Psalm 110,Study 4,The Son In The Father
Now we are going to be running Genesis 14 and Psalm 110:4 alongside Hebrews 7:1-3
But lets begin with Genesis 14 and here we begin with the war of the Kings
TASK : read Genesis 14
Now this is before Abram is named Abraham :(Note)
Now there was war in Sodom and Gomorrah and the four kings seized all the food and goods and possessions including people
Now it was reported to Abram and Abran was concerned about his mephew "lot" and summoned up 318 trained men from his household and went in pursuit and Abram and his men intercepted these armies of the Kings
And you can read this in Genesis 14
Now Abram recovered lot his nephew and the possessions plus food and goods and people including women
And this is where we begin the scenario and where Melchizedek AND the king of sodom meet Abram
So we have now the scene where Abram meets with Melchizedek AND the king of sodom on his way back
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THE FOUR KINGS
So we have the four kings who went to war against Sodom and Gomorrah and you can do
a further study on this referring to Daniel 7:17 with the four kingdoms and the four beasts
As Genesis 14 is a kind of shadow of things to come and you begin to see how Gods word
is like a "web" which interlinks together ! and you also see that taking the new testament on its own
does not really make sense unless you also take from the Old Testament and testifying scripture
Now we come firstly to the scene where Abram meets Melchezidec king of salem and the king
of sodom
But firstly we must remember the promise made to Abram before all this in Genesis 12:1-2
And incidently this mornings message at my Church (oo coincidence again) was on Abraham and Genesis 12:1
GIVING OUR ALL
Now usually this scene where Abram meets Melchezidek is seen as a simply example to do
with and related to "tithing"
But actually theres a lot more in this than meets the eye and this is more to do with
"Heart Judgement"
THE KINGS VALLEY
Firslty Melchizedek arrives on the scene and brings the wine and bread for Abram's men to after
they had fought the battle and this was in the valley of Shaveh (the King's Valley) and you find this
in Genesis 14:17
So the first significant thing here is that Melchezidek blesses Abram and gives food and drink
Now in return Abram gives back a tenth of the spoils of war, that is the goods and possessions
The tenth signified "completeness" or giving all to God
Now before we go on lets go to Genesis 13 and we see that Abram had already become wealthy with
livestock , silver and gold
But that this was not where his heart was and this is one important point :Abrams heart was not for temporal wealth ..... note Luke 19:8 as
compared to Mark 10:17-27
THE CROSS OVER
So lets skip back a chapter before we go on - to Genesis 13:10-18 and here we see a decision or a heart motive
Abram gave lot the choice and lot made his judgement !
Whereas Abram went in the opposite direction to lot and whichever way lot chose Abram
would go the other way
In this was a judgement , a weighing up and evaulation, a heart motive or decision
And so Abram went to canaan and lot to jordan
Now lets go forward again to Genesis 14 again and continue , as Abram finishes his decision and
transaction with the "king of Salem - Melchezidek" and now confronts the "king of sodom"
Two choices here you see and this is the main point that I see in this, as not so much a
giving of a tenth of the spoils of war but a choice between two pathways
And so the king of Sodom meets Abram in the valley of Shaveh and asks for his people to
be returned to him
But Abram gave all of the people AND all of their possessions back to the king of Sodom
THE JUDGEMENT
Now go to Genesis 14:22-24 "QUOTE"23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not
even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram
rich.’(UNQUOTE)
You see both King of Sodom and Melchizedek offered Abram riches.
One was from the world and one from God
But Abram chose God and His promise over and above worldly riches.
Relate this to Matthew 4:9
In this is the "Judgement" of Abram between the two choices
The "world" or "God
In this we also see and notice another significant thing also in
Genesis 14:13 in that Abram is called "Abram the Hebrew" here
Which can be said in hebrew to mean "cross over a boundary"
LIFE SONG
So Abram believed God and the promise of God in Genesis 12:1-2
And the riches of the world were nothing compared to the riches of God
Philippians 3:8
And these riches were of Gods blessing upon him and we know that from this a multitude as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the shore came forth
Two pathways...one temporary the other eternal
Two Judgements of the heart a weighing up on the scales
Two decisions , one to become rich beyond measure and the other a promise of God
Two decisions ,,,, the way to life or the way to death
Decisions that we all have to make at some time and once the path is setout before us and our choices (judgements) are made ...then the "Abram" of life might rescue us from that darkness
But it is still even then a choice of which way but some chose to stay where they are
Do I choose to give the "complete number" My All? and rely on God to give me the riches beyond worldly riches ?
Or do I choose to take what is offered to me now ? and forfeit the promise of God ?
Mark 8:36
Whatever my decision or judgement in the end ..this judgement of God will rebound back on me sooner or later
Will I be a Son in the Father ?
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And we end the message / study, thankyou for reading
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