Introduction
Last week, we studied Abraham's early faith. We noted that the New Testament sees Abraham as the "father of our faith" – one who exemplifies what faith in the God of the Bible looks like in real life. Today we will study Gen. 14 through this same lens, looking at Abraham's faith-development during a war between several ANE kings. Let's first read the chapter in order to understand the action:
Read 14:1-4. This is a mini-war between two confederacies of mini-kings. The 5 kings in 14:2 served (paid tribute to) the dominant king Chedorlaomer for 12 years – and then refused to keep doing this. Read 14:5-7. So Chedorlaomer and his remaining confederacy first attacked others who evidently rebelled with the 5 kings. Read 14:8-12. Then Chedorlaomer and his confederacy attacked the 5 kings. They routed the kings of Sodom and Gommorah and looted their cities – including Lot and his family.
Now Abraham's response to this news. Read 14:13-16. He took his (318) trained men, devised a surprise pincer attack, and defeated Chedorlaomer's forces. He rescued Lot's household as well as the rest of the loot – and began to return home.
Next occurs a fascinating incident that Abraham had on the way home. Read 14:17-24. The (new?) king of Sodom (Lot's city) met Abraham just outside of present-day Jerusalem (Kidron Valley?), and attempted to reward Abraham with the booty. But Abraham refuses, not wanting to be enriched by this evil king. But he has a totally different reaction to the other king who came out to meet him. Melchizedek was not only the king of (Jeru)Salem, but also a priest of the one true God. Abraham received his bread and wine, and gave Melchizedek a tenth of the booty. Melchizedek pronounced a blessing on Abraham as a worshipper of God, and reminded him that God has the One who enabled him to defeat his enemies. The full significance of this event surfaces only later in the Bible.
Historicity: Did this really happen?
Before we consider what this event tells us about Abraham's faith, we first need to consider a more basic question: Did this event even happen? Prior to the mid-1970's many archeologists and biblical scholars were convinced that this story (and the existence of Sodom and Gomorrah) was fictitious. Why? Rather than accept the Gen. 14 narrative as a historical account (which it claims to be), they rejected it because they had no extra-biblical evidence of these cities or kings (which is biased).
This posture changed dramatically in 1974 with the discovery of over 17,000 clay tablet fragments (SLIDE), found at Tell Mardikh (in northwest Syria). These clay tablets (80% of which are trade records) were part of the royal archives of Ebla – an ancient city that archeologists did not know existed until this excavation. They are reliably dated to 2400 – 2250 BC, just before Abraham's time. So what?
"The tablets (written in a 'proto-Canaanite' dialect) come from the area to which Abraham and his family migrated a century or two later. A number of names known in the Old Testament – e.g., Eber, Abram, Ishmael, Israel, Micah, and David – appear on these tablets. There are also names of cities, such as Salim, Sodom, Gomorrah, Hazor, Lachish, Megiddo, Gaza, and Joppa."[1]
There is a bitter dispute over the contents one of these tablets which has not yet been publically disclosed – Tablet TM-75-1860. According to some on-site archeologists, this tablet lists the names of the cities in 14:2 in the exact same order,[2] and it lists Bera as king of Sodom.[3] Other on-site archeologists reject this assertion – and this dispute has not been resolved, in part because of Syrian government interference for political reasons.
Regardless of whether the dispute over Tablet TM-75-1860 is resolved, the Ebla tablets confirm names and cities used by Genesis that were formerly viewed as anachronistic/fictitious. This development is an example of a pattern: Over the last 165 years, Near Eastern archeological findings consistently tend to confirm the basic historicity of the Old Testament narratives. This is what we would expect if (as the Bible claims) God inspired and preserved this record of His redemptive work. With the historicity of Gen. 14 established, let's consider its . . .
Insights into Abraham's developing faith
What do Abraham's actions during and after this war teach us about the development of his faith in the God of the Bible? In general, we less/no faith-lapses like we saw in Gen.12,13, and we see more examples of a maturing faith.
He trusted in God's protection by going to battle against larger forces. We don't know how big Chedorlaomer's forces were, but we can be sure they were considerably larger than Abraham's household-militia. Evidently, Abraham considered Lot as covered by God's promise in 12:3 (even though God told him to leave his relatives). He rightly considered himself the agent of God's deliverance (see 14:20). And because Abraham trusted that God would protect him and work through him, he took initiative, action and strategic planning. There is an important passive aspect to biblical faith, as we shall see next week in Gen. 15. But only super-spiritual faith pits this passive trust against action (e.g., evangelism; RYLANDS TO CAREY: "SIT DOWN, YOUNG MAN . . .").
He also demonstrated faith in God's provision by his response to the king of Sodom (14:21-24). He rejected the king's offer to trade the spoils for the people he rescued. Accepting this considerable wealth would have been a betrayal of God, who values people more than possessions. Accepting it would have also potentially entangled Abraham in an alliance with the king of Sodom (14:23). Abraham preferred to trust in God's protection rather than in political alliances. Plus, he had learned in Gen. 13 that because God would provide for him in the land, he could afford to be generous. Here, he demonstrated this same faith in God's provision by refusing to accept spoils from the king of Sodom.[4] We should be on the lookout for people and situations who tempt us to compromise God's priorities for personal advantage (e.g., career; romantic relationships; carnal ministry backers; 2 Cor. 6:14).
We see another example of a pattern observed in Gen. 12,13, when after Abraham took a step of faith in God, God often personally reinforced his faith by repeating His promise. This time God reinforced Abraham's faith through another human being rather than through a vision or theophany. Melchizedek spoke a prophetic word that confirmed God's choice of Abraham (14:19) and His promise to protect him (14:20). Such a word would certainly have strengthened his faith, and helped him to resist the king of Sodom's temptation. See also Jesus in Matt. 4:11 and Lk. 22:43. See Paul in 2 Cor. 7:6,7. How often do you ask God for this, look for this, etc.?
Finally, Abraham's encounter with Melchizedek is another example of God working through his faith beyond what he could have imagined. As far as we know, this was the only encounter between these two men. It was undoubtedly encouraging to Abraham – but this did not scratch the surface of its significance. Subsequent scriptures reveal that God initiated this encounter primarily for us, to provide a prophetic picture of His Messiah.
Melchizedek was both the king of Salem (later, Jerusalem) and a priest of the one true God. His name means "king of (zedek) righteousness," and he ruled as "king of (salem) peace." Heb. 7:3 says that he was "like the Son of God" (Messiah). He was a prophetic type of Jesus, who would come first as God's priest (mediator) to resolve the problem of our sins through His sacrifice by dying at Jerusalem. He will come a second time as King to re-establish God's rulership over the world from Jerusalem. Here was a picture of the blessing that God would give to all nations (12:3)! Abraham would have understood none of this at the time – yet he understands it now. What a privilege to recognize that his simple faith in this event had a far greater significance for people coming after him!
Although you and I will never have a lunch with Melchizedek that foreshadows both comings of Jesus, yet each choice we make to trust God will have a ripple-effect beyond what we can see in the present.
When you personally ask Jesus to forgive you and entrust yourself to His leadership, you may not notice much to begin with. But this decision will ripple out into a growing intimacy with God, profound character change, redemptive impact on other people in your life – and ultimately to an eternal destiny that escapes God's judgment and ushers you into true life (Jn. 5:24).
And as you simply walk by faith in God and live for Him and His priorities, He weaves the little story of your life into His big story of redemption. And He works through your small steps of faith to advance His plan in ways that you will usually see only later.
God told Isaiah that his contemporary audience would reject his teaching (Isa. 6) – yet He promised that His word through Isaiah would produce a great harvest. How many thousands of people have come to Jesus the Messiah through Isaiah's prophecies? How many Christians (like myself) have been powerfully fortified in their faith by God's Word through Isaiah?
Job was severely tested by many personal tragedies. He never knew during his lifetime that his faith defeated Satan's charge against God that no one trust Him without being bribed. But Job knows this today – and his faith has strengthened the faith of countless believer since then.
Jesus' public ministry appeared to be an utter failure. There were times when this almost overwhelmed Him (Isa. 49:4). Yet His apparent "failure" resulted in salvation being made available for all humanity.
The author of Hebrews says that when we trust God's provision by practicing hospitality toward strangers, we sometimes entertain angels without being aware of it (Heb. 13:2; R. BUTTERFIELD >> YOUR NEIGHBORS?).
Your life and my life are far more significant than we know. God is advancing His plan through each decision we make to trust Him. Sometimes we get glimpses of this (e.g., evangelism; teaching; answered prayer; etc.), but usually we don't. One day we will see and know (1 Cor. 3:13), but for now we live by faith – not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Will you continue to walk by faith even when you cannot see the ultimate impact?
Conclusion
NEXT WEEK: Genesis 15 – "God Cuts a Covenant with Abraham"
QUESTIONS & COMMENTS?
[1] G. Herbert Livingston, "The Relation of the Old Testament to Ancient Cultures," in Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor, The Expositor's Bible Commentary (Zondervan, 1979), Vol. 1, pp. 342,343.
[2] https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/5/6/4
[3] David Noel Freeman, "The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets," in The Biblical Archeologist, Vol. 41, No. 4 (December 1978), pp. 143-164.
[4] "(Abram) wanted something far more enduring than possessions and wealth; he wanted the fulfillment of God's miraculous and enduring promise. Faith looks beyond the riches of this world to the grander prospects God has in store. Abram knew that he would become more prosperous, and he knew who was blessing him. He intended to receive everything from God and not even a thread from Sodom. Obedient believers frame their lives so that for all success, joy, comfort, and prosperity they depend on God . . . The king of Sodom was obviously a wicked man over a wicked empire; Abram discerned that dealing with him might be dangerous. Abram could have reasoned that God was seeking to bless him by means of this offer. But he could not bring himself to equate the blessing of God with the best that Sodom had to offer." Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 54). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.