Nevertheless, these raiding parties were not just 30 or 40 guys; they were pretty terrifying at the time. They begin their raids and they are gaining territory and eventually in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer (verse 5) and the kings aligned with him went out and defeated some people much closer now to the hill country of Judea where Abraham is.

Verse 8–9: “Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah …” Now don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah are just towns, so these are big-city mayors, big city by their term of big city, with their troops. “Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim …” And so forth, “… four kings against five.”

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and in the struggle that ensued, Kedorlaomer and his bunch defeated Sodom and his bunch, and typical of these raids, they took the women and children off, they took the cattle off, they took anything that was transportable off. It was a raid in which not many men would have died. They would have started running for the hills at this point. Everything else was transported, and now these chaps are heading back north, way north of what became to be called Damascus, a long way north.

Verse 13: “A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram, the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.” Now we’re going to discover that it’s Abram and the people aligned with him, too. Abram is not alone in the raid that follows. These chaps are apparently city kings for their small towns, too.

“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.” That’s using the later term. At that point the tribe of Dan was not established there, of course, so at that point, Dan wasn’t born. It’s using the later geographical term as this is written up by Moses. That is edited again even later in terms of labeling the geographical area so that the later readers could know exactly what parcel of ground you are talking to.

The invasion of Canaan by four (presumably) major powers need not imply that the full might of these kings was employed. It is entirely likely that these were tentative, exploratory raids that produced the unexpected result of bringing the cities of the plain under vassalage (Gen. 14:4).

After twelve years the cities rebelled, and so the eastern kings returned, put down the rebellion, and took prisoners and booty. When he learned that his nephew Lot was among the prisoners, Abram, with his confederates Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, gave chase and finally overtook the enemy at Hobah, north of Damascus. That with only “318 trained men” (Gen. 14:14) Abram was able to rescue all the goods and Lot is not incredible, since his Amorite neighbors also took their troops, the total of which could have run into many hundreds, and there is no indication that Kedorlaomer and his allies had originally come with a vast host.

Interesting little story we have before us now reminding us of this very important spiritual truth. Sometimes you face your greatest dangers after you have won a battle. You start to lower your guard a little bit.

Remember that it was after the successful capture of Jericho that Israel’s self-confidence grew and they were miserably defeated at Ai, a much smaller city. It was after the success up on Mt. Carmel facing down the prophets of Baal that Elijah panicked and ran away in fear.

Andrew Bonar said, “Let us be watchful after the victory as before the battle.”

When Abraham returns from this great battle which he is victorious in he is met by two kings—Bera the king of Sodom and Melchizedek the king of Salem. Bera offers Abraham all of the spoils in return for the people while Melchizedek gives Abraham bread and wine. Interestingly Abraham rejects Bera’s offer but accepts the bread and wine from Melchizedek and then gives him tithes of all of his spoils.

All of this is symbolic and presents some very important spiritual truths. Essentially Abraham had two kings to choose from which represent two ways of living. We have the way of Sodom and the way of Melchizedek. We have the way of the world and we have the way of the Lord.

Bera the king of Sodom offered everything the world at that time had to offer. He wants his stuff back that rightfully belongs to Abraham as the victor and he wants to strike out a deal. Abraham basically says, “I don’t want to have any deals with you. I don’t want you to think you have made me rich. I don’t want anything from you. You want the glory for yourself.”

That is the devil for you. Let’s just strike a deal. Satan is not a fool. He has been at this for a while. “Just give me a little bit. Just give me a little part of your life. Give me a little foothold. Just give me this little opportunity. It won’t go beyond this. I promise.” Right. Famous last words.

That is exactly what king Bera is doing. Abraham basically says, “I don’t want anything you have. I want no involvement with you. I don’t want even to talk to you. But Melchizedek, it is good to see you. I want to give to you a tithe of what I have.” What does Melchizedek give to Abraham but bread and wine?

Here was Lot drawn to the things of the world. Here was Abraham turning down everything the world had to offer.

Who was Melchizedek? His name means king of righteousness. Saying he was the king of Salem means he is the king of peace. Salem later became known as Jerusalem, the city of peace. In Hebrews 7:3 it says, “Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the son of God, remains a priest continually.” This causes some commentators to believe that Melchizedek was a Christophony, an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. I don’t know if that is the case or not. He certainly is a representative of Jesus Christ, a type of Christ, but if he was actually Christ Himself I can’t say with any certainty. He certainly is mysterious. He comes out of nowhere.

It is interesting that he is referred to as the priest. This was before the Mosaic priesthood was established. Therefore he is a priest before anybody else is a priest. This is also the first mention of the word tithe, which means 10%. We are introduced to a priest and to the tithe.

Then the scripture also tells us that this Melchizedek was made like the Son of God continually. Why? He did not have beginning of days or end of life. Of course our Lord had no beginning nor does He have an end. He is the alpha and the omega. As it says in Micah 5:2, speaking of the birth of Jesus, “You Bethlehem, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth one whose origins have been from everlasting.” Certainly he is a picture of Jesus Christ.

Really what we have symbolized here is the world, the devil and all they have to offer and the Lord Jesus. Abraham says, “I don’t want any of that worldly stuff. Take the world. Just give me Jesus.”

He gives a tithe to Melchizedek. This shows that Abraham was not possessed by his possessions. Lot seemed to be so consumed by the things of this world all he could think of was the stuff. Abraham was a wealthy man but he gives to the Lord. God has given it all to me. He didn’t care about the stuff.

Abraham once again did the right thing. With Lot he offered him the best land with no thought of his own gain. When Lot was in trouble at risk of his own life he went and delivered him. When the king of Sodom tried to get him to compromise he refused. He gives a tithe to Melchizedek. Uncle Abraham is on a roll. The question is was it worth it. Should he have done these things?