Genesis 14 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

Thus far in the patriarchal narrative we’ve seen that Abram is a humble shepherd who dwells in tents and moves from place-to-place building altars unto God. For the most part he keeps to himself and minds his own business. But when his nephew Lot is suddenly taken captive by foreign enemies, Abraham is drawn into an international war. A coalition of four kings from the north, in the modern-day regions of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, have attacked the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah and their allies. And because Lot is no longer living in a tent outside of Sodom but now in a house within the city gates, he is taken as a prisoner of war.

Even though the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah are not the aggressors in this particular conflict, they are far from innocent, peace-loving kings. The name of the King of Sodom is Bera, which literally means “evil” in Hebrew. And the name of the King of Gomorrah is Birsha which means “wickedness.” So, far from the Garden of Eden that Lot thought he was moving into, it was really more of a wasteland. Even though it was well watered, the land was also full of tar pits, yet Lot calls it “home.”

When Abram hears that Sodom has been sacked and that Lot has been taken captive, this peace-loving, tent-dwelling Hebrew makes immediate plans to rescue him, calling on 318 trained servants born in his own household to come along with him and a few of his Amorite allies to pursue and attack the four conquering kings under the cover of darkness, and they rout them and chase them out of the Promised Land reclaiming all the people and possessions of the conquered kings.

What an amazing turn of events. Prior to this, Abram was afraid of the Pharaoh and his great power. Later he was concerned about the multitude of his possessions in the land of the Canaanites and Perizzites. Perhaps they would attack both him and Lot if they stayed together in the land and so they separated from one other. But now Abram is not only willing to take on one king, but four kings and not just any four kings, but the four kings who had conquered much of Palestine including the Dead Sea kingdoms and the kingdoms of the giant Rephaites.

How is this possible? The man who was paralyzed by fear and self-preservation in Egypt is now courageous and even willing to lay down his life for his friends. What happened? Abram now trusts the Lord. He knows that the Lord is with him and for him. And, if God is for us, who can stand against us? The Lord had promised Abram that he would bless him and that he would be the father of many nations and that his children would inherit the land of Canaan. How could all of those things happen if Abram was killed on the battlefield? Abram knew that the Lord would protect him and give him success in battle and so he went out and conquered his enemies by faith.

Now there are times in our lives as well in which Christians may be called to take up arms literally in order to defend their nation or defend their home. And certainly, this passage supports the use of arms in this way. After all, Abram had trained 318 men born in his household to defend his household if necessary. And after Abram and his men attacked the four kings and defeated them, Melchizedek, the priest of God blessed Abram in his victory and explained that it was the Lord himself who delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand. So, the Lord does not forbid a Christian from fighting when it is necessary.

But there is a more important fight that goes on behind the scenes that we are called to be ready for on a daily basis. It is a much more difficult fight with a much more ruthless enemy. In Ephesians 6, Paul says that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, he says, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Once Abram had pushed his enemies out of the Promised Land, an even more formidable foe raised his head in peace time. Somehow the King of Sodom was able to escape from the four kings in the valley of Siddim. He must have been one of those who fled up into the hills, which should tell you quite a bit about his character. When the men he had called into battle began losing the war, he fled the scene, probably by himself. Well, now he has come to greet the man who has conquered his enemies and returned his captives. Seemingly, he offered Abram all the spoils of war minus the captives, but Abram not trusting the king of evil wanted nothing to do with such “gifts” from the king, for there would surely be unwanted strings attached to the deal. But just as Christ refuses Satan’s offer to give him all the kingdoms of this world, so Abram refuses to accept anything belonging to this evil king in order to maintain God’s glory and honor in war and in peace.

In this particular instance only one kingdom was being offered to Abram, but it was an evil kingdom with goods obtained by evil schemes and unlike Lot, Abram would have nothing to do with that evil kingdom. He had made a solemn oath unto God that he would accept nothing belonging to the king, not even a thread of fiber or the thong of a sandal. Surely, Abram’s response to the king was an undiplomatic one. It was a militant statement of his faith in God and a polemic against the King of Sodom. Nevertheless, Abram would not be bought by the treasures of this world. He would not compromise his principles as Lot had, for Abram still had a wartime mentality and he had declared war on all of God’s enemies, on all those who tried to steal God’s glory. But he didn’t fight this enemy in the same way that he fought the coalition of kings in battle.

In 2 Corinthians 10 the apostle Paul says, “though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

The King of Sodom was setting himself against the knowledge of God. He was building a city, a stronghold against the glory of God and he was trying to pull Abram into it, just as he pulled Lot into it. But Abram was ready to fight. He had his armor on and was ready to demolish all of Bera’s arguments and take every thought captive. He would not be enslaved to riches or to fame or to the lusts of the eyes, or the pride of life, but would only serve the Lord.

But the King of Sodom was not the only Canaanite king that came to greet Abram that day in the valley. Melchizedek, which means literally “king of righteousness,” came to meet him as well, but he did not have any intentions of manipulating Abram. Instead, he had come to bless him and to bless God in giving him the victory that day. Interestingly, Melchizedek was not only a king; he was also a priest in the kingdom of Salem, which means kingdom of peace. And when he came, he laid out bread and wine as an offering of fellowship with Abram and blessed him as a fellow servant of the one true God. And notice Abram’s response to this king of Salem. Unlike his response to the King of Sodom, Abram willingly joined hands with him, fellowshipped with him and even gave him a tithe of all that he had.

Now it has been suggested that Melchizedek was a preincarnate Christ, but that is not what the author of Hebrews actually says. He says that the Son of God was like Melchizedek. In the same way, surely Bera the King of Sodom was like Satan himself. And they were at odds with each other. It was the seed of the serpent vs. the seed of the woman and Abram had to choose a side. Wisely he chose to be on the Lord’s side and he was blessed as a result.
And we too have to choose daily whom we are going to serve, the false gods of this world, or the one, true and living God. But often we forget we are in a war. And because we forget, we also fail to take up arms and choose a side. That was Lot’s problem. Peter tells us that he was a righteous man, but he acted foolishly choosing to live in the land of Sodom rather than in the land of Salem or the land of peace. And we will soon see that he barely makes it out alive, but only as one plucked from the fire.

Abram, on the other hand, choses wisely, taking up arms against the king of Sodom and joining hands with the King of Salem, the one who is like Christ. Always remember, there is a battle that is raging all around us and we have to choose a side, we can’t continue to waver between the two camps for they are eternally at odds with one other. Only Christ can give us peace, only Christ can give us blessing. Only He can give us real fellowship. The rest of the world is enslaved to the King of evil and the king of wickedness, but we must have nothing to do with them.