Genesis 13-14 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] as our journey through Genesis continues Abram now leaves Egypt at the command of Pharaoh in Chapter 12 we learned that God promised to make Abram a great nation and that monumental promise started coming to pass as he had his plan travel north into the land of Canaan the tribe and the herds grew but so did the family feud's as a result Abram is faced with some major decisions that will shape his family as it becomes a young nation tonight skip Heitzig will guide us along the path Abram took as we study Genesis chapter 13 together line on line let's pray together father whether it's a time of crisis or need in our own lives or in the lives of others who are far away from us geographically it is our instinct to come and to pray first to depend upon you first that's a good thing it acknowledges our source is in you our strength is in you and all of the resources that we or anyone else may ever need ultimately come from you Lord we want to help we want to get mobilized and help those who are in a desperate situation tonight we pray you'd give us the wisdom to act wisely and circumspectly we pray father that tonight as we read your word that we would be equipped for whatever need might creep up in our lives or in the lives of somebody around us that we work with or live with or come in contact with suddenly we pray that these principles would shape the way we view our lives so that we might be able to provide good and solid and reasonable spiritual answers and thus become a resource to those who are floundering in Jesus name Amen back in 1994 I had a friend who owned a McDonald's restaurant and his was the one that was sued because a lady who had coffee spilled the coffee on her leg and it created a huge fiasco and that net result of that besides millions of dollars that was awarded this lady because though there was a warning label on the cup I guess it wasn't big enough now the warning labels are quite large if you look at a McDonald's coffee cup it almost like says hey you yes you reading this right now this stuff is really really hot I don't think it says exactly that but the idea is that the label is very pronounced warning label well I decided to go around and look at some of the things that I had and read the warning labels because I know that they know that they could be sued and to avert or avoid that they want to make sure that the label is like over the top obvious so I have a little list of some of the things that I found I got my chainsaw and read the warning label do not operate chainsaw while upset I guess they saw that old movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre my favorite hot sauce comes from Belize it's called Marie sharps hot sauce the warning label reads warning must be strong to handle this sauce keep out of the reach of children do not play tricks on the weak or elderly with this sauce that would be really cruel wouldn't it here comes grandma quick on one brand of hair color I found this on the Internet and the website is a hundred and one dumb warnings and one of them says on a brand of hair color do not use this as an ice cream topping those sun shades you know the ones that fold for the car that you put in the window so that the heat in the summer won't tear up your dashboard well the label read on it remove shade before operating vehicle that's the secret a blow dryer warning label said do not use while sleeping an iron Rowenta iron had this as a warning label warning never iron clothes on the body boy you got to be in a hurry and a mattress company had this warning label warning do not attempt to swallow what a mattress how is that possible is this like for Wales or something I think that if Abram could have looked back on the episode that happened in Chapter 12 when he ran away down to Egypt he would write a warning label that would say warning doubt can be hazardous to your and everyone else's health spiritually and in all other ways in fact maybe Abram himself should have worn a label a warning label warning disobedient patriarch stay away now in all fairness to old Abe he was just learning to walk by faith he was called from a pagan culture he was just getting his sea legs so to speak on the ship of faith he was a baby believer he was learning how to walk he was learning how to trust but after 12 the last part of it the second half of it represents an episode of doubt where he leaves the land that God told him to go to because there was a famine in the land of promise and he goes down to Egypt for help he is called in the New Testament the father of them that believe and I am just so thrilled as I mentioned last week that he has a lapse of belief and he could also be called the father of them that be lying because he lied about who his wife was said it was his sister yet he's given that great light that redemptive light that merciful light by the New Testament the father of them that believe you and I are also learning how to walk and though we are people of faith and we trust and we believe in God and we believe in His Son Jesus Christ we also falter and fall and fail and there's mercy for us we're learning you know children have a natural I would even say a supernatural like built into them by God desire to believe in God and trust in God it doesn't take much for a child to trust God and believe in God but at the same time because their children their doubt is also very accentuated and so when a child though in the realm of faith begins to doubt it can be very very deep and fearful and severe they're all over the map they're not mature yet they're not stable yet I remember when my father was trying to teach me to dive off the diving board at a local swimming pool where I grew up I just couldn't trust him he'd never let me down but he said son jump No you'll be okay no I'll die no you won't die I promise you you won't die I promise you you'll only get wet in fact I promise you that I'll catch you no and I'm sure was an embarrassment as everyone around just like what is wrong with this kid sad part of it was I was 35 years old when that happened I'm just kidding but eventually I jumped and eventually Abram comes to spiritually speaking and now in chapter 13 he goes back he returns to the land of promise I would think that the one lesson we learn and I think Abram would agree in fact I think he would state this with all of his heart that it's better to trust God in your life when the cupboards are bare than to be in the land of abundance outside of his will he has now learned the lesson he's done with Egypt and so we read in chapter 13 verse 1 then Abram went up from Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and lot with him to the south that is the south of the promised land they're going up from Egypt to the south of the country to the north of them there in the Negev desert he went up before it said he went down and that was true geographically I think it was also true relationally spiritually any movement away from God's will is a step down it says in the Book of Jonah that God told him to go to Nineveh it says Jonah went down to Joppa and then down into the ship and eventually he went down into the sea and down into the belly of a whale he went down down down down and it was only when he was thrown up by the whale that he decided to live not the downward life but the upward life of obedience and he went to Nineveh and Abram comes back and he goes up Abram it says in verse one was very rich in livestock in silver and in gold now this is the very first time in the Bible and I like to make mention of that whenever we come to first in the Bible this is the first time in Scripture that riches is mentioned and it's mentioned in relation to Abram the first patriarch now something we discover in looking at what the Bible says about wealth the Bible looks at money not as being bad or being good but being neutral it all depends on how a person is affected by it and what a person does with it that is the importance now someone will say oh but skip you know the Bible says in the New Testament that money is the root of all evil no it doesn't say that at all it never says that money is the root of all evil it says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 the love of money is a root that is one of many roots the love of money is our root of all kinds of evil well that that sheds a whole different light on that picture because you can be without money but still have a love of money and fall into trouble or you can have a lot of money by God's grace God's blessing and it doesn't affect you as much as somebody who if they had that it would destroy them read the testimony of those who have become suddenly rich like the lottery winners I've seen reports over the years and it's the same report most people who get to be lottery winners will say after they get the money after months go by and after years go by the worst thing that happened to me is that I won the lottery I now don't know who my friends are I don't know if my family loves me for what I might give them or if they just love me because I'm a part of the family now sometimes it is God who bless us and it's a result of the blessing from God job was wealthy in livestock and in Chapter one of job it's listed the camels in the cattle that he owned in the Sheep that he owned he was the greatest man of the east now he loses it all but later on it says that God gave him much more at the end than he had at the beginning so he's blessed and made wealthier by God a blessing from God Joseph though experienced a difficult time at first became second-in-command in the world the prime minister of Egypt and became very very wealthy so sometimes it's because of a blessing of God other people are rich because not God blesses them but they abuse their power or they steal the money or they do it through their own hard work and it becomes a god that they serve now Abraham was very rich and the Bible makes clear that at least in part it was the blessing of God having said that riches can also become a problem though you have Abram who is rich and consequently you're gonna discover lot who is his nephew also has a lot going on financially that it becomes a problem and a conflict arises over the stuff that they own the things that they have will become the center of the conflict in just a little bit so Abram leaves Egypt and you should know something that Abram left Egypt wealthier than when he went to Egypt he went to Egypt to escape the famine he lied about his wife Pharaoh gave him a whole bunch of stuff because Abram said that's just my sister so Pharaoh loaded him down with stuff and he's coming back in part with more stuff naturally though he's been taken to the woodshed spiritually then he had when he first went down why is that important because to me it's a prefigurement of another group we're gonna read about in the book of Exodus that's the children of Israel the children of Israel will go down to Egypt because of a famine they will for 400 years be in that land they will multiply in terms of population but they will be they will be persecuted by the Egyptians but they will leave after plundering the Egyptians with much more than they came down with it's just God's way of adding to that and he went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel which means the house of God that will be the name given to it in the future by Jacob but it's referred to before Jacob has ever born because the people who would read Genesis would be familiar with that place based upon the new name that they were aware of as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and AI to the place of the altar which he had made there at first and there Abraham called on the name of the Lord Bethel means house of God that word AI or I that little town means heap heap or dump and so here you have Abram pitching his tent between the house of God and the dump he's coming back from Egypt he's pitched his tent going toward the house of God toward Bethel that's where the altar is that's where he's going to worship but it in in the previous verse in verse 3 he's pitched his tent between the dump and the house of God now that's the same position you and I are in we have been saved out of this world we are on the way toward heaven that's our real home the house of God were God and we're sort of in that in-between position between the dump of this world and between the house of God that we're moving toward but in verse 4 he gets to Bethel and that Bethel was an altar that we saw at the beginning in chapter 12 that he made there at first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord he did not call upon the name of the Lord while in Egypt there is no reference to him either pitching his tent or building an altar he was just escaping the family here he goes back to the altar so he remembers where he had come from the altar of worship that he was enjoying with the Lord in Chapter 12 he remembers that he repents from what his unbelief had caused when he went down to Egypt and then he repeats what he did at the beginning in worshiping God at this altar does that sound familiar it sounds a lot like what Jesus will tell the Church of Ephesus in Revelation remember from where you have fallen repent and do your first works again remember repent repeat that's exactly what Abram does he remembers the fellowship he had with God and while he was trusting God that was a much better place than Egypt he repents of the unbelief and he goes back and does again what he did at the beginning boy what great counsel that is to us maybe tonight you have experienced a distance between you and God and maybe you look back to a time when you had fellowship early in the morning with God you got up early and read your Bible and you think oh it was so good it was so sweet but over time you have distanced yourself from that primary activity you're not experiencing closeness anymore could it be that the Lord is calling some of us back to Bethel back to the altar repenting from whatever bro away from that and cause that distance it's unfortunate that some of us have to talk about our relationship with God in the past tense not in the present tense it's not like man is it great with God I just love the fellowship I love hanging out with God God speaks to me but oh I remember at one time way back when but it's not like that anymore and so what is the solution you remember you repent and you repeat you do those first works again so if you have stumbled like Abram there's always an altar that is waiting for you to come back to verse 5 lot also who went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents so he also has a lot of stuff he's also very wealthy now the land was not able to support them that they might dwell together for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abrams livestock there and the herdsmen of lives of lots livestock and the Canaanites and the parasites dwelt in the land so though there's nothing wrong with wealth inherently in and of itself though that's ok and sometimes God can even add that and bless you with it here it becomes the source of the conflict we have so much stuff I have so much stuff you have so much stuff we have so many animals you get so many animals and the land that we're trying to share together just can't support it so we have to split or you know my herdsmen are gonna hassle and harangue your herdsmen and the bickering is gonna go back and forth all over stuff stuff is interesting we all have stuff some of us have more stuff than others and I mean we stuff our stuff in boxes if you have ever moved you know this principle you have stuff in boxes you never get it out you never look at it you never care about it you don't even know you have it until you move and you look in the place you stuffed your stuff and you go huh I have stuff now if you have a family a wife a husband children they have their stuff if you try to do something with their stuff Oh will you get in trouble hey that's my stuff yeah but you haven't used that for like ten years so it's my stuff to do something with it or not do something with it leave my stuff alone now the truth is a lot of that stuff you won't see again until you move again and it can become a source of conflict as it is here something else they're not alone in the land it's not just their livestock that has to be supported by the land it notices also that the Canaanites and the perizzites these two other groups dwelt in the land so not only will my family and your family have a tough time being supported by the infrastructure of the land there's other people around but I think that the Holy Spirit is informing us of something else here there is a conflict between one group of God's people and another group of God's people and the world is watching the Canaanite and the perizzite are watching Abram and lot very very carefully and hearing the bickering and hearing the arguments and whenever the dirty laundry of the church gets aired in front of the world the church is in a real mess it's dangerous it's wrong we always have to be careful who's watching who's listen Canaanites and parasites are all around and they are looking and they are listening I heard about two women who worked in the same office both of them were Christians and both of them worked by a window and one of them said I want you to keep that window closed if you you open the window gets so cold I'm gonna catch pneumonia and the other lady said I want you to open that window because if you don't open that window it's I get claustrophobic and and and there's no circulation I'm gonna die of suffocation they argue back and forth and back and forth with their Bibles on their desks back and forth one day a gal from across the hall came over into their space and unbeliever after hearing this for a long time said I got an idea let's keep the window open till you die of pneumonia and then we'll close the window so you can die of suffocation that'll be the solution you can feel her pain what made it worse is both of them claim to be believers now here is Abram a man who was a covenant relationship with God and simply by virtue of the relationship of uncle - nephew with lot he is also seen as one of God's people but from the story you and I know differently from the story you know that Abram though he's imperfect is walking with God while lot doesn't seem to be walking with God at all he seems to be walking not with God but with Abram for back in verse 1 it says Abram went up from Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and lot went with him Abraham's obeying God Abraham's walking with God lot is walking with Abram he's tagging along he's tagging along but he has different appetites he wants something else he really wants what the world has to offer which you will see in chapters 13 and 14 two different men two different sets of values longing for two different things so Abram said to lot please there be no strife between you and me between my herdsmen and your herdsmen for we are brothers well that's a that's a wise thing to say he's older and he's wiser I heard a story about Michelangelo and Raphael two brilliant artists who were hired by the Vatican to beautify the Vatican with their art and you can see it today it's still there it's magnificent they worked in different parts of the building both brilliant both creative artists in their own right however over time a rivalry began to break up out between Michelangelo and Raphael and this bitter rivalry resulted in even when they would meet up they wouldn't even talk to each other the ironic thing of course is both of them were working quote for the glory of God unquote while all of Rome watched the rivalry between these two artisans working for the glory of God not getting along so Abram just nips it in the butt hey let there be no strife I don't want to be a troublemaker man I want to be a peacemaker so look at the solution is not the whole land before you please separate from me if you take the left I'll go to the right or if you go to the right then I will go to the left in that beautiful hay lot no bickering man no fighting we're brothers there's more to unite us and there is to divide us therefore in grace you pick man you just take whatever you want because whatever you don't want I'll take that you can choose that side and I'll take that site if you want that side I'll take whatever you don't take it's a beautiful example of Philippians chapter 2 where Paul writes let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each of us esteem others better than ourselves and that's what Abram is doing with his nephew lot and it's gonna pay off I want you to watch how it does verse 10 and lot lifted up his eyes notice that phrase he's looking up he lifts up his eyes and he looks and he something's gonna catch his view and he saw all the plain of Jordan that is the Jordan River Valley which is beautiful there's underwater Springs that feed vast miles of land for irrigation and growing things in the river itself that supports it he looked at his eyes and saw all the plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah like the Garden of the Lord now notice this like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zawar and then lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan and lot journeyed East and they separated from each other lot looked up and what did he see he saw something that reminded him of Egypt he reminded him of Egypt in fact it's even mentioned it's like the land of Egypt he had come from a spell of being in Egypt at the Nile River Valley which is very similar geographically topographically to this Jordan plain he had left Egypt but he hadn't left it in his heart he wants something that reminds him of that security blanket that he had while he was in Egypt that's what he wanted so he chose that for himself now it seems to me that Abram repented because he remembers goes back to the altar sacrifices to the Lord that Abram repented but that lot simply returned back to the land but he wants something that reminds him of Egypt so here's the problem Abram has you can take the boy out of Egypt but you can't take Egypt out of the boy he wants what he left he's a tag-along believer now there's a lot of people like this they're raised in church they'll go to church because they've been raised in it and they tagged along with their parents or they tagged along with their wives or tagged along with their husbands but they really love the world that's their preference they love the world their appetite is for the world and you can't have both James says in James chapter 4 whoever is a friend of this world is the enemy of God you can't love the world and all of its security while loving the Lord and all that he has and it polarizes both these men lot and his uncle Abram and so it says lot chose for him self all the plain of Jordan I like you know I just like a part of this plant I want it all that's the prettiest looking thing ever I want it all and he chose it for himself and they separated from each other notice this Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom and before you think well he didn't know how bad Sodom was the next verse says but the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord now we're getting a little insight into lot if I were to compare the two even though I said Abram wasn't perfect you have the choices of a wise man versus the choices of a worldly man Abram the wise man learned his lesson from Egypt been there done that I've repented lot a worldly man a worldly businessman thinking of what is best for himself and best for his family Abram on the other hand instead of choosing for himself is sort of saying I trust your promises God and I'll let you choose for me lot lifts up his eyes and sees the plain of Jordan goes but now watch this the Lord said to Abram after a lot had separated from him lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are northward southward eastward westward for all the land which you see I give you and your descendants forever and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth so that if a man could number the dust of the earth then your descendants also could be numbered arise walk in the land through its length and its width for I give it to you very different from lot I think lot was flirting with temptation he pitched his tent all the way towards on a bull I love this plain of Jordan and Sodom you know a lot of stuff going on and Sodom a night life a night life he was flirting with temptation he should have been fleeing from temptation now a lot of people flee from temptation but they leave the devil their forwarding address if you know what I mean they don't really separate all the way lot and Abram separate that's good for Abram it's bad for a lot lot does it for the wrong reason now as far as Abram concern it's good for him and here's why back in chapter 12 were informed that while Abram was down and ordered the caldas before he made that long trek toward the holy land that God said get out of your country leave your family and your father's house he didn't completely obey he's still brought those with him father and nephew social responsibility I understand but it was an incomplete obedience and it will bring trouble as time goes on and we're about to see that but it was a problem for lot notice again verse 14 the Lord said to Abram after allotted separate lift up your eyes now and look to the from the place where you are northward southward eastward and westward you see lot looked out and saw what the world had to offer God comes along and says let me lift up your eyes and let me show you what I have to offer so one chose for himself the other left it up to God and discovered when you let God choose for you it's always better anyway what God will choose for me is better than anything I could choose for myself and so I love that that his faith his trust his his leaning toward God is oak is rewarded here hey I know he lifted up his eyes but now let me lift up your eyes and look everywhere you see you see North yeah Wow clear day beautiful you see down south West Indies it's all yours and it's better than anything you could choose for yourself now did you notice that in verse 15 lot is now separated a God talks about your descendants forever oh wait a minute didn't we just read in chapter 11 that Sarah I couldn't have any children what descendants in embedded in this promise is the promise that he's going to have a child that he's gonna have an heir and the air will be from his own seed from his own body hence the word descendants so God gives them a promise number one you're going to have children you're going to have descendants number two the Covenant of the land that I'm giving to you is everlasting it's perpetual it's not just you you and your descendants which become the Jewish nation forever a number three part of the promise for the land which you see I go verse 16 and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth they will be innumerable so that if a man could number the dust of the earth then your descendants also could be numbered arise walk in the land through the length through the width for I give it to you now in a few Mon I'm gonna have the opportunity to do this with some of you to walk in this land and we'll do a lot of walking we'll be on our feet a lot because there's so much in the Bible about walking through the promised land and walking on the walls of Jerusalem and it's such a small country you know it's the size of New Jersey maybe a little smaller that you could actually walk across from border to border east to west in one day you could walk the entire width of Israel today in one day by foot in fact in grade school they do that with the kids in Israel they go on a hike and they walk from morning until night they walk through the whole border of the land now north to south it's quite a bit longer but that's okay and I'm not saying I'm gonna make you walk in one day through the whole land but you're thinking I don't want to go on this tour we'll be in an air-conditioned tour bus but we'll be able to cover a lot of ground and look north and look south and look west and look east and see what God promised Abraham and his descendants and we'll see the fulfillment of the promise it will absolutely blow your mind so that's my pitch for take the tour come with us in Adam and Adam and Abram moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre that's down in Hebron not far from Jerusalem oh it says so which are in Hebron and built and altar there to the Lord so they separated for a lot a bad thing for Abram a good thing a good thing you and I in the New Testament are called to be separated from those who are not walking with the Lord and probably one of the key note scriptures along those lines is 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 where Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah and says to God's people come out from among them and be separate says the Lord and I will receive you and I will be a father to you and you will be my children it's that call to separation for you see sometimes if we have the wrong company and they don't share a spiritual value system and they don't hunger after the Lord they hunger after Sodom and they hunger after the well water plain of the Jordan it could drag you down it's hard to be around the company of people who are dragging you down spiritually and so the Bible encourages us to get around those who will build you up spiritually and do use discernment and discretion and to separate let me read something to you I found it um while I was studying you don't have to turn to it I'll just tell you where it's at it's in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 but it's a beautiful scripture that says flee also youthful us but pursue righteousness faith love peace notice this with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart be with people like-minded who love Jesus who love the Lord who pursue him and your own faith will be built up if you're only around people who are dragging the other direction they'll drag you in that direction and so he dwelt chapter 13 verse 18 that beautiful green spot of Mamre in Hebrew Hebron and there he also built an altar to the Lord and it came to pass in the days of um Rafael the king of shinar arioch the king of ellasar kedorlaomer the king of Alam entitled the king of the nations that they made war with Bera the king of sodom beitia the king of gomorrah shine ab the king of admah shem eber the king of zou zou Boheme and the king and the king of bela that is Zawar and all of these join together in the valley of siddhim that is the salt sea or the Dead Sea 12 years they serve kedorlaomer and in the 13th year they rebelled chapter 14 brings to us the first international crisis the first war if you will mentioned in the Bible it is against four kings and five kings or four kings are against five kings there are shemite kings or semitic kings five of those and four halite kings from the eastern part of the province around babylon here's the deal for 12 years a group of cities down by the Dead Sea and again if you come to Israel will be driving down by the Dead Sea and you'll see some of the remnants for 12 years the cities that were down in the plain the Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley paid tribute paid money paid taxes to a guy named mentioned here kedorlaomer in the thirteenth year those cities got tired of it they said forget it we're done we're not paying you a dime they rebelled that brought a coalition army against them from Babylon toward Israel it's not the first time Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is talking about doing that again today and rooting out Israel and destroying Israel so way back in the beginning this stuff was happening and it will happen time and time again throughout the scripture so they come now here's the deal the story is told because lot is a part of the equation lot happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time now Abram must come and rescue him and he does that by night but let's go through the story and by the way it says the valley of siddhim that is the salt sea notice that in verse 3 it's called the salt sea because the Dead Sea that's what the salt sea is the Dead Sea is 32 percent saline solution that's about ten times more than any ocean in the world you can float on the Dead Sea if you don't swim at all you could still effectively swim from Israel to the country of Jordan just by floating on your back it'll keep you buoyant twelve years they serve ketterle OMA and the thirteenth year they rebelled in the fourteenth year ketterly Omer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the riff-raff ìiím in Oscar o'the care Naeem the zeusie min ham the Amim in Chava Kiriath ìiím and the rights in their mountains of sear as far as L Perron which is by the wilderness then they turn back and came to any spot that is kadish just in case you were wondering and attacked all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorite hsihu 12in has a zone Tamar and the king of Sodom the king of gomorrah the king of admah the king of zeboiim the king of bela that is so our went out and joined together in the Battle of the valley of siddhim against ketterle Omer the king of Alam titled the king of the nations on Rafael the king of shinar arioch king of ellasar four kings against five now the valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled some fell there and the remainder fled to the mountains and they took all the goods of sodom and gomorrah and their provisions and went their way they also took lot o thanks a lot Abrams brothers son who dwelt in Sodom notice now he's living there and his goods and he departed now have you noticed the steps as we read number one lots saw Sodom second he separated from Abraham third he pitched his tent ward Sodom he's probably thought this will give me good advantage for my family there's a lot going on there a lot of good infrastructure there I need this for my family he made a choice for himself probably family included now number four he's living there he's dwelling there he moved in and it's a wicked city and they're against God but he's living in it it gets worse in chapter 19 he's sitting at the gate he's a politician of Sodom nothing wrong with going into politics but to be the mayor of Sodom is a problem he's one of the elders at the gate he's one of the lawmakers the political bigwigs of Sodom in chapter 19 verse 1 so lot takes several steps downward and now he's in trouble he gets captured then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew notice that designation first time we see that for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite brother of Eshkol brother of unaired they were allies with Abram now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his 318 trained servants who were born in his own house and he went in pursuit as far as Dan and he divided forces against them by night he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hoba which is north of Damascus so Abram goes on pursuit a hundred and fifty miles north he travels with 318 trained servants they're trained for battle and he has the strategy he's going to attack them at night and ambush them and he will win the battle because of his strategy ok he's got 318 trained militiamen which is a large staff but a small army against the armies of four kings for nations so it is like the odds when Gideon with his three hundred men in judges seven remember against the 135,000 Midianites completely outnumbered but God gave them the victory that's what it's like interesting thing about Abram so far I read that Abram is a peacemaker not a troublemaker he wants to make peace with LOD he wants to make peace with people around him he forms alliances with people in Canaan but here though he's a peacemaker he goes to war I believe it would be accurate to say that Abram loved peace enough to fight for it and sometimes peacemakers need to fight to bring peace now the easiest solution whenever there's a conflict is to be a pacifist that's the easy way out oh I don't believe in fighting at all I don't believe in in raising a weapon in in any direction for it for any purpose oh it sounds so noble but it's not Abram loved peace enough to fight for peace and sometimes you got to do that to be a peacemaker and to maintain the peace in a broken fallen world francis schaeffer wrote a lot on this subject and he said something profound he said I am NOT a pacifist for this reason for me to be a pacifist in a fallen broken evil world would mean that I would desert those people who needed my help the most okay so let's put it in real-life you're downtown seemingly nobody's around as you walk out of a theater or a market but you see a big burly guy bullying a little girl pushing her around hitting her what do you do mr. pacifist well I negotiate okay so what do you do you walk up you say sir please don't beat that little girl that's just not nice come to your senses you know better than that shame on you and you wait for a response the response isn't favorable he says get out of my way or I'm gonna kill you first then I'm gonna get her you keep persuading you keep trying at some point if he is bent on her destruction if you show if you have any kind of love at all in your heart for that little girl you must do everything in your power to stop him that's where pacifism breaks down that's where activism must be engaged that you love peace in this case enough to stop evil and that was Abraham's whole position here he has 318 trained servants they're members of his own household they were a service they were a staff but just in case we get into a problem I want you to be trained for war and now he deploys them to the battlefield in a work verse 16 so he brought back all the goods and also brought back his brother lot and his goods as well as the women and the people you know this has got to be the most unusual story so far in the book of Genesis what we were about to read and the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Chhavi that is the King's Valley after his return from the defeat of ketterle Omar and the kings who were with him then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine he was priest of the mo of God most high in Hebrew El Elyon and he blessed him and said blessed be Abram of God Most High possessor of heaven and earth and he blessed God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand and he gave him a tithe of all this guy named Melchizedek has never been mentioned before he just sort of comes from out of nowhere his name Melchizedek comes from two words melech and said dick a king of righteousness that's his name it means king of righteousness and he is the king of Salem which will become Jerusalem the word Salem means peace so he is the king of righteousness he's the king of peace he brings out bread and wine he worships God Most High El Elyon he's monotheistic and Abraham pays tithes to him amazing who is this guy we have a problem because number one you have a Canaanite king who's monotheistic like Abraham up to this point we would think only Abraham is that way cuz God spoke to him in order the Kali's and revealed himself to him could it be that God revealed himself in the same manner to this Canaanite king named Melchizedek don't know but that's the problem we face you have a monotheistic king and a polytheistic Canaanite culture problem number two he's a priest kings and priests were never the same later on when the kingdom is developed it will be Judah that will be the kingly line and Levi a whole nother tribe that will be the priestly line and never the twain shall meet they're to be separated so are we now to infer that there was some sort of priesthood going on in Jerusalem at the time of Abraham before he met him don't know you see it's just a wild story to complicate it even more we come to Psalm 110 and we have to because the writer of Hebrews does in the New Testament it's a messianic song it says the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for I have made you a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek and the writer of hebrews hebrews 4:7 chase it down in her own verses one through ten shows that Melchizedek is of a higher order then the priesthood of Levi and Aaron because Abraham paid tithes to him paying tithes is a symbol of worship it's a symbol of submission and so here's Abraham and the writer of Hebrews says that Levi Aaron those guys who will form the priesthood aren't even born yet they're only in the loins so to speak of Abraham and they paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham signifying that this priesthood is of a higher order a superseded order than that of Aaron and the tribe of Levi so who is Milka Zedeck three guesses number one some people say it's Shem the son of Noah some people say it's a Canaanite king who is monotheistic by some supernatural revelation number three some people say it's Jesus Christ this is appearing in the flesh a pre-incarnate form of Christ called a theophany or a christophany appearing in the Old Testament because he's called king of righteousness brings out bread and wine which you'll find in Communion and he is the king of peace without father or mother without genealogy without length of days that's what Hebrew says so three interesting interpretations don't have the time to develop it further and tell you what I lean toward because it's just well look we have one minute left but it says he gave him a tenth of all now the king of Sodom said to Abraham or Abram give me the persons and take the goods for yourself so Abraham Abraham has taken all the spoils and giving him back to the cities that were robbed by ketterly Omer and the king of Sodom I already read that verse 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom I have raised my hand to the Lord Yahweh is the word Yahweh the Covenant name of God that will be given to Moses I have lift lifted or raise my hand to Yahweh God Most High or El Elyon so here is Abram equating Yahweh with the god of Melchizedek El Elyon the possessor of heaven and earth that I would take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap and that I will not take anything that is yours lest you should say I have made Abram rich it seems that he had taken an oath before this battle something like this Lord I'm about to go fight these kings I know I'm outnumbered but if you would give me the victory I promise to give you all of the glory and if he were to take money for this from these kings then people would have say oh that's why he did it he did it for the remuneration for the financial reward so he said I never want that said except only what the young men have eaten in the portion of the men who went with me on air as coal and Mamre let them take their portion you see Abram is remembering Egypt he remembered taking the spoils from Egypt because the Pharaoh had given him all this money and all this stuff because he said that his wife was his sister and he's thinking don't want to repeat that I think at this point George Beverly Shea 'he's famous song would be very appropriate for Abraham to sing or Abram to sing I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold I'd rather have Jesus than riches untold I don't want anybody to say anyone made me rich and then he just says just give me the spoils that are needed for those who are with me and that's it ok conclude with this here's the warning for us number 1 be careful with your vision be careful with your vision lot saw what the world had to offer God showed him what he could offer him you might say that lot looked down before he looked up while Abram looked up before he looked down be careful with your what she set your eyes on number two be careful with your values what you value were a man's treasure as the Bible says there will his heart be also lot had 1/10 and no alter Abram had a tent and an altar but the altar was more important than the tent the worship was more important watch your vision be careful with your vision be careful with your values and number three be careful with the choices that you make be careful with the choices that you make lot made a decision for himself maybe for his family I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt say he made a choice based upon which what would be best for his family here's the here's the ironic thing he loses his family later on he will lose his family he's going to go to Sodom and and he's gonna have to flee Sodom but his wife is going to turn back and he will lose his family so if he made the choice for his family he lost his family Abraham made a choice based on God's promise and he got a family bigger than he could count more a number than the dust more a number than the stars and he was unable to have a child but God did it now could it be that some of you tonight need to return to Bethel come back to the Lord rededicate your heart to him you've left you've gone to Egypt you've looked at the well-water plains of the Jordan and and you're trying to get fed and nurtured from a worldly source let's come up empty maybe tonight would be the night where the Lord would bring you back into alignment with himself let's pray for that father as we close this service as we close this Bible study and we acknowledge that you are El Elyon the Most High God the possessor of heaven and earth we have worshipped you as such in the beginning we have made our declaration we have raised our hand to you but father it could be that some have come maybe even been drawn tonight who have left you and need to return to you who are tagging on but they still love the world father we pray that there would be a wholehearted commitment tonight of lives and hearts returning to you or coming to you for the first time as our heads are bowed as we're thinking about what has been said and what the Holy Spirit has been impressing upon our own hearts if you're here tonight and any of those words described you either as one who has never come personally to Jesus Christ maybe you've been to churches maybe you've been religious maybe you've been a good person a seeker you've wondered about things if you see something and feel something tonight that compels you it's God's Holy Spirit drawing you or maybe you have left for a period of time you've gone down to Egypt you've made your decisions based upon things for yourself rather than following God's best and highest and you need to come back to him you're just tired of trying so many things that don't fulfill you want peace in your heart you want forgiveness if either one of those describe you and then I want you to raise your hand up as our heads are bowed so I can see your hand and can pray for you as you are dedicating your life to Him or back to him raise it up so I can see you god bless you toward the side in the back in the front in the back way in the back right up here in the middle toward the front and again on the other side and again on the side and over here to my left and in the family room in the middle on my left side in the balcony a few of you in the balcony and in the back father we pray for these and we prayed that the commitment would be wholehearted felt deeply from within and that you by your spirit would enable this commitment to be an ongoing enjoyed permanent one where you keep these by your grace close to you and you provide whatever is needed Lord I pray that for some as they begin their new walk of faith and for others as they resume it you would blow them away with what you can do in a life and a heart surrender to you in Jesus name Amen would you stand up as we sing this final song I saw so many of you raise your hands in the balcony and in the family room and right up here I now want you to make it public and I want you to get up from where you're now standing you know come down the steps if you're in the foyer or through the door in the family room or just through the aisle and stand right up here come quickly as we sing this last song and give your life to Jesus Christ I'm going to lead you in a prayer just walk right up here if you raise your hand just walk right up to the front don't wait any longer just come on up [Applause] man bless you bless you give you too [Applause] some less you guys keep coming [Music] see you can't have [Applause] [Music] give me two [Applause] [Music] it's just us you don't have to worry about any of us it's like a big family that's all we love you and we declare to you that God loves you I'm glad that you came with your family [Music] you know who you are and you know what your heart needs [Applause] [Music] you know there's a lot of different belief systems in this world a lot of different religions only Jesus Christ can give forgiveness can heal your broken heart because he died for your sins [Music] god bless you we're about to pray and there's a lot of people who've come forward anybody else and these just final moments you're thinking yeah I need to do that I need to surrender to him anyone else just get up and come well a lot of you have come and we're so thrilled that you did now I'm gonna lead you in a prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer out loud after me from your heart to our Lord as you give your life to Him let's pray lord I give you my life I know that I'm a sinner and I ask you to forgive me I trust that Jesus died on the cross and that he rose from the dead and that he did it for me and so I give you my life I turn from my sin I turn to you as Savior to follow you as Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me your power to live for you in Jesus name Amen you did the right thing [Applause]

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 14,860

Rating: 4.6799998 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: yJsrLay4PS0

Length: 69min 28sec (4168 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018