MONDAY 12 July 2021 “Risk Living” Genesis 14

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends, welcome to Monday.

Have you ever had the experience of someone who has shunned you or shamed you suddenly needing your help? You could ignore them, tell them they deserved the difficult situation in which they found themselves, because they had hurt you, or you could help them… I wonder which you did?

In our journey with Abram we are watching to see how God is shaping a man to be unlike all other men of his era. A man learning to know God, a man living in relationship with God, a man leading his family in submission to God, a man of great faith and integrity. In fact, this type of man is very rare in our day, anywhere in the world, isn’t he? We’ve arrived in Genesis 14. Abram is living the relatively quiet life of a successful Bedouin herdsman. The only emptiness in his life is that he, and Sarai his wife, remain childless in their old age. Lot, Abram’s nephew, lived quite a distance away near Sodom. We can assume they have likely not seen each other since they moved apart (Gen. 13:12), which had been several months, perhaps a few years ago.

Suddenly word came to Abram of a battle which had broken out in the area of Sodom. The result suddenly became personal as Abram learned the city of Sodom was captured and all its inhabitants taken captive, along with all their goods. Last Abram had known, his nephew Lot was living ‘near’ Sodom, but the person giving Abram this troubling report said “They carried off Lot and all his possessions since he was living IN Sodom.“ (Gen. 14:12) In truth, I wonder what part of this one sentence troubled Abram the most? That Lot was taken captive? That all Lot’s possessions were stolen? Or that Lot had since moved INTO Sodom and was making his home there?

My friends, it’s time for some important, reflective questions:

1. Do you have family or dear friends who have ‘dabbled’ with things of the darkness that could become addictive or in other ways hurt them deeply? If so, have you warned them? And how have they responded to your warnings, your appeals to them?

2. If you do have family or dear friends that you’ve warned and they’ve assured you that they are fine, they are mature enough to handle the risks of their choices… as you look at their lives, do you see erosion taking place? Erosion of their integrity? Erosion of your relationship with them? Erosion of their spiritual strength or their ability to make wise decisions? Do they recognize their downward drift?

3. And if you have such friends or family members, what are you prepared to do if one day you receive a call that they are hopelessly engulfed in the darkness? They are in a hospital on a drug overdose, or they have gambled away their savings and are in deep debt, or they finally are admitting they are an alcoholic, as they’ve lost their job due to drinking, or something similar?

That is precisely where Abram was. While the record does not specifically tell us that Abram had warned Lot about living too close to Sodom and its enticements, I think we can assume it, based on what we know of Abram and his maturity and his growing relationship with God. But now word has come to Abram that Lot is captive and penniless. What should Abram do? The record says Abram “…called out 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan….He routed them…and recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and other people.” (Gen. 14:14-16)

This is the first time we find Abram leading men in battle. These were herdsmen, not soldiers or warriors. But they were fighting to free people and possessions taken in a violent raid. My friends, as you watch the recent news of some African countries or Central Asian countries, we see reports of such bloodthirsty marauders sweeping in on sleepy villages and taking or killing everything of value… how do these reports affect you? Something had welled up in Abram that turned a peaceful herdsman into a ‘Robin Hood’, rescuing the innocent and recovering stolen goods.

May I ask, how do you respond when you see injustice or evil being perpetrated on the innocent? It’s part of the reality of our world isn’t it? But more and more I see God’s people rising up in defense of themselves and others as they oppose wrong thinking and evil behavior which is growing more brazen all the time. I’ve often wondered what Abram said to Lot as they journeyed back to their homes. “Nephew, surely you are not going back to live near or in Sodom, are you? You’ve experienced first hand the danger of living among such wickedness. There are wide open ranges in every direction, make a fresh start, find a new place for yourself and those who depend on you. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into the evil culture of Sodom?”

If such a conversation took place, can you imagine this response: “Thank you Uncle Abram, I really am very, very grateful for your rescue. But I like Sodom, there is good business opportunity for me there, and I’m confident I can keep myself safely apart from what you and I both know is the evil there. I’ll be fine, thanks for caring about me.”

If you’re a parent, grandparent or friend of someone who has been rescued from the stranglehold of the darkness but they insist they will be fine as they return to resume their life… I know you want to rise up and scream warning to Lot right now, don’t you? Because the enemy of our souls, Satan, the king of the dark kingdom, will never give up his relentless pursuit of those who have vulnerability to the enticement of the darkness and all the attractive evil found there. Satan’s objective is that people will become so deeply enslaved to the darkness, they cannot escape and they self-destruct! Lot returned to Sodom!!!

On his way home to Hebron, Abram was suddenly met along the road by someone identified as “Melchizedek”. The record says: “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 blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Gen. 14:18-20) And as quickly as he appeared, he was gone?! What does it mean? Bible scholars have debated this for centuries. The author of Hebrews makes some commentary about this encounter in Hebrews 7.

Some scholars say this man was, as described, the king of ‘Salem’ which is an ancient name for Jerusalem. Because verse 15 says Abram and his fighters went all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus to rescue Lot, the return trip would have brought them very near Jerusalem, if it existed in those days. Evidently Melchizedek was also a man who worshipped the one true God, the creator of heaven and earth. The same God Abram was beginning to know. Other scholars suggest this may be an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, who was reaffirming to Abram the covenant blessing God had spoken to him twice before. (Gen. 12:7 & 13:14-17).

Whoever he was, this encounter was powerful for deepening Abram’s commitment to God, as we see when the king of Sodom wanted to thank Abram by giving him all the bounty of Sodom which he had recovered. (Gen. 15:21) But Abram responded: “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you…” (Gen. 15:23) And so Abram and his men returned to their home near Hebron, and resumed their quiet life of raising animals under the open sky and living at peace with everyone around them.

Can you imagine the report Abram gave Sarai and the long conversations they had about Lot, about Sodom, about what more they could or should do to help Lot see the risks he was living? But in the end, Lot was an adult. He’d chosen a different path and Abram and Sarai were not responsible for him any longer, he was responsible for himself. They had loved him, taught him, mentored him, tried to help Lot know God as they were coming to know God. They had helped him in so many ways, including his rescue… but they must release him to his own journey. As a man, Lot was responsible before God and those he lived among, for his own decisions and his actions. (Hebrews 4:13)

Can you make the application my friends, to your situation or that of someone you love? May I suggest we pray right now, that God would grant us wisdom and discernment to see the enticing darkness around us, and pray for, and wisely help those we know who struggle resisting the enticement.

Today’s Scripture is Genesis 14.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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