A Daring Rescue
Read This Week: Genesis 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 as far as Dan. During the night, Abram divided his men to attack them, and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. – Genesis 14:14-16 NIV
Genesis 14 has the feel of an epic action movie. It has all of the elements that we see in a summer blockbuster. It has a hero(es), a villain(s), a revenge plot, fight scenes, and a final showdown. Anyone who thinks the Bible is boring has probably never read it. Narratives like this one, where Abraham and his men make a night rescue of Lot from a group of raiding kings that had just won a battle against another band of kings, is something that you watch on Netflix on a Friday night. It is suspenseful and intriguing and shows us that people of God are sometimes called to stand up and fight for what is right and for their families.
The first part of the chapter gives us a picture of what life was like in Canaan during the time of Abraham. People were developing their cultures and anthropologies, but they were still acting out of their humanity and sin. Many wanted to conquer and dominate those around them to establish dominion and power. The alliance of kings who came against Kedorlaomer (v. 1-12) wanted to be free from his rule, and the Bible tells us that Kedorlaomer formed a coalition of his own to fight back and then eventually overcome not only one but two uprisings. They were done in dramatic fashion, with the second one resulting in the opposing armies falling into tar pits and fleeing to the hills. To add insult to injury, Kedorlaomer and his cohorts seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away (v.11).
Then, a little twist in the story takes us back to last week and the last chapter. In the middle of all this taking of possessions and food, they took Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Now, Abraham is involved in the action. Verse 13 tells us how he received the news when a man who had escaped came and reported this to Abraham the Hebrew. We saw last week that Abraham was an honorable man who loved his extended family and particularly loved Lot. He was also a protector and a guardian, so he had the courage and resolve to do what was difficult and dangerous and fight for his nephew’s life and safety.
When Abraham hears of Lot’s capture and imprisonment, he gathers an army of his own to go after him. Verse 14 says that 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. Abraham had faith in God to give them victory and rescue Lot, but he was wise and prepared. He assembles this small army with his great wealth and arms them to reclaim what had been stolen. Abraham was also daring and fearless as he went in the middle of the night and divided his men to attack the kidnappers and routed them (v.15).
Abraham’s army is victorious over the four kings in battle, but they also bring back all the stuff that was taken while delivering Lot from slavery and death. The Bible says that everyone was rescued, the women and the other people. God had given them success, allowing Abraham to overcome his enemies and defeat evil and violent tyranny. They celebrated and worshiped in honor of the Lord and His delivery of the oppressed. Verses 18-20 share this beautiful picture and tell us that they brought out bread and wine and that the priest of the Most High God, Melchizedek, blessed Abraham and said: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.
This story of Abraham’s rescue of Lot holds a tremendous spiritual truth for our lives. The lost nephew delivered from the grip of evil and oppression by one who pursued him out of love and a merciful desire to save him is a parallel to the gospel. It is what Christ did for us. Our savior came from a place of eternal security and safety at a great distance, and defeated the enemy and adversary looking to take captive the hearts and lives of those he tormented. It was quite the daring rescue for all the time and we worship Him for it.
Genesis 14 Verse 22-23 is what God wanted me to focus on.
22 But 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, 23 that 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.’
God said to me on this “There is a fine line between being righteous and self righteous. Be righteous with Me by your side and peace will follow. Believe that in your heart and hold it dear.”
When we are ever in doubt of what is the right way to move forward in our journey of life we simply need to ask God, “What is the best way to be righteous with you?” Then we can have full confidence our Lord carries us and gives us pure peace.
Genesis Chapter 14 Verse 14
When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) The 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan.
Genesis Chapter 14 Verse 19
And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) Be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth.
~Blessed Assurance~
God Is Saying To Me:
My child, Abram was a rich man, had many servants but also had failed because of his wife Sarai. He now knows that I will provide and bless him in abundance for his commitment to Me. In order to train his servants of 318 required him to have many resources at that particular time but for now, his approach to rescuing a Lot was an attack that took place at night. That wisdom came from me, as well as all of the goods Abram’s servants seized. April has finally learned that worshiping and remaining faithful to me results in much courage to remain successful so that he can bless others.
What This Means To Me:
When we as Christians place God above all situations and circumstances, he will provide for us. When we bless others for God, he will multiply our blessings. God desires for his blessings to be shared and acknowledged. We must rely on God’s wisdom to guide us and place us with people and in situations where we can glorify God Most High. The world tries to distract us and navigate our allegiance to Father God by exemplifying the lavishness of things not seen by the fruits of labor from God, but by the hands of the enemy. Stay diligent, dedicated and committed to God, our Lord and our Possessor and Maker of Heaven and Earth so that our blessings remain abundant and our service for God blesses others. Thank you Father. God that we become blessed when we walk by faith and not by sight and when we share your love and blessings with others. ❤️❤️❤️
This Week in the Life: Genesis 14
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Genesis 14:4 When Abram heard that his nephew [Lot] had been captured, he armed and led out his trained men, born in his own house, [numbering] three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far [north] as Dan.
Have you ever been rescued?
I have, I’m so thankful that God rescued me!
I remember when I gave my life ( my heart) to Jesus❤️
My friend kept inviting me to church week after week.
I finally said yes it’s a beautiful story
For Abram I see his heart he loves lot, we see him blessing his nephew, rescuing him from the mess he got himself into.
We never know who is going to respond to God, we want to be apart of helping God rescuing people we just have to be careful not to participate in their stuff!
We have to do it with God and have wisdom how to do it with Father God.
God was saying to me
I want everyone to have a recur story
For you my daughter stay close to me, I am with you, I know your heart wants to rescue everyone, keep listening and loving on people for Me it’s a good life to be apart of what we’re doing when you get to heaven you will be blessed by seeing how you got to be apart of hearts that got changed ❤️
Love you
I’m so blessed that I said yes and I’m so thankful that I get to be apart of rescuing hearts for Father God, Jesus His Holy Spirit ️
Love you all
This week in Genesis chapter 14 I have a song
Blessed
We are blessed, blessed. We are blessed because of our Lord. He loves us so much he gives us joy hope love what an awesome God we have He gives us strength when we are weak he gives us joy when we are sad He gives us hope when we feel lonely what an awesome God, we have. We are blessed blessed because he loves us so much. Amen.
Our Lord loves us all the time his spirit is inside us the more we seek him the more we get closer to him.what an awesome Lord we have.
Abraham heard about Lot being taken captive. He assembles an army and goes to get him and rescued him. After Abraham rescued Lot, Lot moved back to where he was before in Sodom. After Lot refused the warning from Me, he would eventually lose everything. Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. He came to Abraham and blessed him, and he blessed Me. Abraham gave a tithe to Me by blessing Melchizedek. Abraham gave him a tenth of his assets. Abraham and Melchizedek blessed each other out of their resources. This is a great attitude for you to have as a believer; an attitude of mutual blessings. Abraham refused any of the plunder that was offered to him. Abraham determined that all of the credit for his success and wealth, should go to Me and Me alone. It is much better to follow My wisdom, so that when success comes to you, I get the glory, and it is evident to everyone that it was My work in you. In all your prayers, you must praise Me. Give thanks for other’s mercies as for your own.
What this said to me was It is important to me as a Christian, to have the attitude of desiring to bless others. I am to do it out of love and not just because I want them to bless me back. It’s important for me to rely on God’s wisdom, and not my own. I want to give God all the glory for everything He has given me