A raised hand

DEVOTION

GENESIS

A RAISED HAND

Gen 14:21-24

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me — to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."

NIV

We have to conclude that not only did Abram and his men free Lot from captivity but he also freed many others from the city of Sodom that were taken, as well as all their possessions. These would most likely have been herds of cattle, sheep, furniture and fixtures made of precious metals such as gold and silver. The king of Sodom was not interested in the material goods, but only the people. It would have been appropriate in that culture for Abram to keep it all, people and possessions as he won it all in battle. But Abram did not want to be in debt in any way to this king of Sodom. Although the scripture does talk about not owning any man, and even that has been misunderstood, this is not about that truth. This is about the fact Abram raised his hand to the Lord and had taken an oath. It would seem we could spin this oath in a couple of ways, or if we were to speak it, we could do so in several tones of voice. It could appear that Abram was a little snippy in his response telling the king of Sodom he would not take anything so the king could never say he made Abram rich. We could say it like that with a little nasty kind of flavor in our voice. But that is not the way it should be seen. Abram had raised his hand to the Lord God Most High creator of heaven and earth. If the king of Sodom did not know about the Lord God Most High, he did now. If the king of Sodom did not know Abram was already rich, he surely must have by now. He knew it was Abram with his 318 men who went after Lot and freed him along with all those people and possessions. A man with that many of his own men had to already be rich. So it was not that Abram was not wanting to owe him, but that he wanted the king to know he was rich because of the blessings of the Lord God Most High on his life. Abram was due the rewards, that is a fact. But he wanted to give God the credit for his life, as well as the victory in battle. It was the Lord God who gave him that victory so in fact all the spoils of war belonged to God, not Abram and certainly not the king of Sodom. Yet the king felt for some reason he was due the people, after all they were his in the first place. Is that how we are with our people and possessions? Because we won them in the battle of life, do we feel they belong to us? Do we treat our family members as if we are their king or queen? Do we think our possessions are the reward for our great efforts in life, our good stewardship? Abram had raised his hand to God. We have raised our hand to God.  We have acknowledged him before men. We cannot allow men to believe they have made us rich, or that we have made ourselves rich, for it is the Lord God Most High who has blessed our lives. Everything we are, all that we have is due to him. He desires all the credit for everything in our lives. He is our sovereign Lord and Master. When we consider the point about owing no debt it does have bearing on the response of Abram but not in the way many might think.

Rom 13:5-10

5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."   10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

NIV

It is not about owing, but about not repaying if we have a debt, such as taxes or if we want something, pay for it, don’t steal it. More importantly, if someone is due respect, give it to them. If someone is due honor, do not withhold that honor. The only debt we can never repay, is love toward others. We can never be finished owing our fellow man our love. This is what Abram was about, he went to rescue Lot because of his love for him. He freed all those other people out of the debt of love, and he did not want the spoils of his victory for it was the victory of the Lord God. Abram demonstrated that kind of love toward the king of Sodom and toward some of the men whom must have battled exceptionally hard at his side. Abram was not selfish or filled with self-ambition. He wanted everyone to know he was with the Lord God Most High and that God was on his side. He raised his hand to God. What do we mean when we raise our hand to the Lord? Do we raise our hand? We should be living our whole life with a raised hand.