Genesis 14:21-24

2007.Mar.15 03:00

Spoils of War

Read Genesis 14:21-24 | Full Chapter

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “All I want are my people. You can keep everything else.” Abram answered: The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him that I won’t keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich.
(Genesis 14:21-23, CEV)

It is now the king of Sodom’s chance to talk to Abram. This situation adds some complexities not apparent in the interaction between Abram and Melchizedek. Recall that Abram fought Chedorlaomer, et al, to rescue his relatives, Lot and his family (v. 14) after king Bera and his allies had fought against and lost to Chedorlaomer’s alliance. That is to say, this should not have been Abram’s war, and he had no reason to fight in it, except to rescue his relatives. Sodom and Gommarah benefitted from the attack by Abram’s small force, but they had no right to claim the spoils. Indeed, I would guess that Abram probably had rights to claim those cities under his own authority and to keep all the spoils. So when the king of Sodom offers less than that, to give Abram the spoils, but not the rule of the city, he in fact may be insulting Abram.

Abram refuses this offer, but for reasons not having to do with the extent of his “entitlement”. His issue is that others might give Bera, instead of Jehovah, credit for Abram’s success. That Abram is willing to refuse on these grounds means that he is either proud and uses Jehovah as an excuse (a possiblity which seems discredited by his interaction with Melchizedek) or that he has faith that God will continue to bless him abundantly (or any of thousands of other options, but admitting those makes my argument less convincing, unless I actually take the time to examine several more of those options, which sounds like a lot of work, so I’m going to artificially limit the axioms here–and elsewhere.). Although Abram deserved the spoils, at least according to custom, he valued more his promises to God and let his faith, rather than immediate worldly concerns, determine his answer.

Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back.
(Genesis 14:24, CEV)

Abram continues with a few qualifications. His men have eaten, probably of the spoils, and Abram notes that this can be his share. After all, they who fought deserve at least to be fed by the king whose kingdom they rescued (fat lot of good it will do king Bera). In addition, Abram notes that Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre who fought alongside him, should receive their portion. This appears to me a righteous and appropriate decision, although it may seem hypocritical in a quick reading. Abram’s decision does not imply that the taking of spoils in itself would have been wrong, but rather that it would have misappropriated the glory for Abram’s success from Jehovah to the king of Sodom. To deny those who fought beside him their portion would have dishonored them.

And, thus, I find myself coming back to the issue of balance. One can get obsessed with receiving or giving, with having no appearances of hypocrisy or with being more concerned with “doing right by others” as to forget God’s laws. God’s law and Word is not too complicated to be useful, but it is more than two or three rules that can be applied obsessively. That we Christians often obsess over two or three things at the expense of others is a good example of why we need God’s full Word that does address the complexities of human society, as well as our counselor, the Holy Spirit, to direct us to what we most need of God’s Word and to clarify it. And, that, my friends, is a last-paragraph tangent.

Genesis 14:19-20

2007.Mar.11 21:42

Blessing from Salem

Read Genesis 14:19-20 | Full Chapter

King Melchizedek of Salem was a priest of God Most High. He brought out some bread and wine and said to Abram: “I bless you in the name of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. All praise belongs to God Most High for helping you defeat your enemies.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
(Genesis 14:18-20, CEV)

Melchizedek, in his postbellum meeting with Abram, gives two things, and receives one: 1. He gives Abram bread and wine. 2. He gives Abram a blessing. 3. Abram gives him a tenth “of everything”.

Why Melchizedek brought the refreshments is not explained here, but I think it’s significant that he did meet one of Abram’s needs, that of food; although there’s no indication that Abram was in particular need of food, this is something that, to my knowledge, most cultures do: honor someone by giving them food and drink. So, Melchizedek does a good thing there.

He follows this by blessing Abram, and then praising Yahweh, God of Abram, for the war’s victory. He does something succinctly that seems so hard to do; that is, to honor those who are carrying out some work of God (leading worship, serving some need, teaching, etc.), while giving the principle praise to God, who ultimately deserves it. It bothers me that this seems so hard to do, and I’m not sure why. Both honoring other humans and praising God are very, very important, but I think we humans in general tend to overcompensate one way or the other, either giving all praise to the human party or not honoring or encouraging them at all. To propose that one who ought to honored for their faithfulness in the work of the Lord should be humble and not require any reciprocation is, in my opinion, dishonoring to the work God is doing in them, and perhaps more importantly is just plain hurtful to the person. As a Christian, I have a responsibility to honor and bless others for both good works and their faith evidenced in good works.

And, no, I’m not going to try to define “honor” today.

Abram responds by giving Melchizedek a tenth “of everything”, which I assume refers to the spoils of the war. And Melchizedek receives it. No argument, at least none recorded for posterity. The implication is that this priest/king received as Abram gave. Maybe this was partially payment for troops, maybe it was to assist in Melchizedek’s priesthood, maybe just an exchange of gifts between leaders, I don’t know. But this interaction of giving and receiving is so much how I’d like to act in such situations. I want to receive humbly and gratefully (i.e., without protest) the gifts from God, either directly or through others. I also want to give with joy and without strings attached as God directs me.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35) : It is such a blessing to receive gratefully, and even more to give.

Genesis 14:17-18

2007.Mar.10 03:00

Two Kings (maybe)

Read Genesis 14:17-18 | Full Chapter

The battles ended, Abram’s forces heroes of the day. Two kings come to meet with Abram.

After his [Abram’s] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley. Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High.
(Genesis 14:17-18, AMP)

The two kings, the king of Sodom (perhaps King Bera of verse 2) and King Melchizedek of Salem meet with Abram at King’s Valley. It seems to me that this is a general post-war meeting–there’s discussion about spoils later–but the reasons are not explicit. In any event, I’ll write my next entry about what these two kings did in their meeting(s) with Abram. Now, I want to look at the two men.

I’ll start with Melchizedek, since I can find more information about him. The wikipedia article on him has a good deal of information. I’ll highlight two points:

1. Salem may be an early name for Jerusalem, hence Melchizedek may have been the king of Jerusalem, which is just interesting to me.
2. The Hebrew can be interpreted that Melchizedek was a priest of Zedek, rather than Yahweh.

Melchizedek gets referred to two other significant times in the Bible, the f irst in Psalm 110:

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
(Psalm 110:4, CEV)

The author of Hebrews compares, particularly in chapter 7 Christ’s priesthood to that of Melchizedek. I want to note in particular:

Without [record of] father or mother or ancestral line, neither with beginning of days nor ending of life, but, resembling the Son of God, he continues to be a priest without interruption and without successor.
(Hebrews 7:3, AMP)

Melchizedek’s kingship may have been hereditary, based on family, military ability, politics, etc. and possibly so was his priesthood, but it is presented in the Bible without any reference to any qualification for his priesthood, other than his simply being a priest. And in his priesthood, King Melchizedek of Salem blesses the nomadic Abram, and arguably initiates the Hebrew/Levitical priesthood by being a priest and blessing a man obeying God. Melchizedek’s worldly qualifications, then, are presented as largely irrelevant; to this extent, I might say that he operates in these passages in freedom from his flesh (Although that might be a pretty big logical leap, too).

King Bera’s wikipedia says that he’s a guy mentioned in Genesis 14. He’s not a major character, but he’s the king who reigns over Sodom during a, erm, bad time in its history. I don’t know if he was still king at Sodom’s destruction, but there’s no reason to imagine he could not have been. In any case, Bera’s sovereignty is a facade. He is subject to other kings, his rebellion fails, and he is indebted to a foreigner (Abram) for the rescue of his city and people. Bera, then, is a king enslaved, and his kingdom falls into a level of moral perversion that has its men demanding to rape the guests of one of their (probably wealthiest) citizens. The citizen in question, Lot, who has seen obedience and faith to Jehovah in his uncle and aunt, has fallen into this decay so far as to call these men “brothers”, and then offer them his daughters (Genesis 19).

With these ramblings in mind, and understanding that I am making some logical jumps here that go well beyond what is stated in the Biblical narrative, I see in these two kings a display of what is and isn’t freedom. One is walking in the freedom of the priesthood (a term which I just made up and might someday elaborate on), and one who is enslaved by worldly concerns. King Bera’s worldly status is worthless, both spiritually, and in the physical world. He ought to have freedom based on his status as king, but to me it is clear that he is far more slave than sovereign. Melchizedek, who serves Abram a post-battle meal, is revealed as free through his service, or so I’m going to interpret parts of Hebrews 7. I rejoice to know that my priest, Jesus, is of the order of Melchizedek, the free, who is sovereign and chooses to serve.

Genesis 14:1-16

2007.Feb.25 19:21

War

Read Genesis 14:1-16 | Full Chapter

And now for the first war in the Bible (I think–I at least can’t think of a previous one). I don’t understand what’s going on very well, and the abundance of names of uncertain pronounciation is not encouraging. Nevertheless, here’s my best shot of a summary:

King Chedorlaomer and his three allies have ruled over five kingdoms, including Sodom and Gomorrah, for twelve years. In year thirteenth year, the five subservient kings rebel in some shape or form. A year later, Chedorlaomer and his allies launch what appears to be a widespread campaign against everybody except the aforementioned rebellious kingdoms (assuming that this passage is in chronological order). Now, beginning verse 8, the Sodom/Gomorrah alliance battles Chedorlaomer. The battles ends in disorganized retreat, at least by the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah (not sure about the others), and Chedorlaomer’s armies pillage those two cities, capturing, among other things, our dear beloved Lot.

At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram’s friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram that his nephew Lot had been taken away. Three hundred eighteen of Abram’s servants were fighting men, so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of Dan.
(Genesis 14:13-14, CEV)

Alright, so Abram’s nephew is captured, emphasising that Lot’s choice of location may have lacked wisdom. When Abram hears the news, he is quick to pursue Chedder-king’s army (I’m sick of pasting that guy’s name). Verses 15 and 16 show Abram and his 318 troops defeating “the enemy”, and rescuing Lot’s family and possessions. Phew.

Abram once again shows himself wise (unlike, in my opinion, in the “Case of the Pharoah and Sister/Wife”), as he did when he recommended to Lot that they split up. The wisdom I am speaking of is that he either recruited or trained servants to be ready to fight in battle. There’s certainly no evidence of Lot being so prepared. Now, I’m not advocating personal armies, but in Abram’s situation, this makes sense. After all, he appears to basically be the king of a nomadic tribe. Lot, in a similar position, does not seem to have taken precaution. Then again, this is a lot of reading between the lines, and may very well be inaccurate.

Abram also appears (again, reading between lines) to be operating in faith. There is no recording of hesitation on Abram’s part. Lot is family, and Abram pursues his captors. This could be pure machoism or the mesopotamian equivalent, but I’d like to think that by this point, Abram, recipient of Jehovah’s continual blessings, is trusting God for victory.

That’s a lot of interpretation, and I’m not altogether certain on the sequence of events, but at least it’s a bit clearer to me, now. Oh, one more thing, Lot has put himself under the authority of those (the king of Sodom, et al) who are, well, failing. The king of Sodom is under the rule of another kingdom, rebels, and gets flattened. Lot might have taken a different tact, continuing to seek his uncle’s wisdom and assistance, rather than placing himself under King Bera of Sodom.