Genesis chapter 14. We saw the
call of Abram in Genesis chapter 12. God gives him promises, several
promises at the very beginning. In Genesis chapter 12, God says
he'll make Abram a great nation. He will make Abram's name great.
He will also be the means by which the families of the earth
will be blessed. So Abram is promised a seed.
He's promised land. He's promised blessing. And we
see how initially he begins to go through various tests. We
see the problem with famine in the land. God gives him Canaan,
and there's a famine in the land in Genesis chapter 12. So he
goes to Egypt. Genesis chapter 13, he has a
bit of a family squabble with his nephew Lot. So it looks that,
like every step of the way, it's going to be a difficulty for
Abram to inherit that land. And Genesis 14 is as well a challenge. Essentially what you have is
a coalition of kings that are raiding through the land of Canaan. And so this poses a threat not
only to Abram, but specifically to Lot, and it's as a result
of that that Abram gets involved. So beginning in Genesis chapter
14 at verse 1. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel,
king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Elessar, Kedor Laomer, king of
Elam, and Tidal, king of Nations, that they made war with Berah,
king of Sodom, Bershah, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of
Adma, Shemeber, king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, that is,
Zoar. All these joined together in
the Valley of Sidim, that is, the Salt Sea. Twelve years they
served Kedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
In the fourteenth year, Caedor Laomer and the kings that were
with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Carnaim,
the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-Qiriothaim, and the Horites
in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Perrin, which is by
the wilderness. Then they turned back and came
to En-Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and attacked all the country
of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazan-Tamar. And the king of Sodom, the king
of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, the king of Zeboim, and the king
of Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and joined together in battle
in the valley of Sedum against Kedor-Leomer, king of Elam, title
king of nations, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariad, king of
Elessar, four kings against five. Now the valley of Sidim was full
of asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Some
fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. Then they
took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions,
and went their way. They also took Lot, Abram's brother's
son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. Then
one who had escaped came and told Abram, from Abram the Hebrew,
for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother
of Eshcol, and brother of Einar, and they were allies with Abram.
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he
armed his 318 trained servants, who were born in his own house,
and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against
them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued
them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. So he brought
back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot
and his goods, as well as the women and the people. And the
king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh,
that is, the king's valley, after his return from the defeat of
Kedor Laomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek,
king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of
God Most High, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram
of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed
be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.
And he gave him a tithe of all. Now the king of Sodom said to
Abram, give me the persons and take the goods for yourself.
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand
to the Lord, God most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,
that I will take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap, and
that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should
say, I have made Abram rich, except only what the young men
have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner,
Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.
Amen. Well, I want to look at the section
up to verse 16, the deliverance of Lot. It would have been too
much to try and deal with Melchizedek tonight. I think that's probably
one of the primary reasons for this account. Obviously, it shows
us Abram on the world stage. I mean, he's standing by the
trees, the terebinth trees in Mamre in chapter 13. We find
him in that same location in chapter 14. But now he's being
called upon to do something involving an international conflict. So
he ultimately will meet Melchizedek. But as the Bible speaks concerning
Melchizedek in Psalm 110 and then again in Hebrews chapter
7, I thought it would be good for us to spend a little time
in that section. I didn't want to just sort of
tack it on at the end of the time tonight. So I want to look
at, first of all, the battle of these kings in verses 1 to
12, and then secondly, the deliverance of Lot in verses 13 to 16. Now,
I think what you have in verses 1 to 4 is a bit of the background. It's the setting that provides
sort of the rationale for what we find later. Some suggest that
there are three battles seen. I think there's two battles seen,
but chapter 14, 1 to 4, sort of sets the stage for that. And essentially what you have
are two coalitions. You have a coalition of Eastern
kings, and those are indicated in verse 1. These Eastern kings
are from Mesopotamia, and Kedor Laomer is obviously the leader
of them. As you move through the narrative,
he's the guy, he's the backbone, he's the strength of this particular
Eastern coalition. And then you have the coalition
of Canaanite kings. These are made up of Sodom, Gomorrah,
Admah, Zeboim, and Bala, which is also called Zoar. And so essentially
what you have, according to verses 1 to 4, is that there is a war
between these two coalitions. This is the first time in Scripture
that we read verse 2, they made war with Bara, king of Sodom. Now, the situation at Babel resulted
in the confusion of languages. And here we see that that dispersion
among the nations now results in war. And the very thing that
the flood or pre-flood time, it was marked, or the earth was
marked with violence, that violence was not purged away by the flood. And so that violence is expressing
itself now in this warfare by these coalitions of kings one
against the other. And the particular issue at stake
is found in verse 4. Notice it says, 12 years they. These are the Canaanite kings
indicated in verse 2. They served Caedor Laomer, and
in the 13th year, they rebelled. So essentially, Caedor Laomer
and his coalition of kings exercised a stronghold over these Canaanite
kings. And when it says that they served
him and in the 13th year they rebelled, it probably means they
got fed up paying tribute to Caedar Laomer. So what you would
have would be one conquering nation that would basically cause
you then to start paying tribute, to start paying taxes. And so
enough was enough as far as these Canaanite kings were concerned.
They no longer wanted to pay Caedar Laomer. They no longer
wanted to pay that protection money, and so they rebel against
him. So you've got this coalition
of Canaanite kings, those described in verse 2, and then you've got
this coalition of Eastern or Mesopotamian kings, those described
in verse 1. And so, essentially, what you
have is the background setting the stage for what now follows
in verses 5 to 12, and these are the actual battles. Before
it highlights the actual battle, it indicates in verses 5 to 7
the ability of Canaart Laomer and his coalition of kings. If
you are looking at the map, essentially, they come down from Mesopotamia,
they enter into the northern part of Canaan, or Palestine,
or Israel, and they essentially go the whole trajectory of the
Transjordan, that's the east side of the Jordan River, they
come all the way down to the very bottom, and then sort of
work their way back up, and it's at that vantage point that Abram
then meets them, and Abram routes them right back up into Syria. And so there's a lot of ground
being covered here by these particular men, and that's the emphasis
in verses 5 to 7. And I think one of the points
the author is trying to highlight is the supremacy and the sovereignty
and the glory of God. God is not named in this entire
section. Up until Melchizedek's pronouncement
of blessing upon Abram, we have no reference to God whatsoever. And so while the absence of God
in terms of his name is there, there is this conspicuous presence
of God in the midst of this particular situation. Because this was,
in fact, a dangerous coalition. It was, in fact, a formidable
foe. And nevertheless, Abram armed
his 318 servants and is able to route these kings right back
to where they came from. It's a display of God's supremacy
and glory. And that's what I think the author
is highlighting as he describes for us this actual successful
attempt on the part of these Eastern kings. Notice in verse
5, in the 14th year, Kedor Laomer and the kings that were with
him came and attacked the Rephaim and Ashtaroth Carnaim, the Zuzim
and Hem, the Emim and Shaveh Kirithaim, and the Horites in
their mountain of Seir, as far as El Perrin, which is by the
wilderness. Then they turned back and came
to En Mishpat, that is Kadesh, and attacked all the country
of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazon-Tamar."
So what you have are these six tribes that have basically been
conquered by this coalition of kings as they move their way
through Canaan. This is a threat. This is a problem. This is a challenge to Abram.
He has been given this land. We've already seen in chapters
12 and 13 that Canaanites remain in the land. We've already seen
in chapter 13 that he has this issue with his nephew in terms
of who's going to get the best part of the land. And now you've
got this coalition of eastern kings basically coming in and
gobbling up the land. So everything in this tells us
that Abraham is walking by faith in the living and true God. He
cannot walk by sight, because if he does, he's going to throw
in the towel. If he judges things based on
the naked eye, he's probably going to go find a nice cave
and go to sleep and never awake again, because this seems like
an absolutely impossible mission. And that's what the author is
highlighting in this narrative. Now notice the specific battle
with reference to the Eastern kings conquering the Canaanite
kings in verses 8 to 12. Here it tells us that they go
out to the field of battle against the Eastern kings. This is why
I said verses 1 to 4 provide the background. Notice again
in verses 1 to 4, you have the Eastern kings mentioned, and
then in verse 2 you have the reference to the Canaanite kings,
and then in verse 3 all these join together in the Valley of
Sedum. So that's background context. Highlights for us how Cator Lehomer
and his coalition started to gobble up the regions of Canaan,
and now they come to this battle. Now they enter into this fight,
and that's specifically what verses 8 to 12 highlight for
us. Notice, verse 8, the king of
Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of
Zeboim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and joined
together in battle in the valley of Sidum against, and then there's
that coalition of kings. Now note verse 10. Now the valley
of Sidum was full of asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom
and Gomorrah fled. Some fell there, and the remainder
fled to the mountains. Essentially, they got beat. Essentially, they got busted. Now, the reference that some
fell there have caused commentators to muse on the reality that this
was, in fact, a place where there was a lot of asphalt pits. Did
persons actually fall there to their demise? Some read it as
if the Sodom and Gomorrahites actually went into these places
as a means by which they could hide from this coalition of Eastern
kings. But whatever way we read the
text, we need to understand that they got beat, and they got beat
back. And verse 11 highlights that
for us. It says, then they took all the
goods of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is the coalition of Eastern
kings, led by Kedor Laomer. and all their provisions, and
went their way. Now notice verse 12, they also
took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods,
and departed. So we see the eastern kings plunder
all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the eastern kings take Lot.
This is how we get Lot, or rather Abram, from these terrible trees
at Mamre onto the stage of international conflict. This is a massive movement
for the patriarch. Here he is right smack dab in
the middle of these two warring factions. one of which is very
well equipped, one of which is very able to dispose of enemies,
and one of which ultimately is going to fall by the hand of
Abram under the direction of a sovereign and powerful God. So they also took Lot, Abram's
brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed."
So there's the situation. The Eastern kings have bested
the Canaanite kings, and Lot is a byproduct of their having
taken the plunder, taking the goods. And this demonstrates
and illustrates for us more of the folly of Lot. Lot doesn't
do well on the pages of Genesis. He has a favorable statement
or favorable showing in 2 Peter 2. But that's given to Peter
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It certainly doesn't
jump out on the pages of Genesis that righteous Lot was vexed
day by day over the wickedness of Sodom. Remember, he initially
chooses Sodom and Gomorrah. He then pitches his tent near
Sodom. Now what does verse 12 indicate
for us? He now lives in, he dwells in
the city of Sodom. And once again, Abram has to
come to the rescue of this young man and thank God most high that
that's precisely what Abram does. Now notice the deliverance of
Lot in verses 13 to 16. Now there's a very specific contrast
in this section. In chapter 13, Lot takes the
best of the land for himself. Best in terms of the physical
life. He wasn't thinking about spirituality. He wasn't thinking
about holiness. He wasn't thinking about that
which would best benefit his soul. I think at times we fall
prey to that kind of thinking. We make decisions based on money,
based on circumstances, based on this, that or the other, but
we don't make decisions based on what's most calculated to
do the most good for our souls. I've seen people not take particular
jobs because they'd have to leave a good church and go to a place
where there wasn't a good church. Now, they could have said, well,
there's more money to be had, there's a better circumstance,
there's a better situation, but they chose rather to forego that
better in that respect to stay where their soul was being genuinely
profited. And the same sort of thing obtains
with Lot. He should have made decisions
based on his soul. But we have Abram. dwelling,
as it were, by these terebinth trees in Mamre. Notice verse
13. Then one who had escaped came
and told Abram the Hebrew, this highlights his ethnicity, it
connects him to Eber in that genealogy of Genesis chapter
10. For he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother
of Ashkel and brother of Einar, and they were allies with Abram.
Now later, there's going to be prohibitions against the children
of Israel making alliances with these sorts of people, but that's
not the case in this particular instance. It was a legit alliance
that Abram had, and he only wanted that those men would be blessed
or benefited for their having helped him in going to liberate
Lot. Notice at the end in verse 24,
the king of Sodom offers Abram all kinds of good stuff, and
Abram says, I don't want your good stuff, because I don't want
you to be able to say, I'm the one who's made you rich. Verse
24, except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion
of the men who went with me. Einar, Eshkol, and Mamre, let
them take their poor shed. And so this alliance at that
particular time is not a bad thing, but rather it is a profitable
thing in this particular instance. Notice as well, the report is
given to Abram, and then Abram responds. And I want to consider
four things by way of his response. First, it was an immediate response.
Notice verse 14, now when Abram heard that his brother, now we
know it's his nephew, but the word brother is being utilized
to highlight the intimacy and the closeness of their familial
connection. Now when Abram heard that his
brother was taken captive, he armed. He went right to work.
He went immediately to the task at hand. Waltke says Abraham
escalates his commitment to his kinsman Lot from humility and
generosity in order to preserve peace. That's what he does in
Genesis 13. Remember there's the squabble
between the herdsman of Lot and the herdsman of Abram. And they're
starting to argue and they want the land for themselves. And
Abram says, look, you take whatever it is you want. You go right.
I'll go left. You go left. I'll go right. Whatever
it is, Lot, I will gladly defer to you, which is really not the
way it should be. It shouldn't be the older deferring
to the younger. It should always be the younger.
deferring to the older. That's why in the scriptures
we're told to give deference and preference to others, older
people. That's what Lot should have done,
but Abraham does it. And here he engages in armed
response. So again, walking. He says, he
escalates his commitment to his kinsman Lot from humility and
generosity in order to preserve peace to risking his life and
fortune to rescue him. Lot's foolish choice of Sodom
has put him in this danger. Can't miss that. Lot's foolish
choice of Sodom put him in this danger. Now, the text is conspicuous
that what Lot has done is wrong, so it's not moralizing to highlight
that, and it's certainly not moralizing to draw from that
the practical application that we need to think in terms of
consequences, and we need to choose things in our own lives
that are best calculated to do our soul good. He puts himself
in this terrible position, and now Abraham has to risk life
and limb to go after him. Then notice, in terms of this
immediate response, what Abraham doesn't do. He doesn't do something
that I think I might be tempted to do. Well, you know, Lot made
his bed, let him lay in it, right? He brought this on himself. Foolish,
foolish young man. Perhaps this will teach him not
to be impetuous in the future. Perhaps this will teach him to
give deference and preference to his elders. Perhaps this is
the lesson that he has needed to learn all along. But that's
not what Abraham does. He immediately goes into action
to try and deliberate his nephew. Now notice, secondly, it was
an armed response. It was an armed response. I'll
tell you why the liberals hate the Bible. It's because God is
pro-self-defense. And this is precisely what you
have in this particular passage. Verse 14, Now when Abram heard
that his brother was taken captive, he armed his 318 trained servants,
who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as
Dan. Now, this indicates not only
is Abram pro-weapon, but Abram's rich. He has 318 servants born
in his own house. God had blessed him, he had a
great deal of possessions, and now he mobilizes this force so
that he can get his nephew back and so that he can run these
eastern kings out of the land of Canaan. It is an armed response. Notice, as well, before we move
on, faith acts in spite of the odds. Even though these are armed
men, we cannot assume they were armed with Bradley tanks or helicopters
or anything like that. So, nevertheless, it's still
an act of faith to go into battle against Caedar Laomer and his
coalition of eastern kings. He doesn't let that stop him.
He needs to get his nephew, and so he goes. Notice as well it
was a strategic response. It was a strategic response.
Verse 15 tells us, "...he divided his forces against them by night,
and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far
as Hobah, which is north of Damascus." You see, having an armed group
of men doesn't mean you just march blindly into battle. You
march into battle in a calculated manner. The horse is prepared
for the battle. Its victory is of the Lord. And
so we need to appreciate that. He divides his forces and then
he goes at night so that he can do the most damage on these enemy
forces in his attempt to rescue Lot and to get rid of these menaces
that have come to the land of Canaan. And then notice finally
it was a victorious response. Verse 16, so he brought back
all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his
goods as well as the women and the people. That reference to
the women and the people probably meant slaves. That's why these
Eastern kings would gobble up the women and the people because
they'd take them back to Mesopotamia and enslave them and perhaps
use the women for prostitution and other unsavory things. So
Abram goes out He immediately responds. He responds with strength
and power. He responds with strategy. And
God blesses that and grants him the victory. It truly is a blessed
display of the sovereignty of God as He works through particular
means. Now, I want to just draw out
some practical lessons. Might be shorter tonight because
we aren't tacking on that last bit or dealing with that last
bit. but I think there's some things that we need to ponder
in terms of some theological lessons. First of all, this is
the first record of war. It's not the first act of violence
in the Bible, but it is, in fact, the first record of war, and
it would be the first of many subsequent to that, not only
in the Bible, but extra-biblical as well. And war ultimately is
an expression of the depravity of man. I mean, it'd be great
if everybody could just live together in harmony and peace,
but that's not going to be the case on this side of heaven.
Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is a time for war, and
that's what happens in a sin-cursed world. There are those effects,
or those ramifications. A second observation, before
we move on to some more detailed observations, is Lot. I want a quote from Bruce Waltke,
because we need to just get a good grasp of who Lot is. He says,
Lot is still a fool. Note the progressive identification
of Lot with Sodom. choosing it, 13.1, camping near
it, 13.12, living in it, 14.12, and a respected citizen in it. When we get to chapter 19 and
verse 1, where is Lot when the angels come to Sodom? He's in
the city gates. That is an indicator that Lot
was shucking and jiving with the best of them in Sodom. He compounds his folly later
by three more steps downward for a total of seven. He flees
to Zoar, settles in a cave, and in a drunken stupor incestuously
begets Moab and Ammon. Now, God nevertheless delivers
Lot by Abraham here in chapter 13, and he'll deliver Lot again
by those angels in Genesis chapter 19. Now, I'm not suggesting we
should live like Lot and trust in the delivering power of God.
That's not the connection I was trying to make there. I'm simply
highlighting that God in His grace and mercy oftentimes does
very gracious things for us when we are completely and absolutely
unworthy and undeserving. God is gracious even to the likes
of Lot. But as well, thirdly, I want
to consider the faith of Abraham and just what we've seen thus
far in Abraham. And I think that this is something
that we ought to appreciate when it comes to sort of scriptural
studies or studies in scriptural characters, is that they're not
monolithic. you know, always the same. You
see growth, you see decrease, you see ebb, you see flow, you
see a forward and a backward. You see that with the people
of God, not only on the pages of Scripture, but you also see
it in the lives of the people of God as well, right? Life for
us isn't monolithic. It's not just this sort of straight
thing, and it's typically not just this straight sort of upward
shot. You're looking at me like I'm
nuts. Is anybody else able to relate
that Christian life is kind of like that at times for us? It might seem like there's a
lot of this and a little bit of that, or sometimes there might
be some of this, but there's always that. That's kind of what
you get with Abraham. But thus far, we ought to appreciate
the movement we've seen in the brother. First of all, the cowardice
displayed in Egypt. Remember the cowardice displayed
in Egypt when he actually tells his bride to lie and say, oh,
I'm a sister. Again, it was a half-truth. I
get that. They had the same father. They didn't have the same mother.
But the bottom line is it was calculated to deceive those Egyptians. That cowardice displayed in Egypt
gives way to this triumph over Eastern kings. Now, this man,
Abraham, was not a military commander. He was not the battalion chief. This was not the sergeant major. This was Abraham, right? This was a man that, up until
this time, had lived in Mesopotamia. He got called out of Ur of the
Chaldeans. He spent some time in Haran,
and then he comes to Canaan. And the next thing you know,
he's arming his 318 servants and having to go take down Kadar
Laomer. That's a movement in the right
direction for Abraham. Secondly, the fear of famine
in chapter 12 gives way to his dependence upon God for sustenance
in the end of chapter 14. Notice at verse 22 to 24. But Abram said, well back to
21. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, give me the persons
and take the goods for yourself. Do you understand what happens?
Abram saves the people, saves the women, and saves the goods
that were plundered. So the king of Sodom, who is
very much the antithesis to Melchizedek here, the king of Sodom says
to Abram, give me the persons and take the goods for yourself.
Well, that's payment for you, Abram, for having liberated our
stuff, and liberating our women, and liberating our people. You
go ahead and give me the persons, and you take the goods for yourself.
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand
to the Lord, God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will
take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will
not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made
Abram rich. So on the one hand, A fear of
famine sends him from Canaan into Egypt, and on the other
hand, he's now rejecting all the good things that the king
of Sodom wants to hand to him. That's a movement in the right
direction. Thirdly, the recognition that his life is under the direct
control of the living and true God. I don't want it to be thought,
and I don't want you to say or claim that I made you rich. Abram doesn't want to be beholden
to any man because he knows that it's the true and living God
that he is subject to. As well, the recognition that
God's control is supreme. Kedorlaomer cannot do anything
that God Most High doesn't decree. Kedorlaomer and these eastern
kings could not advance one tiny step without the sovereignty
of God. Waltke says, Abraham does not
cower before the four victorious kings. Incredibly, he risks himself
and wins against an alliance that has ravaged six tribes and
defeated five kings. This is an encouragement to the
people of God, even in the exile. Even powerful nations can be
defeated by the faithful and righteous. That's a great lesson,
isn't it? You know, he doesn't back down
or kowtow or shrink in the face of those who've abducted Lot.
He goes into action because that's what faith does. Faith believes
in the true and living God, and faith realizes that the true
and living God is over Cato or Laomer and this coalition of
eastern kings, and that if God sends us and God wants this,
then God is going to accomplish it on our behalf. And then the
recognition that God's control or his absolute sovereignty does
not mitigate against the use of means. See, Abraham is not
a hyper-Calvinist. Abraham does not conclude that
God is absolutely sovereign. If God wants Lot vindicated and
freed, then God will bring vindication and freedom to Lot. No. He gets his 318 servants, and
he arms them up, and he says, let's go chase these people down,
let's hunt them down, and let's get my nephew back. See, the
sovereignty of God does not mitigate against the use of means. The sovereignty of God is the
foundation for the use of means. And that's one of the things
that this chapter, at least this section, drives home in spades. And it's the last thing I want
to consider. It's the providence of God. Well, God is absent in
terms of his name being mentioned until the end when Melchizedek
confesses his supremacy. God is everywhere in Genesis
chapter 14. Just consider some of these things.
First of all, the abduction of Lot for the involvement of Abram. In other words, the fact that
all these things take place happened because God has a particular
plan. And the way to get Abram away
from the terebinth trees at Mamre is by the abduction of his nephew
Lot. Notice as well the survival of
the messenger of verse 13 in order to instruct Abram. Remember
we see that this coalition of Eastern kings decimates the Canaanite
kings according to verses 10 to 12. Verse 13 says, then one
who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. You know, we
can read through those sorts of things and not even sort of
stop and ponder the significance. Well, why is it that one escaped?
Why is it that this guy didn't get his clock clean? Why is it
that he didn't fall into an asphalt pit? Why is it that he managed
to get away unscathed? Because he had a particular mission,
and that particular mission was to go to the terebinth trees
at Mamre and alert Abram to the reality that his nephew Lot had
been abducted. See, God is over the details
as well. As well, the victory of Abram
over Caedor Laomer. Up to the point where Abram arms
his men, and even then, we're pretty well convinced that Caedor
Laomer's got this, don't we? Now, we don't because we're familiar
with the story. We don't because we're somewhat
in tune with what's going on in this particular section. And
we don't because we understand God and His sovereignty. But
if you were just a brand new person that opened up Genesis
chapter 14, there's enough up to the introduction of Abram
to basically tell you that anybody who gets in the way of Cato or
Laomer and his coalition of eastern kings is going to fall. I mean,
this is one tough guy, and he's got a group of tough guys with
him, and everybody who stands up before him is going to get
mowed down. This coalition of Canaanite kings
certainly couldn't do it, and they had home field advantage.
Sodom and Gomorrah. If ever there was a place that
you would have the advantage, it's where you lived and hailed
from. And so everything up to this
point, and I would suggest even verse 14, that he arms his men,
tips the scales in his favor, but then you think, 318 men.
Now, I know Gideon had 300 men, and you don't need 3 million
men. You don't need every man in the world. You can accomplish
great things. But again, up until this point,
if you were new to this narrative, you would think that Cato or
Laomer has this in the bag. That's one of the purposes, why
it's written the way that it's written, so that when Abram gets
the victory, the glory goes to God. Because it's not Abram's
savvy, it's not Abram's servant savvy, it's not their superior
ability in terms of wielding their weapons, but rather it
is God Most High who uses this to vindicate His servant and
to bring about good in the lives of Israel. As well, in terms
of God's providence, we're seeing the beginning of the fulfillment
of the promises of Genesis 12. You can turn there. Genesis chapter
12, notice in verse 2, I will make you a great nation. I will
bless you and make your name great. This certainly adds to
the greatness of Abram when it's found out that he, with his 318
armed servants, routed this coalition of eastern kings and sent them
right back up into Syria. These guys work their way all
the way down. They come down to the south.
They start working their way back. They were going to encompass
the entirety of Canaan until they meet Abram. And Abram and
his men send them packing. Notice as well that there is
this curse upon those who curse Abram. Verse 3, I will bless
those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And
in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. It's
unfortunate Lot didn't realize or didn't learn the lesson of
verse 3 of chapter 12. The closer I am to Abram, the
better, is what Lot should have been thinking. Not the further
away from Abram I am, the better, but the closer that I am to Abram,
the better. And then as well, with reference
to this particular chapter in terms of the providence of God,
Melchizedek confesses it. Notice in verse 19, and he blessed
him and said, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of
heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high who has delivered
your enemies into your hand. You see, this was not knowledge
for, you know, a select few. Abram understood this. Abram
knew that this was of God. Abram wasn't, you know, wow,
I just thought I was militarily superior to Cato or Laomer and
these men trained in killing people and breaking things. No,
Abram knew that it was God who gave him the victory. Melchizedek
confesses this as well. And then also in terms of the
providence of God. I think this chapter jives with
much of what we've been seeing in our study in the confession
of faith concerning of providence, of God's providence in chapter
5 of the Confession. You could take that chapter and
read it and then read this and see how it all meshes and how
it all jives. The theology contained in chapter
5 is displayed for us here in chapter 14 of Genesis. Now, the
fact that God is the possessor of heaven and earth, the fact
that God does deliver His enemies into the hand of His people,
He does it through means. You can't say, oh, you know,
God's sovereign. If He's going to do it, He's
going to do it. Yes, He's going to do it through weapons. He's
going to do it through arms. He's going to do it through these
servants as they march down the warpath and find Cato or Laomer
and send him and his men packing. This is God's way. He not only
has ordained all things, but he's accomplishing all things,
and he does it through the use of means. That's a blessed lesson
that Genesis 14 highlights and shows us. And then I would suggest
practically, by way of a final thought, the obvious implication
in Genesis 14, arms are lawful for the defense of self and others. certainly in a military capacity
as well, but in terms of self-defense and others' defense, you can
use arms in order to accomplish that particular purpose. I realize
that's not a popular political opinion at this particular juncture
in our lives, but it's a biblical position, and the people of God
shouldn't kowtow. God is over all things, and He
has ordained the righteous use of means, to include arms, to
help us protect ourselves and protect others, and to engage
in and win legitimate war. Remember that bit in Nehemiah
chapter 4 when they're rebuilding the wall. They have a tool in
the one hand and a weapon in the other. Why is that? Was it
so that they could just show that they had these weapons with
no power to use them? Of course not! They had the power
to use the weapon in defense of them as they're building this
particular project. The language of our Lord Jesus.
He assumes the right and the duty of householders to protect
their homes and families. The book of Exodus, chapter 22,
highlights self-defense, the infliction of lethal force in
the act of a robbery happening in someone's place. If it happens
at night, the homeowner is vindicated. He is not charged with murder.
It's a liberal political and a liberal theological mindset
that says guns are bad, knives are bad, bombs are bad, everything's
bad, and we have to control it for you. No, it's not bad in
and of itself. It's bad if it's used for wicked
purposes by wicked people. So armament is not bad. It's
not a righteous cause to take everybody's guns from them and
to, you know, just put them in the hands of the government.
Abram armed his men and they went out and they found Lot,
vindicated him, rescued him, and sent this coalition of eastern
kings packing. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer and the Lord willing next week we'll look at the kings
of Sodom. and Jerusalem. Well, let's pray. Father, we
thank you for your word and for your providence as it's so clearly
displayed in Genesis chapter 14. We ask God that you would
help us to not only see this doctrine, but to delight in it
and to find comfort in it. We know that You are over all
things, that You've ordained whatsoever comes to pass, and
Father, I pray that You would help us to see that this does
not mitigate against the use of means, that it does not mean
we sit passively and idly by, but based on this reality, may
we be bold in our faith, and may we walk in a manner that
is consistent with Your revealed will. Go with us now, we pray. Bring us together on the Sabbath
to worship You in spirit and truth. And we ask in Jesus' name,
Amen.
