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Whose Glory Are We After? (Genesis 14:1-24)

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Whose Glory Are We After? (Genesis 14:1-24) Genesis, part 23 – Whose Glory Are We After? (Genesis 14:1-24) Chedorlaomer Birsha Bera Melchizedek “And it came about in the days of Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch (king of Ellasar), and Chedorlaomer (king of Elam) and Tidal (king of Goiim) . that they made war against Bera (king of Sodom) and Birsha (king of Gomorrah) . .” Genesis 14:1-2 “For twelve years, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah had been subject to Chedorlaomer but, in the thirteenth year, they rebelled.” Genesis 14:4 “Then the king of Sodom [Bera] and the king of Gomorrah [Birsha] and their allies marched out and arrayed for battle in the Valley of Siddim.” Genesis 14:8 “Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. And when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into these pits, while the rest ran away into the hill country.” Genesis 14:10 “Then Chedorlaomer and his allies seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and departed.” Genesis 14:11 “They also carried off Abraham’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom.” Genesis 14:12 “Did this event really happen the way the Bible says it did?” Critics of the Bible have challenged the historical accuracy of Genesis 14 more than almost any other event in the Book of Genesis – but archaeology has really helped us! “Archaeology has discovered much which has buttressed the accuracy of the biblical account of the existence and destruction of these . cities by the kings of the East.” Nelson Glueck #1 – Letters from the ancient city of Mari [in northern Mesopotamia] The Mari letters tell us that during the years when the Bible says Abraham lived (c. 2100 B.C.) there was a powerful alliance between these nations that Genesis 14 names. Moreover – archaeology also tells us that this alliance fell apart not long after the time of Abraham. The Bible’s account of this alliance in Genesis 14 is “accurate to a fault” during the time of Abraham and Lot. #2 – The reason why these kings wanted the southern Jordan Valley In his excavation of the southern Jordan Valley, Nelson Glueck found that (at the time of Abraham and Lot) there was great “mining activity” going on around Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of Abraham and Lot, this area around Sodom was a “raw-materials bonanza” for whoever controlled it. Glueck also found that after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – this mining ceased. The only time this area around Sodom and Gomorrah was worth fighting over was when Lot was living there – precisely like the Bible says! #3 – The route these kings took [Genesis 14:5-7] to invade Canaan Archaeology has discovered that the route the Bible says these kings took followed a major highway that ran through this area at the time of Abraham. Jack Finegan – Light from the Ancient Past “A main highway ran from north to south through the land at this time which is clearly traceable from the ruins of sites dated from the 23rd to the 20th centuries B.C. [the time of Abraham]. “This was the exact line along which the eastern kings of Genesis 14 moved.” The Bible’s account of the invasion route these kings took in Genesis 14 squares perfectly with the transportation patterns that we now know existed at the time of Abraham. The result of all this archaeological data is that Genesis 14 is now treated with a high degree of historical respect where once it was dismissed as historical nonsense. Edwin Yamauchi – The Stones and the Scriptures “The unmistakable shift towards a conservative view of Genesis 14 may be illustrated by comparing the opinion expressed about Genesis 14 by Dr. William F. Albright in 1918 vs. 1961.” “In his 1918 article, Dr. Albright regarded this chapter as . ‘without historical foundation.’” “Some forty years later, Dr. Albright asserted that his studies had ‘established the absolute antiquity of the contents of this chapter.’” The more they dig out of the ground, the more the Bible proves to be right! Archaeology confirms that the way to approach Genesis 14 is to assume that: • There really was an invasion of Sodom and Gomorrah. • Lot really was taken captive by this invasion force. • Abraham really did do what Genesis 14 says he did next. “Then someone who had escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah came and told Abraham the Hebrew what had happened.” Genesis 14:13a “Now, at this time, Abraham was living [in Hebron] by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner, all three of whom were allied with Abraham.” Genesis 14:13b “When Abraham heard that his relative Lot had been taken captive, he mustered his 318 trained men, who had been born in his household, and set out in pursuit . .” Genesis 14:14 Later on, in verse 24, we find out that Abraham also had with him troops from his allies [Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre]. “And so, Abraham divided his forces against them by night to attack them. And Abraham routed them, and kept attacking them as far north as Damascus.” Genesis 14:15 “And Abraham recovered all the goods that had been taken, as well as his relative Lot and all Lot’s possessions, along with the women and all the people.” Genesis 14:16 As Abraham heads home, he has an encounter with two kings. King #1 – Melchizedek “Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine [i.e., for Abraham’s troops]. He was a priest of the Most High God and he blessed Abraham . Then Abraham gave him a tenth [“tithe”] of everything.” Genesis 14:18 King #2 – King of Sodom “After Abraham returned from defeating Chedorlaomer . the king of Sodom came out to meet him . .” Genesis 14:17 “And the king of Sodom said to Abraham, ‘Give the people to me – and keep all the goods for yourself.’” Genesis 14:21 In ancient times, it was expected that a victorious army and its leader would keep all the material wealth they captured [“booty/spoil”]. [After godly King Asa and the Hebrew army defeated an invading force]: “. and they carried away very much spoil.” 2 Chronicles 14:13 “But Abraham said to the King of Sodom, ‘I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abraham rich.’” Genesis 14:22, 23 “. But I will take the share that belongs to the men that went with me – to Aner, Eschol, and Mamre. They shall have their share.” Genesis 14:24 And so – Abraham goes back to Hebron, Lot goes back to Sodom, and so ends this momentous chapter. So What? “But Abraham said to the King of Sodom, ‘I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abraham rich.’” Genesis 14:22, 23 The issue here is “God’s glory” vs. “Abraham’s glory.” Abraham wanted to be sure that God got 100% of the glory/credit for all the blessings He had given Abraham – and that Abraham got 0% of it! The reason for this is that Abraham realized that he deserved 0% of the credit! 7000 talents of silver = $238 million 3000 talents of gold = $5.7 billion “But who am I, that I should be able to give to You as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and I have only given to You what came to me from Your hand.” 1 Chronicles 29:14 David was acutely aware that none of the credit for his success belonged to him. Abraham wanted to make absolutely certain that he never put himself in a situation where anyone could even give him the glory – but that it would always go to Almighty God. I am of the opinion that in the church of Jesus Christ in America today – we have an “epidemic” when it comes to this issue of self-promotion and self-glory. “You know, it really burns me up when somebody calls me an ‘assistant pastor’ – when I’m really an ‘associate pastor’!” “. Diotrephes who loves the pre-eminence.” 3 John 9 God must become the center of our universe and His Glory must become the paramount issue in our lives. “He [the Lord Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 “And they gathered the church together and reported what God had done through them . .” Acts 14:27 “We’re just a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt the Great Somebody.” Jim Elliot “Moses spent forty years in Pharaoh’s court thinking he was a somebody – forty years in the desert learning he was a nobody – and forty years showing what God can do with a somebody who realizes he is a nobody!” Dwight L. Moody Our heartfelt goal = Jesus Christ gets every ounce of credit and glory for every good thing in our lives. We do this not just in our hearts, but also with our mouths. So often – as followers of Christ – we rob God of the glory because we fail to give Him the verbal credit He deserves. In our mind, we may be giving God the credit for all these blessings. But unless we verbally tell this to people – they’ll get it wrong and give the credit to us! As followers of Christ, it’s critical that we give God the outward verbal credit for all He does! Everywhere we go .
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