Genesis Sermons (written)

Genesis 15:7-21
The Lord’s Covenant with Abraham

Introduction: The Bible is full of stories about people, places, and circumstances. As we read it, we can often get so caught up in the story that we forget about what the purpose of it is and why it was placed in the Bible.

We all have a million stories about our own lives too. Although some of us are boring, just like some of the boring people in the Bible. And some of us live super duper exciting lives, just like the super duper exciting people mentioned in the Bible. The difference though is that they are in the Bible and we’re not.

God has chosen these people and real events in their lives, boring or exciting, to help us understand what He is doing and why. Eventually, we’ll get to the book of Leviticus and we’ll be going through page after page of what seems repetitious, complicated, outdated, and to many people, downright uninteresting.

I’ve noticed time and again people start reading the Bible from Genesis, all excited about the challenge. The reading is easy and things go quickly. But after a few weeks, I stop hearing from them. I know they’ve gotten through some of Exodus and have quit.

The reason is that they don’t understand the need for all of the things that are placed there and they fall back on, “Well, I know Jesus loves me… that’s good enough for me.” In one respect, that’s true. But in another, it’s the farthest thing from reality for the believer. Understanding what the Bible is trying to tell us is like understanding your computer better.

As long as you have the basics and the computer is working fine – “Well, I have the internet… that’s good enough for me.” Most people are content with that – “I have Facebook, a site with the weather radar, some news sites… I’m good.” But when things stop working, then trouble begins.

And just like that, when things in your life stop going well, suddenly “Jesus loves me” doesn’t seem enough. It didn’t stop being true, but now you need to evaluate the process a lot more to understand why bad things are happening to the one Jesus loves.

There are a couple ways to do this. One is to ask your pastor, if you have one. He can brush you up on the whole, “It’ll work out ok” thing. Or, you can post your troubles on Facebook and hope people will keep saying nice things to make the problems fade away. Maybe you can post on a prayer group and the problems will disappear because people are praying for you.

Once again though – the pastor could be wrong. Most pastors disagree on even minor points of doctrine. How much more in the important issues that affect your “Jesus loves me” thinking? The people on Facebook are eventually going to get tired of saying nice things to you all day.

If you’re a constant bummer… well, no one wants to be around a constant bummer. And prayer groups are fine, but believe me – most people who promise to pray for you probably don’t and those who do may not even be saved.

I have news for you, if someone isn’t saved, they can pray all day and all night for you and the prayers are wasted breath. The Bible tells us that the prayers of the unrighteous are an abomination to God. If you think I’m kidding –

One who turns away his ear from hearing the law,
Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9

So what are you to do when your computer stops working? You figure out the problem, fix it, and get back to your computing. And when your life is having troubles, if you’re smart, you’ll say “I know where the answer is” and you’ll pull out your Bible, which you are already familiar with because you read it every day, and you refresh your memory about how to handle the problem.

Text Verse: Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
Because I have hoped in Your word.
⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Psalm 119:74, 75

Yes, we may have afflictions as faithful Christians, but those afflictions are because God is building us up in character and reliance on Him. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. How Shall I know, Lord

Today we’re going to look at a most unusual ritual recorded in the Bible. It’s called “cutting a covenant” and its significance is not to be taken lightly. Before we get into our first verse of the day, let’s read the first 6 verses of chapter 15 that we went over last week –

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

² But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” ⁵ Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

In these verses we discovered once again, the very Source of righteousness for the people of the world – the imputed righteousness of God which comes by faith in His promises and in what He has and will accomplish for His people.

When we get to those “tough to understand why they’re there verses” in the Bible, we will be able to look back at Chapter 15 of Genesis and understand better that whatever these things mean, the problem has already been resolved for Abraham and so it must be resolvable for us too. And it will be.

All we need to do is finish up by reading the New Testament and then we’ll see the larger picture,,, which leads us right back to Chapter 15 of Genesis. We are righteous by faith. But we will understand it more clearly because we will see that it is faith in Jesus and what He did. Genesis 15 is just looking forward to that.

Hold on to this knowledge I’m giving you right now, because the law and all of its tedious sacrifices and demands does serve a purpose. God doesn’t waste breath or words. Every thing He says is for the purpose of revealing the greatness of Himself and the marvelous workings of Jesus Christ our Lord.

We will see that righteousness before God cannot come from us because we’re already fallen and we are already separated from Him. We’ve learned this in Genesis chapter 3 and will continue to learn it until the last pages of the Bible. Only by an imputation of righteousness can we hope to be reconciled to God.

This “justification by faith alone” must be emphasized because if we somehow believe that what we do plays a part in our righteousness, we deny the perfect justice of the Lord and destroy the only basis by which we came come before Him clean and forgiven.

If God were to declare us just and righteous based on our deeds, then Jesus was lying when He said in Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Our deeds are already tainted with imperfection. So how can we be perfect, just as our Father in heaven is perfect? By faith alone.

I’ll explain this later, but remember that God declared Abram righteous simply by believing God. Therefore, it is faith in what God has promised and what God has done that made him righteous.

⁷ Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

In verse 5 we read, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And then in verse 6 it says, “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.”

Nothing else is recorded here specifically because nothing else happened. God made a promise and Abram had faith in that promise – “Righteous…You are now righteous.” After crediting Abram with righteousness based on his faith alone the Lord now reminds him of who He is – “I am the LORD.”

“I am the self-existent Creator who spoke the universe into being. I heat the day with the sun and I call the stars into brightness at night. I am the LORD – Jehovah, the God of Power and Perfection.”

“I am also the one who saved you out of the greedy flame of hell when I called you from Ur of the Chaldeans. And not only did I call you, but I brought you – I carried you on eagle’s wings from the place of fire and destruction to this land…the land of your inheritance. I have brought you this far and I will be with you and guide you always.”

The Lord glories in what he has accomplished as both an act of power and of grace. Yes, Abram got on his donkey with his family and headed out, but it is the Lord who both told him to do so and who ensured he’d make it safely to the Promised Land.

And when He speaks about the land, He doesn’t just say that He would give it to him, but that He would give it to him as an inheritance. This is the surest title to the action and we see that the providential hand of God has secret and yet gracious intents in all that He does.

Abram is a picture of us and the Lord is repeating what He has done to show us what He will do. We as humans stand in flames, represented by Ur where Abram was called from, and we are called out and brought out of those flames by the same God.

We can’t conceive of the great workings of God until the events have come to pass and only then do we see what He was driving at. How many of you here have called on Christ. Before it came, did you see it coming? In my case I never could have imagined what God would do until is was done.

And every moment of history unfolds in the same way. It’s all leading to an end which will be far more wonderful than even the promise to Abram. In what is only a picture of what’s ahead, God uses Abram to show us of even greater glory to come.

⁸ And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

The Lord just got done telling Abram of everything He’s done for Him so far and what He will do in the time ahead. And He’s told it to him in a single concise and yet perfectly full explanation. This brings about Abram’s obvious question – “Adonai God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

I mean, he’s standing there speaking to God who has already fulfilled the first half of what He’s said. Of course he should wonder about the rest. “Jesus, you said that you would forgive me if I called on you. And sure enough, you forgave me.

You’ve also promised that You would never leave me nor forsake me… How can I know this is true?”

It’s the constant battle of believing God in what has been done while at the same time wondering if He’s capable of following through on the rest. In Abram’s case though, this shouldn’t be seen as a question of doubt. Instead, he’s looking for a confirmation of his faith which has already been expressed in the promise.

At other times in the Bible, people have asked God for a sign. In Judges 6, Gideon asked the Lord for one. Let’s read it –

³⁶ So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— ³⁷ look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” ³⁸ And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. ³⁹ Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” ⁴⁰ And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

King Hezekiah of Israel was given a promise from the Lord and he also asked for a sign. And in Isaiah 7, the Lord spoke a promise to King Ahaz and then offered a sign to confirm His word.

Asking God for a sign isn’t sinful, but demanding one is. And there is a difference. God has stated that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit the moment we believe in Christ. This is how God has spoken this truth to us –

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13, 14

We have every assurance this is true because God spoke it in His word. We can ask God for a sign if we wish. If He provides it, that is His prerogative, and if not, so be it. However, there are churches and seminaries which demand a sign such as speaking in tongues.

If you don’t speak in tongues, then according to them you haven’t been baptized into the Holy Spirit, which is both contradictory to the Bible and is a demand upon God. This is both presumptuous and sinful.

Abram has asked for a sign and the Lord agreed to give him one –

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

In response to a request for a sign, the Lord tells Abram to bring five animals to Him. The heifer, goat, and ram are all three years old, meaning that they are fully grown and in the prime of life.

Abram might have expected a sign from heaven, like speaking in tongues, but God gives him a sign by requesting that he bring what he already had in his possession.

A good lesson here is that if you want to speak in tongues, go to language school and learn your Hebrew, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, or whatever and then offer it to the Lord.

If you want the assurance of God’s favor then attend to the things which will result in that favor. Only then can you expect to meet with God in and through them.

¹⁰ Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.

The Bible doesn’t say that God told Abram to do this. Instead, he just did it. This means that he already understood what was coming and how to get ready for it. The sign of God’s promise is the confirmation of the covenant and it is accomplished in a manner he was already familiar with.

Instead of the innocence of youth found in later animal sacrifices during the temple times in Israel, these animals are fully grown and this indicates the mature and accountable decision of the coming sign. This sign will be binding to the point of death as is evidenced by the animals which Abram slaughters.

¹¹ And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Abram is standing there waiting for the confirmation of the covenant and, as happens with dead animals, birds of prey came down on them. In order to maintain their purity and keep them from being defiled, Abram chases them away.

Are you going to learn from this verse? As Christians, we’re waiting on the final completion of our covenant – made at the high cost of the life of God’s own Son. As we wait, we are called “living sacrifices” by Paul. Here’s how he puts it –

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

The problem though is that as we wait on the Lord, the unclean birds of the world – our own impure thoughts and actions – fight against the holy sacrifice.

They come down and try to pollute our lives with wrong living and a morally impure lifestyle. But God has shown us that we need to chase these unclean birds away and wait quietly upon the Lord in holiness and purity.

II. Know With Certainty

How shall I know, Lord? Know with certainty…

¹² Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.

This is an almost spooky verse to read and think about. The sun is going down, a deep sleep falls on Abram, and at the same time there is horror and great darkness in his mind. The word for “deep sleep” is found only 7 times in the Bible and the last time we saw it is when God put Adam to sleep in order to take out one of his ribs and make a wife for him.

The deep sleep, the setting of the sun, and the horror and darkness are being used to show the supernatural nature of the darkness and sleep and to set up a distinction between this vision and a regular dream. The reason for the horror and darkness is given next.

¹³ Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.

Earlier Abram asked, “How shall I know?” And in response to his question, the Lord said to him, “Know certainly.” When you have questions of the Lord, as we all do, it’s only right to ask Him, “How shall I know?” And His response to you is the same as it is to Abram here – “Know certainly.”

After saying this, He speaks His word to Abram and expects Abram to believe it. And He has also spoken His word to you and He expects you to believe it. How can you know? Read your Bible. It is God’s word spoken to you as surely as he spoke to Abram.

The horror and darkness that Abram experienced are given to show him what it will be like for his descendants during a time of affliction. It’s an important verse to remember because many people who study their Bible have misinterpreted this verse and one other in Exodus to mean that the Israelites would be in Egypt for 430 years. However, this isn’t the case at all.

This 400 year period is speaking of Abram’s descendants, from the weaning of Isaac to the time of the Exodus. Israel was actually only in Egypt for about 210 years, not 400. If you want to save yourself the hard work, I’ve already done it and have it on my website on a page called “Dwelling in Egypt.”

¹⁴ And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

This is specifically speaking about the time in Egypt and the judgment they would receive, but it is not all inclusive of the previous verse. Rather the people of Israel were strangers in both Canaan and Egypt during the 400 period.

After their time in Egypt, as we’ll see in the future, the Israelites will plunder the Egyptians and will come out with a great amount of wealth. Much of this wealth will be used by the people to build the tabernacle where God would meet with them, but some would be used to build a golden calf in place of God.

Having great possessions often leads to great mistakes. Only when we use our wealth properly is it of any true benefit to ourselves. God’s gifts may be a blessing, but we can use them in ways which bring a curse.

¹⁵ Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

Abram has been given the promise of a long life and a peaceful death. We’ll see that in the end, he will live to be 175 years old and he will go to his grave in peace. Unfortunately for us, we have to wait to see how our end will come about.

Because of this, it’s right that we live each day as best we can and spend our time focusing on living for the Lord. Any moment could be our last and so every moment should be lived that way.

Implied in the words that he would “go to his fathers in peace” is that they still exist – in other words, the immortality of the soul. If this sounds like this is a stretch, consider two things.

First, God said it in a comforting manner. In other words, death without continued existence has no comfort for us and therefore continued existence is implied.

Secondly, Jesus said this to the people of Israel –

But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” Luke 20:37, 38

Because God is eternal, all are alive to Him. He speaks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the present tense. If the dead are raised and they are always alive to God, then they are always alive.

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

There are several times in the Bible that we see the concept of sin heaping up in a land. As sins are committed, they reach a point where there is no longer a remedy for the people of the land and at that time they are destroyed. We see this here.

We also see it in the conduct, destruction, and exile of Israel twice in history, and we see it in the rise and fall of nations. It is a truth that simply can’t be ignored. In Numbers 35 it’s said as explicitly as could be possible –

So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

As I’ve said so many times in the past, the crime of abortion is a crime of blood. There is no atonement for the land which sheds innocent blood except by the blood of those who shed it.

At the same time, in this verse is also an understanding of the mercy of God. If one sin of Adam was enough to condemn the entire human race, then we can see the immense mercy of God in allowing 400 years for the Amorites to live, enjoy life, and hopefully search for God and find Him.

Instead of destruction and immediately granting the promise to Abram, he allows His own chosen people to suffer trials while the inhabitants of Canaan are given the benefits of enjoying His land. Anyone who can’t find God’s wisdom, graciousness, and mercy in this verse has both a warped and a deviant sense of who God is.

In this one verse is found the foreknowledge of God, His sovereignty in administering the affairs of nations, His mercy in sparing morally corrupt people until there is no remedy for them, and His justice in exercising judgment,

Finally there is something that we will only see later in the Bible – that the Amorite is the chief nation among those in the land who will receive first and full judgment for their deviant living.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.

When the people of the Mideast joined in a pact, they’d follow the same rites as we see here – slaughter an animal, cut it in two and pass through the pieces. In order to validate His word in a way which Abram would understand, He followed this ancient practice.

However, Abram didn’t pass through the pieces, only the Lord did. This means the promise is one-sided and unconditional. Abram isn’t bound to anything, but the Lord binds Himself to the promise.

The significance of the animals being cut in two is that it signifies the penalty for failing to keep the covenant. This is the purpose of cutting a covenant… it is a binding action with the severest consequences for failing to live up to it.

The smoking oven and the burning torch represent the protection of the promise by God. The smoke represents the destruction of those who would afflict the people to whom the promise is made and the burning torch is the consuming fire which would bring about the destruction.

At the same time as being an instrument of destruction for the enemies of the promise, they are an instrument of protection and light for the people of the promise.

At the exodus, a similar manifestation of God will be seen which will lead the people out of bondage. And this manifestation will, at the same, bring destruction on Israel’s enemies.

¹⁸ On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— ¹⁹ the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Ten groups of people are listed here. The land they possess now will be given to Abram’s descendants. The covenant is made, it is unconditional, and it is absolutely binding. What God has spoken will come to pass. The land is for Abram and his descendants.

Just so you know, God has also entered into a covenant with us. It is through the glory of His only begotten Son, Jesus. It is He, like the smoking oven and torch which passed through the animals, who passes between God and us.

Like Abram, we also have a sign – it is a deposit, it is a guarantee of the good things promised for all believers. It is the sealing of the Holy Spirit. If you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let me explain how you can…

To Your Descendants I Give This Land

The Lord said to Abram, yes He did say
I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur
From the land of the Chaldeans where once you did stay
And this land I give you to inherit…that’s for sure

And Abram being an especially inquisitive sort of man
Asked, “Lord God how shall I know that I will receive this from Your Hand?”

So the Lord said to Abram, yes, this He did say
“Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram each three years old
Also a turtledove and a young pigeon bring this way”
And Abram brought them all just as he was told

He cut them in two down the middle, piece opposite piece
But the birds he did not cut in two
As vultures came down on the carcasses Abram made them cease
He drove them away, yes, this thing he did do

Now as the sun was going down, he fell into a dark sleep
And the horror and darkness that came upon him was so deep

And the Lord said to Abram, “Know for sure what I say
Your descendants will be strangers in a land not their own
And they will serve them four hundred years from that day
But I will judge the nation they serve, my greatness will be shown”

They will come out with very many possessions
From the people who gave them so many oppressions
Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace
You will be buried when at a good old age your life will cease

In the fourth generation your people shall return here
For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete
And it came to pass as the night was drawing near
Abram saw something that probably raised him from his seat

Behold, a smoking oven and burning torch did appear
That passed between those pieces he had laid out
On the same day, the Lord made a covenant sincere
This promise left Abram without a single doubt

To your descendants I have given this land
Yes, it is a present from my gracious hand

And to this day He has been faithful to Abram’s seed
They dwell in the Promised Land, yes even now
It is God’s land to parcel out, so the nations should take heed
God promised it to them, He promised it with a vow

Got keeps every promise, faithful is He
So don’t worry about what will come, it will be ok
God sent His own Son just for you and for me
And He will finish his work in us, some glorious day

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 14:17-24
Melchizedek
(Greater than Levi)

Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of every biblical picture and figure which looks forward to the coming Messiah. All the way back to the time of Eusebius who lived during the second and third century, the three-fold office of Christ is noted – that of being the prophet, priest, and king.

And this concept is believed to have been built on even earlier Jewish sources. But in the end, it’s the Bible that reveals this for those who study it and peer into the beautiful gemstones which look forward to this coming Messiah.

In Deuteronomy, the great Prophet is predicted who would come in the manner of Moses –

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’” 18:15, 16

In Jeremiah, a great King is anticipated who is God incarnate –

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS Jeremiah 23:5, 6

And also in Jeremiah is the anticipation of a new High Priest –

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. Jeremiah 31:31, 32

A New Covenant implies a change in priesthood. Many other times the uniting of the offices of prophet, priest, and king into one is alluded to in the Old Testament. Isaiah speaks of these three offices belonging to the LORD. Because they are fulfilled in Jesus, Isaiah’s words are a veiled reference to the deity of Jesus Christ –

(For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us). Isaiah 33:22

Interestingly, this same concept of a judge, lawgiver, and king was used in the three-fold division of our own government. The king is replaced with a president because the true King of our nation is the Creator to whom our leaders were recognized as subordinate.

In the New Testament, we see the three-fold concept realized in the Person of Jesus. If we were to look for a first picture of this though, we don’t need to even leave Genesis. Today we’ll see a person show up in only three verses and yet these three verses are so important that the author of Hebrews will spend three entire chapters speaking about them.

Introduction: Our enigmatic figure is Melchizedek and he is mentioned 11 times in the Bible. All but two of these are in the book of Hebrews. The other two are once in Genesis and once by David in the psalms.

If you ever want to enter into the truly goofy, you can read all kinds of crazy stuff about Melchizedek, just like the crazy things people make up about the Nephilim in Genesis chapter 6.

But what we have recorded about Melchizedek is very clear and there’s no need to make up a crazy theories when the Bible’s purpose in introducing him is to simply prefigure our true Prophet, Priest, and King – Jesus.

Text Verse: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord; Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ Zechariah 6:12, 13

Yes, because of Jesus, there is peace between the offices of the King and the Priest. And also because of Jesus, we have the full revelation of God’s word as is prophetically breathed out by the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus fills these wonderful roles for us… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Introducing and Explaining Melchizedek

¹⁷ 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 Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

Our last sermon covered the battle which occurred between the four kings from the east and the five kings who lived in the area of Sodom. When the battle was over, Abram’s nephew Lot was captured and taken captive, but Abram marshaled together his troops, went off in pursuit of Lot and safely returned him with all the other captives, and their goods.

Now we see the victorious Abram being met by the king of Sodom in the Valley of Shaveh. This king is named Bera who was introduced in Genesis 14:2 and he’s the same king who fled from the battle in 14:10. But now he comes forward to meet Abram and receive from him what he had lost.

The valley of Shaveh is where they met, which is also called the King’s Valley. Shaveh means “level” and it’s possible that the idiom that we use today “Meet me on the level” comes from this very phrase.

As Abram was returning from the slaughter of Chedolaomer and the other three kings, he may have sent a messenger to Bera with a note, “meet me at Shaveh” or as we would translate “meet me on the level.” Anyway, this same “King’s Valley is also the valley mentioned in 2 Samuel 18:18 and tells us the story of a sad figure in the Bible, Absalom the son of King David –

“Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King’s Valley. For he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.”

If you go to Israel today, you can see a large monument called “Absalom’s Monument” off to the side of the Temple Mount. It’s definitely not the same monument mentioned in the Bible, but because it was given this name, its face is all marred up from people throwing rocks at it. If you know the story of Absalom, you’d understand why. He was the son who attempted to overthrow Israel’s great king – his own father David.

 ¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. ¹⁹ And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.

This is all that’s recorded about Melchizedek. So why is it that he is mentioned again by David in the psalms and is referred to for three chapters in Hebrews? There’s obviously a lot more in these three verses than may be apparent at first.

Because the entire point of these three verses is to introduce what is explained in Hebrews, I’m going to read you David’s comment about Melchizedek from the psalms and then read you Hebrews 5-7 and attempt to explain them as we go. This may take a while, but hopefully you’ll see why this account is mentioned.

Before we do though, I’ll tell you that even in antiquity this great priest of God brought out and gave a blessing over bread and wine. This is something we do to this day and it prefigures the body and blood of the coming Messiah, Jesus.

Here is what David says about Melchizedek in Psalm 110 –

⁴ The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

This may not seem very instructive, but it’s based on the introduction to the psalm recorded in verse 1 –

The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
² The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

Jesus used this very verse to explain something about the coming Messiah that the scribes of His day had missed –

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”

They said to Him, “The Son of David.”
⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”’?

⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore. Matthew 22:43-45

Well, now let’s read Hebrews 5-7 and discover why Melchizedek is mentioned in these three verses in Genesis, but before I do I’ll tell you that if you want to witness to a Jewish person from the New Testament, the two best places to do it in my opinion are from the book of Matthew or the book of Hebrews (EXPLAIN) –

(5) For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. ² He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. ³ Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. ⁴ And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
⁵ So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.”
⁶ As He also says in another place:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek”;
⁷ who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, ⁸ though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. ⁹ And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, ¹⁰ called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” ¹¹ of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³ For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴ But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(6) Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, ² of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do if God permits.
⁴ For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
⁷ For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; ⁸ but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
⁹ But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. ¹¹ And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. ¹⁷ Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, ¹⁸ that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, ²⁰ where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
(7) For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” ³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
⁴ Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. ⁵ And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; ⁶ but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷ Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. ⁸ Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. ⁹ Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
¹¹ Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. ¹⁵ And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶ who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For He testifies:
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’”),
²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. ²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

II. Abram’s Wisdom

Although we’ve covered a lot of ground, but there’s a few more verses in Chapter 14 before we’re finished. They demonstrate the wisdom displayed by Abram in dealing with the king of Sodom.

²¹ Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

The king of Sodom acknowledges Abram’s right to all of the booty recovered in the war and only asks for his people back. This is an ancient tradition and is, until recently, the inviolable rule of war. Any land or possessions won in war become the property of the victors.

Occasionally but very infrequently, a nation will give up that right. America, for example has defeated enemies around the globe, but has graciously granted freedom to the vanquished. They have been allowed to retain their own societies, cultures, religions, monetary systems, languages, etc. This is the exception, not the rule.

There is one other exception to this rule which is being forced on the victors by the nations of the world – the Land of Israel. The Jewish people defeated their enemies in war and gained right to Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, etc. In this case, and only in this case, are the nations of the world up in arms about the results of the battle.

What was rightfully won, is being slowly but surely stolen away from Israel and for this reason the nations will come under God’s judgment. But that is for the future to handle. In Abram’s time, the war booty was acknowledged as his.

²² 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, ²³ 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’— ²⁴ 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.”

Instead of exercising his right to the spoils of war, Abram made a vow to “the Possessor of heaven and earth,” meaning the One true Creator God, that he wouldn’t accept anything personally from the king of Sodom.

By using the same term about God that Melchizedek used – the Possessor of heaven and earth – he was acknowledging in front of the king of Sodom that the same God whom Melchizedek was loyal to was the God that he also was loyal too.

In his vow – which he made by an uplifted hand – Abram said he wouldn’t accept anything, from a thread to a sandal strap. The Hebrew word for thread – khut – was something women used to tie up their hair.  A sandal strap was used by men to secure their sandals. He was saying he wouldn’t take even the smallest thing that belonged to a man or woman, from their head to their feet.

The only thing that would he would accept is what his soldiers had eaten along the way to, during, and coming back from the battle. Along with that, there were three Amorites who went with him to defeat the enemies and Abram allowed them to decide to take whatever they wanted.

There are probably three good reasons why he didn’t accept anything for his efforts. First is that Sodom was notoriously wicked and he didn’t want to have anything of theirs simply because of the principle of “guilt by association.”

Secondly, he received his nephew back alive and he was surely grateful to God for that. And thirdly, he had received Melchizedek’s blessing. This was something of far greater value than any earthly goods.

If you look at what Abram did here, it should be a life lesson to us all, especially Abram’s – “guilt by association” and the perception others would draw from it.

If you’re looking to get into a business deal or accept anything from someone else, it’s always important to have the highest moral ethics, especially when you bear the name of Christ Jesus.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 – “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”

And when speaking to Titus about giving instructions to church members he said this, “Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorrupt-tibility, ⁸ sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.”

Despite the way the media portrays Christians, throughout the Bible – Old Testament and New – we are shown that living lives of integrity and holiness are the hallmarks of being faithful and obedient children of God.

And that brings me to the point where I’d like to share with you the way of becoming a child of God. Let me take a couple minutes and explain to you why Jesus came and why it’s important to you.

Abram’s Meeting with Melchizedek

The king of Sodom went out to the valley of Shaveh
To meet Abram after his return from the defeat of the eastern kings
And there Melchizedek over bread and wine, a blessing he did say
In the name of God Most High he accomplished priestly things

And Melchizedek blessed Abram, and this he said
Blessed be Abram of God Most High
Possessor of heaven and earth, our heavenly Head
Yes, he is the Creator of the earth and sky

And blessed be God Most High too
Who has delivered your enemies into the hand of you

And Abram gave him a tithe of all the spoil
All gained in war through the battle’s toil

Now the king of Sodom to Abram said
Just give me my people and all the spoil you shall keep
But Abram declined as he shook his head
He knew his integrity was worth more than goats and sheep

I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High
Yes my hand to the Possessor of heaven and earth
I will take nothing from you be it low or be it high
Nothing here to me contains that much worth

You will never be able to say to a friend or to your brother
I have made Abram rich, yes, it was me and not another

Just what the young men have eaten
And the portion of the men who were with me too
All my gain comes from God’s blessing and not from a’cheatin’
But let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre have what they wish from you

Let us remember Abram’s example and trust in God, not in man
For the many blessings we receive each and every day
Let us praise Him for these blessings as oft as we can
And from our mouths, let us continually say

“Great and awesome God
In Your light I will trod
Thank you for all good things
To You my heart forever sings”

Above all I thank You for my Lord Jesus
Whose precious life He gave for us
And so in His glorious name I say
All of my praises to You, each and every day

Hallelujah and Amen…

Instruction from Hebrews concerning Melchizedek –

Hebrews 6:4 – This verse is actually one sentence when combined with verses 5 and 6, but we’ll take them one at a time and wrap them up as one in verse 6. Today we learn that some things are impossible. This is not some minor description as if to say, this is impossible “unless.” Rather, what will be relayed in this sentence is something that God has spoken about in the absolute sense. So I ask you to pay close attention to what the three verses are going to state. Those “who have once been enlightened” are those who have heard the message of salvation which comes through Jesus. The message of Jesus is enlightening because it is the path which God has chosen to reveal Himself and direct us back to fellowship with Him. “Those who have tasted the heavenly gift” are those who have understood the message which they heard. They have in their mind all the knowledge sufficient to be saved through the work of Jesus Christ. Theirs is no longer a problem with comprehending the message, but their heart hasn’t been touched – something which must occur.  Those “who have shared in the Holy Spirit” are those who have seen the effective power of God displayed in the lives of the converted. They may have personally witnessed the miracles and power of Jesus and/or the apostles, or they may have seen the power of the Holy Spirit demonstrated in the conversion of another – they “have shared in” this experience. This cannot mean that these people have received the Holy Spirit personally as we will see at the completion of the thought. For today, understand that what is to be said about being enlightened, tasting the gift, and sharing in the Holy Spirit is of utmost importance for the person to whom the thought is being directed…so if it pertains to you, don’t miss the final explanation of what’s going to be said in verse 6 – it is an eternity-making decision.

Heb 6:5 – Remember that today’s verse is actually part of one sentence in combination with yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday the author mentioned those “who have once been enlightened,” those “who have tasted the heavenly gift,” and those “who have shared in the Holy Spirit.” Today he mentions 1) those “who have tasted the goodness of the word of God.” Remember that the author is writing to first century Jews who were considering returning to the sacrificial system of temple worship. These people had both the Old Testament and any word which was then in circulation – either orally or written – which confirmed Jesus’ ministry and spoke of how the Old was fulfilled in the New. By hearing and understanding this word, they could taste and understand its goodness. 2) The “powers of the coming age” indicate the promised time when Jesus will return to rule the nations and “He will rule them with an iron scepter…” (Revelation 2:27) However, these people had seen or heard of this power demonstrated in the resurrection – the very proof that Jesus is God. These points would have been made known to those who received this letter – that Jesus both fulfilled the role of Messiah and would return again in that capacity at some point in the future. To have an understanding of these wonderful tenets and then to reject them for an inferior system would not only make no sense, it would show a complete lack of faith in God’s provision which was provided in the Person and work of Jesus. Tomorrow we’ll see what the result of such a rejection of these glorious points would lead to. The same is true with us today – if we hear the message and understand it and then reject it, there will obviously be repercussions.

Heb 6:6 It is the stand of this devotional that a person can never lose their salvation; once a person is sealed with the Holy Spirit, they are eternally saved. This is made clear in many verses and by Jesus’ own words. Therefore, today’s verse cannot be used as a basis for the loss of salvation. Unfortunately, many have taken it to indicate that possibility, but the past two days have demonstrated that the context has been in opposition to this view. The author was writing specifically to first century Jews who had heard, understood, and seen the power of the gospel and who had in fact tasted the words of this gospel and seen its power – both present and that promised at a future date – and decided for whatever reason that they were going back to participate in the temple rites. In essence, the perceived security of what they knew in temple worship was what they chose rather than accepting the gospel of Jesus’ ministry. By doing this, there was no sacrifice sufficient to bring them back to the truth. The entire Old Testament ministry prefigured the work of Christ. In other words, Christ is the fulfillment of the ages of temple worship; the cross ended their need. There is no possibility that these sacrifices could ever be effective again. By returning and relying on what was less than the greatness of God’s completed plan, these people had rejected salvation. The very nature of this turning away proclaims, “We trust in our deeds to reconcile our sin.” But the ultimate deed has come in Jesus…so they are, in effect, re-crucifying Him all over again. The Bible is clear that Christ Jesus died once for the sins of man. It is only by looking to His cross that true atonement can be made. No other sacrifice is acceptable and to re-crucify Him can only lead to condemnation.

 

 

Genesis 14:1-16
Abram the Hebrew

Introduction: One of the things that I’ve noticed that really affects people – to the point that they never accept Jesus, or that unevenly affects their walk with Him to the point where they are always questioning His goodness and His love, are things like war, death, famine, suffering, etc.

These are also used by people who hate God, like self-proclaimed atheists, as an unwise basis for rejecting Him. I cannot tell you how many discussions or posts on the internet I’ve been in where people use these things to attack the very God that allows them to make their attacks against Him.

Think about it… I mean think it through. It is so stupid and so childish to blame God for the world’s troubles and then expect you have every right to speak badly of Him, call Him names, or claim He must not exist. It is, really, the height of hypocrisy.

Anyway, I’m saying this now because today we’re going to see the first war recorded in the Bible. And of course, along with war comes suffering, death, plague, pain, sorrow, etc.

The people who want to dismiss the God of the Bible will use these things in order to show how cruel He is or how incompetent He is because He allows these things to happen.

But then they turn around and exercise their free will by sleeping with someone’s wife – something that will cause its own little war. Or they will do one of a million other things that will cause anger and division in another person or people without ever considering that God simply allowed them to work out their own life.

And if God did stop them, they’d say He was being unfair. Just keep thinking it through this week and you’ll see that how things make much more sense when you’re dealing with people who have free will. If not, then there would be no possibility of loving God either. Any love would be forced, which is no love at all.

Keep these things in mind and don’t get sidetracked by people who are atheists or God haters who think they have a good argument against the God they claim they don’t believe in. They don’t.

Text Verse: He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore. Micah 4:3

We look forward to the day when Christ reigns on earth and war is ended forever, but until that day we should accept that God is in control and that war – past, present, and future – happens, not because God desires it, but because He allows it. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name every be praised.

I. The Warring of the Nations 

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, ² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³ All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴ Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

There are times when you’re reading the Bible and you may wonder to yourself “Why is all this recorded here? A good example of this is the account of the sailing journey of Paul which included a storm and a shipwreck in Acts 27 and 28.

It’s a nice story, but why would God include it in there, especially when it takes up such a large portion of the book? These are the times we need to dig into the accounts and ask, verse by verse, “What are you trying to tell me Lord?”

The account today is like that. There are minute details of a battle. The details include the names of people, the countries they come from, and who they are fighting against, but when you’re done, other than saying, “Ok,” you may not have really come to any big conclusions about why the story is even given.

There have been billions of skirmishes and wars in history. Why did God tell us about this one? We note here that this is the first war recorded in the Bible, but not the first war in history.

I say this because these verses tell us that the rebelling nations served Chedorlaomer for twelve years before they rebelled. The logical assumption is that he waged war with them in the past and then subjected them to paying tribute. This battle is recorded because it affects God’s people who have now entered the picture.

Any other wars happen as wars have happened throughout history. People want, people take, people die. God has allowed us to destroy each other and to exercise our free will. When we do and we are the victors, then we boast about our strength and how great our achievements are, but when we lose, we blame God… “How could he allow this to happen?”

Nobody ever questions why God allowed them to win the battle, nor do they question why He allowed their poor enemies to die. It’s only when things go wrong that we question God. I’m bringing this up now so that you know it is the weaker in faith who question God’s ways when things go bad.

He is sovereign over His creation. We are man and are a part of His creation. In the end, we have no right to hold our fist in God’s face and tell Him how things should be done.

I’m not saying we don’t all do it, but the stronger the faith, the less the complaining when tragedy strikes – just read the book of Job. Keep this in mind as things go well and as things get tough. Give God the credit for the victories and give God praise when you lose. If you do, you will be living the life of a faithful Christian.

We all have free will, just as the nations which war against each other. When things go bad, it’s normally because of a bad decision – let’s do our best to not blame God at these times, but to see His hand in the lesson we learn.

Another thing we see these verses is the beginning of a particular type of conflict which continues even to this day. These nations aligned with each other even though they were nations which were scattered during the time of the Tower of Babel.

In the conduct of nations, alliances are made and people who may not really like each other still work together for a commonly shared goal. As the world’s superpower, America has alliances with many nations. We had a treaty with Kuwait in the 1990s.

When Iraq attacked them, it was a test of our faithfulness to our treaty. Was it worth the paper it was printed on? If not, then all the other nations we’d signed treaties with would know they couldn’t trust us either. We may or may not have agreed with the president, but he did the right thing by standing up for Kuwait.

This is the way of the world we live in and often people who are innocent will get caught in the crossfire. One of them in today’s story is named Lot.

There are four overall points to be seen in this chapter. We won’t finish it today, but we can break it down in anticipation of what’s ahead. First, there is a war involving the king of Sodom and four other kings who rebel against their oppressors.

The second is that Lot, Abram’s nephew is taken captive during the battle. The third is that Abram will rescue him from his captivity during a battle he wages over the conquering forces.

And the fourth item to note is Abram’s return and his encounters with the king of Salem and the king of Sodom. This chapter will be the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram that He would make his name great.

This battle is waged in the area of Siddim which is now where the Dead Sea is located. Siddim means “fields” or “ploughed lands” and to stand there today and look at the area, ploughed lands are the very last thing you could imagine.

The land is a barren waste and it drops down to the lowest spot on the face of the earth, 1388 feet below sea level. There are some plantations by the Dead Sea now, but they are either desert crops like date palms or things that are watered by modern irrigation.

But the Bible records that at the time of Abram, the land was a fertile valley and it was known for its ploughed fields. It’s almost impossible to think that there was ever anything there the way the Bible describes. That only 4000 years ago, but this is what the Bible says and when it was written, people didn’t dispute it.

⁵ In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶ and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ 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 Hazezon Tamar.

So, these people had paid tribute for 12 years and finally got sick of it and rebelled in the thirteenth year. When they realized they weren’t getting any benefit from them in the 13^th year, the four kings from the east gathered together in the fourteenth year and headed to Canaan to reestablish their authority over the people.

This scenario is played out time and again in the Bible. A nation will conquer another nation and tribute will be paid for a while until either the conquering nation gets soft or until the conquered nation grows strong enough to revolt or it makes an alliance with another nation so that together they can conquer the conquerors.

And this has been happening ever since biblical times as well. The Roman Empire overthrew nations as far north as England, but eventually it simply faded away under its own weight and because of the constant revolts which occurred and weakened the empire.

The same thing happened with England. At one time the saying was true, “The sun never sets on the British empire.” Eventually because of mismanagement, a lack of discipline, and over-extension, they too faded off the scene as a world empire.

America is heading in the same direction and the world is being lined up for the end times where Israel will again be the head of the nations. Isaiah looked forward to this glorious time 2700 years ago and His words march ever closer to their fulfillment –

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
³ Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:2-4

As faithful believers in Jesus Christ, we’re waiting for that wondrous day when He returns and sits on the throne of David, ruling in righteousness and judging among the nations.

Going back to our verses, it said that on the way to deal with the rebels in the land of Canaan they attacked the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horites. After this, they turned back and attacked all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites.

These kings didn’t just come after the rebels. They attacked other nations as well. They probably did this for a few reasons. First, they were showing their strength to the surrounding nations as a warning not to make alliances with the nations they’d conquered.

They also probably wanted to increase the number of nations that would pay them tribute and keep them so busy so that they wouldn’t even think of making other alliances. And a third reason is to plunder the people enough to keep their war campaign going.

This is a lot like what Hitler did in Germany. Sometimes he did it with false alliances like the agreement he made with hugely naïve Neville Chamberlain. Sometimes he did it with blitzkrieg raids like in Poland. And sometimes he did it with longer battles like his attacks against Russia. As he conquered nations, he used their resources for feeding his own military.

And believe it or not, this type of thing occurs in politics as well. The left has been waging all out war on the right. Anyone who disagrees with them or their policies is fair game in their attacks.

What they can’t win through the vote, they win through their troops lined up in the media, the unions, and the courts by litigation. War never affects just the people directly under attack. It affects those who stand idly and blindly by and naively hope that things will turn out for the best.

By the time these kings had gotten to their main targets of attack, many other people groups had been affected by their cunning. May we in America be more willing to stand and defend our rights now, before they are gone.

⁸ And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹ against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

The Bible returns to the account of the main forces lined up for battle which was mentioned in verses 1 and 2. But this time, the rebels are mentioned first and the attackers are mentioned last.

In other words, when you read both accounts, it is first from the vantage point of the four kings of the east – “we will attack.” Then the second time they’re mentioned, it is from the vantage point of the five kings of Canaan – “we will defend.”

The four kings from the east say –

We will subdue you as we did 14 years ago
You will be beaten and to us tribute you will pay
When we are finished then you will surely know
You shouldn’t have revolted; this is what you’ll say

And the five kings of Canaan replied –

We will stand and defend our land
This is the thing that we will do
Many of you will die by our hand
And we will be the victors over you

Who will win the battle and what will be the result?

¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits;

If you want to learn the Indonesian or Malaysian language, both of which are very similar, one of the things you’ll notice right away is that instead of using a plural marker on a word the way we do when we add an “s” – such as in star in the singular or stars in the plural, they will often simply say the word twice to make a plural.

So to say “I see a star” you would say “Aku melihat bintang.”
To say “I see stars” you would say “Aku melihat bintang-bintang”

The verse we just read does this in the Hebrew – v’emek ha’sideem b’erot b’erot emar

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits. Or “And the valley of the fields was pits pits tar.

So why am I bringing this up… so what, right? This verse, which is talking about tar pits, along with several other verses found in the Old Testament, have pointed to the great possibility of there being immense reserves of oil in the land of Israel.

One key indicator that oil is normally present is when asphalt is seen bubbling up from the ground. Another possible indication of this is the fact that the Dead Sea is there now, but there once was a fertile valley with ploughed fields as Genesis tells us.

What could cause trillions of tons of rock to be moved in order to make such a large rift in the earth?

Some people believe that an underground cavern of gas or oil exploded when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. This is as reasonable as any other explanation and very well may be what happened. And this verse is the first indication of the oil there.

If you want to track the oil and gas finds in Israel, there are a few sites which keep up to date on these things and some of the testing and drilling has been in the Dead Sea area.

There are also indications of large amounts of oil and gas in other areas of Israel leading some to believe that Israel could at some point become a major source of both oil and natural gas.

If this wouldn’t get Israel’s enemies up in arms, I can’t think of what else would. This very well could be the impetus for the great battle of Gog and Magog which is recorded in Ezekiel 38 and which may soon be leading to another great Mideast war near you.

^{10 (con’t)}  and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.

Any place full of asphalt pits wasn’t the smartest choice for the five kings to line up for battle. They probably went there thinking that if things went bad, they could flee to the mountains, which is exactly what happened as the battle turned against them.

Unfortunately for them, some of the people fell into the tar pits as they fled. Kind of a goopy way to die…

¹¹ Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹² They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Exactly what the people of Sodom had hoped to avoid by going away from the city to fight is what ended up happening. As the men of the armies fled, the people who remained in the city, and all of their goods, were taken captive. Unfortunately for the conquerors, they took Lot, Abram’s nephew too. This would cost them in the end.

II. Abram the Hebrew

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.

This verse marks the first time the term Hebrew is mentioned in the Bible. It is tying Abram in with Lot and is showing a designation of what Abram is, just like the designation of Mamre when he is called an Amorite.

The term “Hebrew” is tied directly to Abram’s great-great-great-great grandfather Eber in both Genesis 10 and 11. Eber means “he who crossed over” and it is signifying that he and his family are the ones who crossed over the Euphrates and away from Babel.

The term is used here for the first time to make the distinction between Abram and the attacking armies who came from the other side of the Euphrates and also from the people whom he was allied with – the Amorites.

He is of the chosen people and he is the center of focus in the Bible at this time. He is the one who will lead to the Messiah. The refugee from the battle knew that Abram was related to Lot and so he came to tell him about what had happened, probably hoping to get Abram to go after him, not only to rescue Lot, but to get back his own things which had been taken by the raiders.

¹⁴ Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Abram took no time in responding. As soon as he heard what had happened, it says that he armed his 318 trained servants who were born in his house and took off in pursuit. This shows how large of a company he must have had.

He had 318 men who were ready for battle, but he would have had many others who would stay behind to keep the camp from attack. And these are only the trained men. He would have also had women and children and young and old.

His company probably reached into the thousands. But the number 318 is very specific and the rule of the Bible is that every name, every number, and in fact every word is important. The question is, why is this curious number used? The answer probably comes from the name of a person who will be introduced in chapter 15.

He is the chief servant of Abram named Eliezer, whose name means “God is help.” Because Abram has no children, the next in line to inherit all he has is this servant Eliezer. If his name is turned into numbers, a science known as gematria, they equal 318.

As the chief of the servants and the heir apparent of the household, 318 fighting men are chosen from the same group within Abram’s home based on Eliezer’s name. It is a way of saying, “In this battle, God is my help. He is my right hand.”

And so off they go – Abram and only 318 men against many thousands of people who had just destroyed numerous kingdoms as they stormed through the land. The chances seem slim, but with many or few, the battle belongs to the Lord.

David knew and understood this when he went out as a young shepherd boy to fight the mighty Philistine named Goliath –

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

¹⁵ 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.

When America engages in a war, it is almost always begun in the darkest moments of the night, just before dawn. It is the time when the enemy is least ready to counterattack and the majority of them are asleep. Abram knew this 4000 years ago when he divided up the forces under him and attacked the armies at night.

This is something you will see happen again in the Bible on several occasions. Night attacks allow insignificant numbers to overwhelm opposing forces of great size. Gideon, the Judge of Israel, took 300 men into battle against 135,000 Midianites and with the Lord’s help, he prevailed.

After attacking the armies, Abram didn’t just stop and revel in his win, but he continued to chase the enemies and destroy them even farther north than Damascus in Syria. This was the wise thing to do because it depleted their numbers and gave them notice that they’d get more of the same if they tried to come back in the future.

Despite being criticized for pummeling the withdrawing Iraqis as they left from Kuwait, President Bush saved many American lives in future battles by continuing to crush them on the highway of death which lead from Kuwait all the way north deep into Iraq.

Countries or political parties which aren’t willing to fight until the battle is won only show weakness to the enemy and cause more harm and damage to themselves. We need to remember this and not listen to doves in our government harp about the wars we fight.

In the end, they only set themselves up for much worse. By following the Bible in all matters, even the conduct of war, we will keep ourselves from many harms and troubles.

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.

Victorious, Abram returns home. Just imagine the clan applauding and rejoicing over the return of him and his men. And in a note of the true completion of the task before him, Lot is mentioned by name. Abram had been faithful to his nephew and thus to his family name.

In the New Testament, Paul explains the importance of taking care of one’s family – But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

We are to take care of those who are in trouble, unable to help themselves, sick, afflicted, or simply less well off than we are.

In Sodom, Lot certainly had many friends, but he found out the importance of family when he was carried away. As the Proverb says – “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

Each of us probably has many friends as well, but they tend to fade out of the scene as our life unfolds. Even brothers and sisters can get on our nerves. And despite the idea of marriage being a life-long commitment, that doesn’t always work out.

But the Bible says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. That someone is Jesus and I’d like to take a few minutes and tell you about Him and His love for you…

Abram the Hebrew

In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar
He along with three other kings went out to war

It was in the Valley of Siddim which is now the Salt Sea
That four kings faced off against another five
The five had rebelled and the four couldn’t let that be
And so to the Land of Canaan they made their warlike drive

But before these forces met in this great battle
The four kings of the east fought against many other clans
And defeating each they gained stocks of war chattel
Everything was going well, according to their plans

After all their victories, before the rebels they stood
And looked across the plowed fields, yes life was pretty good

It was the five kings who faced off against the attacking four
But only one side could claim the victory, such is the way of war

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits
And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah took off and they fled
Some fell into the tar and probably died in terrible fits
While others headed to the mountains, as the dying bled

The conquerors took from Sodom all the spoils they could find
Also they took along Lot, Abram’s nephew too
He was relaxing in Sodom, he wasn’t the warring kind
And so off to captivity he went wishing he knew kung fu

And one of the fugitives came and told Abram the Hebrew
He was certain that this great man would know just what to do

Abram was allied with the Amorites at that time
And when he heard about Lot and that he was taken captive
He got together 318 of his men and they took off on a dime
Abram was a man who was really quite adaptive

He went with his servants having counted every man
And they went off in pursuit even as far as Dan

He divided his forces against them by night
They attacked them hip and thigh, probably a bloody sight

Abram pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus
And he brought back all the goods along with his nephew Lot
And all of Lot’s stuff was safe even his little abacus
All the women and the people Abram back home brought

Are you also willing to step up for the fight
When lost souls are being carried off to hell
With you is the Lord infinite in power and might
And of His great works others you need to tell

Stand up and proclaim the good news to those who come your way
Please don’t forget Jesus is coming soon, maybe even today

Without Him in their lives there remains no hope
Because all the world lies within the devil’s scope

Be brave Christian warrior and proclaim the work of Jesus
Tell those you meet each and every day
Jesus came to purge our sins and from the devil rescue us
So please tell the world, He is the only way

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

Genesis 13:1-18
This Land I Give to You

Introduction: What does “being rich” mean to you? Today one of the points I’ll talk about is just that. If you walk from where we are right now to the public restrooms by the road, you’ll see those nice tropical looking picnic tables with the palm roofs by the lagoon.

On the last one, right where the view of the lagoon is best is where a guy named Wally lives. He’s lived there for years. You might have even noticed him at one time or another. He rides a tricycle around Siesta Key every day and enjoys life to the fullest.

He has almost no possessions and yet he’s one of the coolest cats in town. He’d tell you that he’s perfectly content with life. He has a place right on the water, takes a shower at public expense every day, gets a paycheck from the military and so always has enough for a steak, and he even has a grill that he can use for free.

There are hundreds of people within ¼ of a mile of us who have paid millions of dollars to live here and many of them are as miserable as they can be. Wally doesn’t pay a penny and he’s as happy as a lark. Which are the poor ones and which is wealthy?

Text Verse: (Luke 1:68-75) “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
⁷⁰ As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
⁷² To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
⁷³ The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Returning to the Promised Land

¹Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.

As a reminder, last week we saw Abram’s journey to Egypt which occurred because of a famine in the land of Canaan. While they were there, Abram had told his wife to tell anyone they met that she was his sister.

He did this in order to protect his own life in case someone wanted to kill him so that they could have her because she was an extremely beautiful lady. While in Egypt, Pharaoh’s house eventually took her in so that she could become Pharaoh’s wife.

But in the process of this, God afflicted them with plagues to keep her from being taken as his wife. When Pharaoh found out what happened, it says this –

And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” ²⁰ So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

And so in this first verse today we see the fulfillment of Pharaoh’s demand. Abram and all who were with him headed northeast out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan. The verse says they went up from Egypt to the South, but that doesn’t mean they headed south.

Instead, they travelled to the South of the Land of Canaan which is an area known as the Negev, which means “south.” This would be like saying we travelled from Sarasota to the Deep South, which is actually north from where we are because Sarasota, Florida is technically not a part of the Deep South.

Because of this, different translations of the Bible will translate this differently – they will either say the South or the Negev. It is a place and not a direction.

 ² Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Even before he had gone to Egypt, Abram was already wealthy and had servants and goods, but while he was in Egypt his wealth increased even more when Pharaoh took his wife Sarai. When he did, he treated Abram well and gave him a great deal.

The Hebrew term for “very rich” is kaved meod, and the words indicate heaviness. In other words, he was heavy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

As people, we generally look at others who have a lot of stuff or expensive things as more important than people who don’t have as much. We want to be associated with rich or important people more than those who are less so. If we ever meet someone famous, we want to tell others about it – even years later.

But the Bible doesn’t teach this. If a person is rich or famous, it isn’t always an indication of divine favor. And if a person is poor it is no indication of divine disfavor. A good job that earns a lot of money or fame doesn’t guarantee happiness, and more often than not it brings about just the opposite.

Sports stars and movie stars make millions of dollars and yet they’re the ones who are continuously going through divorce after divorce or who put guns in their mouth because life is so crummy.

The heaviness of wealth, such as Abram had, is something that requires great care or it becomes a burden too heavy to manage and the blessing can easily become a curse. Solomon, the richest man ever to live, gives this thought on wealth –

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.
¹¹ When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?
¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

Any of you who know me well enough know that I love to sleep. Outside of Jesus and my family, it is my favorite thing. If being rich will deprive me of my sleep, I’d rather not ever be wealthy.

And in Luke 16, it says this about the possessions we prize so highly, like big houses, fast cars, or expensive watches –

“Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

Some of the people I hold in the highest regard are the people who live rather simple lives and who spend a lot of their time doing things for others, both nice things for friends and charity work for others. One of them is here right now and she’s surely not wealthy by the world’s standards.

But I’m sure that the life she lives is far more rewarding than if she were weighed down with wealth and status. I don’t know if she thinks so or not, but she is blessed because she is a blessing. What more could one want at the end of their life than to know that God was pleased with how they lived?

Something that will never impress me is how much money you have or how big the house is that you live in. I clean toilets in a mall and take out the garbage there every morning of the week except Sunday and I’m neither ashamed of it, nor do I mind a bit.

It pays the bills and helps meet our needs. What more should I ask for? Abram was blessed with a great deal and maybe someday you or I will be that way too, but what God favors is our faith, not stuff.

³ And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴ to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

These verses take us back to Chapter 12, to the place where he had built an altar sometime soon after first coming into the Promised Land. If you remember, I said then that Bethel means “House of God” which is a picture of heaven and Ai means “Heap of Ruins” which would be a picture of hell.

Abram is living between these, both physically and spiritually, and for a second time he calls on the name of the LORD. While living on earth, between the only two possible destinations of the after- life, Abram sets his eyes and his affections on the Lord.

Despite being a man of great wealth and power, his eyes are right where they should be – focused on Him. If we can just learn from faithful people like this, then our lives will be so much better off. All the money, fame, and power in the world aren’t worth doodly squat when we come to the end of our lives.

And so if you think about it, it doesn’t hold any real importance now either. If honoring the Lord is all that matters at the end of our lives, and we don’t know what moment will be the end of our life, then honoring Him is all that matters throughout our lives.

Think it through… any one of us could die as we leave here today. If the only thing of true value is our walk with the Lord at that moment, then it is the only thing of true value at any moment, because any moment could be our last moment. It’s so simple to see, but most people never really see it.

II. If You go Right, I will go Left

When I was young, I heard about a town that had only two cars in it. This was when automobiles were just invented and there were no established road signs of any kind and even roads didn’t really exist. Wherever the wagons went is where cars went. Despite having the entire town to drive in with only one other car on the road, the two cars had a head-on accident.

It seems funny now, but it’s kind of the same things as walking down the sidewalk and getting into a “which way do I go” when running into someone else. You step right and he steps left and you’re both still in each other’s way. Then you step left and he steps right and the same thing happens again.

Another funny example is something I saw on TV just a couple weeks ago. I was watching a news story about the delivery people in New York who ride their bikes making local deliveries. Kevin Bacon did a movie about them called Quicksilver back in the 80s.

The guy in the story said that when he’s going by a crosswalk, if a person starts doing what he called “the dance” he knew they would have an accident. If the person would just stop until he passed, things would go ok, but if not, then there would be trouble.

Abram and his nephew Lot are going to face “the dance” in the next few verses and we’ll see how it turns out –

⁵ Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.  ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

Abram isn’t the only one who has flocks, servants, and property. Lot has also been blessed with a lot too. In fact, together they’ve got so much between the two of them that living together isn’t an option anymore. Depending on the time of the year and where they are living, there simply isn’t enough grass to feed all the animals.

And so the dance begins. Lot and Abram are probably close to home and enjoying life, but their servants are out in the field. There’s no real division of property and so whoever gets to a nice spot first gets the claim. And if they come to the same field from different directions, they will both claim they got there first.

As unlikely as this story may seem, especially considering that more than 6 million people live there today, it’s not that tough to imagine. First, whatever lands a person moves into need to be cleared and they need to be maintained.

And also, it says that the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land too. Any land they’d cleared would be land they claimed and Abram and Lot would do their best to not interfere with them. These people moved there before they did and would have established communities and more people than them.

And so they face the dance. The question is, will they both stand still, will one dance and the other hold fast, or will there be more trouble. Because they are relatives, we can only hope they get along and don’t side with their own servants…

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

Abram graciously stands fast and calms the situation deferring to his nephew Lot. He is the head of the clan because he is the son of Terah. But this is a good indication of something I said a few sermons ago.

Lot was probably older than Abram. Abram’s older brother Haran was 60 years older than he was and Lot was probably born even before Abram. So even though he’s Lot’s uncle, he’s probably younger than him.

And so despite being the head of the clan he shows respect to the elder family member by offering the choice of resolving the matter. If Lot goes to the left, Abram will go right, and if Lot takes the right, Abram will go left.

In these verses we can apply a few things to our own lives. The first is that there is an order in deferring to others in every culture and we need to learn that order and pay heed to it.

In the Bible we’re taught to show respect in a variety of ways. We’re to respect our parents, we’re to respect those who are older than us, we’re to respect those who are in positions of authority, and in fact in Philippians Paul says –

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

And how did Jesus Himself say it? “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Abram may have been the head of the family because of his birth position, but he understood that sometimes deferring to another is the wisest choice and the one which brings about peace.

Another thing we can learn from these verses is what Abram said, “We are kinsmen.” If you look over your dealings with others in this light, then in fact everyone on earth is your kinsman because we all have one father in Adam.

When we lift ourselves above another person, we are really only showing contempt for God who created each of us. And this is certainly why Paul told us to act in lowliness of mind and esteem others as better than ourselves. It’s not easy, but it is right.

And finally, we can look back to what God already promised to Abram – that his descendants would posses the land. So why should he worry about the decision Lot made, whatever he decided wouldn’t affect what God had already determined. And this is true for each of us.

God has already promised eternal life to anyone who has called on Jesus… it’s done. He’s already given us the sealing of the Spirit and the Lord is already building us a home that we can rest in.

Just as Abram knew that the land would be his, every one of us who has accepted Jesus has a better promise – one of glory that will never fade away. So why should we strive about temporary things that have no true importance? But strive we do…

¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. ¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.

Lot probably didn’t take long in making his decision. He looked toward the plain of the Jordan where the land was lush and well-watered. Unlike the other areas of the land which were highly dependent on the rain cycle, the plain of the Jordan received water and nutrients from the Jordan as it flowed south.

This would be especially true during the flooding season just like the Nile in Egypt, which Lot would have seen when they were there. Instead of worrying about famines, which sent them to Egypt in the first place, there would be a much better chance of having grass and crops even when there was no rain.

Kind of an interesting thought about this verse and one which I am pretty certain is correct, some scholars have taken the words “like the Garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt” ke-gan Yehovah ke-eretz Mizrayim” not as two comparisons, but one. In other words, this is the spot where the Garden of the Lord was and the land of Egypt is being compared to it.

Having a Hebrew scholar on our staff at Church on the Beach, I checked with him and he verified that this is a possible translation based on other precedents set in the Bible.

Let’s stand back and think about it. Adam was created and then was placed in the Garden of Eden. When he disobeyed, he was sent east of Eden and Cain went further east, to the land of Nod. After the flood, the same area that Cain went to is where Nimrod went.

But God called Abram back to the place where the Garden of Eden was and this is the same land where God’s presence dwelt in the Temple and where Jesus walked. And it is the same place which will look very similar to this period again in the millennial reign of Christ according to Ezekiel chapter 47.

Let’s take a minute and read those verses –

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. ² He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.³ And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. ⁴ Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. ⁵ Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. ⁶ He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.⁷ When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. ⁸ Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. ⁹ And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. ¹⁰ It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. ¹¹ But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. ¹² Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

The Land of Israel is where all things started and it is the place where all things will find their completion. No wonder the whole world has and will continue to covet this land and to come against it. It is where the Lord dwells and where His favored people live.

¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.

Back to our story –

Unfortunately for Lot, he didn’t pay attention to the lessons of the past. Mixing with the ungodly is what brought about the Flood of Noah, and the world didn’t yet have the words of Paul that said, “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

In the chapters ahead, we’re going to see where Lot’s wrong choice of moving into the land of Sodom would leave him in very sad straits and which would even cost him the life of his wife.

Again, we have a valuable lesson in these verses for each of us. We’re told by James, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Lot moved to Sodom and dwelt among those who worked in wickedness. He may have maintained his own righteousness, but it affected his life and his family in the same negative way that living like this will affect your own life and family. In the end, he thought he would find paradise, but instead he found hell.

We all have choices to like this to make and ultimately, the sad state of affairs we find ourselves in is more than usually brought on by our own bad decisions.

III. Read Your Bible More than Once

This is our final thought for the day and I’m going to tie in to it your responsibility as a Christian in a way which will, I hope, convict you of the thing you need to do in order to keep from making the same mistakes as Lot and so many others in the Bible.

You may know that I traveled around the country in 2010 and I preached at every capital in the US. When I did, I made a challenge to anyone following me to read their Bible for 30 minutes a day. God gives you a similar challenge as well, and we can see it in the following verses –

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; ¹⁵ for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 

In chapter 12, we read this – “Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

God has now twice promised the land to Abram. The Lord is repeating His word to him to remind him about what he had already been told.

Let me ask you, who here has read the book of Philippians at least once? Has anyone read it more than once? Now, can anyone here quote Philippians 4:6, 7? Let me give you the first four words of it – Be anxious for nothing. Can you quote the rest? Let me just quote it for you…

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Why did God remind Abram of the promise? Because he wanted him to remember it! Why should we read the Bible more than once, more than twice, even every day of our life? Because God wants us to know it and remember it!

In fact, long before Jesus came, when the people had only the Law of Moses, only the first five books of the Bible, God said this to the people of Israel –

““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

At the time when there were only 5 books in the Bible, God asked them to meditate on it day and night and during every activity that they were engaged in. How much more should we be meditating on the same word now that we have 61 more books than they had!

The Bible tells us of Jesus and Jesus reveals the Father to us. I could say this a thousand times and it wouldn’t be enough. The only way to know God intimately is through His word. If you’re relying on the Holy Spirit to reveal God to you, guess what – He has. He breathed out the Bible through His prophets… for you.

¹⁶ And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

There are two things going on in this promise to Abram. The first is that the land is being given to him and his descendants and the second is that his descendants will be like the dust of the earth in number. These two promises are connected, but they are different.

The promise of the land to his descendants is a physical promise, not a spiritual one. It is a promise to the physical descendants of Abraham – not to the church. This has become evident, not only from the Bible, but in history too. And the history confirms the precept. When Israel was exiled, the land laid fallow. Only when the people of Israel returned has the land again become usable.

The land promise which is made to Abraham is reiterated to his son Isaac and then his son Jacob. We are not physical descendants of Isaac or Jacob. On the other hand, the promise of a multitude of descendants is a promise concerning all people of faith in the work of Jesus. It is not a physical right, but a spiritual one.

The Bible confirms the precept in both the book of Romans and the book of Galatians. It is through faith that one becomes Abraham’s seed. In Romans, Paul says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”

To be an heir of the land, one is born physically into the people of Israel, but to be an heir of the promises of God which lead to eternal life, one must be born spiritually through faith and the imputed righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.

¹⁸ Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

This brings us to the last verse of chapter 13. Abram walked throughout the length and breadth of the land and eventually pitched his tent by the terebinth trees of Mamre at the ancient city of Hebron. Hebron exists even to this day and it’s the spot where Abraham’s tomb is located.

In this area, he built an altar. This “altar” in Hebrew is a place of sacrifice. Abram is the patriarch of the family and so the responsibility for sacrificing belongs to him. This will continue up until the time of Moses when corporate sacrifices for the people of Israel are instituted under the clan of the Levites.

As God directs the nations and the people of the earth, His purposes are being worked out for all of us. Abram sacrificed to the Lord in anticipation of the coming Redeemer. Since Christ came, the sacrifices are done. We now have His cross as our point of meeting with the Creator. Let me explain how Jesus’ life and death are significant to you…

The Lord’s Promise to Abram

Abram went up from Egypt with all that he had
And his nephew Lot was with him too
From the land of Egypt many goods they did add
And they came to the South and kept on passing through

And he journeyed to Bethel where his tent had been before
To the place of the altar between Bethel and Ai
And there he called on the Lord, a duty he wouldn’t ignore
Abram was a man of faith, and he was a faithful guy

Lot was with him and he had flocks, herds, and tents
And the land couldn’t support them both they had so much stuff
And so fighting resulted, some very trying events
They realized the land where they were just wasn’t enough

The Canaanites and Perizzties, they dwelt in the land
Abram had to tread carefully to avoid their fighting hand

Then Abram said to Lot, let us not live in strife
And between our herdsmen, let there be peace
For we are brethren, let us protect each other’s life
Let us separate so that this fighting will cease

The whole land is before you, is it not?
Please separate from me, my handsome nephew Lot

If you take the left, why then I’ll go to the right
If you take the right, then to the left I will go
Come nephew, let this not result in a fight
Let us part amicably, let it be so

Lot lifted his eyes and favored the Jordan’s plain
The beautiful spot, the Garden of the Lord
It was like the land of Egypt, that didn’t need the rain
It was watered from the river, when he saw it he was floored

And so they separated from each other, to the east went Lot
And Abram dwelt in Canaan, he really loved the spot
And the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated from him
Lift now your eyes north, south, east, and west
This land I give you forever, you will fill it to the brim
As the dust of the earth they will be, see how you are blessed

If a man could number the earth’s dust
Then your descendants could also be counted too
This is a sure promise, one you can trust
It is a vow from your Creator to you

Arise and walk through the land, up and down and side to side
I’m giving to you everything that you have eyed

And so Abram moved his tent to the place of Mamre’s trees
They are in Hebron which is still there today
And he built an altar to the Lord, an offering to please
And there in Hebron is where he did stay

Hallelujah and amen…