Genesis 14

Notes compiled with my BSF group

OVERVIEW (Genesis 14:1-10)

Genesis 14:1–3
Fourteen years before Lot’s capture, Eastern kings conquered the Siddim Valley.

Genesis 14:4
One year before Lot’s capture, the conquered peoples rebelled.

Genesis 14:5–7
The Eastern kings returned to punish the people.

Genesis 14:8–12
Four Eastern kings defeated five Siddim Valley kings, and Lot was captured.

Kings of the East (Genesis 14:1)
Amraphel, king of Shinar (Babylon)
Arioch, king of Ellasar
Kedorlaomer, king of Elam
Tidal, king of Goiim

Kings of the Siddim Valley (Genesis 14:2)
Bera, king of Sodom
Birsha, king of Gomorrah
Shinab, king of Admah
Shemeber, king of Zeboiim
King of Bela (that is, Zoar)


FOLLOW GOD AND VICTORY WILL FOLLOW (Genesis 14:11-16)

Lot made his choice based on worldly values; he did not consult God. His lack of trust in the Lord led him to make choices that not only put himself in danger but his family as well.

Abram, on the other hand, followed God faithfully -- and he was blessed and protected.

Abram had an army of 318 men. Sure, we can snicker and say that's a small army, but Abram was a CIVILIAN! What civilian today can have an army of that size? Further, Abram was able to support not just the men in the army but their families as well! For a civilian back then (and even today!) to have such a force, that man is clearly doing well -- very well. 

With his army of men, Abram was able to defeat ALL FOUR KINGS OF THE EAST who had just defeated the other FIVE kings! Sure, small army -- but with God on his side, 318 men were enough to defeat huge armies, despite being greatly outnumbered.

Abram obviously worked hard to obtain what he had, but his success was definitely a blessing from the Lord.


OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD (Ephesians 6:12)

- Our enemy (Satan and his demons) will come and attack us any time.
- We need to be under the protection and blessing of God in order to combat Satan and his demons.
- We need to be prepared. For example, our minds need to be trained (study the Bible), and we need to make sure our "weapons" are in good condition (put on the full Armor of God).

We are caught amid the Spiritual Warfare that Satan has declared against God

"Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see" (2 Kings 6:8-22)

This is a great story that I recommend us to all go and read it. However, for the sake of brevity, I'll summarize it below:
There was great tension between Israel and Syria. Israel had been so successful against Syria's attacks that Syria's king (king of Aram) believed there had to be a spy. He thus called his officers together and asked them, "Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" (2 Kings 6:11)

The Syrians eventually discovered that it was Elisha (prophet of Israel) who had been advising the king of Israel what to do. King of Aram thus commanded his army to capture Elisha during the night.

When Elisha's servant got up in the morning and was freaked out by the surrounding enemies. And all Elisha said to him was, "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16)

Naturally, the servant was still freaked out (as I would be as well). Hence, Elisha prayed to God to open his servant's eyes. And once God opened his eyes, the servant saw "the hills full of horses and chariots of fire" (2 Kings 6:17).
Smartly, after this event, the Syrians stopped attacking Israel.

This is exactly what Paul was talking about: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities (fallen angels), against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12).

In Daniel 10, we get another glimpse of the spiritual warfare. God has given Daniel a vision. To gain understanding of the vision, Daniel fasted and prayed. On the 21st day of Daniel's fast, an angelic being appears.

Since the FIRST DAY that Daniel started his fast, this angel was already dispatched to give Daniel the message (Daniel 10:12). What held the angel up for 21 days?

"But the prince of Persian kingdom resisted me for 21 days" (Daniel 10:13)

The POWER behind the king of Persia (the supernatural prince) delayed the angel for 21 days -- Who is this power? Satan (Revelation).

Satan tried and continues to try to prevent God's messengers from reaching His people. Here, we see Satan's forces at work here to prevent this angel from delivering his message to Daniel.

The angel was sent to deliver a message to Daniel, but he was delayed because he got caught up in the spiritual warfare. If it wasn't for the Arch Angel Michael's help, if it wasn't for Daniel's prayers, the angel would not have been able to make it (Daniel 10:13)!

We now understand that Daniel fasted for 21 days. On day 21, an angel showed up, explained his delay, and proceeded to give Daniel a message (which will be discussed in Daniel 11-12). Afterwards, the angel was due to return to the fight against the Prince of Persia, who will be succeeded by Prince of Greece (Daniel 10:20). This event (Greece overcoming Persia) does not take place until 200 years later!

This passage opens our eyes to the super powers that are behind each of these major empires. One of Satan's "senior officers" was in charge of Persia, and another was in control of Greece.

This angel went back to fight the power behind Persia and knew that when he's defeated that power, another power for Greece will come in its place.

We also see that this angel and Michael were placed to protect God's people, Israel (Daniel 10:21)!

Satan is the prince of this world
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he showed Jesus "all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor" and said to Jesus, "All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me" (Mathew 4:8-9).

And Jesus responded, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only" (Matthew 4:10)

Satan's temptation wouldn't be much of a temptation if what Satan had to offer was not true. And indeed, when Satan tricked Adam and Eve to fall away from God, Satan won over the title deed to Earth. This is why Satan's claim is legitimate.

We further know Satan's claim is legitimate because Jesus never challenged Satan's claim!

Satan quotes from the Bible (Matthew 4:6), so obviously he has some idea of what's going on. He knows Jesus is the king of kings and knows what Jesus has to achieve on Earth. And with this temptation, Satan is basically telling Jesus, Just worship me, and it's all over--All the kingdoms will be given to Jesus.

Clearly, we see how Satan manipulates. He stretches the Truth just enough so that things appear to be far better than they seem. But Jesus did not die on the Cross just to rule over the Earth. He died on the Cross to redeem us, to cleanse us of our sins so that we can be restored in God. Jesus knew there was no circumventing the Cross, no matter how difficult a mission that was.

Satan is the power behind world leaders

EXAMPLE 1: How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12)
Isaiah 14 starts out addressing the king of Babylon. However, as the passage continues, we start to sense that it cannot just be talking about the king of Babylon -- For example, the king of Babylon did not fall from Heavn. Instead, this passage is also addressing the power behind the king of Babylon, Satan.

Here are the 5 famous "I will's" of Satan:
"For you have said it in your heart, I WILL ascent into heaven, I WILL exalt my throne above the stars of God: I WILL sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds; I WILL be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14)

This is Satan's pride that caused him to fall from Heaven. It is the same pride that will get him tossed into the Lake of Fire.

"Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:15).

EXAMPLE 2: You were in Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 28:13)

In Ezekiel 28:1-19, the passage is addressing the king of Tyre. Again, it starts out speaking specifically to the king of Tyre at the time (Ezekiel 28:1-10), but then, it shifts to discussing the power behind Tyre, Satan (Ezekiel 28:11-19). The king of Tyre was not perfect or beautiful. He certainly was never in the Garden of Eden! The Garden no longer existed during his reign!

Satan walked around in Eden, was perfectly beautiful, clothed in light, and was the epitome of wisdom. Because of his perfection, Satan was ordained as a guardian cherub.
Cherubs are the "super angels" (for the lack of a better term). Four of them are very visible around the throne of God (Ezekiel 1:10; Isaiah 6).

A cherub was placed in charge to guard the way to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24). Why was Adam and Eve refused the Tree of Life? Because they would be immortals in their sinful state and be denied forever of salvation! Was a cherub necessary to prevent Adam and Eve access to the Tree of Life? No, a normal angel would have been more than enough. The cherub was necessary to guard against another cherub: Satan. Satan was found perfect UNTIL iniquity was found in him.

The WHOLE Armor of God protects us from Satan and his demons (Ephesians 6:10-20)

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish stronghold" (2 Corinthians 10:4).

If we are going to stand a chance against Satan and his deceptive ways, we must be equipped with the FULL armor of God. Check for chinks and fix it. An armor is useless if it is not maintained and kept in tip-top shape!


Armor of God:

1. Belt of Truth
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
3. Feet shod with the Gospel of Peace
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of Salvation
6. Sword of the Word of God
7. Prayer

Most of the equipment is defensive: Truth, Righteousness, Gospel, Faith, and Salvation. When we understand the Word of God, we will be able to defend against false teachers and Satan's deceptive tricks.

We do have two powerful offensive weapons: The Word of God (sharper than any two-edged sword -- Hebrews 4:12) and prayers. 

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Think of the Word of God as a close-range weapon and prayers as long-range weapon (like arrows). This is why we study the Word and pray. We study the Word to keep it sharp -- so that when the enemies attack, we are ready and can distinguish from God's will versus the enemy's deceptions.

We pray, not just for ourselves but also for our brothers/sisters who are also in this war. We may be far away, but God is never far away from any one of us. When we pray for others, we're sending help their way. We can pray to have God weaken the enemies for us or to strengthen ourselves in our walk before the battles hits close and personal.

In order to keep our sword and prayers sharp, our faith has to be strong, etc. We can now begin to see how integral every piece of the armor is to keeping us strong in the Lord.

Listen to what Paul has said: We take EVERY thought and make it obedient to Christ, measuring it against the Knowledge of God! Why? So that we do not give Satan a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).

How does this translate to the Armor of God? Chinks in the armor. 

If any one piece of the equipment is not in shape, Satan will expose it and attack us from those weak points. This is why ALL parts of the Armor is CRITICAL. Satan and his demons are formidable enemies.

A Roman soldier would NEVER go on a battle field without his sword. He would never go into a fight without his shield. Or his helmet. Or his breast plate, etc. We are fighting a WAR here, people. No one goes into a battle unprepared, because the unprepared DIES. If we are fighting to win, then ALL parts of the our armor must be in top shape.

And so, while we are to put on the WHOLE Armor of God, before we put it on, we must take extreme care to ensure that our armor is in great shape. Study the Word and check our heart daily. Do not ever offer Satan an ounce of opportunity.


JESUS COMES FROM THE LINE OF MELCHIZEDEK (Genesis 14:17-24)


Melchizedek was a picture of Christ (Genesis 14:17-20)
Psalm 110
Matthew 22:41-46

"You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4).

Melchizedek was a king of righteousness and of peace, and so is Jesus.

In Genesis 14:18-20, Melchizedek welcomed Abraham with bread and wine. Jesus offered his disciples bread and wine. We take communion with bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus. The bread and wine uniquely symbolize Jesus and are clues that suggest Melchizedek foreshadowed Jesus.

Genesis 14:19
Hebrews 7:6-7
Melchizedek blessed Abraham, not the other way around. Only the greater blesses the lesser – Jesus blesses everyone. No one can bless Jesus because no one is higher than Jesus.

Genesis 14:20
Abram, father of Levites, tithed to Melchizedek, by giving him a tenth of everything.

Because Abram was the father of Levites, this could be seen as Abram, representing the entire Levitical priesthood, tithing to Melchizedek! This is why Melchizedek was greater than any Levite priest, because only the lesser tithe to the greater.

We tithe to Jesus today because He is our King. Jesus doesn’t tithe to anyone because He is the King.

Hebrews 7:11-12
"If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?"

Jesus comes from the Melchizedek priesthood, superior than the Levitical priesthood.

The Levitical priesthood and the Law were not good enough. If it were, why would it be prophesied that there would be a change in the priesthood, a change in the Law? The Law does not redeem but condemns. The Law merely points out how imperfect we are, and how impossible it is for us to fulfill it perfectly. The Law teaches us that only the blood of an innocent substitute can atone for our sins. Shedding the blood of innocent animals, a Levitical ritual, was not good enough because animals are not equal substitutes for humans. This was why this ritual needed to be done on a yearly basis. It was not a permanent solution. It was a horribly ineffective band-aid.

With the coming of Jesus, all the rules changed. As the perfect man, He was our perfect substitute. This is why Jesus is our permanent solution. This is why His blood is good enough to wash away our sins forever.

Hebrews 7:15-17
The Levitical priesthood was made based on flesh, on ancestry, on bloodline. When one Levitical priest dies, his duties are passed on to the next Levitical priest. Jesus, however, has eternal life. He therefore remains our High Priest forever.

This is why the Melchizedek priesthood surpasses that of Levites.


Abram sided with God and God only (Genesis 14:21-24)
Upon their defeat, the king of Sodom wanted the people and were willing to give Abram the loot in exchange for the people. However, Abram told them that his allegiance was with God and will not accept anything from men.

Abram is teaching us what "No one can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24) means.

When we are eager to please the people in our lives, we make compromises. One thing we should never compromise on though is our devotion to God. God alone sits way at the top of our priority list. When we try to please EVERYONE, we end up disappointing someone. Either that someone is man or that someone could be God. If we must choose, the choice is a no-brainer. Come now, eternal life or brief satisfaction?