Genesis 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.
In verse 10 the king of Sodom fell along with the
king of Gomorrah. But this second king, which I mentioned earlier, met Abram as
he returned with the people and goods that he rescued from the invading kings.
The word slaughter is used here
underscoring the complete and utter destruction of the invading forces.
Certainly, back in those kingdoms they would have realized that they needed to
send a larger army to subdue their former tribute ‘cities’ in Canaan but then,
the most important of these cities are about to be destroyed by God, which we
will learn in a few chapters.
Melchizedek, king and priest (remember what I said
before about ancient kings) of the most high God, rather than one of the minor
deities, gods, or demons of the Canaanite cities, blesses Abram publicly as
God’s man doing God’s work belonging to God. He does this in the name of the
God who owns all things. He also acknowledges that it was God who delivered
Abram’s enemies into his hand. Abram gave him a tithe or a tenth of what he had
taken. Most Jewish commentators, according to Strong, say Salem is the
same as Jerusalem, with Salem meaning peace.
I want to insert here that there are several
things mentioned early on in the Bible that show that the true worship of God
was known but was becoming corrupted. Abram built an altar, Job offered
sacrifices for sin, Abimelech knew adultery was a sin against God worthy of death, Noah brought clean and not clean animals on
the Ark long before the Law given to Moses was made apparent. God must have had
a standard that the ancients knew but as religion became more and more
corrupted He renewed the understanding of what it was and who He is in the Law
given to Moses as He separated a people to Himself out of the mass of leavened
humanity, leavened with the corruption of false religion. Some of these things
are yet to come in our narrative as God’s ministry of reconciliation continues.
In Psalm 110, a prophecy of Christ who is to come,
the psalmist speaks of Melchizedek as a special priest of God of which the
Messiah to come will be.
Psalm 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Paul quotes and alludes to this in his argument in
the Book of Hebrews in chapter 5, 6, & 7 to point out how Christ was of the order of Melchisedec. Here is
Melchizedek, in a world that has moved away from the worship of God the Creator
to worship of the devils of paganism, a high priest and king who still holds
onto the worship of the true God. Here is a king and a priest who is true and
faithful to God and is honored as such. Christ is our king and our high priest,
offering up Himself as a righteous sacrifice to God, yet king over all as well.
Paul recognizes the authority of this righteous
king of Salem in a special way in his letter to the early church, predominantly
Jewish. Read Hebrews, chapter 7. Paul uses this typology, or similitude (Hebrews 7:15) to explain to
the Hebrews that Christ is God, having neither beginning or ending, neither
mother or father, without descent, God in the flesh (Hebrews 7:3). This would
be important to reinforce to a people whose belief system was rooted in the
temporal existence, blessings, and judgments of an earthly life, some who may
have seen Christ in the flesh. They needed the reassurance that Christ was who
He said He was and Paul pinned this to an historic personage they all
understood. Paul’s argument is clever, subtle, and very deep and certainly a
lengthy treatise can be written on it, but not here. It is not necessary and
even dangerous to assert that Melchizedek was himself immortal or that he was
Christ as God only came one time in the form and flesh of a man. Unless you are
arguing that Melchizedek was an angel, or appearance, of God, which the text
does not say, do not contradict the Bible, as Christ was the only begotten Son which refers to Him as
God born in the flesh, not Alexander the Great who claimed to be the son of God
or the emperor Augustus who signed his orders in that way or many of the other
various leaders who claimed that honor.
Here is also mention of a tithe, or tenth, given
to God through His high priest. This is a custom and it is also found under the
Law given to Moses. This rule or custom is not found in the New Testament
passages given to we Gentile Christians. Once a great many of the church were
driven from Jerusalem by persecution they met in people’s homes in small groups
and the only indication we have of collections taken up were special ones for
the physical needs of their own widows and fatherless and the needs of other
churches suffering want for various reasons. Pastors often use the tithe as a
way of forcing their congregations back under the Law and making the less
fortunate members of their church feel guilty. Certainly, one of the most
prominent arguments that people, even believers, have against attending modern
churches is their constantly placing a collection plate under their noses. Were
churches to stop this practice and simply place a box in the rear of the church
for voluntary donations, not forcing people already living on credit to feel
like parasites, perhaps attendance to hear God’s word would go up. But,
conservative churches are often run on an early twentieth century business
model rather than the Bible so it is not likely that such a thing will happen.
Genesis 14:21¶ 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.
Abram is not going to let the king of Sodom make
himself Abram’s benefactor. He will owe nothing to this king. This is a good
lesson, not to enrich oneself by the kindness of someone or something evil. One
might make a sermon about ‘generosity’ of the Devil and what the consequences
of accepting a reward at his hands might be. Even if the king of Sodom, most
likely a high priest of his own god, had good intentions, Abram was not going
to put himself in the position of having to be grateful to him.
A reward carried with it some important
considerations. To accept a reward from a king implied an understanding of
loyalty to that king. Abram was not the king’s servant and did not enter into
this warfare for the king of Sodom’s sake.
Job 7:2
As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh
for the reward of his work:
As much as this king of Sodom would have liked to
have someone as wealthy and powerful as Abram beholden to him, perhaps even out
of fear, Abram, the friend of God, would not permit such a thing.
The
mercy and grace of God will be Abram’s reward in the very next chapter. He
needed no bounty from a human king, especially one who worshipped devils in all
likelihood. In the American business culture of Christianity it does not matter
who rewards me as long as I get one. The reward is the object and the character
and condition of the granter of the reward is irrelevant. This is
characteristic of even the most conservative churches whose preachers announce
from the pulpit how wicked and Godless the government is, all the while
accepting tax breaks and any benefit they or their congregation can get from
that same wicked government, accepting rewards from the king of Sodom. Abram
would be apalled.
Three
confederates only are mentioned but in this method of writing referring to the
leadership can also imply men following. Clearly you don’t believe that only
the kings mentioned earlier who attacked Sodom and Gomorrah were present but
that they had an army with them. Common sense tells us that the reference to
Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre does not mean that they, too, would not have had their
own servants armed and battle ready.
Genesis,
chapter 15
Genesis 15:1 ¶
After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
God
appeared to people in different ways. There is a vision, as in this verse and
elsewhere where the person is in a trance but fully awake and God has taken
over the person’s consciousness. He spoke to Samuel, Isaiah, Nathan the
prophet, Ezekiel, Ananias of Damascus, Peter, Paul, and others in this way.
Numbers
12:6 And he said, Hear now my words: If
there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a
vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
Numbers
24:4 He hath said, which heard the words
of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having
his eyes open:
He
also appeared as an angel of the Lord, with an angel being a presence,
something tangible you could interact with, the preincarnate Word, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Isaiah
63:9 In all their affliction he was
afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his
pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
Judges
2:1 And an angel of the LORD came up
from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have
brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will
never break my covenant with you.
Judges
13;21 But the angel of the LORD did no
more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of
the LORD. 22 And Manoah said unto his
wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
God
also appeared in a dream, as to Solomon.
1Kings
3:5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to
Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee…15a And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a
dream…
God
is Abram’s reward. This is in contrast to the puny reward the king of Sodom
would give him. We are called to look for our reward from heaven rather than
from the world of men. This is a very difficult exercise of faith because we
are taught from our earliest age of understanding to look for some kindness or
boon at the hand of man, rather than God. This is so obvious when we are
excited at our paycheck or even a trophy but oblivious to God’s deliverance,
mercy, and blessings throughout the week as they happen.
The
Lord is Abram’s protection, his defender, and his reward. He needs no other. It
is God who delivered him and God who made him wealthy and has given him great
success.
Genesis 15:2 ¶
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,
and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given
no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto
him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the
LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Abram
poses the impertinent question of what can God give him of value since he has
been denied a child. God’s plan is greater than Abram, in his complaint, can
imagine. He will not only give Abram what Abram desires; an heir, but God
intends to give him a great heritage, more than he can imagine.
God
challenges Abram to count (tell as in a bank teller) the stars if he can, as
the number of his descendants shall be like the number of stars.
Up
until the invention of the telescope mankind was able to count only a few
thousand stars. However, God will liken their number to the number of particles
of sand on the sea shore. This is not an exact numerical comparison but an
equivalence, meaning the numbers are similar, an amount too great for a man to
number.
Genesis 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea
shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Hebrews
11:12 Therefore sprang there even of
one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and
as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
However,
it is not so with God. He can count them and has names for each one. This is
one of those amazing facts about how great the God who created the universe and
who orders all matter, energy, space, and time is.
Psalm
147:4 He telleth the number of the
stars; he calleth them all by their names.
Abram
believed God. Do you?
6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted
it to him for righteousness.
This
was the foundation of Abram’s salvation. In the great argument that Paul puts
forward in the letter to the Romans in chapter 4 he explains that faith,
belief, rather than works is the foundation of salvation. It is our belief in
God and in what He has said that is the method by which we are saved. See here,
Romans 4 through the first verse of 5.
Romans
4:1 ¶ What shall we say then that
Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. 4 Now to him
that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness
of the man, unto whom
God
imputeth righteousness without works, 7
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins
are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin.
[Paul then uses
circumcision as the example for works. Circumcision is the physical sign that
began the Jewish people which they received in their body. They thought that
identification saved them but Paul makes it clear that it did not. It is the
Jewish Christian’s belief, their faith in Christ that saved them, thereby
knocking down their sense of superiority to Gentiles.]
9 ¶
Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the
uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for
righteousness. 10 How was it then
reckoned?
when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in
uncircumcision. 11 And he received the
sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of
the
faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be
imputed unto them also: 12 And the
father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who
also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being
yet uncircumcised. 13 For the promise,
that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed,
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs,
faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no
law is, there is no transgression. 16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law,
but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17 ¶
(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before
him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those
things which be not as though they were. 18
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of
many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And being not weak
in
faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God
through
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had
promised, he was able also to perform. 22
And therefore it was imputed
to him
for righteousness.
23 ¶
Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be
imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the
dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences,
and was raised again for our justification.
5:1 ¶
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ:
In
fact, Jesus Himself said that the essence of salvation was believing what He
said about Himself.
John
3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.
We see by the
construction of this sentence in John 3 that the colon after life shows that
what comes after it defines what came before it. To believe on Christ is to
believe what He said about Himself. What was that? Here are two examples;
John
14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John
14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been
so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath
seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Just as Paul
tells the Philippian jailer with the Holy Spirit giving us the same sentence
structure as in John 3:36.
Acts
16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Do you see
how in verse 6 in Genesis 15 here that believing in means believing what God
has said? This is not about just believing there is a God. That doesn’t save
you from an eternity of agony.
James
2:19 Thou believest that there is one
God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
The
foundation of our faith is believing in what Christ, as God in the flesh, said
about Himself. Abram’s belief was counted for righteousness. It was imputed or
credited to him by way of his faith.
Ephesians
2:8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
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