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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday September 16, 2018
ABRAM
RESCUES LOT
Genesis
14
Shortly after Abram and Lot separated, war
broke out in the region where Lot had chosen to live. The chronicles of this “international
war” between nine kingdoms is now seen as an outworking of GOD’s promise to
Abram that HE would make him great and famous, and, that HE would “bless those
who blessed him”, and “curse those who cursed him”.
Here in the opening lines of this chapter
we see four powerful kings (Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar,
Kedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim) uniting to put down a rebellion in the
Siddim Valley near the Dead Sea (Sea of Salt). There they defeated five
Jordanian kings (Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber
of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (Zoar), who had all formed an alliance and
mobilized their troops. These five kings had all been subjects to King
Kedorlaomer for twelve years, and now in the thirteenth years they had decided
that enough was enough.
King Kedorloamer and his allies had already
conquered the Rephaites in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzites at Ham, the Emites in
the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Horites at Mount Seir, and, in addition, they
also had destroyed the Amalekites at Kadesh, and the Amorites at Hazazon-tamar.
Now they set their aims on the final leg of their magnificent conquest in the
Jordan Valley where Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela where located. It
is there that they took Lot captive, along with all of his family and all of
his possessions.
According to the writings of Josephus,
Sodom was a small but fully populated country that was rich and flourishing,
and was controlled by five kings. The people, although they were idolaters, had
an opportunity through Lot to learn about the real GOD, but they refused to
heed his preaching (see 2 Peter 2:6-8). Their wickedness and sexual sin became
so prevalent that GOD finally decided to destroy them completely (Genesis
19:12-13).
Lot was a righteous man who lived in an
“unrighteous atmosphere” that had become an “unrighteous stronghold” of ungodly
behavior. As a result of staying in this environment too long, Lot’s thinking
and judgment had been gravely affected. However, GOD always rescues HIS people
from bad decisions and mistakes, and, from the oppression of ungodly people and
situations.
After Lot’s capture, one of the men who
escaped the battle, and, who obviously knew that Abram, a Hebrew like Lot, had
been camped at the oak grove belonging to Mamre, the Amorite for quite some
time now, ran and found Abram, and informed him of the fate of his nephew.
Abram had apparently signed a covenant
agreement with Mamre and his relatives Eschol and Aner, that allowed him to
dwell among them in peace in Canaan, and in fact they had become his allies.
They even went with Abram on his rescue mission to free Lot, and were later
rewarded with some of the spoils from their victory over Kedorlaomer’s unified
army (v.24b).
After
receiving the news of Lot’s capture, Abram called together all the men of his
household, 318 in all, and they, along with Mambre and his relatives, set out
to extricate Lot and his family from their predicament in Sodom. Scripture says
Abram and his band of men chased after Kedorlaomer’s army, and caught up to
them at Dan.
It was there at Dan, that Abram staged a
night attack, dividing up his men, and then attacking Kedorlaomer from several
different directions, giving the appearance that there were many more of them
than it actually was. Kedorlaomer’s army, afraid they were under siege from a
vast army of troops, fled leaving behind all that they had taken in Sodom,
including Lot and his family, and all of their possessions (Vs.14-16).
MELCHIZEDEK
BLESSES ABRAM
Genesis
14:17-24
The writer of the book of
Hebrews stated that “GOD declared CHRIST to be a Priest forever, in the order
of Melchizedek”. We also know that scripture says that earthly Priests had to
come from the “Levite line of Aaron”, in order to serve in the priesthood here
on earth. However, before Levi existed, there was an obscure figure in
Scriptures, who existed as a priest of GOD, and who was uniquely, both a king,
and a Priest, just like JESUS would be. He ruled in the tiny kingdom of Salem (which
is now Jerusalem), during the time of Abram.
As Abram returned from
his victory over Kedorlaomer and his allies, the king of wicked Sodom came out
to meet him in the Valley of Shevah (called “the King’s Valley), probably to
thank him for collaterally freeing him from his captivity by their common
enemy. Seemingly out of nowhere, at the
same time, scripture introduces us to one of the most powerful and obscure
figures in all the annals of the Old, and New Testament. Scriptural accounts don’t
even make mention of his father or his mother, and he seems to be without
genealogy as far as where his life begins, or ends. There is one thing that is
certain about this man, however, and that is that, GOD knew him, and he knew
GOD, and Abram knew them both.
This biblical account,
here in Genesis 14, tells us that this man was qualified to both, bless Abram
as a Priest, and, to receive a tithe from Abram as a king. And since the word
“bless” (“barak” in the Hebrew), in its biblical application, implies
“something that someone does, who has spiritual superiority”, evidently, this
man ranked higher spiritually than did Abram, and, in fact, scripture says that
“he remains a priest forever” (Hebrews 7:1-3). His name is Melchizedek.
In the Old Testament, in
Psalms 110, which is a “messianic psalm” by David, Melchizedek is seen as a
type of Christ. This theme, of course, is repeated in the book of Hebrews,
where both CHRIST and Melchizedek are considered as “kings of righteousness and
peace”. Some scholars even believe that, here in the book of Genesis,
Melchizedek is actually a “Theophany” (“manifestation”) of JESUS HIMSELF.
In the New Testament, also
citing Melchizedek’s unique priesthood as “a prototype for CHRIST”, the writer of
Hebrews attempted to show that CHRIST’s priesthood is superior to the old
Levitical order of Aaron. And so, we see, according to the writer of Hebrews,
that, in JESUS, a different kind of Priest has come, ONE who became a Priest,
not by meeting the old requirements of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but
rather, by the power of a life that cannot, and will not be destroyed, “a
Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek”.
Here in Genesis 14,
verses 18-20, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and, a priest of GOD, brought
Abram bread and wine to eat, and then, “blessed him” with a solemn,
authoritative prayer. Abram then gave Melchizedek a tenth (tithe) of the goods
that he had recovered from King Kedorlaomer’s army at Dan. Here we see that
Melchizedek is the only person, that scripture tells us, Abram recognized as
his spiritual superior under GOD. The act of “blessing” someone, at its root
meaning, implies that the “blesser” has spiritual superiority over the
“blessee”. A humble Abram accepted
Melchizedek’s blessing, and then paid him a tithe of all that he had.
In the final segment of
this chapter, we see a grateful King Bela of Sodom attempt to strike up a deal
with Abram to retrieve some of his lost possessions that had been recovered by
Abram. However, Abram, not wanting to become beholding to a person of
wickedness, such as King Bela, clearly lets the king know that he wanted no
part of his cursed belongings. Here he tells Bela that, “I have solemnly
promised the LORD GOD Most High, CREATOR of Heaven and earth, that I will not
take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from you, otherwise you might
say, “I am the one who made Abram rich!”.
Abram did, however,
accept as payment, the food that his men had already eaten, and also a share of
the spoils for his Canaanite allies Mamre, Aner, Eschol, and their families who
had helped him defeat their common enemies, Kedorlaomer and his allies. That
way Abram was keeping himself free of any obligations to the evil king of Sodom,
and showing loyalty to those who showed loyalty to him when he needed them.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
Official Website
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