Genesis 14:17-20 comments: king of Salem

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.

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 14:13-16 comments: rescue

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.

The first mention of Hebrew is here, which Strong’s dictionary said means, “one from beyond,” indicating Abram’s status as an immigrant from outside of Canaan. Other scholars have tried to link an ancient word for brigand or robbers, fringe desert dwellers on the borders of society, the hapiru or habiru, with the Hebrew but that idea is discredited by reputable scholarship today.(42)

 Abram, an influential and wealthy man, maybe not only had his armed servants to call on but allies among the inhabitants of the land, his confederates. Confederate is defined in the following verse as allies agreeing in a cause. Notice that the phrase after the colon defines the phrase before it and vice versa throughout the Bible.

Psalm 83:5  For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

Referring to Lot as Abram’s brother simply means that Lot and Abram were alike, closely related, of the same kind. Notice in the following verse from earlier in Genesis how brother is used even more expansively, not just referring to another son of one’s mother.

Genesis 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

And here, see how brother is used to link people alike in habit.

Proverbs 18:9  He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

It is also used as a definition of one’s neighbour, which we spell neighbor, in the following verse. Think of the sentiment expressed by some throughout history that, “all men are brothers.”

Jeremiah 23:35  Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

This surprise attack at night against a relatively small invading expedition made by 318 armed and trained servants and Abram’s confederates among the locals whose number we do not know, perhaps eager for revenge against a foreign conqueror’s coalition, was successful. The invaders were bloated with the spoils of various cities they had robbed and probably filled with the pride of success at how little this expedition had cost them, until now. Although we know that nothing happens without God’s permissive will or His directive will so He was involved in that He permitted Abram to win this is not specifically the kind of supernatural deliverance of Gideon with tactics directed by God, but a simple shock attack against an unsuspecting and arrogant force in the middle of the night.

This presents a very important point about reality that is the subject of the Book of Job. All that happens is a manifestation of God’s will, even when men commit horrible evil which He permits for a reason we may never know in this life and which in its brutality and seeming randomness makes no sense to us, but there are times when God’s involvement is obvious and apparent, as in Gideon. But, all victory or defeat, whether of good guys or bad, points to His will, either by permission or direction. It is up to us to understand that we may never know why in this life and that we are to trust Him, as He has everything under control and knows what He is doing. We must fight evil, as Abram has done, but not be mistaken in thinking that the outcome is in our hands or that it will even by necessity because we are fighting for God be a good outcome. Many preachers make the mistake of thinking that if they do something in God’s name He must bless it because of their intention. This is not true. God will bless what He will bless if it is to His purpose but you do not determine that.

We assume we will know the “whys” when we stand before Christ but how ashamed we will be if we do find out that our lack of faith was an impediment to great blessings in this life we can only imagine. I can picture that our works will be sorted out. What was done for our flesh or out of fear of man or desire for approval of man even though we said it was for God and what was done out of faith in God or desire for His approval will be treated differently I suspect regardless of whether the outcomes were worldly success or martyrdom.

(42)Daniel Snell, Life in the Ancient Near East (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 68.

Genesis 14: 1-12 comments: Lot is captured

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. 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.

Amraphel was a king of Shinar, which, remember, is the plain of Mesopotamia where Babel/Babylon was built. In the 1800’s scholars identified him with Hammurabi, a famous Babylonian king, noted for a legal code that archaeologists found. Jewish Rabbinic sources from the Middle Ages identify him with Nimrod. Some modern scholars have elected even another candidate. However, we only know from the Bible that he was allied with the other kings mentioned in their assistance of the king of Elam in retaining his power over the cities of Canaan which rebelled, interestingly enough, in the thirteenth year of their submission. Here is one example, as I mentioned earlier, of a period where Egypt did not exercise suzerainty over Canaan.

Arioch was thought a century ago to be a king who reigned contemporaneously with Hammurabi, over the Sumerian city, Larsa. Chedorlaomer, listed as the king of Elam here who ruled over Canaanite cities and is here, with his allies attempting to reestablish control. Tidal, king of nations, as he must reign over multiple people groups, is listed as another ally. These kings over small but growing empires are trying to bring back under authority kings over cities that would have been no more militarily mighty than the modern mayor of small town could hope to be, if that mayor had armed citizens to fight for him. It wouldn’t have taken a very large and expensive expedition to teach these people a lesson.

While others were disunited and weak the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) joined together to oppose this conquering force. The battle was joined and the rebellious kings and their forces fled with the kings leading Sodom and Gomorrah’s forces falling in battle. So, Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities, were plundered and along with their goods, Lot and his possessions, possibly his family, too, were taken.

Remember, the king of an ancient city was also its high priest. I want to add another point here that will be significant in the next passage. Diarchy, where two kings ruled at the same time, was known in the ancient world, the most famous of which was the city-state of Sparta in Greece. It is possible that this condition existed in at least some city-states of the Ancient Near East because a second king of Sodom is mentioned in the next passage, in addition to the one that fell in battle. It is possible then that one king was a religious figure and one went to war and held administrative functions.

 Warfare against a city included warfare against its gods and its religion. Nothing was spared. But, these kings are more intent on reestablishing authority than on complete destruction. There are two worlds fighting here, the world of empires and control over different peoples versus the world of petty kings/priests over a specific location, what we would today consider to be nothing more than a small town with walls, a religion and gods of its own with family gods as well.

Genesis 13:14-18 comments: a source of historical friction

14 ¶  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18  Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Abram is the physical progenitor of the Jewish people, the Arab, and others and he and his seed were promised a dwelling place on earth.

15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

God states that eventually Abram’s descendants will be innumerable and not able to be counted. The question asks itself whether or not this is referring to only Abram’s seed by the promise of descendants through a barren Sarai or does this include any and all of his descendants, his seed?

This is a physical promise of physical territory, land. This is a grant, a promise, and a covenant of land given to the descendants of a man who has pleased his Creator. This will become an important issue in a few chapters, one we must sort out to understand God’s future plans.

Genesis 25:5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

Again, Abram builds an altar to the Lord.

Genesis 13:5-13 comments: breathing space

5 ¶  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 8  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

    10 ¶  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Abram and Lot were too wealthy to share the land. There was constant conflict. So, Lot made the fateful decision to pitch his tent toward Sodom as many modern-day Christians have done in leaving their home and family to go reside in a city where there were “more opportunities.” I am sure many a sermon has been started with the question, “have you pitched your tent toward Sodom?”

Genesis 13:13 has 13 words in it. Interesting, isn’t it? Thirteen is the number of rebellion, some commentators of the Bible say.

Sodom represented all that was standing in opposition to God in the ancient world and was a symbol of wickedness.

Ezekiel 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

Cattle does not necessarily mean beef cows, as in our modern speech. The Bible defines cattle as livestock of all kinds.

Exodus 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Cattle is often used to refer to sheep.

Genesis 30:40  And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.

When we picture Israel, Jordan, and Syria today we picture an arid, desert landscape with little greenery and lots of rocks. But Josephus, Jewish turncoat general in a revolt against the Romans and an interesting historian albeit with questionable integrity, describes the region as well watered by rainfall with plenty of grass for cattle. When we imagine the slow drying out process after the Flood we can easily understand that Canaan was not the dry place then that it has become.

Genesis 12:14-13:4: out of Egypt

    14 ¶  And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15  The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16  And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 17  And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. 18  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19  Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. 20  And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Pharaoh’s princes saw Sarai as something worthy of the Pharaoh and perhaps were too afraid of his wrath to steal her for themselves but thought to use her as a way of gaining his favor. Abram, thought of as her brother, was treated very well and made wealthier for his supposed sister being part of the Pharaoh’s harem.

But, God plagued Pharaoh and his house for this action, thereby saving Sarai from suffering the humiliation, the unfinished murder of being forced sexually against one’s will. Pharaoh makes himself out to be a just man who is done wrong by Abram although we know by Abram’s repeat of this behavior and Isaac’s copying of it that the chance of Abram being eliminated was likely, regardless of this heathen’s protestations of his innocence. Still, he sent Abram and Sarai away with all of their possessions. The plagues put a fear in Pharaoh that would have served a later Pharaoh well if he had heeded them.

Chapter 13

1 ¶  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3  And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4  Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Like the Hebrews in the Exodus, Abram leaves Egypt being given much goods by the Egyptians, only Abram gets his from the Pharaoh’s hand while the Hebrews received theirs from all their neighbors (Exodus 11:2). Abram, now a very wealthy man, returned to the place where he had built an altar to God and called upon His name in 12:8. We, too, in a time of great deliverance, should return to where we first called on God for help, at least in our minds, to get straightened out from the false self-confidence that often comes when we escape something bad ‘by the skin of our teeth.’ Here, Abram, at the place where he built the altar, calls on God again. This whole episode brings to mind that even when we are not praying, not acting out of concern for God’s will but for our own self-preservation, that God is directing the reality of our lives and manipulating events and people to push us toward the end He has set for us. I recommend stopping at this point to read Psalm 139 and contemplate God’s sovereignty over the affairs of men, even heathens like the Pharaoh. Abram and Sarai escaped Egypt by God’s will and not Abram’s dishonesty and cleverness or the Pharaoh’s self-glorying protestations of being morally offended. God used Pharaoh’s power to save them from harm for His purpose.

Psalm 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Genesis 12:10-13 comments: that status of women

10 ¶  And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11  And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12  Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13  Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

Later, we will get the definition of famine which is a period of little food and a poor return for farmers. We look at a word in context and compare its use against like phrases in the verse or passage.

Genesis 41:27  And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

Grievous is shown later to mean that there will be no surplus during a famine. It will then be a grievous famine.

Genesis 41:31  And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

Grievous is an abundance of calamity in the curses on Egypt in Exodus 9 and it is a very difficult burden to bear in 1Kings 12 and 2Chronicles 10. Grievous causes grief, obviously, but it is important to see how the Bible defines words in context and I want to reinforce that for you to help in your own personal reading.

Abram does what we would consider a cowardly thing rather than trusting in God to deliver him. He tells his wife, who is in her 60’s but still at that time still a fair woman to look upon, to lie and say she is his sister, not concerning himself in this whether she will suffer humiliation but in preserving his own life.

Abram, as Abraham, will do this again in Gerar in chapter 20. His son, Isaac, will also do this with his wife, Rebekah, in chapter 26 in Gerar, as well. Apparently, by this, we know that it would not be uncommon for a man to be murdered so that someone could obtain his attractive wife as a sexual resource, one kind of rape.

We know that fair to look upon means that a person is sexually desirable. In our modern world women seek to dress and look like this although if they considered the assortment of characters they would be attracting, most of which do not look like their favorite movie or music stars, they might think better of it. Sarai, like other women, had little choice in the matter and was little better than a commodity or a pack animal under prevalent laws and customs. It is only in Christ that woman’s status rises.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Unless, of course, she is an Independent Fundamental Baptist, in which case she is typically still in Egypt.

In this general time, although you cannot seriously accept the dates put forth without absolute proof of which there is none, Mizraim’s Egypt (see comments on 10:6) was ruled by a Pharaoh, a king, who held absolute power. Later, the Greek historian Herodotus will tell us that there could be as many as      12 rulers leading from various places claiming all to be THE Pharaoh. This makes any attempt to put the Pharaohs and their dynasties in any absolute dating plan difficult. In addition, the commonly accepted method for dating ancient Egypt is not without its detractors and is controversial. So, when reading about Old and New Kingdoms, Intermediate Periods, Dynasty dates, etc. etc. be very skeptical and cautious about accepted conclusions. Egypt’s ancient history is probably much more compressed than current scholarship would be willing to let on.

In any event, depending on the flooding of the Nile River to irrigate crops, rather than an abundance of rainfall, Egypt was the place to go in most famines in Canaan with certain exceptions which we will see. Egypt was also the superpower that would have held the kings of Canaan as tributaries in those times when other empires were not in control such as the Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians.