Genesis 14:1-24--Abram Rescues Lot and Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

Genesis 14
World English Bible

14 In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim, 2 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 (also called Zoar). 3 All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). 4 They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 8 The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills. 11 They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 12 They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his three hundred eighteen trained men, born in his house, and pursued as far as Dan. 15 He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the other people.

17 The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. 20 Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave him a tenth of all.

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

22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

---

The names of many kings are given here, but the gist of the story is that the king of Shinar (where the Tower of Babel was) is seeking to conquer and dominate the entire world.  He had gathered together with several kings from his region and they are marching west from their homes against the Land of Canaan to go to war with all the Canaanite tribes and kings.  Apparently, war always broke out among the Canaanite kings and someone as soon as the weather improved in the Spring time.  It was part of the changing of the seasons--everything started to become green and kings of the Canaanites went to war.

Normally, Abram wouldn't be bothered by this, but word comes back to him from the battle that his friends are in trouble and that Lot has been taken prisoner and all of Lot's possessions have been taken as spoils of war.  Abram puts together a raiding party (very small in comparison to the size of these armies) of 318 men, pursing the invaders as far as Dan (these are the northern-most reaches of the land of Canaan, though it will not be called Dan until the tribe of Dan moves up there many years later).

Suddenly, a mysterious figure appears in the story.  I wish I could spend much more time writing about Melchizedek today, but I need to focus more on Abram and Lot and how Abram seems to be starting to understand the Abrahamic Covenant a little better.  If you are interested in all the different times that he has been mentioned in my various journal articles though (sometimes explicitly mentioned in the passage and other times he comes up in explaining other passages), you can use this link to query the search feature on the website and find several articles, and I'm sure I will be writing more about him in the future as I get to Psalm 110 and the book of Hebrews.

After Melchizedek shows up, the battle seems to be miraculously won, and Abram pays tribute to Melchizedek, king of Salem, and Melchizedek blesses Abram and God Most High (El Shaddai), the God of Abram and he gives God the glory for delivering the enemies into the hands of Abram (not the other kings, but specifically into the hand of Abram).  This causes the other kings to want to pay tribute to Abram, but he refuses because he says that he will not let these kings take credit for the blessings that are going to come to him from the LORD through the Abrahamic Covenant.  No man is going to say that they made Abram and his family great--only the LORD is going to get glory for that.  Abram makes sure that his men are provided for, that his friends and allies got their portion of the spoils, and that Lot and his possessions are returned safely.  He took nothing else from the wicked Canaanites and made no alliance with them nor did he give them any indication that he would fight for or with them in the future.  It was clear when he left them that their business was concluded.  Abram finally seems to be understanding the covenant he lives under and applying the truth of that covenant to the way that he lives among a people who are not under that covenant.  He is "in the world, but not of the world."  He is relying on God for his provision and protection.  He's not going to live this out perfectly (none of us do), but we see a real change here from the last passage when he turned to Pharaoh and Egypt for protection and relied on his own cunning and lies to get him out of trouble, and ended up in even more trouble.  This time, he did what he knew what was right, even against overwhelming odds, and trusted God to work everything out for Abram's good and God's glory, and He did.  We should have the same kind of faith.