Abram Rescues Lot

Story: Abram Rescues Lot, Melchizadeck blesses abram

Passage: Genesis 14

Characters: Abram, Chederlaomer, The king of Sodom, Lot, Melchizadek

Summary: The king of Elam, Chederlaomer, was in cotrol of the land. Five kings rebelled and met the king of Elam in battle but they were defeated. Lot was captured. Abram heard that Lot was captured and took 318 men and set out to save Lot. Abram defeated the king of Elam and rescued Lot and his possessions. On the way back home, Melchizadek, a priest of God, blessed Abram and Abram gave 10% of the spoils to him.

Notes: This is the first recorded war in the Bible. Four kings went to battle against five. There is a ton of historical detail in this story. I really want to know how easy it would be to confirm some of this detail. Abram had 318 trained men born in his house. Apparently it was standard to always be ready to fight. I wonder if there were a lot of little skirmishes. Even with these men, Abram's 318 men would have probably been outnumbered by the armies of four kings! This devotion to family is impressive. The Lord blessed his efforts and gave him victory. This is confirmed by Melchizadek. Melchizadek is given very little background information, especially compared to the rest of the chapter. All we know is that he was the king of Salem. He was also a priest of God. God still had followers scattered around the Earth. Sometimes I feel like the only people who followed God in those times were those mentioned in the Bible. However, I suspect there were plenty of others who followed God, they just weren't part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Melchizadek blessed Abram and acknowleged that his victory came from God. Abram in turn gave him 10% of what he had. The king of Sodom approached Abram and asked for his people back. He was going to let Abram keep the possessions though, but Abram turned it down saying that he didn't want the king to think he contributed to Abram's blessings.

Questions: Who exactly was Melchizadek? Abram obviously respected him a lot. What was the king of Sodom doing during Abram's battle? Sodom was wicked and derserved punishment. Why did God continue to show them mercy through Abram? Was Abram outnumbered? And if so, by how much?

Lessons: The first lesson I get from this passage is that we need to learn devotion to family from this story. Abram risked his life to save his nephew. Also, any blessings or victory we get in life belong to God. Abram was not caught up in the possessions. He refused to let man think he had blessed Abram and he also willingly gave 10% to a priest of God. Everything we have is God's and comes from God!