For the Genesis 14:17-24 PODCAST
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. 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. 21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." 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." ~ Genesis 14:17-24
Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 14 where we have considered the rebellion of the kings in Canaan and the rescue of Lot and his family from the kings from beyond the Euphrates River. The main theme throughout the Bible is the One who came to remedy our sin and death problem, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In today's passage we will consider the reward which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ as we will see.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "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."
Bera, the king of Sodom, who had earlier in this chapter fled from the battle, went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh. Shaveh means "level." It was a valley right outside the little village of Salem which later was transformed into Jerusalem, the capital of all of Israel. The valley outside the city, known as the "King's Valley," was later called "the Valley of the Kidron," the little brook that ran down along the eastern side of Jerusalem, separating the mount of Olives from the city. It was into this valley on the night the Lord Jesus was betrayed that He went with His disciples to the Garden to pray. It was in this strategic and historic spot that the king of Sodom met Abram.
In v.18-20 of today's passage we read, "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."
The place that Melchizedek occupies in sacred history is one of the most remarkable proofs of the inspiration and the unity of the Scripture. A thousand years after today's events, in Psalm 110:4, God Himself promised to His Son that He will be a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Another thousand years passes, and another verse is given about Melchizedek. It was at this point that we could begin to recognize the importance of Melchizedek as a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the verses given in the Bible about Melchizedek screams the very same God that wrote the book of Hebrews also wrote the book of Genesis and the book of Psalms and all of them speak of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek who is presented as a prophet, priest and a king in the Bible is mentioned a total of 11 times. The purpose in all of those 11 passages was to introduce the ultimate Prophet, Priest, and King, the Lord Jesus Christ the only One who fills these three roles. Melchizedek means "king of righteousness." And, he was the king of Salem which later was renamed Jerusalem. The word "Salem" means "peace." So, Melchizedek was the king of righteousness and peace. Melchizedek brought out bread and wine, and he worshipped God. Of course, we recognize the bread and the wine which are the symbols used to point us to the Lord Jesus during our observance of the Lord's Supper. Then Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. Paying tithes was an act of worship and submission. Melchizedek was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate prophet, priest and king in His pre-incarnate state.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.'"
The king of Sodom acknowledged Abram’s right to all of the goods recovered in the war and only requested for his people to be returned to him. This was an ancient tradition rule of war. Any land or possessions won in war became the property of the victor. Here, the victor was Abram and the king of Sodom requested the people and not the spoils.
In v.22-24 of today's passage we read, "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, that he wouldn’t accept anything personally from the king of Sodom. By using the same term about God that Melchizedek used, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, Abram 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 to. In his vow, Abram said he wouldn’t accept anything, from a thread to a sandal strap. Abram 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 was 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 Abram to defeat the enemies and Abram allowed them to decide to take whatever they wanted. Abram's faith in the God of the Bible caused him to only be defined by the God of the Bible. And, we know that we are being defined by the God of the Bible when we obey Him.
Abram had taken an oath before this battle, as indicated in v.22-23. He probably said something like this to the Lord: "Lord, I'm about to go fight these kings. I know I'm outnumbered. But if You would give me the victory, I promise to give You all of the glory." If Abram had taken money for this from these kings, the glory of the Lord would have been jeopardized.
What a contrast we are given here! Lot's allegiance was predominantly with this temporal world, while Abram was consistently being defined by God. It was probably somewhere along the way to rescue Lot that Abram thought of when he went down to Egypt in search for food rather than trusting in the all-sufficiency of the God of the Bible. These are the choices before us today. And right in the middle of it all God is consistent to point us to the Lord Jesus who is the One that our souls truly long for. I trust you know Him.
