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Genesis
Chapter
14
Abram's
4 Great Victories and meet 'Melchizedek'
{See
also Hebrews Chapter 7}
{Abraham's
4 great Victories}
{Confederation
of 4 Armies Led by Chedorlaomer}
1~~And
it came to pass
in
the days of Amraphel
king
{melek} of Shinar {the original Babylon/Chaldea}
Arioch
king of Ellasar {other side of Shinar}
Chedorlaomer
king of Elam {mountainous area of Southern Persia}
and
Tidal, king of nations
{country north of Jerusalem - known as Galilee}.
{Note: These men combine and make a formidable force - with Chedorlaomer as the leader.}
{War
in the Jordan Valley - The Land that Lot Chose for Himself}
{4
Armies Take on These 5 Armies}
2~~These
{4 armies}
manufactured
{'asah - out of their mental attitude sins}
war
with Bera king of Sodom
and
with Birsha king of Gomorrah
Shinab
king of Admah
and
Shemeber king of Zeboiim
and
the king of Bela - which is Zoar.
{Battle
of the Vale of Siddim}
3~~All
these were joined together in the vale of Siddim
(which
is the salt sea {today the Dead Sea}).
{Cause
of the Battle - Retrospective Explanation}
4~~Twelve
years they served {were slaves in they paid tribute for protection}
Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
{3
Races of Giants are attacked - Securing the flanks and Providing
Good training for the Battle of the Vale of Siddim}
5-6~~And
in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer
and
the kings that were with him
and
drove back and slaughtered the
Rephaims
{famous giant peoples} in Ashteroth Karnaim
and
the Zuzims {also famous giant peoples} in Ham
and
the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6~~
and
the Horites in their mount Seir {cave dwellers and also giants} unto Elparan,
which
is by the wilderness.
7~~And
they returned and came to Enmishpat,
which
is Kadesh,
and
drove back and slaughtered all the country of the Amalekites,
and
also the Amorites who lived in Hazezontamar.
{The
5 Cities of the Valley (now under the Dead Sea)
come out to meet them - Back up to date}
8~~There
went out the king of Sodom,
{and}
the king of Gomorrah,
{and}
the king of Admah,
{and}
the king of Zeboiim,
{and}
the king of Bela (the same . . . {is} Zoar).
And
they 'made their tactical dispositions'/'joined battle'
with
them in the vale of Siddim.
{Battle
of the Vale of Siddim - Large Military Campaign 2100 - 2000 B.C.}
9~~With
Chedorlaomer the king of Elam,
and
with Tidal king of nations,
and
Amraphel king of Shinar,
and
Arioch king of Ellasar . . . four kings . . . {battling} with five.
{Note: Abraham is on the flank rear of this battle. This part of the flank was NOT secured though the other flanks WERE! He could have been wiped out by the action to protect the flanks before the battle began. But even now God is protecting Abraham.}
10~~And
the vale of Siddim was full of pits of asphalt {oil on ground}
and
the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled,
and
{their armies} fell there.
And
they {including the kings} that remained fled to the mountain.
11~~And
they {Chedorlaomer's group of armies}
took
all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah,
and
all their food and went their way.
12~~And
they took Lot, Abram's brother's son {nephew},
who
lived in Sodom and his goods and departed.
{Note: Lot had his eyes on the land and chose by sight not by the Lord. Lot is being disciplined by God in a very interesting way here. Lot is utterly helpless and hopeless right now. A picture of all mankind without fellowship with God (Lot was a believer but is currently in carnality).}
{Verses
13-14: Abram's 1st Victory - Mental Attitude}
13~~And
there came 'the fugitive'/
'one
that had escaped' {paliyt - a desperate man}
and
kept on being compelled to tell
{nagad - Hiphil tense-no place else to go for help}
all
to Abram the Hebrew
{'Ibriy - means 'one who crosses the river' - a picture of the
responsibility of the people of God to witness to unbelievers}.
For
he dwelt in the plain/valley
of
Mamre {name means wealth or strength} the Amorite
-
brother of Eshcol,
and
the brother of Aner
and
these {Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre - see verse 24}
were
allied/confederate with Abram
{means they had a treaty . . . and RBT says Abram had converted
to believe in the Lord}.
{Note: Hebrew means 'to cross over a river'. Abram crossed over a river and was given this name. He is not a Jew at this point, he is still a gentile until age 99. These three were wonderful friends. Later the Amorites would be synonymous with decadence, but not at this time.}
14~~And
when Abram heard
that
his kinsman/brethren {'ach - his nephew Lot and fellow believer}
had
been captured,
he
led out his 'trained/armed servants' {chaniyk}
born
in his own house
-
three hundred and eighteen -
and
pursued them unto Dan.
{Note: The army was larger than 318. There were 318 from his household. And, Abram had already TRAINED and ARMED his household! Here Abram led out fully prepared soldiers! His reconnaissance was excellent. Not counting his allies, Abram may have a total of 500 of his own men going up against well over 10,000 men. Probably closer to 50 to 100,000 men in Chedorlaomer's group of armies. So two things are important here. Most importantly, Abram had God on his side. Abram also followed God's Law of establishment - he had trained and armed men. This is a picture though of a vastly outnumbered group of men willing to risk their lives to save the life of his carnal nephew. That is a picture of great grace orientation.}
{Verses
15-16: Victory in Battle}
15~~And
he divided himself/'his forces' {into columns}
against
them . . . he and his servants . . . by night . . .
{surprise attack - only way a small force can cope with a much
larger force - a surprise attack at night}
and
kept on causing
the
slaughter of them {stacked their bodies HIGH}
and
kept on pursuing them unto Hobah
{in Syria way out of the land - means 'he went to the limit ' no
stopping Abram},
which
is on the left hand of Damascus.
{Note: Abram has surprise on his side. He has darkness. He has concentration of forces. So tactically he has great advantages even though the enemy is superior in size. And, a victory must be followed by pursuit! Those you do not kill, you must scare to death! Or they will return with their friends!}
{Abram's
2nd Victory - Military Success}
16~~And
he caused {through military action}
to
be returned all the goods {great wealth}
and
also caused to bring again his brother Lot,
and
his goods, and the women also, and the people.
{Note: Probably millions and millions of dollars of materialistic 'things'. All the people taken prisoner and all of their wealth. Another test of God. What was Abram's motivation in attacking Chedorlaomer? To make money or get back a relative and fellow (though 'carnal') believer?}
{Verses
17-23: Victory Over Motivation}
{Abram's
3rd Victory - Against the Lust of the Cosmic System -
Plot
of King of Sodom against Abram -
Trying
to make himself Greater than Abram - Satanic Attack}
17~~And
the king of Sodom {another fugitive who made it}
aggressively
advanced {yatsa}
to
meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer
and
of the kings that were with him,
at
the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.
{Note: Yatsa in the Qal imperfect means to aggressively advance as in an 'attack'. But here is a mental evil attack against Abram. A battle against his soul if you will. To 'rob' Abram of his victory of grace - by obscuring the grace motivation and the grace principal.}
{SuperGrace
Believer to the Rescue - A Priest and a King - a 'Type' for Jesus Christ}
18~~And
Melchizedek
{Malkiy-Tsedeq - name means 'king of righteousness'}
king
{melek} of Salem {later known as Jerusalem}
was
caused to advance aggressively {to protect Abram - yatsa}
with
bread and wine
{not with an army, but with foods of spiritual significance - put
eyes on the Lord before spiritual attack by the king of Salem,
probably motivated by Satan} . . .
{BECAUSE}
he was the priest {kohen}
of
the Most High {'elyown} God {'El}.
{Note: Yatsa in the Hiphil perfect means to be CAUSED to aggressively advance. Here it is a SuperGrace believer coming to the spiritual aid of one less mature than he is. }
{Note: Abram's friends are baby believers. Now Abram needs a mature believer Superior to Abram spiritually. To spiritually protect Abram from the evil plot of the king of Sodom, Melchizedek was caused to advance to protect Abram!}
{SideNote:
Why Melchizedek was a real person and not a Christophany as some allege:
1)
Christophanies are not given real names
2)
they are never said to be from a specific geographical area - here
Salem
3)
it is always disclosed that he is a messenger from God - not here
4)
Melchizedek is called a priest- Jesus is not said to be a priest until
after the incarnation
5)
Psalm 110:4 Jesus is addressed as a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek it does not say You ARE Melchizedek.}
{Melchizedek
Provides Spiritual Blessing to Abram . . . as the Spiritually Greater!}
19~~And
he {Melchizedek} blessed him {Abram}
{Melchizedek's priesthood was higher then Abram
- from whom Levitical priests would come}
and
said, "Blessing . . . {to} Abram from/by the Most High God {'El}
{God,
Who is the} possessor of heaven and earth."
{Note: This takes Abram's eyes off the wealth and glory and back on to the Lord . . . the source of all blessings!}
20~~"And
the Most High God {'El} has blessed you . . .
Who
has delivered your enemies into your hand."
And
he {Abram} gave him {Melchizedek} tithes {10%} of all
{took the top 10% off of each pile of the booty - no purchase
principal here - was a grace response by Abram for Melchizedek
helping him in times of spiritual need.}.
{Note:
Melchizedek brings to Abram bread, wine, and blessings. These represent:
Bread - analogous to the humanity of Jesus Christ
Wine - analogous to the priestly function at the altar - speaking of
the blood of Christ
(these are signs of the Royal Priesthood and are not used again
until the Church Age)
Blessings here are analogous to the communication of bible
doctrine.}
{Abram
Ready for the Spiritual Attack by the King of Sodom}
21~~And
the king of Sodom said to Abram,
"Give
me the persons, and take the goods to yourself."
{Note: If Abram said ok, then this act would be distorted into greed being the motivation of his grace saving of Lot. This is a real test of millions and millions of dollars being offered by Satan's man. Abram had his eyes clearly on the Lord and refused the 'reward'! And, note there would have been no sin in accepting the wealth per se. This was typical of the day. But this is the Law of Supreme Sacrifice. You give up what is rightly due to you in order to benefit others. Either in helping them to believe or to grow spiritually.}
22-23~~And
Abram said to the king of Sodom,
"I
have been caused {by bible doctrine}
to
salute/'lift up my hand' unto Jehovah/God,
the
Most High God {'El},
the
possessor of heaven {shamayim} and earth {'erets}
{this is an idiom meaning he has recognized the authority of God
and will not get his 'reward' from the man of Satan- M sermon was
short but effective}, 23~~
therefore,
I will not take
even
to a thread or even to a thong of a sandal
{the smallest thing of all that was recovered} . . .
even
if I take anything that belongs to you,
then
you will say {'amar},
"I
{king of Sodom, instead of God} have caused Abram to be rich."
{Note:
Melchizedek only reminded Abram about the source of the blessings.
Abram then applied the doctrine in his soul to the
situation
. . . and wanted the credit only to go to Whom it belongs!}
{4th
Victory of Abram - Victory over Self-Righteousness}
24~~"Except/'Apart
from' {bil`adey}
that
which the young men have eaten {rations for the soldiers}
and
the portion of the men which went with me -
Aner,
Eshcol, and Mamre
{Abram's stand is for himself, not for his allies who are new
believers - no self-righteousness - temptation to impose his high
standards on other believers}.
Let
them take their portion."
{Note: Abram did not impose his standards of spiritual maturity on his friends and men - no self-righteousness!}
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