Genesis chapter 14

So, here we have Lot being taken captive by the four kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam and Goiim and having everything he had taken too. When the news of this is brought to Abram, he gathers together all 318 of his servants (hardly a vast army) and marches off to rescue Lot. Abram splits his men into small groups (guerrilla warfare?) and they attack at night, recovering all the plunder, Lot, his servants, all the women and people.

Then on his way back home, the king of Sodom comes out to greet Abram and Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the priest of God Most High, brings him bread and wine and blesses him. In return, Abram gives him one tenth of all the recovered plunder.

Then the king of Sodom tells Abram to give him back the people but keep everything else himself. Abram tells him that he doesn't want the king to be able to say that he made Abram rich, so apart from the shares for the men who accompanied him, he gave everything back to the king of Sodom.

Melchizedek held a feast in honour of Abram, as bread and wine were the royal food and rink of the day. Both Melchizedek and Abram worshipped God, and they both ascribed his victory to the blessing of God on Abram.

Firstly, this all shows great trust in God by Abram. He only had 318 men with him, yet he was prepared to take on the armies of four kings, who would have had considerably more than 318 men. It either shows great foolhardiness or stupidity in thinking he could win, or else great faith in God, trusting that he was doing the right thing and God would grant him victory. Abram doesn't strike me as being a foolish man, so it can only be faith in God.

Secondly, it just shows that not all that looks good is beneficial. Here, Lot chose what he considered to be the better land and yet here he is being captured and taken prisoner, all his worldly goods lost to the four kings until his uncle comes to rescue him. Sometimes, there are hidden dangers lurking unseen and we need to be aware all the time of what is going on around us. Just because something seems like the safest option, doesn't necessarily mean that it is.

Thirdly, both Melchizedek and Abram worshipped the same God, and they both gave the honour and the glory to Him. It would have been easy for Abram to think he was a great soldier, that his planning the battle tactics had won the day, his skill had resulted in the successful rescue of Lot and everyone else. But he knew that the hand of God was on Him, that his success came form God, and it was to God that the credit rightly belonged.

Melchizedek was a king and high priest:

Hebrews 7:1-3 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him,  and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace’. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever. (NIV)

Looking back at my old journal on Genesis, these are my notes from four years ago:

There are several theories regarding Melchizedek, about whom very little is known (hence the theories!):

1. He is a respected king of that region;

2. Melchizedek may just have been a title for all kings of Salem at that time;

3. He was Shem (this is from the Rabbinical teachings and since Shem died aged 600, this was, apparently, 13 years after the death of Sarah and 10 years after Rebecca and Isaac married);

4. He was a type of Christ, so we can learn about Christ from the example of Melchizedek; and

5. He was the earthly appearance in bodily form of the preincarnate Christ.

So I googled Melchizedek and found the following:

Melchizedek is not so much a name as it is a title or designation of honor. It is a position or office that has to be filled by a worthy candidate. The term is a transliteration of two Hebrew words, melek and tsedeq. The Hebrew melek means king and tsedeq means righteousness. Therefore, the term "melchizedek" means literally, "king of righteousness." Because a king is always preeminent in his jurisdiction, whoever Melchizedek was, he had to be preeminent in righteousness. He had to be the "king" of righteousness.

But since no one is righteous except God (Matthew 19:17 Why do you ask me about what is good? Jesus replied. There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.), that is an indication that Melchizedek was Jesus. I mean, here is Abram, chasing after these kings, rescuing Lot, recovering all the goods that have been taken and then returning home, and he just gives away one tenth of it all to a complete stranger. What is more, the king of Salem, Melchizedek, specifically goes out to meet Abram, and does not wait for Abram to come to him.

I mean, did Abram really expect to meet anyone? After all, he was on his way back from an amazing victory, having succeeded in pulling off the impossible, and was probably longing just to get back home, have a hot bath, put his feet up and have a glass of wine (or whatever he did to relax!). Yet in the middle of nowhere a king comes out to greet him, brings him some bread and wine and then blesses him.

The cynical view is, of course, that Melchizedek had heard of all that Abram had done and did not want to be the next one of Abram's "hit list" so went out to keep the peace. But then surely if this was the case, Melchizedek would have assumed that Abram and his men were worn out from the battle and would attack them himself, not go and take bread and wine?

I think this is all symbolic of Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, he is the one who created everything, and without whom was nothing made, and he does not just sit around waiting for people to turn to him. You meet Jesus in all sorts of places and through all sorts of people, often when least expected.