s 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 servant of God. Let us reflect on how God has been faithful to send someone into our lives to help us, by giving us the life giving words of God and showing us the way, when the way was not clear. In other words, who has been a Melchizedek to you? If you can not recognize the times when people were brought into your life to give you counsel, then ask God to open your eyes. There have been many! You must thank God for sending them. Maybe send them an e-mail. It will be much appreciated.
Who was this Melchizedek? Look at Hebrews 7:1-3, “ This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace.’ 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.” The Bible says that he was the king of Salem. The city of Salem means the “city of Peace.” It is the name of ancient Jerusalem. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world. A city called the “Foundation of Shalem” appears in ancient Egyptian records as the first two references to Jerusalem. In c. 2000 BC and c. 1330 BC a city was founded by a Northwest Semitic people, descendents of Shem, with organized settlements from around 2600 BC. (Wikipedia) They were a people who worshipped the God of Noah and had their own unique religious practices.
Melchizedek ruled over a theocracy. He was the king and also a priest. Apparently in those days there was no separation of church and state. Cities could be ruled by a person that was a political leader and also a spiritual leader. We can see glimpses of this in today’s world. For example who is the symbolic head of the Anglican Church? Not the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is the Queen of England. In the eighties, who was the leader of Iran? It was the Ayatollah Kh