Abram Goes to War
Abram Goes to War
Gen 14:1 – 16
I. Connection/Tension
Have you ever wanted to tell someone you just met or someone you know and love about Jesus, but felt like it would be awkward, painful, or difficult? I felt this very thing a few days ago as a family member stayed with us. Has that feeling left you confused about what you should do or feeling guilty for doing nothing?
How does God want us to approach the awkwardness and tension of doing Christian ministry in a culture that’s moved on from Christianity?
And if you are here and not yet a follower of Jesus, have you ever wondered why Christians are often so insistent on sharing Jesus with others? Why is that such a big deal?
We are going to return to the ancient story of Abram to gain wisdom for our lives today. We trust that as God in his wisdom had these stories written down, that he meant for them to be instruction to his people who follow Jesus.
II. Context
Abram is advancing in his walk with God and growing to trust him. Last week, he passed the test he faced and was generous to his nephew Lot, offering him the best part of the land. This week, he’s going to trust God again and pass an even more impossible test:
III. Revelation
1. The kings of the Earth go on a rampage (vv. 1 – 13)
14 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
Suddenly, the narrative zooms out to an international conflict that will pull Lot and then Abram into it, and will alter the political landscape of the entire region.
Moses (the author of Genesis) begins listing out the kings who are involved in this war of nine nations. The list begins with the king “Amraphel” of “Shinar” (and likely Moses is making a point by choosing to list this king first). The king’s name means little and hardly comes up again. However, notice where Amraphel rules- Shinar. “Shinar” brings us back to Genesis 11 and the tower of Babel and the nation of Babylon. The plain of Shinar was where the people built the tower.
At this point, the tower may have been an abandoned construction project, but it seems like same heart motivations still stand tall in the hearts of these nations. If we remember the story and how we have gotten here, the origin of the nations is the tower of Babel, and here in this story, we see references to the different nations everywhere. These are the Babylonian peoples acting in their natural state.
The rebellious spirit of Babylon still defines this wicked age and these fallen kings. Great acts of human pride will lead to great acts of suffering. Still today, we content with this same Babylonian spirit at work in our world until the return of the king when he sets all right and banishes it forever.
Yet, we will see that it’s impulses and nature come through in this story and describe our own world that we inhabit today.
Now, what we see here is Moses setting up a conflict that will include four kings on one side and five on the other,
3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
“All these” are the second group of five kings who fight against the first four. I know it’s a little complicated; I will try to keep things as simple as possible.
These five kings come together in an alliance and assault the first four in the Valley of Siddim by the “Salt Sea.” The image that should come to our mind is a dry, harsh, and remote place of heat and death. This is as far from the garden as we can get, and here there will be great bloodshed and conflict. So, verse 3 sets us up to experience a climactic battle, and verse four then begins to explain the backstory of how we got there.
Why do these five kings throw themselves and their armies into a melee and risk their lives and everything they own?
Turns that the chief king of the first group of four kings is a guy named Chedorlaomer. Moses said that this second group of five kings “served” him for the last “twelve years.”
The word “served” does not clarify immediately what’s going on here. In this context, “serve” means “to pay tribute to,”[1] which is another way of saying that they had to give money and stuff to Chedorlaomer under the threat of violence. One example of what this would be like organized crime- where a group of criminals extorts local businesses to pay a regular sum of money lest “something unfortunate happens to them.”
Anyways, for twelve years they are paying money to this guy, Chederlaomer, when they suddenly say, “enough!” And in the thirteenth year, they “rebel,” which means that they stop paying money to him and is essentially a declaration of war.
Now, apparently, they don’t meet in battle right away because Chederlaomer has other fish to fry first. So, he gets his possie of kings together and he goes on a rampage against many of the kings in Canaan. Now, the land that God has promised Abram is not at peace but is blazing with war! All these different strange names and places point to the vast size and impact of this conflict. This is like a world war in ancient Mesopotamia.
Now, while Chedorlaomer is already locked in a conflict, the five kings from the second group take the chance to pounce on him in an attempt to break his power over them,
8 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) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
You see that, “Four kings against the five”? It’s really that simple when you boil it down. There’s a group of five kings rebelling against a group of four kings. And the story clarifies here that it doesn’t go well at all.
The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, two of the group of five are fleeing, and they are falling in pits of tar and dying. Again, how tragic and far we find ourselves from Eden and God’s plan for creation. Rather than on a mountain in a garden of life and plenty, we are here in a valley of death, where pits of tar swallow men whole and drown them.
Acts of violence and suffering we witness or experience ourselves show us that we inhabit this same world described here- separated by time and culture certainly, but united in temporariness, suffering, and death. The Bible does no sugar-coat things- but gives us a true picture of the world as it is. When Afghanistan falls apart and there is untold horrors, when the same thing comes to Ukraine a year later, and when the same thing comes to our neighborhoods in the form of violence, and addiction, and poverty, we find ourselves in this same world as Abram.
Now, the narrative seems to focus on just Sodom and Gomorrah at this point on- possibly because these will be the cities that Abram and the story primarily deal with. Basically, they are the important characters in the story to follow.
As a result of losing this battle, the five kings who rebelled lose everything- their enemies take all their possessions and all their provisions. They were violently going to war to protect their possessions from people who were violently trying to extort them. In the process, they lost everything, and Chedorlaomer seizes everything. There’s no heroes in this story, everyone is doing what’s right in their own eyes and trying to kill one another.[2]
We see the world reflected back at us in these nine kings and we should also see ourselves. We all have a tendency to be brutal to others. The motives behind these king’s actions seem to be primarily money and control. Watch out my friends for these two heart-idols that will make you like these kings of the Earth.
We will find ourselves acting brutally towards others when we care more about someone else doing something we want them to more than we care about them. We will find ourselves acting brutally towards others when we want resources and possessions more than we want love and blessing for others.
Thankfully, we don’t tend to be as violent in our society- yet, there are still more subtle ways we can be cruel to get our way. Giving the cold shoulder, withdrawing from relationship, gossip or slander, using threats or insults, or emotionally unleashing against someone.
All of us know the feeling when we want something that brings us into conflict with someone, you can feel that beast rising up in your chest urging you to do something, anything, to get your way.
This story stands to a warning to us how ugly that spirit of violence, greed, and control is. Oh, how we must plead with God to change us from the inside out before we engage with one another or anyone else when we feel this way. How we must fight against becoming like any of these fallen, harsh kings.
The end of this paragraph reveals a sudden and surprising twist: Lot had not just moved up next to Sodom- a kingdom opposed to God- he went all the way and settled right in the city.
The point is not that God’s people shouldn’t live in cities and fight to love and redeem them- they should! But that’s not where we are at in the story of the Bible yet. At this point, the city of Sodom represents anti-God rebellion, and lot’s moving here represents compromise with that rebellion. As a result, he’s swept away into captivity along with the spoil of Sodom and taken away.
Now, for this reason, we are about to see Abram, the man whose life we have been following and the uncle of Lot, enter into this conflict and war that’s been raging all about him.
II. God uses Abram to rescue the nations (vv. 13 – 16)
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
Now, we finally get back to Abram. One who escaped the battle runs to him for refuge and help.
This messenger finds Abram where we left him at the end of the last chapter, by the Oaks of Mamre.[3] If you remember, Abram had massive success in the last story- having a generous heart and opening up his hand to Lot and giving him the choice of whatever land he wanted.
Mamre, Eschol, and Aner are brothers on whose land Abram dwells. And verse 13 adds, “these were allies of Abram.” Here’s a sweet contrast between Abram and the kings of the earth. While they rampage and kill, he lives at peace with his neighbors- even through they are godless and cruel.[4] As we grow in maturity in Christ, we will increasingly learn to divide over nothing with our neighbors besides the gospel. Such a focus on the main thing will often create relationships of peace and tranquility with our neighbors just as Abram enjoyed. Persecution for our message may come- yet that’s not the goal and we should long be at peace with those around us even before they accept the gospel of Christ.
And yet, there is, “a time for war, and a time for peace” (Ecc 3:8). The news this messenger brings Abram changes his approach to the situation. He finds that his nephew Lot, who was a member of his family and to for whom Abram would have had a sense of responsibility was a captive of the violent, rampaging kings.
At this news, his whole approach changes. We see he is not eager to take up arms; rather, he sits out of the whole conflict up to this point.[5] Yet does so when it becomes necessary. He musters all the men of his house, over 300 of them- a very large household indeed, and leads them off to war. His pursuit is astonishing- he leads his small army from his campsite, probably somewhere in the South of Canaan, all the way to Dan in the far North. He pursues Chedorlaomer across an entire country. We see in Abram a picture of God’s own relentless pursuit of us across vast distances- never ceasing, always faithful, and always victorious. (Points also the warriors we will be).
Now, I want to get to something of great importance: We see in this story, I think, ample reason to conclude that Abram fought this fight by supernatural rather than just natural means. For, though his household is large- he is competing with the premier military superpower of the region with just over three hundred men.[6]
By human metrics, this is a fool’s errand. Yet, as verse 20 in the next sermon will make clear, Abram was victorious not by human might, but by the power of God. He uses the natural means of dividing his forces up and attacking at a surprising moment (at night), yet it was not the application of these strategies, but the help of his God that handed him a victory.
Now again, Abram becomes a blessing to the nations. Now, he shatters the violent superpower of Chedorlaomer’s alliance that had been bringing war and devastation to the land. He brought back the possessions of the nations which he had looted. He brought back the people they had captured. And most of all, he rescued his nephew Lot, and set him free. God’s heart is not just generous to Abram, but generous to Lot again and again, and uses Abram as a means of blessing to him over and over.
This pattern of fighting with spiritual means to overcome an impossible foe and rescue the undeserving and blessing nations of course anticipates the final victory of Jesus. The cross was the ultimate spiritual means of combat- we cannot perceive any natural advantage or victory it could possibly bring. And yet, through the spiritual riches of free forgiveness Jesus won, he recues us who, like Lot, are hopelessly lost and without hope.
Now, what can we learn from Abram’s surprising, supernatural victory over this superpower of the ancient world?
We see, in Abram, an image of how as followers of Jesus, we should conduct the warfare to which our God has called us. That’s right. Of the many things God has called his people to, one of them is into spiritual combat in the present age until he returns.
It’s not a warfare of the flesh or for the things of the flesh that the people of this present age are locked in. Abram was not engaged in the land war and tribute war of these kings all around him- he was sitting it out and at peace with his neighbors. Also, when he went into combat, he did not fight to win worldly wealth or control, but to rescue of the life of Lot. And he did not use fleshly means, but spiritual ones. What this story describes so vividly for us the Apostle Paul puts so concisely in 2 Cor 10:4
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Abram, in this story, is a landless warrior- which means he was not fighting to keep land or to claim more of it (representing the riches of this fallen age). We likewise, are landless warriors, not seeking to claim this city, this country, or this world as if it were are home- it’s not. Yet, we must go into battle with spiritual means for the sake of rescuing the lives and souls of others. Paul goes on,
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Our war is not one of swords or fists, but of words and persuasion- and our only weapon is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Abram lived in an age before the work of Christ was finished and did not have the authority to preach the gospel like we do today, so his fight did look like one with swords, but now ours does not and must not. Our Lord did not give us authority to spread his kingdom though violence- may it never be!- but only through making disciples of the nations (Matt 28:18-20).
What should spiritual combat look like for the people of God in this age of the finished work of Christ? Paul also writes in the same letter,
“Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (2 Cor 4:11).
Our warfare may look like the gentlest, most patient, kindness extended to a neighbor or stranger. Yet, when we seek to be bold and clear about repentance and faith towards Christ- make no mistake- we are fighting for their very soul and against the very deceptions of the serpent himself. Only by his people engaging in this method of warfare will our God fulfill his purposes to recue the nations!
The person who I have heard who has put this most imaginatively is Rosaria Butterfield, who regularly hosts people in her home to lead them to trust in Jesus (this is from an article at Michael Patterson originally pointed me to),
“The weapons of our warfare cast down atheistic imaginations with pot roast suppers and watermelon, psalm singing and warm mugs of tea, prayer and repentance.”[7]
Do you hear that? Pot roasts, watermelons, and the message of the gospel are your weapons to win wandering souls.
Church, the main point of this message is that, We have to go to war for the souls of others. Yet, we must fight for spiritual purposes and with spiritual means.
Our value, Make Disciples is a summons into spiritual combat! Our Lord is calling us to wage of war of humility, generosity, and defiance against deception.
Lot represents our neighbors, family, friends, and even strangers we come across whom the enemy has taken captive with his deceptive designs. God have given you and me the weapon with which he will win them back and make them his own.
One phrase that we repeat often around here is that “what God has done to you, he wants to do through you.” He has rescued you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now, he wants to do the same thing through you towards others.
Reflection:
1. When is the last time you shared the gospel with a neighbor or a stranger?
2. What is one way you could make sharing the gospel with others a normal rhythm? Or, if you don’t know how to do that yet, what’s one way you could even relationally connect with unbelievers and make it plain that you care for them? (example?)
3. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, what’s one thing you learned about our God’s character in this sermon that makes you want to know him more?
[1] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005).
[2] Calvin, p. 382.
[3] John H. Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary, ed. Gary Lee (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 145.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Calvin, 385.
[6] Dempster, 79.
[7] Rosaria Butterfield, https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2021/09/in-the-presence-of-my-enemies/
