June 20, 2006

• Back to Genesis – You know, I spent about two years in a Kay Arthur study of Revelation, and it is amazing to me how much of what is in Revelation really started in Genesis. Sometimes I think Genesis is a lot harder then Revelation, so much to think about.

  
  

  Differences between Abraham (A) and Lot (L)

  
  

  A – walked by faith   L – walked by sight
  A – generous, waived rights to land   L – greedy, picked best land
  A – looked for city whose builder & maker was God L- chose man made city
  A – Father of all who believe
  A – Many Heirs and offspring inherit from him L – possessions destroyed in Sodom ended up living in a cave.

  
  

  Well, here are some thoughts on Chapter 14. Looking up the meaning of the names does not seem to be so fruitful for verses 1-3 which name a large number of kings, who wage war. It seems to be a confusion of five kings against four kings. Four kings from the north (Shemites) and five kings from the south (Hamites) – recognize Noah’s other sons.

  
  

  There is a whole battle plan of the kings. Ultimately in the valley of Siddim which was full of asphalt (slime) – the same substance that lined the ark, and the basket of Moses, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Kind of shows you how a life of sin does not keep you ready for battle – either physical or spiritual. But they took Abram’s nephew, Lot, all the possessions and departed.

  
  

  Abram hears about this and musters an army – 318 trained servants. This is some indication of how wealthy Abram is – and also how prepared he was. These servants were trained in battle, and the went in pursuit of the army to Dan – that is a march of 120 miles, so not only were they trained, but they were well taken care of and strong. One interesting point is that Abram, a man of faith, still kept a trained army. Perhaps we need to realize that we can have faith, but still be prepared.

  
  

  Here is the first example of gorilla warfare. At night Abram  divides the servants and attacks and pursues Lot’s attackers. He brings back all the goods, his brother Lot, and the women and people. There are a couple of firsts in this passage, Genesis 14:1-17, this is the first time war is mentioned. and also, and in verse 15, the first time “Hebrew” is used in relation to Abram and his descendants. Hebrew means, one who crossed over.

  
  

  Now comes an exciting part of the scripture, a character who is so obscure, and so enticing. I remember my first reading of the Bible trying to find out more about him – Melchizedek. We will see a contrast between two kings – the king of Sodom and Melchizedek. I am glad that Abram chose to honor Melchizedek, not the king of Sodom.

  
  

  Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, his other name is King of Salem (which means peace), and he is called the Priest of God Most High. It is important to know that he is a priest of God before the Levitical priesthood was formed. He was before Aaron.

  
  

  In checking Strongs I saw that the name Melchizedek comes from the root Melek – which means king, and Tsedeq - which means righteous, just, deliverance, victory, prosperity, and messianic king.

  
  

  Notice what Melchizedek offers Abram, bread and wine (the components of communion) and with these he blessed Abram. Abram also tithed to Melchizedek – he knew who should be honored. Melchizedek is a gentile king and a priest – in the future no other king would hold the role of king and priest until Jesus.

  
  

  In Psalm 110, David speaks of the Messiah as, in verse 4: The Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

  
  

  This means that Jesus comes from a line that is far greater than the line of Levites. The Levites are under Him, for He comes from a line that is older. Hebrews 7 gives us more facts about Melchizedek.
  *He met Abraham after the SLAUGHTER of the kings and blessed him.
  *He was without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. This shows that he is most probably not a pre-incarnate visit of Jesus, but a distinct person.
  *Abraham tithed to him.
  *A case is made that he is greater than the sons of Levi, who have the priesthood and receive tithes from people according to the law, but they came from the loins of Abraham. But Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek who was not a descendant. And because Levi is a descendant of Abraham, by Jewish thinking, even Levi paid -through Abraham – tithes to Melchizedek.

  
  

  Then Hebrews goes on to say that if perfection could be attained by the Levitical priesthood (and it wasn’t), then there would have been no need for Jesus to be born, Jesus who is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not the order of Aaron.

  
  

  Now something that escaped my attention is that, according to Hebrews 7:14 “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood.” Again, the Holy Spirit made me think of the Tabernacle (which is a great picture of Jesus if you look at the symbolism), and I checked in Numbers Chapter 2 to see where the tribe of Judah camped around the tent of the tabernacle. They camped in the East – which is the direction that Jesus will approach on his second coming. If you draw out the 12 tribes and put them around the points of the compass where they camped, for example on the east Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon camp – and put the numbers from the census for the tribes. you will find that on the east side is 186,400 people camped, on the north 157,000, on the south 151,500, and on the north 108,000. Those North – South are the arms of the cross, the base is the east and the smaller top portion of the cross is the west. Even how the tribes camped around the tabernacle form the cross, with the Holy of Holies being the center. I find that awesome – it is also what Balaam saw when he overlooked the camp from the mountain. God is an awesome God.

  
  

  So a covenant that comes from Jesus is a better covenant than one that comes through the Levitical order, because Jesus has a continual and unchangeable priesthood. The Levitical priests had to sacrifice to make themselves pure to offer sacrifice to God. Jesus knew no sin and did not have to sacrifice to purify himself – he was the pure sacrifice. No Levitical priest could claim what Jesus could claim. Hebrews 7:26-28  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens, who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

  
  

  I love the consistency of the Bible, if you look up the words Righteous and Peace. You will find that in a list of attributes the word “righteous” appears always before “peace.” See, in order to have true peace, we need to have a righteous life. Anything less will put stumbling blocks in our path towards peace. Now how do we get righteousness. There are two ways. Plan 1. Be perfect, never sin, flawless perfection for all one’s life (impossible). or Plan 2, righteousness through faith, covered by the blood of Jesus.

  
  

  Contrast that to another king – the king of Sodom, who comes out to meet Abram. This king says to Abram – Genesis 14:21-24 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons and take the goods for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will 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’–except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me; Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

  
  

  The king of Sodom wants people (souls), and offers material goods to Abram. Melchizedek offered spiritual sustenance to Abram – a far better gift for one who is looking for a city whose foundation is God.

  
  

  I only want to focus on the first three words of chapter 15, “After these things….” After Abram made his choice between the kings, then God came to Abram in a vision. If you look at Revelation, you see the same term in Chapter 4 – after the church age – after these things…then John is in the throne room of heaven. Oh that we listen to God, but often He will not speak until we act righteously. A loving father cannot reward wrongful acts. I keep praying that my path keeps in the path God set for me.

  
  

  Hoping you have a blessed day.

  
  

  Heather.

  
  

   

  • 11:15 am
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