Marching as onto war

DEVOTION

GENESIS

MARCHING AS ONTO WAR

Gen 14:1-16

14:1 At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar — four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. 13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.

NIV

This is a whole lot of kings fighting among themselves. Why are we being told all the names and who was allied with whom and under the rule of whom and rebelled and battled who? What difference does all this make to the anything that is important? What we can gather from all this, though there were a great deal of conflict among mankind. All the clans or tribes that sprang up from the three sons of Noah had indeed become kingdoms with kings, or tribal or clan leaders. Some of these clans were either larger, stronger, or more aggressive than others. They allied with others and waged war, conquering and taking the conquered as their subjects. This was not a peaceful time. Mankind in general it would seem is not peaceful. It seems there has always been some type of war between men, between tribes, clans and nations. But this is not the reason we are being told all this battling between kings. In this process, Lot gets taken  as a prisoner or subject just because he lived near Sodom. One of the men who must have been part of Lots group, perhaps one of his herdsman or man servant escaped and immediately headed off to tell Abram. Again we see the character of this man. Abram could have said that it was Lots problem, he took that direction, the best looking land, and set the course for his own life, what matter is it to me. But Abram did not say that. He gathered 318 trained men who were born in his household. Abram was a clan onto himself. If he could call out that many trained men, how many people were under his leadership? Although he was allied with two kings, or other clan leaders, he did not call on them for assistance. He took his own people, who were trained for fighting, it would seem. The reason for having trained men is not part of our truth, but it is interesting that Abram would have so many men trained in the art of war. The point of all we are told here is that when Lot was in trouble, Abram took his men and went out to help his nephew. It would seem Abram spared no expense at getting Lot back from his trouble. It is also interesting that with so few men he routed the kings who had won all the battles and carried off all the possessions and people. Still our lesson is in the character of Abram, as always. He left the comfort of his home, his business and set out to battle, to fight for the freedom of his nephew, the one who took the best land. How far out of our way are we willing to travel to help a family member in need? How far are we willing to go, to help a friend in need? What are we willing to do in order to help solve another’s problem? We know that Jesus taught us about this kind of love.

John 15:12-14

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

NIV

Although within the context of these words, Jesus is telling them he is going to lay down his life for them, for the forgiveness of their sin, to redeem them to God, it still is a command to them and to us. This is what Abram was willing to do for Lot. Although he did not actually lay his life down, or die for Lot, he laid his life down to go after Lot. He set his life on hold, his daily activities, his business to battle kings who it would seem were in the business of waging war. It could have cost Abram a great deal to go after Lot, he might have lost good trained men in the battle. But he did not, at least we are not told he lost anyone. Yet this is the point. How much are we willing to do to help a family member, or friend? Are we willing to put our life on hold plus put our property or business in jeopardy in pursuit of helping someone in trouble? Although it is doubtful that Abram had any doubts about being victorious. It is doubtful he would have set out to free Lot if he thought he would lose the battle and be captured as well. But then there is another lesson. Whenever we set out to help another, we set out to accomplish it, with confidence in the Lord to be victorious. We are not told Abram checked with the Lord about going after Lot, but we do know that Abram was a man who followed after God.  This going after Lot was not a small effort. With 318 trained men, Abram traveled miles and miles in pursuit of this king who captured Lot. No trucks, just walking, day in and day out, camping, bringing food and supplies for the trip. Maybe more men were there to help with the meals and supplies. All this we do not know, but it would make sense. Again this was not an easy task, but Abram was after his family to help. Sometimes we need to go the distance to help others, if the journey is not an easy one. It is not that we have to do that all the time, always being about going to help another, but when the situation arises, we should not turn the other way either. When help is needed, we should be there, ready willing and able. Trained  for task at hand. Has not God trained us? It is not that we need to have any special human skills, although at times that is helpful in some situations. What we really need is the training in righteousness God does in our lives. What we really need is the love of Christ for our fellow man, willing to lay our lives down for them, willing to set aside our own pursuits in order to free them from their captivity. This is the other lesson. People are held in captivity to sin and we need to go to battle in order to set them free. Onward Christian soldier, marching as on to war.