Genesis 14

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Dave Burnette's Commentary

Genesis Chapter 14

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Moses

Date Penned: (1450-1410 BC)

Overview: To Record God's Creation and Identify His Plan (c 1-22)

Theme: The Story of Abraham (c 12-25)

Message: Abraham Rescues Lot (v 1-24)

Genesis 14 Commentary

(14:4-16) Chedorlaomer Captures Lot - In Abram's time, most cities had their own kings. Wars and rivalries among kings were common. A conquered city paid tribute to the victorious king. Nothing is known about Chedorlaomer except what we read in the Bible, but apparently he was quite powerful. Five cities, including Sodom, had paid tribute to him for 12 years. The five cities formed an alliance and rebelled by withholding tribute. Chedorlaomer reacted swiftly and reconquered them all. When he defeated Sodom, he captured Lot, his family, and his possessions. Abram, with only 318 men, chased Chedorlaomer's army and attacked him near Damascus. With God's help, he defeated them and recovered Lot, the other captives, and all that had been taken.

(14:12) Lot's desires - Lot's greedy desire for the best of everything led him into sinful surroundings. His burning desire for possessions and success cost him his freedom and enjoyment. As a captive to Chedorlaomer, he faced torture, slavery, or death. In much the same way, we can be enticed into doing things or going places we shouldn't. The prosperity we long for is captivating; it can both entice us and enslave us if our motives are not in line with God's desires.

(14:13-16) Lot becomes a Prisoner - When Abram learned that Lot was a prisoner, he harbored no grudge and immediately tried to rescue him. It would have been easier and safer not to become involved. But with his nephew in serious trouble, Abram acted at once. Sometimes we must get involved in messy or painful situations in order to help others. We should be willing to act immediately when others need our help.

(14:18) Melchizedek is Introduced - Melchizedek, a God-fearing man-a "priest of the most high God" who recognized God as the creator of heaven and earth. His name means "king of righteousness," and king of Salem means "king of peace" (see Hebrews.731-2). While some have suggested that Melchizedek was an appearance on earth of the preincarnate Christ in a temporary bodily form, a more likely possibility is that Melchizedek was a "type" of Christ (Hebrews 7:3). A type is a biblical person, event, or symbol that points to something or someone that comes later in Scripture. Types often point to Christ, illustrating lessons about him by their similarities to who he is or what he did.

(14:20-24) Abram gives an Offering - Abram gave one-tenth of the goods he recovered to Melchizedek. Even in some pagan religions, it was traditional to give a tenth of one's earnings to the gods. Abram followed accepted tradition; however, he refused to take any of the recovered goods from the king of Sodom. Even though this huge amount would significantly increase what he could have given to God, he chose to reject it for more important reasons-he didn't want the ungodly king of Sodom to say, "I have made Abram rich." Instead, Abram wanted him to say, "God has made Abram rich." In this case, accepting the gifts would have focused everyone's attention on Abram or the king of Sodom rather than on God, the giver of victory. When people look at us, they need to see what God has accomplished in our lives. When people look at our accomplishments and praise us, are we quick to give God the credit, or do we keep it for ourselves?

Dave Burnette's Life Application

Wrong Place - Wrong Time

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. There are many applications we can make from each day's text. Today we Continue in the book of Genesis with Chapter 14, and in today's text, we see the continuation of the account of Lot's life. In this chapter, we see that after pitching his tents towards Sodom, Lot is now living in Sodom, a wicked place of sinful people. Not seeing the Lord as the source of his needs, Lot finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He finds himself in a conflict between Sodom and Chedorlaomer and becomes captive in a battle where he has no business. Abram comes to the rescue and saves Lot from harm. In making an application, I can see that when we place ourselves outside of the will of God for our lives, we put ourselves in harm's way. In my life, I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fortunately, I lived to tell of my wrongdoings, but others I know have not. I had a classmate who got in a car with a drunk driver and died in an accident. How sad because he wasn't engaging in drinking but instead found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let us learn from Lot in today's text and my classmates by not placing ourselves outside of God's will for our life by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Genesis 14

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Genesis 14

¹And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

²That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

³All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

⁴Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emins in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

⁷And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

⁸And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

⁹With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

¹⁰And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

¹¹And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

¹²And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

¹⁴And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

¹⁵And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

¹⁷And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

¹⁹And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

²¹And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

²²And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

²³That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

²⁴Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

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