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Caught in the crossfire?

Have you ever felt that you’re in the middle of a situation over which you have no control, caught in the crossfire.

• There’s some office politics going on and you don’t want to side with either of the factions
• Or your company is being taken over and you could lose your job and there’s nothing you can do about it
• Pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in war-torn parts of the world like Ukraine (Pastor Sergei), Syria, Pakistan and others.
• Christians are trapped between forces over which they can exercise no influence. They feel powerless other than the power of prayer.

That is where Abram was in Genesis 14 – caught in between two warring factions

The kings <ppt>

What did these kingdoms look like? Usually

• a king who controlled a city, an area of land
• but no neatly drawn borders.

So kings were constantly fighting each other over parcels of land. They would often make treaties in which one king (usually the victor in the latest battle) was the suzerain (or master) and the other became his vassal (or slave)

In Genesis 14 King Kedorlaomer was the dominant force in the region. <ppt>

• He had formed an alliance to create a group of four kingdoms and together they’d imposed their will on the area <ppt>
• … especially over a group of five kingdoms <ppt>, led by the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot had gone to live. (last week)
• This state of affairs (with Kedorlaomer’s four kingdoms imposing their rule) lasted for 12 years until the five kingdoms decided they’d had enough of it and went to war.
• The five kings against the four kings – and the five lost.

And all the time Kedorlaomer et al are conquering more and more land in the area.

The way the whole text is phrased is meant to tell us the main thing about Kedorlaomer – he’s aggressive (he’s invading lots of land), he’s powerful (the five kings couldn’t defeat his four) and he’s a bully (he imposes his rule).

Where is Abram?He’s living in the middle of all this! <ppt> Wisely not taking sides, but powerless to do anything about it. He’s caught in the crossfire,

• and then something happened which drew Abram into the conflict. His nephew, Lot, was captured by Kedorlaomer and taken into exile.
• Abram could no longer avoid the bully.

14 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 of Kedorlaomer as far as Dan.

‘trained men’ – it’s the only place in the Bible this Hebrew word is used and in other literature it signifies ‘trained men at arms’. This is Abraham’s security force, servants of his who also formed his personal army.

So what is Abram doing for the sake of Lot? he’s mobilising 318 men against the combined armies of Kedorlaomer.

• This is a suicide mission!

• And when they arrive, at night, Abram makes it even more ridiculous by dividing his men into two!

But, because Abram’s trust in the Lord allowed something remarkable happened.

16 He recovered all the goods, and brought back his relative, Lot, and all his possessions, together with the women and the other people

Abram recovered everything.

Abram’s walk of faith has parallels with our walk of faith with Christ

His life journey has parallels with our spiritual journey.

At this point he illustrates a vital spiritual principle:

With God, even meagre resources are powerful! <ppt>

E.g. Gideon >>>

Abram, the man of faith, uses his limited resources to win a resounding victory!

• and this is the same faith that you and I carry into work on Monday morning! >>>

Having routed Kedorlaomer’s army we might expect Abram to consolidate his victory and negotiate terms with his captives. In the culture of the day, Abram would be expected to become the new king. But he doesn’t.

Instead two people cross his path

The first in the King of Sodom (we’ll come back to him later)

The second is a mysterious character who is going to crop up elsewhere in the Bible – Melchizedek.

Melchizedek

Just Look at how he’s described

a king <ppt>

But he’s not one of the warring kings. Salem (now Jerusalem) is like the word for ‘peace’. So here is the king of peace.

Melchizedek means ‘My king is righteousness’ so here is a king of righteousness too.

a priest <ppt>

“Priest of God most high” or “the most high God” = the God above whom there are no other gods.

• It wasn’t unusual for Canaanite gods to be compared with one another – “Our god is better than your god at rain” “But our god is better than your god at fertility” So we’d better appease them all
• So some people would talk about worshipping ‘the highest god’ in the hope they were calling on some greater power.

So, most likely, Melchizedek started out as worshipper of their top-of-the-tree god.

But something momentous has happened.

This God has just acted. He’s shown his hand. Melchizedek’s logic is as simple as it is profound:

• “If God, your God, Abram, can do this, then he really is the God of creation and the most high God. And I am his representative and I bless you in his name.”

Their tradition would be to swear an oath to this God by raising a hand

Now look at verse 22 Abram says “I have raised my hand to the Lord”

So, far from Melchizedek being some run-of-the-mill Canaanite priest, Abram realises he’s standing in the presence of God himself. He’s just met the Lord.

• So could this be an example of God himself appearing in human form before Jesus ever came on the scene? Many of us think so.

A theophany (v22) <ppt>

• We called it a ‘Theophany’ – a key moment when God invades earth and He lets us recognise him for who he is.
• Listen to the way Abram talks about this moment

22 “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God most high, Creator of heaven and earth and have taken an oath” (to him – not to Melchizedek)

Later in Hebrews Jesus himself is described as ‘A priest after the order of Melchizedek’ <ppt> One who is the embodiment of the LORD here on earth.

Sowing the seeds of God’s favour

Last week, seeds of conflict, here the seeds of God’s favour

The way Abram acts here paves the way for God’s blessing to flow. So what are the seeds?

Worship – of God most high (v19) <ppt>

19 Melchizedek blessed Abram, saying,

‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.’

Here are these two men giving God their highest place – and that is the essence of worship

• Worship is not singing (although that’s a part of it, and singing fires our hearts)
• It’s not listening to preaching (although that’s important, and listening inspires our minds)
• it’s not coming to church (although that’s a vital component, and builds our connections with each other)

I’m confident that if Abram was here is person he’d say “if you want to be blessed by God – worship him!”

• Worship is abandoning myself to Jesus Christ. Letting my heart resonate with his.

Archbishop William Temple described worship in these words:

“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose—all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”

So when we come to worship on a Sunday come to submit your nature to God!

• To allow his holiness to quicken you conscience
• to let His truth nourish your mind!
• To let his beauty purify your imagination
• to let his purpose be the direction your will is set towards.
• And just to adore Him!

Sacrifice – giving to God his portion (v20) <ppt>

Here is Abram making the sacrifice he knew the God of creation was asking of him

He gave a tenth of everything, not just his money, or his spare sheep, or his stash of leather (or whatever), he gave God a tenth of everything.

• That was just as much a sacrifice for him then as it is for us today.
• In the ANE, the tenth was the king’s portion – so for me to give a tenth is to say to the Lord ‘You are my king’
• Throughout history God’s people have seen giving him the tenth (or tithe) as the financial way of saying ‘Lord, you are my King and I worship you’
• Our offering, through the bank or in person, is a vital part of our worship! God blesses us when we are sacrificial
• Our church couldn’t be what it is without us giving sacrificially. And God knows that, and he blesses us because of it!

This is where it started!

Promise-keeping (v22) <ppt>

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,

Promise keeping works in several different spheres.

• Keeping promises says to God ‘I’m making my promise before you’ That was the meaning of the raised hand
• You are the God who sees all, and you can see me
• they say something to other people (“This man / woman is reliable because they keep their promises)
• promise-keeping says something to ourselves. (If I keep my promises to myself I build a respect for myself that brings me strength under God when times get tough.
• So if I can keep the straightforward promises to myself, I build the spiritual muscle to keep my promises when the situation is tougher.

>>>

Integrity – being the same inside and out (v23) <ppt>

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.”

This must have been a tempting carrot that the King of Sodom was dangling in front of Abram. But if he accepted this potential bribe.

Integer => whole. Integrity => being whole, honest and consistent in our dealings with other people.

>>>

Fairness – absence of exploitation (v24) <ppt>

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.’

Although Abram accepted nothing, he realised a debt was owed for the service these people had given him in battle. So he wanted to be fair to them

The king of Sodom couldn’t say ‘I’ve made Abram rich’ and these men could never say ‘Abram made us poor’

>>>

These are elements of true greatness >>>

Recap

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