itarily trained men who were in his tent village. These men, along with the men of two other tribal leaders, pursued Kedorlaomer’s army for a couple of hundred miles. It was his shepherd’s heart and love for Lot that gave him strength to press forward and never give up. God gave him wisdom to divide his forces and defeat Kedorlaomer. And God blessed him. Abram recovered all the goods of Sodom and all the people, including Lot and his family. God was with Abram and gave him this great victory when he cared about the flock of God and was willing to sacrifice his own life in order to rescue them from slavery. May God stir in us the same courage and compassion for lost souls in our day.
Abram’s victory placed him in a spiritually vulnerable position. Look at Verse 17b, “…the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).” Kings came to him to seek an audience. They offered him, not only recognition, but great wealth. Suddenly Abram was a political and military force to be reckoned with. Look at verse 21, “The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.’" Abram was tempted with great wealth. He was also tempted to think that, through military victory, political intrigue and worldly wealth, God was going to give him the Promised Land,. Why not seized the land now by these human means?
Abram was also despaired. He once had placed his hope in Lot, that through Lot, he would become a great nation. He poured out all of his energies to raise his nephew through the teenage years. But Lot abandoned his uncle and took half the flocks and herds and left the Promised Land without a second thought. Lot took the best without even a care about his uncles’ feelings, nor God’s hope for him. Abram sacrificed so much to rescue Lot, even risking his own life. And do you know what Lot did after he was rescued? You would think that he would repent and come to his senses and return to the life of faith alongside his uncle Abram. But no! He went back to Sodom. As a dog returns to it’s vomit. (2 Peter 2:20-22) Lot did not learn his lesson. He was so selfish. Abram despaired that all of his efforts were in vain.
Abram’s heart could have went several ways. He could have become a worldly tribal chief and ruled over the area with military might. He could have despaired and spent most of his time, curled up in a ball, sleeping in his tent and giving up on living a life of faith. He could have packed his bags and returned to the Ur of the Chaldeans where he had a lot of relatives to visit and grow old with. I would feel like giving up if I were him. He could have been paralyzed by fear wondering if Kedorlaomer would come back to exact revenge on him the next spring. He could have remained bitter to God forever asking God, “Why is this happening to me?” Can you see why this was a very tempting time for Abram? This was indeed a “crossroads” monent in the Abram’s life.
Part ll: Melchizedek, The Great Encourager! (Gen 14:17-24)
There is one thing, that all people who know God personally, come to realize…God never abandons his people at these crucial moments in their lives. He always sends someone to their them in order to give them wise words of counsel in order to help them on their spiritual journey. That is exactly what God did for Abram. Look at Verse 18a, “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine.” God sent his servant, Melchizedek.
We must always give credit to God for intervening at the crucial moments in our spiritual lives when we could have gone one way or the other. We must also thank God for his servants who have obeyed God and entered into our lives to shepherd us. It was clearly the hand of God in sending his servant to Abram. But what if Abram did not recognize Melchizedek as a priest of God sent by God himself? He could have told his servants, “Send that old man away. I am too tired and I don’t feel like talking to anyone.” He would have been the looser. But thank God that Abram had spiritual eyes to recognize the true identity of this great servan