Melchizedek

(Gen. 14:13-24)

Introduction: Two weeks ago I preached with the title of ‘Decisions’ based on Gen. 13: 1-13. Although he made a mistake in Egypt, Abram came back to Canaan and built an altar to God. That was a good decision Abram made. That did not mean Abram was out of all conflicts. Abram and Lot had to depart from each other due to the conflict between their herdsmen. Still Abram put his nephew Lot before his own benefit. Abram said, “If you go to the right, I will go to the left. If you go to the left, I will go to the right.” Lot’s mistake was that he used worldly criteria in making his decisions and ruined his life. Lot had several chances to get out of the situation, but he lost them. If we seek God’s righteousness and kingdom, God will give us all the necessary things in this world. Even if we make mistakes, it is important to remember that we should come back to God. Today’s passage is Gen. 14:13-24. This passage introduces a special man, named Melchizedek. He did not seem to have any relationship with Abram, but suddenly appeared, blessed Abram, and received one tenth from Abram. Then he was not mentioned in any places in the Old Testaments except in Psalms. In Hebrews (NT), the author assigned more than one chapter for Melchizedek and connected him to Jesus as the source for a better way of salvation than the Law. We will learn God’s secret plan for our salvation shown in the Old Testaments.

1) Abram saved Lot (13-16): There was a king of Elam named Kedorlaomer who ruled the area including Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela. The five kings betrayed king Kedorlaomer at the 13th year. Then king Kedorlaomer allied with three other kings and attacked the five kings. The army of Kedorlaomer defeated the five kings and seized all goods in Sodom and Gomorrah. They also detained all people in Sodom including Lot and his family. Hearing the news, Abram took 318 soldiers in his house, followed king Kedorlaomer, and defeated his army. Then Abram recovered all possessions and people including his nephew Lot. We can see that Abram made lots of sacrifices to help Lot. Lot should have looked back, recognized his mistakes, and come back to God. But he lost the chance.

2) Melchizedek (17-20): When Abram came back from the war, the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram. And there was another man, king of Salem, Melchizedek. He was priest of God Most High. He brought bread and wine for Abram and blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of everything. This record about Melchizedek is the only one in the Old Testaments except one more in Psalms (Psalm 110:1-4). But, in the New Testaments, in Hebrews, more than one chapter was allocated for Melchizedek. Jesus is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:17). Aaron was the first priest following the Law. But Jesus is the eternal priest following the order of Melchizedek. In the time of Abram, God already ordained Melchizedek to create another order for the priesthood apart from the Law. We can see God’s secret for our salvation apart from the Law.

3) Abram’s attitude toward wealth (21-24): The king of Sodom told Abram to keep all goods but to return all people to him. I believe that was a reasonable proposal considering Abram’s sacrifice for the war. But, Abram took a strict measure as a person who followed God’s guidelines. Abram raised his hand to the God Most High and took an oath. Abram said he would never accept anything from the king of Sodom in order to prevent any rumor that the king of Sodom made Abram rich. We Christians should be very clear about money knowing that money is the root of all kinds of evil (I Tim. 6:10, 17). We should trust in God that if we seek the righteousness of God and His kingdom, God will add all things for us (Matt. 6:33). That is an important lesson we can learn from the Bible. Thank you and God bless you.