The Church in the Days of Abram (3), Genesis 14:14; 15:1-2
The last time we considered this subject, we noted that Abram was confronted with declension in the infant Israelite church. You recall that Lot had gone to live in Sodom. Furthermore, the promises of God to Abram seemed to be becoming the possession of Lot more than of Abram himself. Abram had no children, while Lot had several.
We are going to skim chapter 14, but in the section that we will not read, Lot begins to reap the rewards of his failure to follow the Lord fully. Being too near the world, he is caught up in the world’s strife and is captured by the kings of the east, only to be rescued by Abram.
We could spend some time discussing the results of half-hearted religion as illustrated in the life of Lot. Negative example has it’s value, and it is significant that God continues to protect Lot, even though his faith is less than steadfast. But it’s also depressing. Lot continues to decline. The preservation of Lot’s life, in spite of all of this, is really more of an exception than a rule. It is a remarkable example of God’s mercy towards a wayward son. We may marvel at that, but we obviously don’t want to emulate Lot’s way of life. In any case, we continue to concentrate on God’s work in the life of Abram this evening.
Taking God at His Word
We are going to concentrate on just one verse in chapter 14 before going on to chapter 15.
"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan," (Gen 14:14).
The build up to this event, namely, the description of the parties and the battle, indicates that a significant force had come to attack the Canaanite cities. The leaders are described as kings, and some of the enemy kings had come from a long distance. The Canaanite kings, it’s true, are probably not much to recon with—there is mention of the king of Zoar, and we know that Zoar is a small place (Gen 19:20-22). But among the enemy kings we recognize Elam and Shinar, which are not cities, but major regions in the ancient eastern world, and they are a great distance from the land of Canaan. These kings didn’t show up to this battle with only a few hundred warriors.
How is it that Abram thinks he can attack these four kings with only 318 men? Notice that Moses records the numbers in Abram’s force down to the last man, numbering down to three significant digits out of three. Every one of these men was critical to Abram’s attempt. We might ask ourselves, first, why does Abram do this at all, and secondly, how are these few men able to overcome an army of thousands?
Our answer lies in two things: 1) Abram’s love for Lot, and 2) Abram’s belief in God’s word. Notice that verse 14 says that Abram heard that “his brother” was taken captive. A brother is a closer relation than a nephew. Abram loved Lot, despite Lot’s failings, and he flies to his aid when he is in trouble. We are going to see how proud and ungrateful a nephew Lot proves to be when we get to chapter 19. We will find that he has simply gone back to live again in Sodom, and we’ll see how badly he behaves after leaving Sodom when it is burned. But Abram’s love is without dissimulation (Rom 12:9).
Even so, Abram would not have hazarded his life and household without having some confidence of success. Does it seem that anyone in his right mind would have done what Abram did? Abram, though, was taking hold of God’s promise, he was taking God at his word. He had a sense of God’s support in claiming this land for the people of God, and as far as Abram knew, this would probably have included Lot at this point.
Deeper Fellowship with God
As we turn to chapter 15 there is a new revelation of God to Abram. We have seen this happening previously at times when Abram might have been expected to be discouraged. In this case, however, the revelation may be coming as a result of Abram’s faith and valor in saving Lot, and in his paying tithes to Melchizedek. The Lord often honors us with greater insight and fellowship as we obey him. Whether God draws near because of circumstances that otherwise tend to discourage us, or if the Lord should grant us a fuller measure of his presence as we grow in grace through obedience, we should rejoice in his nearness.
Revelation of God’s Goodness to Abram
Here is how he approaches Abram now:
"After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward," (Gen 15:1).
Until now we have seen what God promises Abram in terms of the land of Canaan and the extension of his family to possess it. This time there is something more. God does not just promise Abram the land. He doesn’t just promise him children to possess it, as good as both of these things are. He says now, I am your protector, but he says even more. He says, “I myself am your reward.” He is saying to Abram that Abram will, in a sense, possess the God of heaven. We hear the same idea in the Song of Solomon: "My beloved is mine, and I am his," (SS 2:16).
By the nature of it, it is an exceeding great reward. We need to pause when we think about this. We tend to be so obtuse and blind that we can say to ourselves, “Well, isn’t that fine?” and quickly go on to whatever next enters our minds. But God is giving himself to us. Shouldn’t that humble us? Shouldn’t that seem impossible to us? What can it mean? We can’t fathom it. But, at the least, it should certainly cause us to give ourselves to the Lord. It isn’t much of an even exchange, but it’s all we can do.
God already possesses us by right of creation, and even more by redemption. Consider, though, that our redemption might just have been a reprieve from execution. God might have pardoned us, but left us on our own, standing off at some distance from such an undeserving people.
But that’s not how God treats us. He gives himself to us! The natural response to such love is to show our love in return to the greatest extent we can. In the passage from the Song of Solomon, that’s why we see the Shunamite quickly saying of the beloved God, “and I am his.”
Boldness Before God
We might wonder, what kind of a relationship is this that the Lord is ours and we are his? Are we simply to stand in mute wonder before God because it’s all so amazing?
In fact, the relationship is quite different. How would you like to have a wife or a husband who simply stands in mute wonder in front of you? There are perhaps some people who think they would like something of that nature, but even those people would quickly tire of it.
The relationship we have with God is much more robust than this. It does not displease the Lord that Abram responds with a request, and even an observation that God’s former promises don’t seem to be coming to fruition. Abram brings God’s word back to him when he says, “Lord God” (note the special emphasis of respect as he says this, “Lord God”), “what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless.”
It’s a shame that we have to stop here for lack of time, but this gets us to the point I want to make, namely, that this close relationship we have with God is a robust and real two-way exchange. Obviously, we don’t mean that our relationship with God is an egalitarian relationship. God is our great superior. But, by God’s grace, he is ours, and we may hold before him his covenant promises. It is just as parties to a legal suit might do, as though God owes us what he has promised. We plead before him in this unusual courtroom where he is both judge and defendant, and we are the plaintiffs, bringing our case.
Summary
Our part is to take God at his word, whether that means stepping out in faith to challenge the culture around us, or waiting and believing patiently for the fulfillment of an expected promise. We then take the promises into this special place of God’s favor, and plead them before him.
You are probably familiar with the promises of God sometimes being described in a metaphor as checks that may be brought to the bank and cashed. That’s true enough, and it is a very helpful analogy, but what we find in our passage tonight is that the Bank President is our husband. He will surely not fail to keep his vows to us, and all of the checks with his signature on them he will delight to honor out of his own resources.