Genesis 14:21-24: Allegiance to that which is Worthy

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.”  Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’  I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eschol and Mamre; let them take their share.”  Gen. 14:21-24

This is a fascinating passage.  To get the full picture we must remember the scene laid out in the previous verses:  Abram defeats several armies with just 318 men by attacking them at night; the king of Sodom, who apparently survived falling into the tar pits (v. 10) comes to the King’s Valley to meet Abram, and Melchizedek, king of Salom and a priest of God Most High shows up with bread and wine and blesses both Abram and God, crediting God with Abram’s victory.  This backdrop which begins to form an interesting dynamic between these individuals.

We see two people – the king of Sodom, and Abram – standing before this priest Melchizedek.  By what is said and done in this passage of scripture, we can see who has allegiance to whom, and get a glimpse of earthly valuation versus Godly valuation in terms of worthiness.  This is laid out in a nice chain even.

First, we see Melchizedek blessing God and acknowledging that God delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand (v. 20).  Next we see Abram, without saying a word, giving a “tenth of all” to Melchizedek (v.20).  Now bear in mind that: A) many scholars say this is referring to the spoils of the war, which may well be true, but we also know that Abram already owned much, and was given even more by Pharaoh not long ago when he went to Egypt; so it may be that Abram gave much more than just the spoils of the war; and B) by virtue of Melchizedek being a priest of God, by Abram giving to Melchizedek he was actually giving to God, just as later under Levitical law those who brought their tithes and offerings for the priests were giving to God.

Seeing this act of giving and not willing to be upstaged, the king of Sodom declares “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself’” (v. 21)  But the king of Sodom has a fundamental misunderstanding of what is taking place in Abram’s giving; Abram isn’t merely giving to Melchizedek, but ultimately to God.  So both Melchizedek and Abram give God the credit He deserves, but the king of Sodom decides he should give to Abram.  This may make sense on a human level as the king of Sodom sees Abram as the person who saved him and his people, but the fact that Melchizedek and Abram just both gave God the credit for this victory, now we see the heart of the king of Sodom begin to emerge.  For at this point he was forced to decide whether his giving should be to God or merely to another human.

Who knows how the story of Sodom and Gomorrah may have turned out if this encounter had ended with the king of Sodom choosing to give instead to God.  For we know the men of Sodom were wicked (Gen. 13:13) and the final fate that they face in Genesis 19.

And so Abram rejects this offering from the king of Sodom, as 1) he is not acknowledging Abram’s God; and 2) Abram is ensuring that no one can attribute his greatness and possessions in any way to his helping the king of Sodom (v. 22-23) as Abram swore beforehand to God – possibly before he even went to war.

It is interesting to note that Abram did accept possessions from Pharaoh, which I wrote about in my posting “A Word on Pharaoh”, which may indicate that Pharaoh was not truly the wicked man we make him out to be, whereas we are specifically told the men of Sodom were “wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.” (Gen. 13:13)

In is also worth noting that Abram did not impose his own spiritual convictions concerning giving and taking upon those who helped him in battle (Aner, Eschol and Mamre) as he said “let them take their share.” (v. 24)  Mamre himself was an Amorite, one of the peoples defeated by Chedarlaomer’s armies.

Genesis 14:17-20 – The Encounter with Melchizedek, Part II

Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek gives us a picture of several long-standing institutions yet to come.  In my previous posting we covered the priesthood, illustrating the contrast between the priesthood set up by God (an eternal priesthood according to the Order of Melchizedek) with Christ as the high priest, and the Aaronic priesthood under the Mosaic law.

One verse that gets easily glossed over is Genesis 14:18: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine;” This appears to prefigure communion in the church today.  Christ offered bread and wine to his disciples during the last supper. (Matthew 26:20-29; Mark 14:17-25; Luke 22:14-23) Melchizedek offers Abram bread and wine, presumably to celebrate Abram’s victory.  Abram here acknowledges Melchizedek as being worthy (he gives Melchizedek a tenth of all, indicating he is greater than Abram).  Just so, we acknowledge Christ as being worthy, and greater than ourselves.

“…and he gave him a tenth of all.”  Gen. 14:20

Plaut tells us in his modern Torah commentary: “Abram was thought to prefigure his people, who in the centuries to come would  pay their tithes to the Temple on the very spot where Abram made his first covenant.”  The tithe is more formally instituted in the levitical laws (see Exodus 22:29-30; Leviticus 27:30).

The New Testament mentions tithing as well. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18:10 in which a Pharisee boasts about his religious rituals in that he fasts and tithes from all he gets.  In Matthew 23:23 Jesus rebukes some scribes and Pharisees for holding tithing in importance over mercy and justice, and tells them that these “weightier matters of the law” should have been at the forefront “without neglecting the others” (That is the other elements of the law, which I presume includes tithing.)

And so the institution of tithing was first recorded in the scriptures between Abram and Melchizedek, which was later practiced formally under the Levitical law, and in a less formal way today is still practiced in Judaism and by followers of Christ.

Genesis 14:17-20 – The Encounter with Melchizedek, Part I

“Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is the King’s Valley).  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.  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.”  He gave him a tenth of all.”  Gen. 14:17-20

We may well read the second half of Genesis 14 and not come away with much initially.  We will probably make note of Melchizedek, and if we are a Jew we may scratch our head at him a bit;  We see that he is the “King of Salem” (which is believed to be speaking of Jerusalem), and we see that a tithe is paid to him, but how can he be a priest of God Most High when the priesthood has not yet been instituted?  And if we are a Christian, we say this is a pre-incarnation of Jesus the Messiah, or  a picture of He who was, and is to come.  The book of Hebrews in the New Testament speaks to this effect.  In any event, there is certainly importance to this encounter with Melchizedek, but there is also much more to glean from the last eight verses of this chapter, and so I will cover it in several postings.  The first will focus on the person of Melchizedek, and the priesthood.

First, what is in a name?  The general interpretation is that Melchizedek’s name means “rightful king” (malki-tzedek).  King of Salem is understood to mean “King of Jerusalem”.  The Hebrew for Salem is Shalem/Shalom, which means “peace”.  And so this Melchizedek is the “rightful king of peace”.  But he is also a priest (14:18) as we also see in Psalm 110:4:

“The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”"

This priesthood both precedes and succeeds that of Aaron and the Levites, and is used as a comparison by God in the Psalm above of a different order of priesthood – an eternal priesthood.  The book of Hebrews, chapter 7, speaks to a great degree of the conceptual implications of a different priesthood:, and Jesus being the ‘Priest according to the Order of Melchizedek.’

“The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.”  Hebrews 7:23-24

It is noted in the book of Hebrews that Melchizedek did not meet the genealogical requirement of the law to become a priest, and draws this parallel to Christ, stating “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.” (Hebrews 7:14)

And so interesting implications present themselves through this meeting with Melchizedek, to which the author of the book of Hebrews makes a convincing argument.  We are hard-pressed not to acknowledge a superior order of priesthood which is eternal, as this comes directly from the Hebrew scriptures.  But those who follow Judaism are not convinced that a new high priest has come and a final atonement has taken place.  If you are unfamiliar, I urge you to read the book of Hebrews, or at least chapter 7.

Genesis 14:16 – Through One, Many Are Saved

“He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.”  Gen 14:16

Abram had one mission – to save Lot from the armies that took him captive.  However when that mission is complete, we see that much more was accomplished than the saving of one individual.  We see that by saving one person, we can save an entire city of people.

I am of the belief that Abraham prefigured many people and entities in the scriptures.  Thus I feel that the concept of salvation, is at least in part represented by Abraham’s actions in this story.  As Abraham was told he would have many descendants, I feel that those of us who take part in leading someone to God and Christ will have many spiritual descendants.  And so our spiritual descendants can become as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the sky – because like a natural family, the process continues after we pass away.

Who has been born into the family of God through us?  Are we a spiritual father or mother to anyone?  I’m sure if our spiritual descendants are revealed to us on that great day, just like at our earthly family reunions, we will meet relatives we didn’t even know we had.

Genesis 14:14 – Who’s Battle Was It?

“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”  Gen. 14:14

Abram seems quite ambitious here.  There were four kings and their armies that just defeated and subdued five other kings and their armies, and Abram plans to rescue his newphew Lot, who was taken captive during the battle.  Six peoples in all Chedarlaomer and the other kings and their armies defeated even before they got to the main battle:  The Rephaim (who were believed to be giants), the Zuzim, the Emim, the Horites, the Amalakites and the Amorites were all just in the way of Chedarlaomer before they faced the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.  We must stop and wonder why Abram got involved in this fight – was it worth risking his life (and the lives of those with him) just to rescue Lot and his family?  I mean after all, God had just given Abram these wonderful promises but said nothing about violence and fighting.  There is the possibility that Lot was specifically chosen as a prisoner, as Abram may have been known as a wealthy man who could have paid a ransom.  In any case apparently Abram felt Lot was worth the risk.

Abram was not completely alone of course – the scriptures tell us he took 318 trained men to fight with him.  This does not sound like many, however the Midrash points out that 318 is the numeric equivalent of the name “Eliezer”, a name which means “God is my help”.  Also interestingly, one of Abram’s 318 men is named Eliezer of Damascus – Abram voices his concern to God that Eliezer of Damascus will be his heir since he is childless (Gen. 15:2) though God of course informs Abram that he will have a son as the heir.

So what do we make of this?  Some scholars say that only two men went in to fight – Abram and Eliezer (representing the 318 with his name), or that Abram went alone, and the 318 represented that God was his help.  Do we consider the possibility that Eliezer was somehow God incarnate?  It would seem an odd fit, but perhaps this is the case.  One of my Torah commentaries also points out that if you add together all the prime numbers between 7 and 49 (7 x 7) that you arrive at 318.  There is no doubt there is much symbolism in Genesis and other parts of scripture involving the number seven, but I do not know if that is significant to the story here.  My opinion is that if the interpretation is useful to understanding the story, and glorifies God, then it is sufficient.

My position is that there were 318 actual men that went out to fight, as scripture goes out of its way to tell us that these men were A) trained, and B) born in Abram’s house.  We would not expect such details to be mentioned if we were only speaking symbolically of God’s help.  Regarding Eliezer of Damascus, I believe he was also an actual man of Abram’s household, as God said of him “This man will not be your heir…” (Gen. 15:4)  Again, this conversation would not have taken place if Eliezer was not a real person.  This does not completely rule out that Eliezer may have been an incarnation of God, only that even if that were the case, there were 318 actual men fighting.

I do believe that there is an intended significance that 318 men were taken; that Eliezer = 318, and that Eliezer means “God is my help”.  I can believe this without believing the other speculations above because, quite simply, God is God and knows how to weave significance into His story.  I believe this is an early picture showing us as believers that we can accomplish great things and win great battles when God is on our side.  This is underscored by two things:  1) in Genesis 15:1, right after this battle, God tells Abram “I am a shield to you.”  Also note that the other five armies, despite preparing for war (while the other armies were already expending energy fighting) and despite choosing their own turf as a battleground (Gen. 14:3), which should have offered a great advantage, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies still lost the battle and fled for their survival.

And so this passage exists to tell us that if God is our help, and we have the correct intentions, we can still emerge victorious despite being vastly outnumbered.  This is in contrast to the five kings and their armies, who probably outnumbered their enemies but still lost on their own turf because God was not with them.  Gen. 13:13 tells us of the exceeding wickedness of the men of Sodom, and even the names of their kings speaks volumes:  Bera (king of Sodom) means “with evil” or “son of evil” and Birsha (king of Gomorrah) means “with wickedness” or “with iniquity”.

 

Genesis 14: The War of the Kings, Part I

Upon initially reading Genesis 14 it seems a bit of a departure from the previous chapters, and since the general scholarly belief is that the book of Genesis was compiled from various sources to form a cohesive whole, it may not be a complete surprise that the story quickly shifts in direction.  After all, we just began reading about Abram’s story; how he went to Egypt and emerged wealthy; how he and his nephew Lot parted ways.  We were whisked away from the genealogies and drama (Babel and the dispersion) of chapters 10 and 11, and in Genesis 12 Abram is lifting his eyes in quiet silence, surveying the promised land.  All seems well, but the war machine is moving.

Four kings and their armies, on a mission to crush a rebellion, destroying everyone in their paths, even those peoples who were not considered subject to them.  And so the five subject kings and their respective armies prepared for the coming battle in the valley of Siddim.  And what does this war have to do with Abram?  Nothing, it seems, until a fugitive informs Abram that his nephew Lot has been taken captive.  We may wrestle with this, and plea bargain with ourselves that this is not Abram’s fight; that Lot was the one who left Abram, and it was Lot’s decision to begin to associate with the people of Sodom.   But the text does not really give us the option to flip-flop our hearts on the situation.  Instead Abram moves with alacrity and deftness as soon as he “heard that his relative had been taken captive” (Gen. 14:14); Abram did not hesitate even though to the common man he was heading into a suicide mission.  318 men against four armies?

Check back soon for The War of the Kings, Part II!

God’s Promise to Abraham; God’s Promise to Us

How strange and beautiful must the first words of the LORD to Abram have sounded.  Strange in that he did not yet know God, and this God was asking him to obey Him;  Beautiful in that amazing promises were made for that obedience.  Though he had been exposed to idols under his father Terah, he had not been swayed.  After God’s calling, he faltered a bit in his sojourn to Egypt, but then returned the way he came, and God reminded him of the promises again and again.

In a spiritual sense, God’s requests of Abram can be read like this: “Go forth from your country,” [Go forth from the place you are familiar with] “and from your relatives” [and from the people you know] “and from your father’s house” [and from the accepted ways and principles of the world].  This is, in essence, the same calling Jesus the Messiah places on us to be followers of Him.

And in return for obedience, wonderful promises are granted.  Spiritually speaking, the parallel to God promising Abram ‘all the land his eyes could see’ is a picture of God’s desire to give us all good things.  This is not necessarily physical land, or even physical gifts, since we are speaking spiritually.  God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, through Whom we can do all things. And the promise of that land is a promise of the future.  This is represented by the fact that Abram will not see the fulfillment of that promise in his lifetime.  But that promise of the future carries Abram through his life.

However this promise is fulfilled within the life of a follower of Christ.  With the coming of the Messiah 2,000 years ago the Kingdom of God crossed into the kingdom of this world: The Kingdom of God is among us; the Kingdom of God is within us.  And still a greater promise lies on our horizon, beyond this life.  Faith in God, and faithfulness to God, are greatly rewarded.

Genesis 13:16 – As the Dust of the Earth

“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.”  Gen. 13:16

“And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”  And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”"  Gen. 15:5

God reaffirms this promise to Abram several times, and is speaking of the sheer numerosity of descendants that he can expect. Aside from both dust and stars having a vast number, they seem to have little else in common; dust is extremely small, and stars extremely large; dust is physically present and can be touched by men, but stars are still out of reach in this modern age;  dust has no inert power (save for its actual atomic structure), but stars are a continually replenishing nuclear reaction, a cycle of immense energy, heat and light.  Very different indeed.

This contrast is important to note, as I believe something bigger is being alluded to.  What do we know about dust?  In the sense that we are actually speaking of dirt, we walk on it.  It is considered worthless, and men walk all over it.  I feel that to a degree this speaks of both the persecutions against God’s people (both Jew and Christian alike), as well as the anti-Semitism against the Jews. In fact, the numerousness of the Israelites was a chief reason that the Egyptians loathed them – this is referenced five times in Exodus chapter 1 alone, with two of those references being a resort to infanticide to deal with how quickly the Israelites were multiplying.

But stars are different.  They shine so brightly their light is strong enough to travel incomprehensible distances.  Men are often in wonder of stars.  They even provide guidance for travelers.  Our own sun, an average star, sustains life for our planet.  I feel that this aspect of Abram’s descendants is true as well, in the form of great men and women of faith and righteousness, and their effect on making a better world, and drawing men to God through themselves.  Consider Daniel 12:3: “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Considering that those mighty in faith are compared to stars, it makes for an interesting understanding of Psalm 147:4: “He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.”

Genesis 13:11-17 – God’s Request Fulfilled – Lot Departs

“So Lot chose for himself all he valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward.  Thus they separated from each other.”

Gen. 13:11

God’s initial request of Abram was to A) “Go forth from your country,” B) “and from your relatives and” C) “from your father’s house…”  (Gen. 12:1)  Thought his may seem a somewhat redundant request by God, I believe God is asking Abram three separate things, which until now were not fully completed.

Obviously when Abram left Haran, he was fulfilling the first part of the request go to forth from his country.  And though he left some of his relatives too, his nephew Lot was tagging along the entire time.  Abram may have felt an obligation to take care of Lot since Lot’s father died untimely and Abram adopted him.  However I have to guess that at this point Lot would have been 40-45 years old or so – not a child anymore.  And so Abram, knowing that Lot now has material provision, was willing to let him go on his way.  So until Lot left, Abram did not completely fulfill what God had requested – to go forth from his relatives.

So we are asking ourselves, when did he complete the third part, to go forth from his father’s house?  It would be easy to assume that happened when he left Haran, where his father was.  And in a sense this is true.  However because God chooses to stop and re-affirm his promise, in great and glorious detail to Abram as soon as Lot leaves, I get the sense that complete fulfillment finally took place.  The text reads “The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him…” (Gen. 13:14)  And because God does not waste words, I cannot simply think that “going forth from his country” and “his father’s house” were one and the same request that could be completed with one act.

So what else has happened in the narrative thus far where Abram could have completed another request of God?  Abram went to Egypt.  As we see in Exodus with the Israelites, Egypt is a place of bondage that is hostile to the one true God.  Egypt is used as a representation, the epitome of worldliness and humanism.  Later, a concept which is put forth in the New Testament writings is that Satan wields control over the world system, and that Satan is like a father to those who do things the worldly way.  Jesus at one point rebukes some Pharisees, telling them “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world” (John 8:23) and further tells them “Why do you not understand what I am saying?  it is because you cannot hear my word.  You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.” (John 8:43-44)  And so Jesus makes a spiritual point about those following the world and doing the deeds of the devil as if he was their father.

I say all that to say that the “father’s house” that God asked Abram to leave was a spiritual request.  God was asking Abram not to succumb to the ways of the world.  And Abram proved this to God twice:  He let Lot take the better land for one.   And though he went to Egypt, he left unscathed after, presumably, quite a short stay.  So walking away from Egypt was a picture of Abram leaving ‘his father’s house’.  The world is, in a sense, the father to all of us; not only were we made from the earth physically, but this world is all we know and see in the natural sense; we experience it with our fives senses in a way that we cannot experience God with.  And so the world is our father by default until we decide to do our Maker’s Will.

Genesis 13:5-10 – Material Things: Consumer or Consumed?

“Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.  And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.  Genesis 13:5-6

The scriptures point out two reasons why Abram and Lot part ways:  1) their material possessions were of such great abundance that it was difficult to ’share’ the same space, and 2) their shepherds were not getting along.  Abram specifically said to Lot “Let there be no strife between you and me” so it appears there was some discord in their relationship as well.

It is indeed unfortunate when money or material goods becomes a source of division in relationships, even that of blood relatives. We know that Abram brought his possessions with him when he left Haran (Gen. 12:5) and he obtained even more from Pharaoh (Gen. 12:16), and Lot had his own possessions too (Gen 13:5).  So plentiful were their camps (including livestock, goods and even people) that despite the vast amount of land before them, it was not enough.  It was an issue of resource consumption on one hand, but it seems their camps were not getting along in general.  At some point just having more elbow room is not enough when people aren’t getting along.  Proverbs 25:25 reads “Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.”

Even today where there is wealth, there is separation.  Famous and wealthy people often sequester themselves away  from others in large homes with a large area of property, or even on a yacht perhaps.  In the case of Lot and Abram, both men had abundance, so if their friendship was lacking, they had no reason to be near one another.  If Lot were poor and Abram rich, one can’t help but think Lot would have done whatever was necessary to keep the relationship close.  But, as neither was in need perhaps their true colors shown.

We can develop two types of attitudes toward wealth:  We can manage it with an attitude of stewardship, or we can let it drive our desires and consume us.  Abram is the embodiment of the former, and Lot illustrates the latter.  Here are are only seeing the beginnings of it; two men with abundance quarreling and in need of their own space.  When they part ways, Abram is indifferent to the land he gets and lets Lot have his pick and takes the fertile land.  Lot moves closer and closer to Sodom, a large city center in that time which attracted Lot, whereas Abram stayed in the less populated Canaan.  Ultimately Lot’s choice of where to live resulted in him being taken into captivity as Sodom and Gomorrah, along with other cities were in subjection to some of the surrounding nations, and when they rebelled the resistance was crushed and captives taken.

This can be a lesson for us spiritually speaking, that a love for wealth can sever relationships and ultimately cause us to become enslaved.  With Abram we see quite the opposite; even after he rescues Lot and is offered payment by the king of Sodom, he does not accept it on sheer principle.  In addition we see Abram acknowledging that God is the actual owner of everything (Gen. 14:19), and giving Melchizedek, who was both a king (of Salem, believed to be Jerusalem) and a priest of God, a tenth of all – the first tithe in the scriptures.