Book of Genesis - Ch. 14, Vs. 1-24 (08/06/2000)

Park Meadows Church

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Something I'd like for you to look up this week, find me a reference where it tells us about the angels singing.

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That shouldn't be too hard to do, so come next

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Sunday afternoon, well, next Sunday, with that information.

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Find a reference, scripture, that points out the fact that the angels sing.

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One other thing I want to draw your attention to, as I do periodically, you know,

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I consider part of the teacher's function is to not only teach the word, but to explain it in such a way that is very meaningful to each one.

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I think that's what the Lord meant when he told Peter to feed his sheep. Don't just put it out there, but do it in a way that is attractive.

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I'm also a stickler on words. If you haven't figured that out, then it's time you do.

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This word of accepting Christ, I know that's been the habit all of our life.

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But over the short time that I've been with you people, I don't hear you using the word love much anymore.

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So there's hopes. Let me give you an illustration on the difference between accept and receive.

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I know every place we go we hear, accept Christ. That's not scriptural.

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We had a man in our Monday night Bible study for years, and we were on this very subject.

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And he said, let me explain it to you like I see it. He said, when

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I was a boy growing up at home, I received many a whipping from my father, but I accepted very few of them.

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The word accept is an active word, receive is passive.

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Since we know that we do not make the decision to become saved, then we cannot accept it because that calls for a decision on our part.

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So little by little, plug into your conversation the word receive instead of accept.

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No place in the Bible is it mentioned that we accept Christ. Now moving on to our lesson this afternoon in the book of Genesis, chapter 14.

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Let me give you a synopsis of the first nine or ten verses.

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We're dealing this afternoon with Sodom, Gomorrah, Lot, Abraham, and the war that went on in that area.

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The wars of nations make a great figure in history. But we should not have the record of this war if Abraham and Lot had not been concerned in it.

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But we do have at least an abbreviated record of this war.

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We also find that out of covetousness, Lot had settled in the fruitful but wicked

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Sodom. We remember last week when we talked about how

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Abraham gave him the first choice, and those well -watered plains and the bright lights of the city.

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So he was greedy in doing that, and it turns out that the city that he was looking at is very, very wicked.

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Its inhabitants were the most ripe for vengeance of all the descendants of Canaan. The invaders were from the

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Chaldea and from Persia. They were then only small kingdoms.

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They took Lot among the rest in his goods, though he was righteous.

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When we get to the New Testament, Peter tells us that he was righteous. If we just watch him at this time, we would not come to that conclusion.

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So it is not what we do or look like that makes the difference. They took

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Lot among the rest in all of his goods, and Abram's brother's son, that is

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Lot. Yet he was with the rest in this trouble. Now here is a righteous man in the middle of wicked people.

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So we see, Fred, that neither our piety nor our relation to the favorites of heaven will be our security when

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God's judgments come. Many an honest man fears the worst for his wicked neighbors.

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It is our wisdom to separate or at least to distinguish ourselves from them. We also know that he puts us where we are.

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He has put each one of us in this church, and I am so proud that he has.

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He is selecting out a group of people. He put us, my wife and I, in this town, and I am so glad that he did.

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It may be hard to believe, but he put Lot where he was too. Even though Lot chose to go there, we all choose everything we do, not knowing it is ordained of God.

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Turn to 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17. Debbie, read that, would you please?

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Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye safe, and touch not the unclean things, and I will receive you.

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All right, I see I've got to make a distinction between Debbie number one and Debbie number two, but that's fine.

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At least there was a Debbie that read. Wasn't like last week. All right, separate yourself.

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Do not touch the unclean thing. So near a relation of Abram should have been a companion and a disciple of Abram.

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But Fred, he wasn't. If he chose to dwell in Sodom, he must thank himself if he share in Sodom's losses.

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So Greg, wherever the Lord puts us is where we're supposed to be.

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But if it's in the middle of a bunch of wicked people, we're not supposed to act like wicked people.

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What are we supposed to do? Great. All right.

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They took all of Lot's goods, and they took Lot and his household.

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It is just with God to deprive us of our enjoyments. Do you ever feel like God was unjust to you or to someone else?

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I hope you've grown beyond that now. By which we suffer ourselves to be deprived of the enjoyment of him.

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If we leave off study, if we leave off association that he gives us with others, if we participate but we're not one of them, we lose many, many a blessing.

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Now come to verse 10, if you will, please. Now that's what has taken place prior to the reading of the

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Scripture over to this point. Only it goes into all of those long names, and I'm not going to try to pronounce them.

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I'll leave that to you. In verse 10, it says, and the valley and the vale of Sidon was full of slime pits.

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Now Clarence, that doesn't sound very good to me. What did they mean by slime pit? All right.

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Greg, what's slime mean? Here. All right.

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The vale of Sidon was full of slime pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell therein.

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Now, now this is not like a cesspool. This is, well, crude oil.

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It would be, well, Fred, tell us what is crude oil like? Well, explain it so I know what you're talking about.

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Yes. What's it look like?

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Okay. So it's akin to tar. If you fell into it, what would you look like after you come up?

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Well, to be politically correct, there's something like maybe an

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African -American would just get off the ship. I was afraid he was going to get politics in it.

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All right. These kings fell into that, and they there remained fled to the mountains.

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And they took all of the goods of Sodom, and these are the invaders of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all of their victuals.

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That's a good old English term. Roger, what's it mean? Food. And they went their way.

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And they took Lot, poor old Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelled in Sodom, and his goods, and they departed.

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So here we see the effect of companionship with wicked people. Now, if you think you can live among them and be immune from everything that befalls them, you better check.

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That had a comment of showing just a common nature.

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He was still the subject of calamities and bad people at that point in Goshen.

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That's right. I was going to say the only exception, and it was not an exception later, if we get to go far enough, we'll see the

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Israelites in Egypt in the land of Goshen, and when all of the plagues came.

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Plagues didn't affect them, but they were not mixed in among all of the Egyptians. They were separated.

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But Bill's right. Even if Lot here had been the most righteous man, unless the

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Lord had moved him, he would have befell the same thing that happened to the rest of the people, which he did.

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The wealth with which was the cause of his uncle and he separating, it was all because of money or wealth.

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And it's now made to be a quest of merciless heathens. So Virg, they've come in, the invaders, and they've just scooped up everything that he had.

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And he was really rich. That life that he chose betrays his life and property.

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Many a Christian which look at gain have lost themselves the same way.

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Verse 13, and there came one that had escaped and told Abram the

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Hebrew. Now how do you suppose, Greg, let me ask you, how do you suppose that this one person, whoever he was, were told that he had escaped from being captured, how did he know to go to Abram?

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Someone tell me. All right, could it have been because Lot had spoken any of Abram?

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Don't think just because they didn't have TV, radio, and newspapers that news didn't travel.

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Because it did. Abram now, for the

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Hebrew, the word Hebrew means he come from the other side of the river. For he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the

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Amorite brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. And these were confederate with Abram.

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There came one that had escaped. Abram might have excused himself from taking any active concern if it had not been for his brother.

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Really his nephew, but it was because of his brother. And this nephew really didn't really deserve that he should incur trouble or danger on his account to Uncle Abram.

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But Abram, far from rendering evil for evil, resolved to take immediate measures, and he did.

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Let's see what he does. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, this points out another thing in the

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King James. They are not as particular about naming relatives as we are in this day and time.

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Here he calls his nephew his brother. And you'll find this scattered out, especially throughout the

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Old Testament, that you cannot depend exactly on the relation by what is said.

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You know they're related, but that's about as far as you know. So he armed his trained servants.

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Now look at this. Those that were born in his own house, 318, and pursued after them unto death.

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He rose an army of 318 trained soldiers. Bill, what's that tell us about the head count of the people that were looking to Abram for protection?

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Exactly. You know, we get the idea that Abram was traveling alone, he and his wife, but it's not like that.

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Domestic slaves, such as are common in Eastern countries, are still considered and treated as members of the family.

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If Abram could spare 318 slaves and leave a sufficient number to care for his flocks, he had a large number of people.

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And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night. And he smote them and pursued them unto

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Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. Damascus is one of the oldest cities in the world.

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This war, if we can call it that, between these petty princes in this ancient country of Canaan, is exactly the same as frays and skirmishes between the

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Arab chiefs of this very day. When a defeated party resolves to pursue the enemy, they wait until they're fast asleep.

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You know, during World War II, the Turks were fighting on our side.

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And I had a buddy that was immediately in the contingency that had the

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Turks attached to them. And he said they were skillful fighters.

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And they all carried that, I forget the name of the knife, do you remember the curved knife?

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That they were superstitious people, but they would never draw that knife.

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If they drew the knife, they would never return it until it had tasted blood. Am I disturbing somebody?

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Well, whatever. That boy knows his history.

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Especially the Second World War. You would think he'd been there. But they'll never put the knife back until it's tasted blood, even if they have to nick their own finger.

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They were so skillful that this buddy of mine told me that more than once he had seen them slip into the enemy's camp while they were asleep, and slit the throat of every other soldier.

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Now think about that. I don't know how they did it.

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Well, we're dealing with the same type of people here. They'd wait until they were asleep.

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And usually the sleeping party had been victorious, so they didn't post any guards.

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They were felt safe. The enemy would come upon them suddenly.

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At night he had divided his forces. And really there was no fight. The tent poles were knocked down.

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Confusion was just pandemonium running every place. And they would either kill each other or disappear in a cloud of dust.

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Panic. And really there was no contest. 16.

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And he brought back all of the goods and also brought again his brother Lot. And his goods, and the women also, and the people.

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And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chetel Amarah.

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And of the kings that were with him at the Valley of Sheba, which is in the Kingsdale.

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And Melchizedek, king of Salem. Now, Salem. What part of the world do you think we're in right now?

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Salem was the forerunner of the name of what? Jerusalem. The place that Abraham offers

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Isaac is either at or very close to the place where our

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Lord was crucified. Everything took place right there close.

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And Melchizedek, king of Salem. Jerusalem is meant here. Only it was not called

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Jerusalem yet. Brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the

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Most High God. Most amazing statement. Roger, here's a man we never heard of.

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Now, we know there's other people in the world. But here's a man that is worshiping the same

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God that Abraham is, who we're studying. Where'd Melchizedek come from?

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Roger. I was born in Salem. What? Salem.

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Somebody tell me what he said. I came from Salem. Salem. I wish you hadn't told me.

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All right. I think, my own personal opinion, when it says he had no father or mother, it does not mean that he didn't have a father or mother, if this was a man.

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Some think it was pre -incarnate Christ. But it is used as a type of the

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Messiah. He had no beginning, no ending. Melchizedek.

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And he comes out from Salem with bread and wine, a refreshment now, for Abraham and his soldiers.

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And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth.

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Now, Clarence, here comes information to us from a source from which we have never heard.

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And I don't think Abram had ever heard either. We have no indication of it.

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But it's just kind of like he just walks on stage and then he walks off. Yet he was worshiping the

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Most High God. God does work in strange ways, doesn't he?

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Apparently, if you were human, God would go to the pre -incarnate

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Christ. We really don't know. There are strong arguments either way.

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And that makes me think I have something here. It's not the best map in the world, but I'd like for you to have it.

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If someone will come up and pass these out for me. I think so.

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I think it is. ... We're going to see as we go through the rest of the book, we'll see every once in a while a different name assigned to God.

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For the first time, we hear it for the first time. Now, back to this man

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Melchizedek. You're receiving in your hands a chart.

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I had to put together two charts in order to get it all as one, but I think you can make it out.

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And this is a timeline from when they were born until they died. And it gives you the opportunity of seeing who lived when other people lived.

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So if you look at Noah, there stands one man between he and Adam, and that was

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Methuselah. Methuselah could have known Adam and could have known

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Noah. So word of mouth could have been rather quick.

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The fact that Shem is there, lots of people think that this

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Melchizedek was Shem. Not Shem, but Shem. One of the sons of Noah.

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And it might have been, I don't know, but I really don't see how. The flood might be a little hard to distinguish on there, but that's when everybody died except Noah and his boys.

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Now come with me back here. We have nothing expressly revealed concerning who this man is or was.

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And we really can determine nothing. He brought forth bread and wine for the refreshment of Abram and his soldiers.

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And in congratulations of their victory. This he did as a king.

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As priest of the most high God, he blessed Abram. Which we may suppose a greater refreshment to Abram than the bread and wine perhaps.

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And lots of people take the bread and wine as a forerunner of the Lord's Supper. But it might be, but there's no concrete evidence to tie it together.

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Verse 20, and blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.

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And he gave him tithes of all. Now who gave who tithes? Right, Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek.

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Now, Diane, how long before the law was this incident?

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So at least 400 and maybe a thousand years.

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Anyhow, tithes are being told to us here before ever the law came into effect.

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There was, yes, under the law they were to give three tithes, 30%.

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And the king of Sodom said to Abram, now we switch over to the king of Sodom, don't confuse this with Melchizedek.

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King of Sodom said to Abram, give me the persons or give me the people and you take all the goods for yourself.

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Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord. Greg, what does it mean,

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I lift up my hand unto the Lord? Usually it's what?

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All right, but this is the same as we would do by laying our hand on the Bible. He has sworn to God that something or other and we're going to find out what.

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My hand of the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet.

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And that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should say,

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I have made Abram rich. You see the wisdom in that?

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Give me back the people.

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Abram. He acquired all that power.

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It seemed like he introduced himself there to say, well this really belongs to me. Bob Willoughby gave you a portion of it, which

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I think is what happened to all of them. That's what the king of Sodom would like for him to believe.

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Right. But to me, he won the battle. Why didn't he introduce himself and say, well look,

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I'm going to let you have a part and I'm going to keep a part. That sounds like a politician, doesn't it?

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Well, Abram was smarter than that. Now, let's make sure we understand what

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Abram said here. He said, I have sworn to almighty

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God that I would not take a thread. What's he mean by thread?

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Sponsor. Okay. You perhaps would not have any reason to really know, but the word thread as it's used here is referring to the thread that the women would tie their hair together in the back.

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Much as I've seen you do with a rubber band. And then a shoe latchet.

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Bill, what would that be? That's right.

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A sandal, like thongs where there's just two straps that come up between your toes and you tie it.

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That was called a latchet. So the very smallest items, almost.

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Yes. That's right.

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Something that they might throw away, but he would not take it. God's church.

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This proves something to us, and I want you to learn this. Abram would take nothing except from God.

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To me, David, this speaks that the church must not accept anything from the world.

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His only church is only supported only by tithes and offerings only.

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We don't need the world to support us, because the world can say, I made them what they are.

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24, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me.

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Let them take their portions. So, as we close this chapter, we learn this.

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First of all, Abram did not decide for anybody but himself.

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Do you ever try to make decisions for other people? Don't do it.

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In that God brought the king of Salem to Abram before the king of Sodom came, what advantage was that?

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Any? Roger? I'm sorry.

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Well, let me repeat, because I want to hear your answer.

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The king of Salem, Melchizedek, came to Abram before the king of Sodom did with his worldly proposal.

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Was that any advantage for Abram? Yes. I'll just say this, to highlight this again, because we have this stopping person coming, and sometimes you're very few, very few against breaking the right frame of mind.

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Then you're, I guess you could say, when the world comes and tries to tempt us to despair, we have that word on the defense.

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Refreshed. No. If he had not done his job, taking care of the sheep as he knew he should, what if he hadn't done it?

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What would have happened to he and Goliath? Are you all afraid to talk?

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Too much food makes slow thought. He wouldn't have even thought about going out to face him.

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Now, let me ask you a personal question. Do you know when your

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Goliath is coming? Then what must we do?

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Handle whatever he gives us right now to the very best of our ability. But we don't know when the

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Goliath is coming. Is that right, Greg? Absolutely.

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Greg, yes. But we're all susceptible to it.

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We all have the potency to it. Greg, dismiss us today, please.