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Growing in Grace

In chapter 13 we saw how Abram responded to local conflict as tensions had developed between his herdsmen and those of his nephew Lot. Abram showed then that he was growing in confidence in the Lord and as a consequence was able to act towards Lot with magnanimity and generosity. He was rewarded by the Lord who spoke to him with encouraging confirmations of the promises which the Lord had earlier made to him.

Now in ch.14 we find that the tensions that are discussed are no longer local ones but of an international nature. The story is recounted to show us how Abram is continuing to grow in his faith. In considering this particular episode we'll see amongst other things some pointers to the life of Christ Himself.

For the first time in the Bible war and international conflict is specifically mentioned. It is a sad reflection on the human race that we are still some 6.000 years later still plagued by similar strife.

Two groups of Kings or tribal leaders are involved. A group of four and a group of five. The four from the north: they come from modern Iraq, Turkey and Iran and they are headed up by Chedorlaomer. For the preceding 13 years they had dominated much of the area around Canaan's eastern borders but now the other group of five Kings have had enough and are trying to break free.

When we manage to get beyond the strange and unfamiliar names and places the underlying issues that the Bible is dealing with are really very contemporary. How many Christians in the world today are affected by war either directly or by some family member being caught up in it!

The northern armies under Chedolaomer have swept southwards going well beyond the group of the 5 rebellious kings. Wherever they've gone they've fought and won their battles. Now they turn back from the deep south and head northwards again until they are confronted by the rebellious kings in the Valley of Siddim.

Once again Chedorlaomer is successful and his enemies try to escape. Some fall into one or other of the many tar pits in the valley while others manage to flee to the hills.

As Chedorlaomer and his allies turn for home they sack the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah taking people, provisions and possessions along with them. The reason for the inclusion of this story now becomes clear – Lot is taken captive along with all that he had. Moses underlines who Lot is just in case his readers might have forgotten. He is a close relative of Abram – the son of his brother.

How sad this is. When we had last seen Lot he was living in a tent in the region of Sodom but now he has become a resident of that exceedingly wicked place – even the name of the King shouts the horrors of the place: Bera means "characterized by evil" Nearby Gomorrah was no better the name of her King Birsha meant "characterized by wickedness".

Surely there are warnings for us here.

Lot had looked upon worldly wealth and comfort and although he managed to retain at least some of his personal moral integrity his choices had brought into a very unhappy situation.

The writer of the Book of Proverbs includes the same proverb twice – how solemn his words are!

Prov.14:12 (16:25) "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

And word comes to Abram about what has happened and specifically about what has happened to Lot his nephew.

It seems that he's heard almost by chance. A man has managed to escape as Chedorlaomer leads his men homewards and he finds Abram!

Now why would he want to do that? Who was Abram? He wasn't one of their allies. But find Abram he does and we should learn from this too.

Are you a believer? Then know for a certainty that accidents simply do not occur in your life. Every single detail is under the sovereign control of your Father God who loves you and is concerned about you. This doesn't mean that life becomes a bed of roses but it does mean that there is a meaning and a purpose in everything that happens to you. God so orders things that Abram might hear of what has happened and He so accords Abram the opportunity of doing something.

Now of course the question is "How will Abram respond?" And beyond that "How we will respond? When the LORD brings us to moments when we must decide what to do.

We approve of Abram's action not so much because he is faithful to a family member but because of the graciousness he demonstrates.

How easy it would have been for him simply to wring his hands and say things like "What a pity!" "That's life!" "Whatever will be will be!" or even "Yes, it's a real shame but you know Lot brought it on himself. You see the choices he made and now he has to accept the consequences."

But Abram doesn't respond like that at all.

Maybe he realizes now that but by the grace of God he might be. Hadn't God preserved him when he'd taken wrong decisions in the past? God indeed had been very generous and kind to Abram and the only thing that Abram could do now was to act in a similar way. Having personally experienced the grace of God he must in turn act graciously towards others.

Isn't this just what Jesus was to say in Lk.12:48?

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."

As soon as Abram hears what has happened he prepares to set off to rescue Lot.

His going was at great personal risk. He was to chase after an allied force that had become battle-hardened and used to success. The report he'd received had come from a defeated soldier and such soldiers are not inclined to emphasize the weakness of those that have beaten them quite the reverse! And yet Abram sets off with his own allies.

There was danger in going to war. His own life would be in danger and he didn't as yet have an offspring – God's promises were at stake.

But Abram is learning to walk by faith and walking by faith means not trusting to human wisdom but doing what is right trusting the LORD.

The journey was not a short one either. In order to catch up with the enemy army Abram has to cover some 120 miles. But this he does and when he does catch up he chases the enemy even further away before returning victoriously back home again.

Now before we continue with the story let's take a brief pause and consider.

Lot had made a bad choice and had followed it up with yet more bad choices. We have done the same.

Like Lot we too have known what it is to be sucked further and further into a morass of sinful self-centredness. Like Lot we've been tempted to see ourselves as helpless victims of circumstance trapped by powers way outside our control.

Lot had an uncle who came to his rescue. He hadn't treated this uncle particularly well but this uncle refused to remain a spectator sitting under some oak trees in Mamre near Hebron.

Well the NT doesn't speak about an uncle but it does speak about an elder brother – the LORD Jesus Christ. What possible claim could we have had upon Him whom we had so often ignored and insulted? And yet He refused to merely look on from the comforts of heaven. He came to the rescue at tremendous cost to Himself. He didn't come risking anything because He knew that to set us free He would have to die and still He came knowing fully and completely what He had to do.

And He overcame our enemies – sin and death and the devil – and brought us back alive to live a new life. What a wonderful salvation we have in Christ and here hinted at in the gracious way Abram rescues his nephew. And still the love of Christ is greater in that we were His enemies when He died to rescue us we didn't even have the claim of family ties to plead.

Well now, back to the flow of Gen.13.

After winning his remarkable victory over Chedorlaomer and his allies it is time for Abram to return. We find him in the region of what will later be called Jerusalem and we find him in the Valley of Shaveh, or the Valley of the Kings. How appropriate this name is for what is about to happen.

Two kings come out to meet Abram. They come with two completely different characters, with different attitudes and proposing two radically different alternatives.

Let's take them one by one.

Melkizedek – his name means King of righteousness and he is the King of Salem, that is king of peace. (These details are supplied and explained for us in Heb.7).

He comes out to greet Abram bringing to him gifts fit for a king – bread and wine (cf.1Sam.16:8). These gifts too speak very tenderly of communion, of happy friendship and fellowship.

Yes, Abram is returning to the land in triumph. He'd succeeded where king after king had failed before him. How would he react to it all? Would he compare himself like that and see himself as the greatest amongst them or how would he respond?

We're often faced with similar temptations. Something we've been involved in has gone well and everyone round about is aware of it. How tempting it is to bask in the glory of it all. How easy to forget the LORD God and begin to believe that our own publicity is really true.

God has graciously sent Melkizedek ahead of Bera to Abram to protect him from falling into such a trap.

Melkizedek while treating Abram with tremendous respect and warmth reminds him of just who it is who has granted this wonderful victory! He speaks clearly and eloquently of God Most High.

Here is a man who also knows the One True and Living God! We nothing much about him but somehow he has maintained faith in the Only true God that there really is. He comes and shares fellowship with Abram and points Abram to the source of his success – it is this God who has blessed Abram with success:

vv.19-20 "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"

How good of God to send such a man at such a time helping Abram keep his feet on the ground and not to allow himself to be carried away by his own success!

That Abram fully agrees with the affirmation of Melkizedek is seen clearly in the following details. Abram offers to him a tithe of all he has taken. The offering is given to Melkizedek but as to the LORD.

Throughout the history of the people of God the proper response of the LORD's people has been to tithe. This practice has continued into the NT. However in the NT there is something of a change. OT believers were under a legal obligation to give but the principle in the NT era is not legal but joyful. The LORD loves a cheerful giver. Gifts to the LORD, through example the church, for are not a means of securing blessing but the response of the grateful heart to blessings already freely received. The tithe principle has been followed by many in NT days as a helpful guide for giving – to give to the LORD a tenth of one's income on a regular blessing. I would commend this to you all.

Of course Melkizedek is referred to elsewhere in the Bible and picked up in the Book to the Hebrews to speak of a different priestly order. Here was a man who stood out. We don't know his ancestry and we don't read of the end of his life. This he serves as a type of the Messiah to come. Jesus' ancestry can't be fully explained by reference to Mary and Joseph. Because of His resurrection from the dead we can't either speak of the end of His life. Jesus, like Melkizedek was a King and a priest. Jesus is the LORD our righteousness. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and His priesthood knows no end – just as there is no recorded end to the priesthood exercised by Melkizedek. The usual priesthood that is described throughout the OT refers to the Levitical priesthood and yet Melkizedek is described as having been a priest though his priesthood had nothing to do with that of Levi. In this way he serves as a model for Jesus who was born not of Levi but of the tribe of Judah.

Once again the OT looks away from the mere events of their period to the Messiah who was to come to be the fulfilment of God's plan and purposes.

Having looked briefly at Melkizedek we must now turn our attention even more briefly to the other king who came to greet Abram.

Bera came in a totally different spirit to Abram. He is not characterized by thankfulness and he does not recognize the role of God in the victory at all. Rather he seeks to assert himself even though through defeat he had forfeited all right and claim to determine what should happen to the fruits of victory.

It's not a generous offer that he makes to Abram. Abram has the complete right to determine what he will do with everything that he has recuperated in battle. No, Bera still wants to play the military leader, he wants to forget his recent defeat and he believes that Abram will become just one more player like himself and his old allies.

The temptation is a serious one. Will Abram simply become just one more local ruler vying with the others for status or will he rise above the meanness of it all?

Melkizedek's intervention has been timely and reminded Abram clearly of God's authority. Abram stands firm and maintains his trust in the LORD refusing to be contaminated with the sordid ways of Bera and his like.

Abram has developed as a man of faith. The LORD is his God and he will continue to walk trusting Him and looking to Him. He sees through Bera's schemes and rejects them. He will not have the mud of compromise sticking to him. Is he rich? Then all around must know that it is because the LORD Himself has blessed Abram.

How does this work out in practice? Well in the life of this church it has meant the refusal to take monies from the Lottery fund for building project work. The world must see that that it is the LORD who builds this house!!

Even in the midst of this further trial following so hard upon the glorious victories won over Chedorlaomer Abram is not thinking only of himself. Other men had gone with him to war and they had done at cost to themselves. They were entitled to receive from the spoils of war and he would see to it that they did.

May God help us all to grow in grace. May we learn how to respond with appropriate graciousness and generosity. May we learn to humble remembering just to whom we owe our victories. May we be wise to discern the traps the enemy lays before us. And may we walk on trusting the Lord Jesus Christ.    AMEN.