24. Abram's Chose God's Glory over Wealth (Gen 14:1-24)

As Lot was captured by the four kings' army, Abram defeated them and rescued Lot and other captives. Melchizedek and Abram praised and gave credit to God.


Read Gen 14:1-24 NET version 

Questions for Observations

In chapter 14, five kings of (           ), (           ), (           ), (            ), and (             ) fought against (                     ) king of Elam with his allies and were defeated.

When Abram heard that his nephew (          ) had been captured, he took (           ) private soldiers and pursued the invaders as far as (         ). Abram defeated them and retrieved all the stolen property.

As Abram returned, he was greeted by (                ) king of Salem and gave him (            ) of everything.

The king of Sodom granted Abram to take the plunders which had belonged to the king. But why did he refuse to take it? (v23)

 

Meditation for Application

Where there is wealth, there will be strife and battle to take it. The author uses eleven (11) verses to describe this ancient war in that area. And the narrative leads the readers' attention to the safety of Lot, Abram's nephew. 

The incident in chapter 13 made Abram move to Hebron, and there, he made allies with local residents. And this helped Abram when he went to rescue Lot. God makes good out of bad.

Melchizedek credited Abram's victory to the Lord and revealed his name: the Most High God, the Creator (or Possessor) of heaven and earth. Abram used this name in verse 22.

Abram knew that God would make him rich regardless of taking the plunder or not. He knew it would be God who would make him rich, not humans. He didn't want anyone to take credit for God's work in Abram's life. Therefore, he decided not to take anything from the plunder if it could jeopardize God's glory. Abram decided not to take any unless it was given by the Lord. He sought God's glory over wealth. 

Abram learned, from his journey to Egypt, that anything that didn't come from the Lord would be bad for him. He became rich in Egypt in a lie, and thus he was in trouble in chapter 13. Notice that, in those days, too much wealth would have lured the looters. He should have enough military power, i.e. the household population, in accordance with the size of his possession. 

Too much wealth that we cannot handle will cause trouble while we sojourn in this world.

ANSWERS

Sodom, Gomorrah, Addmah, Zeboyim, Bela, Kedorlaomer

Lot, 318, Dan

Melchizedek, a tenth

He didn't want the king of Sodom to take the credit for making Abram rich. For Abram was confident that he would become rich by God.


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