WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.040 We're continuing in the story of Abraham, Abraham the man of faith, one of those in 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.519 whose footsteps we walk. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:19.000 We trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who was descended. 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:25.600 In 2013, we've seen God calling Abram and making these amazing promises to him, and 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:34.240 Abram left everything, left his homeland, his security, his background in worshiping idols, 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.760 and left and obeyed to follow the one true God. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:42.540 And then we saw trouble happens, a famine happens. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.260 And so, he went down to Egypt, and that was sort of a low point spiritually in his life 00:00:46.260 --> 00:00:50.680 when he was really driven by his fear instead of by faith in God. 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:58.179 But then last week, we saw that he returned to living a life of faith, sort of grasped 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:07.500 hold of that, and lived by faith by being generous to his nephew, Lot, who was sort of causing 00:01:07.500 --> 00:01:08.099 trouble for him. 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:10.960 And Abraham said to Lot, look, I'll give you first dibs. 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:11.819 You choose your land. 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:13.719 Let's not have quarreling. 00:01:15.099 --> 00:01:18.819 And so, we saw him expressing generosity as an expression of faith. 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:23.059 Tonight, we come to another test of Abram's faith in chapter 14. 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:26.419 So, let's read the beginning of that chapter together. 00:01:28.199 --> 00:01:31.099 Chapter 14, starting at verse 1, 00:01:31.139 --> 00:01:38.560 In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Elassar, Cader-Leomer, king of Elam, 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:44.179 and Tidal, king of Goyim, these kings made war with Bera, king of Sodom, Bersha, king of Gomorrah, 00:01:44.180 --> 00:01:49.400 Shunab, king of Adma, Shemaber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is Zoar. 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:54.000 And all these joined forces in the valley of Sidim, that is the Salt Sea. 00:01:54.720 --> 00:01:58.680 Twelve years they had served Cader-Leomer, but in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. 00:01:59.300 --> 00:02:03.520 In the fourteenth year, Cader-Leomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:09.359 the Rephaim in Ashtaroth-Carneim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shavah-Kiriatham, 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:14.019 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El-Paran on the border of the wilderness. 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.819 Then they turned back and came to An-Mishpat, that is Kadesh, 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:23.859 and defeated all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon Tamar. 00:02:25.019 --> 00:02:28.919 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, the king of Zeboiim, 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:33.959 and the king of Bela, that is Zoar, went out. And they joined battle in the valley of Sidim with 00:02:33.959 --> 00:02:38.779 Cader-Leomer, king of Elam, Tidal, king of Goyim, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariok, 00:02:38.859 --> 00:02:44.259 king of Elassar, four kings against five. Now, the valley of Sidim was full of bitumen pits, 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:48.959 and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill 00:02:48.959 --> 00:02:53.379 country. So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:58.899 their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:05.120 Sodom and his possessions and went their way. Okay, so this is sort of the historical background. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:09.900 If you notice, this is the story of Abram, but Abram's name doesn't appear in this story until 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:16.540 verse 12. So briefly, what's going on? The king's names can be confusing, and I'm sure they're all 00:03:16.540 --> 00:03:22.740 unfamiliar. So let me sort of summarize and simplify. There are four Babylonian kings. 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:31.159 That's the first four in verse 1. Then there are five Canaanite kings that are listed in verse 2. 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:37.100 Okay, so Babylon is sort of…the Babylonian kings are sort of coming from the northeast. 00:03:37.480 --> 00:03:44.200 The land of Canaan is sort of modern-day Israel and Palestine where Abram was. And so these Babylonian 00:03:44.200 --> 00:03:50.560 kings were coming down and sort of dominating the land of Canaan and the Canaanite kings. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:59.580 And Caterleomer, he's sort of the big guy, the head honcho that everybody's afraid of. He's the 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:07.340 Babylonian king who's sort of flexing his military muscles, coming down into Canaan and exercising his 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:14.020 influence, right? Verse 3 says, for 12 years he dominated. Not, sorry, not verse 3. Verse 4, 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:19.120 12 years he dominated. Probably that means these other nations paid tribute to him. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:23.939 The 13th year they rebelled, which probably means they stopped sending tribute. They didn't send a 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:29.060 payment that year. And the 14th year, here he comes. He's not going to leave him alone. 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:36.579 So he starts verse 5 through 7, basically describe him coming from the northeast, 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:42.879 and he comes down the eastern side of Canaan and just starts defeating these nations one by one by one 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:55.399 So verse 5 through 7 lists six nations that he defeats, sort of one by one. He comes down the east, 00:04:55.659 --> 00:05:02.879 he goes across the south, he comes back up north, and then verse 8, these five kings… 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:08.339 Now these five Canaanite kings are sort of kings of small cities, Sodom and Gomorrah and three other 00:05:08.339 --> 00:05:15.639 cities that are on the southeast end of the Dead Sea. And so they come out to fight Cader and Omer. 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:22.279 They decide, we can't fight this battle alone. We're going to band together against this big guy who's 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:27.120 oppressing us and dominating us. We're going to fight him. Now, of course, he has three allies with him, 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:36.360 so it's five against four, but the four guys wipe him out. Cader and Omer defeats these five kings. 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:42.579 He takes everything, captures all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, takes everything with him, 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:47.399 and he keeps going north, sort of back toward his homeland. He's just sort of gone on a rampage, 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:57.000 and he's won battles against a total of eleven nations, and he's heading north and heading back 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:04.739 home. So that's the situation. And then verse 12 is the first time Abram's mentioned in this passage. 00:06:04.859 --> 00:06:08.739 It says, they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, that is, Abram's nephew, 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:17.079 who was dwelling in Sodom and his possessions and went their way. Now, in verse 13 through 16, 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.879 we're going to see Abram's response to this situation. But before we go on, let me make one 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:29.639 brief point. Cader Leomer is the guy who, if they had newspapers back then, or if they had Facebook 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:37.539 newsfeeds, he would be on the front pages of the newspaper every day. He won another battle. And if 00:06:37.539 --> 00:06:43.319 you were on his side, you would think, yes, he's the conquering hero. And if you were not on his side, 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:49.120 you would think, he's the terrible villain. He's destroying everything and terrorizing the world. 00:06:50.519 --> 00:06:56.100 Right? But whichever side you're on, he would have been the one that everybody thought, he's the most 00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:03.420 important guy. He's determining the destiny of the world more than anyone else. Many people feared 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:09.500 him. Some people loved him. Everybody thought their life depended on him. But in the bigger picture, 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:14.980 he's actually not the most important person in this story. Okay? Apart from this chapter, 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:21.360 we have no other historical documents that mention Cader Leomer. Everybody's forgotten about him, 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:24.459 pretty much. The only reason he's here is because he's in a story about Abram. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:31.100 And nobody's sitting around reading about all the victories of Cader Leomer or all the atrocities of 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:37.620 Cader Leomer, however you will interpret it, and being inspired by him today. But here we are 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:45.060 reading about Abram. And the story of Abram or Abraham continues to influence people 4,000 years 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:50.439 later. So let me just make a brief point that the things that are most important to God, 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:56.920 and even the things that will have the most lasting impact on history, are not necessarily the things 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:01.259 that are on the front page of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal or the New Haven Register 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:07.860 or whatever you read. And the things that you see on your Facebook feed as trending, 00:08:10.099 --> 00:08:16.039 well, first of all, a lot of them are going to be gone in two weeks. And most of them will be gone 00:08:16.039 --> 00:08:22.339 by next year. And in the big picture, those aren't necessarily going to be the most important things 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:29.120 in life. So let me just encourage you, as a side point, but don't be overly driven 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:33.659 by whatever's on the front pages of the newspaper or on the top of your social media feed. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:38.820 And the Bible doesn't say that you need to know everything that's going on in the world. The 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:43.080 reality is you can't know everything that's going on in the world, and the news doesn't tell you about 00:08:43.080 --> 00:08:47.320 everything that's going on in the world because it might never tell you this story about Abram. 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:53.820 Now, the Bible does say that we need to love our neighbor as ourself. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:58.700 That is, our neighbor, that is particularly anyone whom we come into contact with. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:07.539 On a day-to-day basis, or have the opportunity to show love and speak truth and show concern and 00:09:07.539 --> 00:09:14.639 care for. So, as we go on to see what Abram's doing next, just remember that. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:24.740 That what seems most important isn't always what's most important in God's perspective. So, 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:30.779 verse 13 to 16, we see Abram's response to this situation. And let me read these verses. 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:36.500 So then, one who had escaped, that is, one who had escaped from this battle, 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:42.340 came and told Abram the Hebrew who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:48.539 brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsmen, 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:54.740 and that's referring to Lot, his relative Lot, his nephew Lot, had been taken captive, he led forth 00:09:54.740 --> 00:10:01.740 his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:06.120 forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, 00:10:06.459 --> 00:10:12.039 north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen Lot 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:19.139 with his possessions and the women and the people. Now, I always thought that last verse was a little 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:23.980 weird, right? And the women and the people. I think the way you can understand it is all the 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:30.599 possessions of Sodom, Lot and his possessions, and also the women in Lot's household, and all the other 00:10:30.599 --> 00:10:36.500 people from Sodom. So, anyway, that's just a verse that… I'm like, what does that verse mean? Anyway, 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:42.899 so don't get distracted by that. Three aspects of Abram's character that we see here. Number one, 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:49.200 we see Abram as a man of self-restraint when he was surrounded by conflict. If you notice, 00:10:49.379 --> 00:10:55.460 Abram doesn't immediately jump into this war, even though it's happening not far from where he lives. 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:02.779 And this seems to be a prudent course of action. The book of Proverbs has some proverbs on this. 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:04.480 Proverbs 26, 17 says, 00:11:04.579 --> 00:11:10.699 Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. 00:11:11.939 --> 00:11:17.899 You ever grabbed a dog by the ears? I don't want to do that. Proverbs 20, verse 3, 00:11:17.959 --> 00:11:23.019 It is an honor for a person to keep aloof from strife, that is, keep your distance from strife, 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:29.740 but every fool will be quarreling. So, Proverbs is saying it's not wise to immediately jump into every 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:36.720 quarrel and every dispute that's happening around you. And if you notice, for a while, 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:47.100 Abram doesn't get involved. However, we do see that Abram's prepared. He's prepared to take action 00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:57.220 to defend himself and to rescue a lot. So, he has three allies that are mentioned in verse 13, 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:03.519 three Amorite allies, and he also has 318 trained men, right? If you notice, Abram's not just sort 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.659 of sitting there naively thinking, oh, I'll be just fine. I don't need to do anything. I'm just 00:12:07.659 --> 00:12:11.759 going to let this battle go on around me and not take sides. Everything's going to be just fine. No, 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:17.000 he's, I mean, he's obviously gone through the trouble of making alliances with people that he 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:24.580 considers reliable and training up these men who could sort of be a military force for him. 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:32.700 And so, when the time comes, when Abram realizes, now I need to step in and take action, he's ready to go. 00:12:34.360 --> 00:12:41.460 So, we see his self-restraint first, and second, we see his loyalty. He's loyal to a relative in need. 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:50.200 Right? It's when Lot gets… Lot and his family are taken captive that Abram steps in and says, 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:55.740 I need to do something about this because I have promised to be loyal to Lot. Now, 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.240 you might say, well, why would Abram… where had Abram promised that? Well, Lot's… 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:06.740 back in chapter 12 or the end of chapter 11, it says that Lot was Abram's nephew and Lot's father had 00:13:06.740 --> 00:13:15.519 died. And so, Abram basically sort of adopted Lot into his family and took Lot with him where he was 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:20.799 going. And the reason why they were separated is because in chapter 13, as we saw last week, 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:26.299 there was so much fighting between Abram and Lot's herdsmen because they had so many sheep or cattle or 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:31.419 whatever they were taking care of that Abram finally said, let's separate. Right? We need to have some 00:13:31.419 --> 00:13:38.039 distance between us so that we're not just fighting with each other all the time. And so, Abram said… 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:41.759 and so, Abram and Lot sort of went their separate ways so that they could live in peace. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:56.419 But Abram was still committed to protecting Lot in this situation. And realize a few things about 00:13:56.419 --> 00:14:00.980 Abram and Lot's relationship. First of all, Lot had not exactly been very helpful to Abram. 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:08.439 Right? As I said, Abram sort of took him under his wing after Lot's father died. In the last chapter, 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:13.980 Lot had caused trouble for Abram. Right? Abram took Lot under his wing. He protected him. He brought him 00:14:13.980 --> 00:14:20.060 with him. He provided for him. And then Lot's herdsmen, the people under Lot's leadership, 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:26.220 who Lot could have told them, just quiet it down, they were causing trouble. Right? They were quarreling. 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:33.040 And then what we see here is Lot didn't just cause trouble for Abram, and then Abram said, 00:14:33.140 --> 00:14:36.680 okay, let's go our separate ways so we can live in peace. Lot caused trouble for himself. 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:41.599 If you look back at chapter 13, verse 12 and 13, it said, 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:46.079 Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now, 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.779 the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. 00:14:51.239 --> 00:14:56.779 That's a little note in the story that sort of gives us a clue. Lot wasn't being very wise here. 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:02.419 He wasn't being very wise about who he was getting close to and who he was sort of 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:07.899 sort of intertwining his life with. 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:14.179 And then in chapter 14, verse 12, we see Lot wasn't just living near Sodom. He had actually 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:21.899 moved into the city of Sodom. Sort of even further, he's sort of drifting into danger. And then, 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:29.259 and so when Cater Laomer takes Sodom and takes all the people with him and loots the town, 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:34.159 Lot and his family are taken away with him, taken captive, and they're helpless. 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:40.759 But notice what Abram does, okay? Lot's caused trouble for Abram. Lot's got himself into trouble, 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:45.720 but Abram doesn't leave Lot alone. Abram isn't like, forget him, I'm done with him. No, 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:53.440 Abram's like, I am committed to him because I have promised to be loyal to him, and I'm going to keep 00:15:53.440 --> 00:16:04.560 my promise. I'm not going to just abandon him when he's in trouble. And one commentator points 00:16:04.560 --> 00:16:12.120 out that Abram's strategic interest, if you think about Abram as a military sort of…or his military 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:18.200 forces, right? If you think about Abram's strategic interests, they would have been best served by 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:23.200 doing nothing and allowing the Canaanite nations right around him to be defeated so they could be 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.779 weaker and so potentially he could be stronger. So, it's actually sort of putting himself in a 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:34.480 little bit of danger to go chasing after this guy who's defeated 11 different nations, 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:41.360 and it's sort of putting himself…it's putting himself in danger to do that, but he does that 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:49.139 because Abram is his brother's keeper, right? Unlike Cain earlier in Genesis who kills his brother, 00:16:49.259 --> 00:16:55.659 Abram is the one who protects his kinsmen and stands by him in a time of trouble, all right? So, 00:16:55.659 --> 00:17:00.720 that's…so we've seen his self-restraint, his loyalty, and third, we see his courage, 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:07.960 right? What does Abram do? He leads forth his trained men, verse 14, 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:14.160 three…and pursues them as far as Dan. That's over 120 miles, so that would have been a few days' 00:17:14.259 --> 00:17:21.620 journey. He attacks them by night, by surprise, defeats them, and drives them out of town, 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:27.940 pursues them another 60 miles to Hobah. He recovers everything, all the possessions of Sodom, 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:32.900 Lot and his possessions, the women of Lot's household, the people of Sodom. He recovers 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:41.620 everything and brings them back home. And Abram's courageous in facing…in being willing to stand 00:17:41.620 --> 00:17:49.740 up to this guy who's just been knocking everybody off one by one. And Abram's courageous enough to 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:54.800 stand up to him and say, I need to do this. This is the time that I need to stand up and take action 00:17:54.799 --> 00:18:06.440 and protect my relative and rescue him and his family. And he doesn't hesitate. He's courageous. 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.659 So, we see his self-restraint, his loyalty, and his courage, and all of these are connected to his 00:18:11.659 --> 00:18:20.000 trust in the Lord, right? Why is he self-restraint in the beginning, self-controlled? Because he trusts 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:26.779 the Lord. He trusts, you know, God's in charge here. God's sovereign over everything, right? 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:33.900 How is he loyal to his relative Lot? Because he knows that God has promised to be loyal to him. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.019 That was one of the promises God made to Abram. Whoever blesses you, I will bless, 00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:41.799 and whoever dishonors you, I will curse. God's like, I'm on your side. And Abram's like, okay, 00:18:41.940 --> 00:18:46.240 I'm going to be loyal to the people that you've called me to be loyal to. And Abram's courageous 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:51.120 because, again, he trusts the Lord, right? So, all of these are connected to his faith in God. 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:57.559 And then we come to the end of the passage, the last eight verses, and let's read these, 00:18:57.819 --> 00:19:05.019 which talk about sort of after Abram comes back, and we see two kings coming to meet him. So, 00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:10.599 verse 17, after Abram's return from the defeat of Cater-Laomer and the kings who were with him, 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.900 the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shabba, that is the king's valley, 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:21.560 and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:27.500 and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 00:19:27.560 --> 00:19:32.280 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him 00:19:32.280 --> 00:19:38.240 a tenth of everything. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, but take the goods 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:44.380 for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:50.960 possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:55.200 is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. I will take nothing but what the young men 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:00.300 have eaten and the share of the men who went with me. Let Honor, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share. 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:10.359 Right? So, Abram has courageously rescued Lot and his family, and not just Lot and his family, 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:15.639 but it seems like a lot of the other people who are living in Sodom with Lot, and he's sort of 00:20:15.639 --> 00:20:20.659 bringing them back home, and two kings come to meet him. So, first, the king of Sodom comes to meet him, 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:25.659 and the king of Sodom, as we'll see in this chapter as well as in the broader context of the story, 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:31.400 is a wicked king. Do you notice the first thing he says to Abram in verse 21? 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:37.000 He says, give me. Those are the first words that come out of his mouth, give me. 00:20:37.820 --> 00:20:41.100 Now, he says, give me the person, give me the people, you take the stuff. 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.980 Now, think about that. Think about what Abram has just done for him. 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:56.519 Abram has just rescued his whole city. That was completely where everyone in his city was taken 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:03.420 away by a foreign nation, and the whole city was looted. And Abram went and rescued them all 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:11.579 and brought them back. And the king of Sodom says, give me the people, you keep the stuff. 00:21:11.579 --> 00:21:18.339 It's almost like the king of Sodom is trying to appear generous, like, okay, you keep the stuff. 00:21:18.399 --> 00:21:21.299 I'll be generous to you. You can keep all the stuff, but give me the people. 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:33.399 He's dishonoring Abraham in the way he approaches him. And look at Abram's response. What Abram says 00:21:33.399 --> 00:21:40.960 in verse 22 and 23 is he says, I don't want any of your stuff. He says, verse 24, he basically says, 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:50.180 I only want to pay my guys what they deserve. The guys who work for me, who put their lives on the 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:56.519 line, who worked hard, who did their job well, I want them to get their fair pay. I don't want any 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:07.180 of your stuff. So, we see Abram's very careful about who he's going to ally with. You know, think about 00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:11.120 what could have happened if Abram said, okay, sure, I'll take your stuff. You take your people 00:22:11.120 --> 00:22:19.180 and go home, and I'll keep the loot. Well, one, the king of Sodom might resent him, right? The king 00:22:19.180 --> 00:22:23.900 of Sodom takes the people back home. Let's say he becomes powerful again, and he says, yeah, you 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:28.420 rescued us just because you wanted to get our stuff. That's why you went and rescued all these 00:22:28.420 --> 00:22:33.519 people, because you just wanted all the loot from the city. You just wanted to make yourself rich. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:40.079 So, the king of Sodom might resent him or accuse him. The king of Sodom might also think, might also 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:47.480 say, well, hey, Abram, I let you have all the stuff, so you owe me a favor in the future. If I need some 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:56.019 help, you owe me. And Abram says, no way. I'm not going to put myself in a position where you owe me 00:22:56.019 --> 00:23:05.079 or where I owe you. Abram wants the king of Sodom to go his way with no further obligations or 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:11.579 attachments. He says, I've made an oath to the Lord. I did this out of loyalty to God and not for 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:18.660 my personal gain. I didn't go and rescue Lot and all the other people from Sodom to get the loot. 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:24.980 I did it out of loyalty to God. So, he refuses the king of Sodom's offer. 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:35.420 But second, there's another king that approaches Abram who's a righteous king in contrast to the 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:40.259 wicked king of Sodom, and his name is Melchizedek. That's actually what the word Melchizedek means. 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:46.519 Melchi means king, and Zedek means righteous. So, Melchizedek is just a compound word that means 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:52.579 a righteous king. And notice how he approaches Abram very differently. First thing, he brings 00:23:52.579 --> 00:24:00.240 out bread and wine, right? Abram and his men have been traveling a long way. They've been, you know, 00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:08.139 they've fought a hard battle, and so Melchizedek comes to show them hospitality and to welcome them 00:24:08.139 --> 00:24:15.660 and to refresh them with a meal. So, he honors…he's hospitable. He's gracious. He honors Abram and 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:25.860 his men, but he also blesses Abram, and he blesses God. Melchizedek reminds Abram that he won the battle 00:24:25.860 --> 00:24:29.680 because the Lord was with him. He didn't just win the battle because his forces were stronger, 00:24:30.140 --> 00:24:37.140 but his victory has come from the Lord. And Abram responds in a very interesting way in the end of 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:42.960 verse 20. It says, Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Did you notice that? In the ancient 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:49.900 world, giving someone a tenth of the spoils of war was an act of submission and self-dedication. 00:24:50.340 --> 00:24:56.259 It was a way of saying, I'm yours, so I'm giving you the top of the heap. I'm giving you the first 00:24:56.259 --> 00:25:02.240 cut. I'm giving you the first fruit. So, the way of honoring someone and saying…and it's sort of 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:08.960 almost like paying tribute to someone. And in the Old Testament, God required the Israelites to bring 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:15.759 the first 10% of their produce to him as an act of submission and self-dedication to the Lord. 00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:20.660 And it was collected by the priests in Israel. And Abram's doing sort of a similar thing. 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:25.819 He's saying Melchizedek…he recognizes Melchizedek blesses him in the name of the Lord. 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:31.180 Melchizedek reminds him and points him to the Lord. And so, Abram honors Melchizedek and says, 00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:38.640 you are a priest of the one true God. I'm going to honor you and honor God through honoring you. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:46.640 So, he's really offering…when he's giving the tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, he's really 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:56.519 giving an offering to God is effectively what he's doing. And he's sort of saying…he's 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:02.359 offering that as an expression of devotion to God. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:09.799 Now, we've seen a few characteristics of Abram. We've seen his self-restraint, 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:13.579 his loyalty, his courage. Here we see his unselfish devotion to God. 00:26:15.539 --> 00:26:23.539 How do we become a person like this? Right? How do we…if Abram is an example of faith for us to, 00:26:23.539 --> 00:26:26.359 in some ways, emulate and follow? How do we become a person like this? 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:30.299 We'll look ahead just in chapter 15, verse 1. I'm not going to preach chapter 15, 00:26:30.379 --> 00:26:32.500 but I'm just going to read the first verse. It says, 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:35.559 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision and said, 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:39.539 Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. 00:26:40.879 --> 00:26:49.240 It seems that after this great victory, Abram perhaps had a moment of fear and questioning and 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:54.160 doubt again. And God comes right alongside to reassure him and say, I am your shield, 00:26:54.259 --> 00:27:00.299 your very great reward. And sometimes it's after the greatest spiritual victories that we can 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:05.779 feel…that we can have a letdown, just like sort of our emotions tend to work that way, 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:11.299 right? You have an emotional high, and then you sort of have a crash. And spiritually, 00:27:11.420 --> 00:27:15.420 sometimes it works the same way too, right? And there's a great spiritual victory, 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:24.620 and then a period of perhaps depression or doubt or fear. And God comes to meet Abram in that moment 00:27:24.620 --> 00:27:31.360 and says, Don't fear. I am your shield and your very great reward. And, you know, if we know that, 00:27:31.500 --> 00:27:36.860 that God is our shield and our very great reward, that's actually what helps us become the kind of 00:27:36.860 --> 00:27:43.759 person that Abram is here. You know, Abram was loyal to Lot, and so when Lot got in trouble, 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:50.559 Abram didn't draw back but went to great lengths to rescue him. And the Bible says that Jesus Christ 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:57.799 has promised Himself to us. Jesus Christ is even greater than Abram, even more loyal than Abram was 00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:05.819 to Lot. Abram put his life on the line to rescue Lot…excuse me. But Jesus Christ laid down His life on the 00:28:05.819 --> 00:28:12.859 cross to rescue us. Jesus Christ has said to us, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. 00:28:13.179 --> 00:28:20.299 I will never let you go. I will be loyal to you to the end. And if you know that, if you've received 00:28:20.299 --> 00:28:27.539 Him by faith as your Savior and Lord, if you know that He will be loyal to you tonight and every day 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:34.920 going forward, then by His grace and by His Spirit working in us, we can become that kind of loyal 00:28:34.920 --> 00:28:41.099 and courageous and steadfast person that we see Abram being here. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:48.599 If you…if you get…you know, if you're like Lot and you've sort of got yourself into trouble, 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:55.039 encouragement here is Jesus Christ is even greater than Abram, and He will come to…He has come to 00:28:55.039 --> 00:29:01.420 rescue you. And if you're here tonight and you're hearing this message, you're not too far away, 00:29:01.899 --> 00:29:08.019 and you haven't gotten yourself into too much trouble, but there's a way for you to come back 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:15.940 to Jesus and be…and for Him to come and find you and bring you home just like Abram did for Lot. 00:29:16.899 --> 00:29:23.299 Because Jesus is a righteous King. Jesus is, as Hebrews says, even greater than Melchizedek. He's that 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:31.779 King and priest who is faithful to His promises. He is our shield. He is our reward. Let's pray. 00:29:34.059 --> 00:29:39.639 Lord, we thank You for this story. We thank You that each story in the Bible has something to teach us. 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:46.099 Lord, we thank You that You have given us these words of Scripture that we might benefit from them 00:29:46.099 --> 00:29:51.099 and be shaped by them into the people You're calling us to be. And we thank You for how this 00:29:51.099 --> 00:30:00.039 points us to Jesus Christ, our faithful and loyal rescuer, our Savior, who has laid down His life for us 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:07.459 on the cross and who has brought us home safely and who will bring us home safely to His heavenly kingdom. 00:30:07.639 --> 00:30:13.759 Lord, we pray that we would rest in You, and we pray that we would be strengthened by Your grace to be 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:22.619 courageous and loyal and self-controlled, Lord, that You would strengthen us by the power of Your Spirit, 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:27.839 even as we take the Lord's Supper together tonight. Now, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.