Genesis 14:18-20

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, 
Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.


I promised I would return to the subject of Melchizedek - and then we move on to a pivotal chapter. As I said before, Melchizedek is a very mysterious person in the Bible. We are given almost no information about him in Genesis. He’s only mentioned in these three verses, and then he’s gone! So what’s the big deal about him? Well, we probably wouldn’t spend much time pondering this. We know that there are many things NOT said in the Bible - things that we are left to speculate about. Like what exactly Sarai say to Abram after he let her go off into Pharaoh’s palace... or what Leah and Rachel said to each other during their daily chores. Things that do not affect our salvation, but would be interesting to know. So, we probably wouldn’t be worrying too much about this priest-king Melchizedek, except that the writer of Hebrews spends an entire chapter comparing him to Christ. In fact, the only other information we get about him is really the non-information in the third verse of Hebrews 7:

Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.


Now, the fact that he had no genealogy could mean that nothing is known about him (which makes sense, since we are told nothing about his ancestry in Genesis), or it could mean that he was an eternal being. Does he live forever literally or is that figurative language that just means he lives forever by virtue of being mentioned in Scripture?? Does is matter? Well, it just makes for a lot of speculation that leads us to no definitive answer. But the theories are that he could have been an Old Testament appearance of Christ - or he could have just been a type of Christ.

What is the point that the Hebrews writer is making that he even alludes to this mystery man? He is pointing out the fact that the work of Christ, both on the cross, and continually as our advocate before the Father, is superior to any earthly priesthood that is held by men who die. Christ’s priesthood surpasses that of the Levitical priest (remember this is a letter to Hebrew Christians, who were always being tempted to return to the law and ritual to cleanse themselves and their congregations). It precedes and surpasses the Old Testament priesthood even as the new covenant in Christ’s blood surpasses the Old Testament sacrifices. And here’s the heart of the message from the writer of Hebrews:

Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (vs. 20-27)

What’s the glorious news? We have a High Priest who finished the work of salvation. It’s done! We have been completely saved by him. It is guaranteed! We do not need another priest. Jesus is our intercessor who lives forever!! Hallelujah!!

Tomorrow we will begin some precious time in Genesis 15. Can’t wait!!

Genesis 14:17-24, Part 2

Now, I figure, since I’m not a pastor or a televangelist raising funds for my latest project, that I can speak straight to you about money without offending anyone too much! :) I wanted to revisit these verses today, because it’s in this section that we first read about tithing, so it seems to be the institution of the tithe, a tenth of everything. (vs 26) People get really nervous when pastors bring up this subject. In fact, some get downright angry and storm out, never to return! However, a pastor who refused to preach on tithing is not only doing a huge disservice to his congregation but, in fact, would be guilty of not teaching the whole counsel of God. Jesus spoke more about money than he did about heaven. Why? Because our attitude about money speaks volumes about our heart towards God. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt 6:21).

I love what Jon Courson says about this subject in his commentary: God is not broke, gang... God doesn’t need our money. Therefore, tithing is not His way of raising cash, but His way of raising kids. Tithing is not God’s way of getting money, but His way of developing maturity.


Courson quotes Dwight L. Moody, who said, “I can tell more about the spirituality of a man by looking at his checkbook than I can by looking at his prayerbook.” Where we spend our money is a good indication of what we value. It is tied directly to our priorities. If our priorities are material wealth, and we view our money as what we’ve earned by the sweat of our brows, then we tend to hold on tight to it or use it to build our surroundings. And the ironic thing is that the tighter we try to hold onto it or grab more of it, the less it fills us up. It reminds me of those money booths that used to be on game shows, in which a man would try to grab onto as much money as possible that was being blown all around him in the booth. As he reached for more bills, he’d lose the ones he already had grabbed. In Haggai 1:5-6, God describes the condition of those who have this desire to grab onto more money:

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”


God challenges us to test him in the area of giving. In Malachi 3: 8-12, he accused the Israelites of robbing Him and bringing a curse on themselves because of it:

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.


When we lack the trust to tithe, we bring a curse on ourselves! There never seems to be enough money. We run out of money before the end of the month! But when we acknowledge that all we have is from God, and we trust Him with our money, step out in faith and give Him the first tenth of what we make, we will find that we run out of month first. There will be enough for all we need and more!

How does this work practically? Well, I can only tell you from our personal experience. When we failed to give first, we ended up spending more on trinkets that vanished - it truly was like there was a hole in our pocket. We ended up fearful, because there was not enough. But when we decided to obey God in this, we were amazed at how He provided! When you begin tithing, it requires some determined budgeting, and this just leads to better stewardship overall of the money He’s given you. We find there is more for the extra offerings, too, and that we have developed a much better spirit of generosity, because we clearly see that it is not OUR money, but HIS.  Let me know about YOUR experiences in this area!

If you have not yet tried tithing - do it! Trust that our God, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), doesn’t want your money, but He does want your heart! He is so faithful! He will keep his promise to pour out so much blessing that there will bot be room enough to store it. Go ahead - test Him on this!

 

Genesis 14: 17-24

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (vs 17-20)

In this portion of chapter 14, Abram is met by two kings after his victory over the four kings we studied yesterday. These two, Bera, the king of Sodom, and Melchizedek, the priest/king of Salem, couldn’t be more different. Melchizedek is a mysterious person in the Bible. We only know what we read here and what the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 5::6 and Hebrews 7, when he compares Jesus’ priesthood to that of Melchizedek. Some believe he was a Christophany, an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. He is, at the very least, a type of Christ.

While Bera is the king of wickedness (a type of Satan), Melchizedek is the king of righteousness (the meaning of his name), and peace, the meaning of Salem. Melchizedek asks for nothing from Abram, but gives him bread and wine and blesses him. Abram’s response to Melchizedek is to give him a tenth of everything, the first case of tithing in the Bible, and note that it precedes the giving of the law, so it is separate from it. The king of Sodom, on the other hand, demands, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” (vs 21) Abram’s response to him is vehement:

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” (vs. 22-24)

It is interesting to me that right after his great military victory, Abram is met with two choices: worship Satan and gain material wealth, or worship God with his entire being, including his giving. And isn’t this the typical choice we’re given? Satan loves to come right after we’ve had a victory and either rob us of the joy of it, somehow, or rob God of the credit and glory due Him alone. Satan doesn’t necessarily ask that we blatantly give him credit - he just wants to steal it from God. In fact, he will usually tempt us to take credit ourselves. While in this instance, he is bold in his demand for people (notice it is souls that he is after), he is sometimes very subtle, and may whisper something like, “Wow! You just did an awesome thing by sharing the gospel with that girl. She came to Christ because of you!” Oh, how we puff up! And just like that, we rob God of the glory! Abram, here, is passionate about NOT giving the king of Sodom ANY credit for the blessings in his life, including this victory.

This has just been a cursory glance at this passage. There is so much more here! So, tomorrow we’ll revisit these verses, focusing on Melchizedek, his comparison to Christ in Hebrews, and the subject of tithing: do we have to? how much? why? Meet you back here! :)
 

Genesis 14: 1-16

In this chapter, we come to the first war mentioned in the Bible. This story involves four kings from Mesopotamia who went to war against five kings of the plains, including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. We’re going to park here for today, because there are some really interesting things to note. Remember that God does not waste one word of scripture! First, it is thought that the first king mentioned, Amraphel of Shinar, is actually Hammurabi of Babylon, the author of the Code of Hammurabi. Are you remembering him from your world history classes??

Also interesting are the names of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to Beth Moore, and the Google reference I found, Bera (the name of the king of Sodom) comes from the root ra, which means “be evil,” “in evil,” or “son of evil.” The name Birsha (the name of the king of Gomorrah), comes from a root meaning “wrong” or “wickedness.” Do you get the picture here? These cities, known for their wickedness were, not surprisingly ruled by wicked men. Who gives their children names like these????

Anyway, the four kings from Mesopotamia invaded the area of the plains and defeated the five kings, and in the process captured Lot and his family, which leads me to one last point of interest: (I feel like we’ve pulled into one of those “vista points” on the coast and we’ve parked here for the view…) Beth Moore, in her study, The Patriarchs, points out that Lot originally “pitched his tent near Sodom,” (13:12). But in 14:12 we read “he was living in Sodom.” Isn’t this always the way when we initially just “hang out” near some questionable people or practices? At first we’re just “near” the activity (joininig the party people just for a fun time, or just “harmlessly” flirting with the guy at work), but eventually we BECOME one of the party people or become emotionally or physically attached to that guy at work. Now we’ve put our marriage, reputation, and/or job at risk! And the same goes with dabbling with alcohol, drugs, Internet porn, etc. Soon “near” isn’t enough, and we jump completely “in.”

Lot had fully bought into the lifestyle of Sodom and was probably easily identifiable as a Sodomite (and I mean by that a citizen of Sodom). So, when you play with fire, you get burned. And, when Sodom was defeated and its people captured, he was taken into captivity, too! This reminds me of the scene in the movie Pinocchio, when Pinocchio is attracted to the carnival until he becomes one of its attractions, growing the ears and characteristics of a braying donkey.

A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew [this is the first time this word “Hebrew” is used]… When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. (vs 13-16)

Abram immediately set out to rescue his foolish cousin with a mere 318 men, but the power of God on his side.  He defeated the enemy, and recovered everything, including Lot! Abram could easily have let Lot suffer the consequences of his choices and not put himself and his men in jeopardy. But he did not give up on his nephew. Lot was blessed to have an uncle who never gave up on him! May we be an Abram to someone who is floundering in a “Sodom.” Wouldn’t you hope that Lot would have learned his lesson, taken advantage of this opportunity of grace being offered by God, and moved out of Sodom? Nope! In chapters 18 and 19 we will see how his decision to remain in the middle of an evil city will destroy his family.