Genesis 14:1-15:21

Genesis 14-15:21 (English Standard Version) (If time is short, focus on Genesis 15:1-7)

Genesis 14

Abram Rescues Lot

¹In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, ²these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). ³And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim ( that is, the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated theRephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. ⁷Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.

⁸Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim ⁹with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. ¹⁰Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. ¹¹So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother,who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

¹⁷After his return from the defeat 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). ¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) ¹⁹And he blessed him and said,

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

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. ²¹And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself." ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich.' ²⁴I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

Genesis 15

God’s Covenant with Abram

¹After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." ²But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" ³And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir." ⁴And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." ⁵And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ⁶And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

⁷And he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." ⁸But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" ⁹He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." ¹⁰And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹²As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. ¹⁴But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

¹⁷When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

Pastor's Commentary:

Genesis 14 deals with a relatively common event in the history of the land of Canaan. The Canaanites are servants of the people from Shinar, or Babylon, which is modern day Iraq. They rebel. And then the rebellion is put down by a war. Yet here, we see it from Abram's perspective. His nephew Lot, and all of Lot's household are captured in the fighting. Now Abram must mount a rescue operation. His 318 men go out, attack the retreating army, and rescue Lot and everyone with him. God gave Abram the victory.

At the victory celebration, Abram meets Melchizedek. Melchizedek means "King of Righteousness" in Hebrew. Melchizedek was a priest of the true God. He blessed Abram and thanked God for given Abram the victory. In the book of Hebrews, it is said that Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. The idea is, Melchizedek seems to spring up without those who came before or those who came after. Jesus is still our priest. There was none better before, and there are no other priests qualified to sacrifice themselves for the sins of the world. Jesus did it for us!

In Genesis 15, we read of God's covenant with Abram. God comes to Abram with another great promise. "I am your shield, and your very great reward." Yet Abram is still distressed because he doesn't have an heir. He has no children to inherit the promises God made to him. But God promises again that Abram's own son will be his heir. God confirms the promise with a covenant. A covenant is like a contract.

Sometimes covenants were made between two equal parties. In this way, both sides would agree to do certain things, and then they would cut up animals and walk down the middle of the animals together, saying, "May this happen to me if I do not hold up my end of the bargain!"

But sometimes, covenants were made between unequal parties. In that case, perhaps only one of the two would make promises and walk down the middle of the cut up animals. That's what we have here in Genesis 15. The torch passes between the pieces. God made the promises. God again promises many things to Abram. He even tells Abram some of the things that will happen in the future. Abram's offspring would be in slavery, but God would lead them out. And God promised it by walking between the pieces of the sacrificial animals alone.

Our God has also given a promise to us. It wasn't heifers, goats, or rams that were sacrificed to seal this deal. But it was Jesus Himself. He Himself said, "Drink of it all of you, this cup is the new covenant that is in my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins." God promises forgiveness in the blood of Christ, and with forgiveness we receive salvation and life everlasting too. God has promised. Abram believed God and God credited it to Abram as righteousness. Let us believe as well!