i.e. transjordan plain. On the way they defeated several kings;[v5-6]

Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim,;the Zuzites in Ham, ;the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim ⁶ and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert.[total four kings]  This means that they reached all the way to south just to northern tip of Red sea, which is the most southern part of the Palestine. And then they went upward:

 ⁷ Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

These two areas are the southern and eastern part of Sodom and Gomorrah. This means that in order to attack the five kings near Sodom, they conquered all surrounding kings and peoples. After they have done all these, they attacked these five kings from the south, the only opening of the Jordan Valley in the southern side. As the result the king of Sodom and his alliance were enclosed by the northern four kings. the only exit of the valley. So they had no choice to run north to valley of Siddim, or run away to the steep hills on both sides, which is very difficult thing to do. So what happened?

v11¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills.  ¹¹ The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. ¹² They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

What does this tell us about King Kedorlaomer and his alliance?

1. King Kedorlaomer and his alliance conquered all the kings on the way south even to the bottom of the Promised Land, Palestine. This means that they were the super power and had strongest army forces than any other kings at that time.

2. The five king, the king of Sodom and his alliance, might have been the strongest among them that could challenge King K and his alliance.

3. King K's primary goal was to subjugate these five kings. They might have been the rich source of tributes and most powerful alliance of the region.

4. To achieve this goal King K made a brilliant plan and executed the plan well to make certain of the victory of this war. He did by conquering all the kingdoms and nations surrounding the five kings. 

What am I trying to say by all these information? Simply King K and his alliance was the most formidable enemy to defeat or even to think of going against them. Also it seems to indicate that there were great riches of goods in these five kingdoms near Sodom than any other regions that King K conquered on the way.

All these wars were significant because Lot was taken captive by the northern alliance. Then what was the reason for Lot to be taken as captive? It is said simply that since he was living in and along with the people of Sodom.

Lot was a nephew of Abram, He left Haran with Abram and they together came to the land of the promise of God. They went together to Egypt and they came back together to the promised land. This means that for Abram, Lot, as well as he was, called by God and God loved him as well. Certainly we learned through last week’s message that Lot chose for himself the plain of Jordan River near the city of Sodom. But in the mind of Abram Lot was still a family of God. If Lot is taken as captive to these ungodly people, then his life is in danger and his fate would be sealed with the ungodly. Eternal destruction or damnation! So in the mind of Abram, Lot must be rescued!

But to the eyes of other people, Lot was one of many people in Sodom and was treated like one of Sodomites. The reason? It was because he was with the people of Sodom. Then question comes, what of Sodom might have attracted Lot so much? Why did he move from the plain of Jordan near Sodom to the city of Sodom? Though the scripture does not say what attracted Lot that he moved to Sodom, we can discern two things through circumstantial evidences. There were riches in Sodom and various kinds of sinfulness of men. He had the promise of God. He had riches and all kinds of pleasures available for him. He chose the riche of this world and he was drawn more and more into it with much pleasure of the Sodom.  He started with God and tasted God’s blessing. But if he ends his life as captive by pagan, the ungodly, it would be all to certain that his life would be one of the tragedies.

It is a very unfortunate outcome. He was taken captive as a prisoner of war. Who were with him among the captives? They were all Sodomites. The word ‘Sodomites’ carries a bad connotation. It is a symbol of vulgar sexual immorality. Though he was called by God, though he tasted the power of God, yet he chose for himself the blessings and riches of this world. And then this is what happened to him, a captive along with Sodomites! Jesus in end of his sermon on the mountain, said this; ¹³ "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Mat 7:13-14 NIV) There were five city kingdoms; Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim abd Bela [another name, Zoar] Later four out of these five cities were destroyed by rain of sulfur fire.[ch. 19] Only one city was saved from the destruction because God showed mercy on Lot and gave him a place to escape, i.e. Zoar. Can we say that this is a warning to Lot as well as to the people of Sodom for the coming judgment for their wickedness? More than likely!

2.    Abram’s rescue expedition [13-16]

While Lot was entangled in the war, what was Abram doing? Where was he?

v13¹³ A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.

Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre. It is in Hebron located in mountain ridge.  Also it is not as fertile as the plain of Jordan because of lack of water. But He stayed here and made good friends with Mamre, Eschkol and Aner. The reason?

Gen 13”14-18.

Hebron is high on the ridge that divides western plain and eastern side Jordan valley. It is drier and has less pasture. Soon after the departure of Lot, God told Abram to look east, south, north and west. After he walked through many places that God told him to look and walk, he decided to stay here, the great tree of Mamre in Hebron.  Here, he built an altar to God. So this place is chosen soon after God's promise of the land and his descendants. Simply this is the place of God's promise or the place to capture the promise of God. As we will learn later, this is the place he bury his wife and eventually he himself was buried at this place. There is an inseparable link between this place, the great tree of Mamre and the promise of God. Simply he lived on and by the promise that God gave him.

While he was living here at the great tree of Mamre Hebron, a man told him about Lot's situation. Here the word Hebrew appears first in the Bible. Abram was known as a Hebrew. It is likely that Lot was known as a Hebrew among the people of Sodom.  As soon as Lot the Hebrew was taken captive, a man ran to Abram the Hebrew and told the news. When he heard about Lot what did he do?

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

As for Abram, 318 men might be a lot of people. But considering the huge army of northern alliance of 4 kings, it looked like a band of people that had no training and experience. How can he go against such a huge and vicious army of the northern alliance? Think about what they did! They defeated all the kings of Transjordan plain as well as the southern kings.  No king could challenge this alliance. They certainly had a mighty army.  

What about Abram? He collected all and it was 318 men. Neither his associates, Mamre, and his brothers were called kings. That means that they were never major forces of the region. How can few tribes attack four renowned kings? Yet Abram decided to pursue. What does this say about Abram? What made him to risk all in some sense?

He had to rescue Lot, though it might pose a great risk and danger! Though Lot made many mistakes and wrong choices, Abram would not let Lot, a man of God, a righteous man be destroyed by the ungodly! Here is his courage and true compassion for Lot. It is shepherd heart for a lost sheep.

So with 318 men he ran after this mighty army and caught up with them at Dan. It was more than 100 miles from where he was. It was long and dangerous journey.

¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

Here he attacked them and routed them. He pursued them far north of Damascus, almost another 100 miles over the mountainous terrain. He defeated them thoroughly and recovered all the people as well as goods.  

¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people

This was an amazing outcome of this war. Abram recovered all the goods and people including Lot. How could this be possible? What can we make understanding of this war?  How can we understand the victory Abram with just 318 men against the major alliance of northern kingdoms?

3.    Melchizedek, king of Salem, meets Abram [17-24].

¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

The first one that came out to meet him was king of Sodom. But while he was waiting for Abram, suddenly someone else appeared and met him.

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.

He was King of Salem, Melchizedek. His name means... righteous king. He was also a priest of God Most High. It is very interesting that he is a priest of God as well as a king.

First he was a king of Salem and brought Abram bread and wine.

a.    Melchizedek was a king of peace and is righteous. This king of peace and righteousness came out to meet Abram. It means that what Abram did was in line with king's ideals; i.e.  it is something of peace and righteous thing. Also this righteous king of peace is happy to bless what Abram did; Abram’s rescue operation was commendable in view of peace and righteousness.  The approval and commendation for Abram's rescue action was actualized by offering him bread and wine. Here bread and wine is 'life' sustenance. As Jesus offered bread and wine to represent his flesh and blood for the purpose of offering true 'life' in Christ.  So this king counted Abram to be worthy of 'true life'. As we discussed earlier, the spirit of this war was a shepherd heart for one man Lot. In order to rescue him Abram risked all. This the kind of shepherd heart and this is what this king was so happy with. This is what the king counted Abram worthy of ‘true life’
This reminds us what Jesus said to Peter; After resurrection, Jesus visited Peter in the shore of Galilee He said to Peter three times, do you love me, then feed my sheep. To love God is to love sheep and to care for sheep. How much? Jesus gave his life for us sinners, sheep went astray in sin. This spirit is found here first I Abram and this is what God was happy with and was more than willing to offer the true life ‘bread and wine’   

b.    He is a priest of God Most high.
 As a priest of God, he is mediating between God Almighty and Abram. He was happy to mediate on behalf of Abram to God and God to Abram!

He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. ²⁰ And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."[18b-20]

He proposes two things:

First; Abram may be blessed by God most High, the creator of heaven and earth.

At this time of success and victory, many would be willing to give him a blessing and support. In some sense he became the authority and superpower of the entire region. So who would not bless him for his success and victory? Yet this king wants Abram to be blessed by God the creator. Here God is depicted as the Creator of heaven and the earth for the first time. . This was somewhat new concept to Abram. As we know, when he went down to Egypt he was so fearful of Pharaoh because the God who called him and promised to bless him may not have much influence on this king of distant land Egypt. When he came out of Egypt, He came to know that the God that called him was a great and powerful God because he even subdued the powerful king Pharaoh. So God who called Abram was God of mighty power, more powerful than mighty king Pharaoh! Also God is the God that cares for Abram and Abram was happy to trust in Him! Is God of mighty power is the same as God the creator of heaven and earth? Is it a forceful introduction of this new and right understanding of God so that Abram might accept God as the creator?  It was unlikely that the God he knew through the experience in Egypt and the God that spoke to Abram about giving him and his descendant the land and numerous children. Unlikely! But here this king and priest of that God, declares that the God that called him is the creator God and that he must better be blessed by this creator God, the ultimate Authority of heaven and earth.

What to make of this call? Or this new understanding?

In love for Lot he went after the mighty kings of the northern alliance. Amazingly and beyond his expectation, he could catch up with them and routed them and recovered all the goods and people including Lot. It was like a miracle! But it looked as if his hard work paid off. But actually many details of the war fit together speaks one thing. It was not by chance but God put together to help him out. Could Abram see this?

This king of peace and righteousness wanted Abram to see this mighty hand of God in this war; Instead of looking down on all the goods and people that he recovered, he must be able to discern the mighty hand of God, the Creator of heaven and earth only could do!

It is clearer in the second sentence.

²⁰ And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Not only he should choose God and his blessing but also he should praise God and His name because this creator God delivered the war into Abram’s hand.

Only creator God can do put all things together in time, in place and for the right cause. No other gods can do. Even if there is a mighty god who is more powerful than Pharaoh, he cannot do such things as God the creator did show in this war!

As he delve into what happen every moments and occasion of this war, it was all too clear that God’s mighty hand was at work! He began the war because he cared for Lot. But God worked miracles and in every corners of this war are signatures of mighty hand of the creator God!

Now what he has to do! He has to praise God; in the old version says that God be blessed by Abram. God would be extremely happy if Abram reciprocates to the blessing that God did to him by giving God the honor and praise that is worthy as the creator of heaven and earth.

What is worthy for God the creator of heaven and earth?

4.    Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. [20b]

In this amazing discovery with the help of Melchizedek, the king of peace and righteousness, Abram’s choice was clear. Abram gave him a tenth of everything!

Here Abram is acknowledging that it was God the creator helped him to win this war. All that he had was God’s blessing

Also he is honoring God as the creator of heaven and earth; the only one authority of heaven and earth!

Also he is offering a tenth to this God. It is worship by giving a full honor as God of all creations. This is what Creator God is worthy of.  

As we review how Abram responded to God since God called him

There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. (Gen 12:8 NIV)

There he built an altar to the LORD. (Gen 13:18b NIV)

This is the full honor to God. It includes offering acknowledging that God is the source of life because he is the one and only creator God. This is the beginning of meaningful worship that God is worthy of.

This was a tremendous moment of truth and understanding of God. Seeing and not seeing this truth makes big difference. Was it possible for Abram to this truth if King, Melchizedek did not come and did not bring God’s blessing?

So it was paramount importance for Abram to see the King Melchizedek before seeing king of Sodom. Now through the king of peace and righteousness, Abram came to have truthful understanding of this war.

Now Kind of Sodom came out to meet him:

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself."

If the King of Sodom met him first, what would happen? He might have committed to the spoil of the war and might have taken the offer of this king. This will certainly disappoint God because God is the one that delivered his enemies to his hand.

He offered all the goods to Abram. If Abram take it positively, his offer is reasonable and even generous. If Abram think this negatively King of Sodom is selfish and is unwilling to honor the power and authority of Abram. Actually Abram, as the victor of this war, has authority to do whatever he wanted to do with people as well as goods. But his answer was very unlikely one.

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'

a.    He is denouncing all the goods of Sodom. He knew of what the life of Sodom is about. Most of these gains may be of ungodly sources and. He did not want to do anything with such goods.

b.    King of Sodom does not or shall not add any riches to Abram. In this way he is denouncing the king of Sodom as well.

c.    It is a firm and decisive decision to rely on God and His provisions only; this means that this war was by God's power and God's grace and he is going to honor him only.

5.    Conclusion

All these began when Abram decided to rescue Lot in deep compassion and love for him. Abram risked almost everything of him. This is a profound expression of his shepherd heart. God was very happy and delivered him a great success despite of the fact that he had only 318 men. When he was told about God of creator delivered his enemies, Abram became keenly aware of God’s graceful hands on this war. He worshipped God by giving a tenth of everything.

If we put these in sequence, 1) Abram’s shepherd risking all to save one man Lot 2) God’s deliverance of his enemies to Abram’s hand by the wisdom and power as the creator of heaven and earth. 3) Abram’s full recognition of God’s mighty hand and give him a full honor through the help of King of peace and righteousness.

Have you cared for someone because your belief in God and his blessing is missing in that person? In the Bible it is called ‘shepherd heart’ God had shepherd heart for Abram that he delivered his enemies into Abram’s hand. So he was very happy to see Abram’s shepherd heart for Lot. He sent king Melchizedek offering bread and wine, the sustenance of ‘true life’. The end result is amazing one; Abram came to know God the creator of heaven and earth and God was very happy to receive Abram’s worship through a tenth offering.

So far, we received God’s guidance and understood about God more and more. We came to know his existence, we came to know his love and care for me. We came to know how powerful he is. But we must come to know that the God that called us is the Creator of heaven and earth. He is the only one God in the entire universe. He is the only one worthy of our honor and respect and our worship. Shepherd heart is closely linked to knowing the creator God.

In Shepherds heart Jesus gave his life for us and in him we came to know God the creator of heaven and earth. Soon after resurrection Jesus visited Peter and said this to him, do you love me, feed my sheep. We meet God in power and truth as we love our sheep.   

Bob asked us to pray for one of his friend. Though he is new in faith, he began to have a compassion for those who failed to accept God and His blessing. This is a beginning of shepherd heart. This is the beginning of understanding of God's mind. When we dare to love, God is with us and reveal his truth and power.

Let’s dare to love one, though he or she might be like Lot. See what God will do for us! He will surely do his mighty power as the Creator of heaven and earth!

Be bless by God most high the creator of heaven and earth!