All right, Genesis 14. Let's
read these verses. Now bear with me. These names
are difficult, very difficult. It came to pass in the days of
Amraphel, king of Shinar and Ariok, king of Elasar, Ketileomer,
king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Bashan, that these made war
with Bera, king of Sodom, with Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinad,
king of Adma, and Shemirber, king of Zeboim, and the king
of Bila, which is Zoar. All these were joined together
in the Vale of Sinim, which is the Salt Sea. Twelve years they
served Keteleomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
In the fourteenth year came Keteleomer and the kings that were with
him and smote the Rephians. in Ashtoreth, Carnium, and the
Zooms in Ham, and the Emans in Sheba-Kerathaim, and the Horites
in their Mount Seir unto El-Paran, which is by the wilderness. And
they returned and came to En-Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all
the country of the Malachites and also the Amorites that dwelt
in Hazah-Zontema." And there went out the king of Sodom, and
the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of
Zeboiim, and the king of Bila, the same as Zohar, and they joined
battle with them in the Vale of Sidon. With Catoleomer, the
king of Elam, with Tidal, king of nations, and then Raphael,
king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Elisha, four kings with five. The vale of Sidon was full of
slime pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell
there. And they that remained fled to
the mountain. They took all the goods of Sodom
and Gomorrah, all their victuals, and went their way. And they
took Lot, Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods,
and departed." Let's stop reading there. What is this all about? Well, it's more than a history
lesson, although the Lord does give us specific names, specific
places, specific kings that rule out any doubters, gamesayers. There are historical facts written
down to prove everything that the Lord said. But all of this
is written for our learning. passage from Romans all the time. I think about it in reference
to reading difficult scriptures. It says, Whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning. This is for
us to learn something from. That we through patience, that
is waiting on the Lord, and comfort of the scripture, we're going
to get some comfort from God's Word. God's people will be comforted
in spite of all this war and turmoil and so forth, that we
might have comfort and have hope. He goes on to talk about the
God of patience and consolation. This is a story of wars and rumors
of war. Kings of the earth from all places
get together and there's wars and rumors of war. Turn with
me quickly to James chapter 4. You know these verses. From whence
come wars? Wars and rumors. From the beginning
there have been wars and our Lord said there will be rumors
of wars until the end, until He comes. Where do they come
from? Where do these wars and fightings
come from? Well, James tells it. In James
chapter 4, verse 1 and 2, it says, From whence come wars and
fighting among you? Come they not hence even of your
lusts that war in your memory? That is, desires to have and
obtain. You lust and have not. You kill
and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet
you have not. Because you ask not. Wars and rumors of war. Everybody
has this lust within, the desire to have and obtain and will do
anything to have it. Walk all over anyone to get it. That's the natural man. popular
modern song, Everybody Wants to Rule the World. You remember
that? Stan, you're an old music aficionado,
about 20 years or so. Everybody Wants to Rule the World. It started with Satan, didn't
it? It started with Satan. He said, I will exalt myself
to the stars. And then Adam. The Lord made
Adam a little king, but he wasn't content with it. and rule everything, be it God. Psalm 2. I couldn't help but
think about Psalm 2. It says, The kings of the earth
have gathered themselves together against the Lord and against
His anointed. This fellow named Ketele-Omar
is a central figure here in this story. He's the most powerful
of all these kings that are listed. There were five kings that served
him. And he must surely be a type of the God of this world, of
Satan himself, the most powerful ruler of all with the exception
of one, one more powerful than he, our Lord. But he is the God
of this world whom the kings of this world and rulers and
princes serve. They serve Him, like these five
kings, especially Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah. Those kings
that were forced to serve this Kedo-Leomer, this fellow. Sodomites
served Him. Now look at verse 3. This all
took place in a vale or a valley called Siddom, which is the salt
sea, the dead sea. Nothing lives where there is
too much salt. And down in verse 10, it says,
ìThe vale of Sidon was full of slime pits.î See that? ìAnd the kings of Sodom fled
and fell there.î They were mired in the muck and the mire and
the slime pits. Now what is all this talking
about? This world. The God of this world, who rules
in it, and this world is full of Slime pits. It's a pit of corruption. The
old writers, the old preachers used to call it a cesspool of
iniquity. That's what it is, isn't it?
You know, because we live there. We live here. Our Lord talked
about having your feet need to be washed. Remember John 15 where
He washed feet? Peter said, wash me all over.
But he said, no, you're clean through the Word, but your feet
need to be washed, because you're walking through this valley of
slime pits, and you get filthy, and you need your feet washed.
And Ephesians 5 says, we're washed with the water of His Word. We
come in here to be washed from the filth of this world. We get
it upon us. Slime pits, pits of corruption. And these kings, these wars,
and these slime pits, and this death, and this captivity shows
us that this world is full of corruption, that it's full of
snares, and evil, and captivity. This is not a wonderful place
that God loves. This is a pit. Our Lord said, deliver them from
going down in the pit. Pit of corruption. This world,
all of this story here, these names, by the way, I looked up
Ketolaomer and there's no significance to it. I thought there would
be, but there isn't. And some of these other names
are heathen names. They have no significance. They're
given names, but they have no real significance because they're
not God's people. They have no purpose. They serve
God's purpose to do whatever. But God's people, like Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, those three names are Chaldean names
that don't mean anything. That's what the king Nebuchadnezzar
gave them that name. But God gave them names that
meant something, had His name in their name. They were named
after Him. So are God's people. I've often
said how I'm thankful that we have names like Stephen and Joseph. and John, good names like that,
biblical names, right? Names that mean something, and
easy to pronounce. I'm thankful for that. But they
have no meaning. They just serve God's purpose.
This is to show us, too, that the Lord sets up whom He will
and casts them down. Sets up kings. The God of this
world. Nebuchadnezzar found that out, didn't he? That the most
high ruler within the kingdom of heaven among the kingdoms
of men, and setteth up over it whomsoever he will, and just
for a time to serve his purpose, and then he casts them down.
And this is for our comfort. We don't need to worry about
these kings. He's got a slime pit for them to fall into. A
pit, they cast a net, but they're going to fall into it themselves.
And also to show us, all of this shows us that Sodom and Gomorrah,
remember it looked like paradise, didn't it? Lot lifted up his
eyes and saw it looked like the well-watered plains, like Egypt,
like the garden of the Lord, looked like paradise. That's
where he wanted to dwell. No, Lot, you don't want to dwell
there, because it's taken captive. And no matter how pleasant to
the eyes, no matter how it looks to the eyes, it's coming down. It's going to be taken. Look
at verse 11. They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah.
All their victuals were taken away. This pleasant place ended,
didn't it? It all ended. Sodom is going to be taken away.
This world, the Scripture says, is going to be folded up like
a vesture. And cast away, put away. And everything will perish. In
the midst of all of this though, in the midst of all this corruption,
in the midst of all these wars and rumors of war, in the midst
of all this pain and suffering and blood and death, is the story
of salvation. That's what this story is all
about. There's a fellow named Lot who's a sinner. We've already
seen that Lot, and Brother Todd even preached on them, how that Lot was such a sinful
man, an unworthy fellow, seemed to be no different than the Sodomites
or anybody else for that matter, did he? A worthless fellow, a
sinful fellow, an ungrateful fellow, a fellow with no rights
to anything, a fellow made rich by his loving uncle. And for
his own lust to have, for his own not submitting to his uncle,
not looking on the things of others, but looking to himself,
he almost destroyed himself and his family. He chose Sodom, but
thank God. The Lord chose Lot. Thank God
he was one of the Lord's chosen. And that's what this story is
all about. In the midst of all this sin is salvation. They took Lot, verse 12. They
took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom and his goods,
and departed. They took Abram's son, anybody
related back then, The older man they called the younger son. This was Abram's son. Abram didn't
have a son at this time. Lot was like a son to him. And
they took Abram's son. Now they've gone and done it. Now they've gone and done it.
They don't know who they're messing with. And you and I didn't know. We're going to find out. Let me go back a little bit first
and say some more about Lot. Lot chose Sodom the way that
seemed right to him, and it almost ended in his destruction. Man,
if given a choice, man if left to his free will, so to speak,
will choose evil every time, and it will destroy him. I love
that verse that says, Thou hast chosen our inheritance for us. God's people. Abram, you know,
the Lord said, Abram, I am your exceeding great reward. I am
your reward. And He showed us this story of
Lot to show us that if we are left to ourselves, we will choose
evil over good. go the broad way as everyone
else goes. And unless the Lord has mercy
upon us, we'll perish in this world. So all we like sheep have
gone astray. Just like Lot. And Lot was held
captive. Lot was taken captive like his fellow Sodomites. They were all taken captive,
and Lot was right in the middle of them. And they took Lot and
took all his goods. All his goods. Lot was an elect of God. Lot was Abram's son. Lot was loved and chosen by the
Lord. But if you cast your Lot, so
to speak, with the people of this world, you end up captive like they are.
And a lot of his goods did him down, huh? But here's Lot's salvation. He
had a friend. Let's stick it closer than a
brother. It's not the only time that Abram is going to rescue
Lot. He's going to pray for him. He's
going to be Lot's intercessor, mediator, between the Lord when
Sodom fell. But Lot had a Redeemer, had a
Savior, had a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, one that
he didn't deserve. Lot didn't show much love for
Abram, did he? Oh, did Abram show love for Lot? He risked
his life to save this ungrateful young man named Lot. Now look
at verse 13. There came one that had escaped and told Abram, the
Hebrew, told him about them taking Lot, his brother's son. Abram
dwelt in the plain of Mamre, Brother of Eschel and Brother
of Nair. These were confederate with Abram.
These three men, Mamre and Eskel and Einar, they were friends
to Abram. They were confederates. Not like
we think of confederates, but they were. Any time confederate
is used in the scripture, y'all here in the South, in Virginia,
the great state of Virginia, it's a lost cause. Any time confederate is used,
it's usually in a bad sense. Go to Isaiah 8. Say not confederacy,
because it's going down. The Lord alone will be exalted
in that. It's not who's on. Lincoln one
time said to a fellow, they said to him, let's hope the Lord is
on our side. And Lincoln said, that's not
the question. He said, it's who's on the Lord's
side. That's the important thing. But the fact is, this confederacy
was a good one. they were confederate or in league
with Abram. Three men. Three friends. Now, that's significant. These
three were together with this one, Abram. Now, up until this
point, Abram appears to be a very meek and lowly fellow. Abram appears to be not a fighter
at all, but just a meek and a lowly man, a very quiet man, a gentle,
loving man, a caring man, a faithful man, right? That's Abram. He's a very quiet man. Nobody
really knows, though. They don't know yet. But behind
that meek and loving and quiet exterior. It's a warrior. And you don't cross him. And
you don't take something that belongs to him. You don't take
someone that he loves, or you're in trouble. Who does Abraham
represent? What's this all about? Didn't
Christ say, they are they which testify of me? All scriptures, all prophets.
Testify of Christ. Abram, here's a picture of Christ.
Meek and lowly. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me. I am meek and lowly. This was
when he was a man. Submissive, gentle, kind, loving,
a servant. Took upon himself the form of
a servant. Washing feet, doing good things
for everyone. His tender mercies over all his
work. Gentle, loving, kind, friend
of sinners. All that is true. But what they did not know then
and what most do not know now is behind that, beneath that
gentle, loving, kind, meek and lowly man is a conqueror. An all-powerful, sovereign Lord. A warrior. A conqueror. King of kings and Lord of lords. Gentle Jesus, yes, He was. But He is now seated on the right
hand of the majesty on high, reigning and ruling. And you
do not take what belongs to Him. You do not take someone, someone
that belongs to Him. The Scripture says of Him, His
coming, says, Who shall abide the day of His coming? He's like
a refiner's fire, like fuller's soap, out of his mouth of two-edged
sword. Who can resist him? No one has
and no one will. This is the Jesus Christ description
that men do not know. He revealed himself to his three,
James, Peter, and John, like these that were confederate with
Abram. He took three up on a mountain one day, James, Peter, and John,
who thought at that point, That He's a fine man. He's a miracle
worker. But oh, He reveals to them who
He was. As He reveals to all His people.
He peels back the flesh and shows us deity. He peels back His covering
and shows us who He really is. And all flesh is going to see
Him as He is. And they'll cry for the rocks
and hills to follow Him too. But now, God's people cry that
they may fall on the rock rather than be crushed by it. No one
has stood before him or ever will stand before him. No king
will rule over him. No one will take one thing from
him. He came to take what was given
to him. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come unto me. He came to rescue his beloved
and have them he will. Every last one of them. Not hoof
nor hair will be left behind. And oh my, did our Lord reveal
this. Oh my, did our Lord reveal Himself
to His disciples and to us. Remember when He came into Jerusalem,
right before He was to go to Calvary Tree. He came into Jerusalem. And a couple of times, two last
displays of who He really is. He went into that temple, remember,
and he plaited a whip. Gentle Jesus, that's what the
Catholics still call him, Gentle Jesus Macon Myles. Oh my, he
plaited a whip and he went into that A place that was full of
the abomination of desolation that sat up there. All that fundraising
and money making and all that. It's supposed to be a house of
prayer and a house of worship where God's Word is preached
and prayer is made and people seeking the Lord. And that's
not going on. Nothing but tradition and corruption
and money and names and counting heads and counting dollars. And our Lord took a whip And
when His fury and wrath cleaned that house, He said, My house
shall be called a house of prayer. You made it a den of thieves.
And He cleaned that house. Who shall abide His coming? And
then as He was in the garden right before He went to the cross,
that great mob came. Peter, I don't think, yet knew
Him. Although he saw many things.
He saw him call fish into the net. He saw so many things the
Lord did. Yet I still believe that Peter
did not fully know who he was, because Peter thought he needed
to defend him. And they came to take the Lord
in the garden. He kept telling this, for this cause came out
of this world. He came to die. to be bruised
that Satan's head might be crushed. Christ must suffer these things
and die and a third day rise again. But Peter, ignorant, Peter
thinking that the Lord needs his defense. Peter took out his
sword and valiantly he's going to defend his Lord. Well, our
Lord said, Peter, put up your sword. Don't you know I can call
144,000 angels? He didn't need one angel though.
He didn't need one. And He showed that by one display.
He said, Whom seek ye? And that whole mob, how many
were there? A thousand? Two thousand come to seek Him?
Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus. Jesus. Jesus? I am. And they all, like a wheat, fell
over to a man. Who is this? Abram. What a kind man. Don't cross
him. Don't cross him. Jesus. Oh, the Lord, you better bow
to Him. Captain. Conqueror. King. He's
here to set all His captives free. And every knee will bow.
Verse 14. Abram heard his brother was taken
captive. He armed his trained servants
born in his own house. And they were numbered. They
were exactly 318. Our Lord has servants. Servants
of the gospel. Preachers of the gospel. They
were prophets. They were apostles. They were evangelists, pastors,
and teachers. They were all chosen by Him.
He has them numbered. Just like all the rest of His
people. And they are trained by Him. What are they trained
to do? To wield a sword. This is your
weapon. Weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty, spiritual weapons to the pulling down of
strongholds. And this gospel is our weapon.
And every man trained by Him knows it. And they are born in
His house. They are born in his house. They are born of God.
They are begotten by the word of truth in the Lord's house.
They themselves felt the power of this sword that they wield.
Paul said, I believe the same gospel that I heard. I was apprehended
by the same one that must apprehend you. So they told Abram. In verse 15 it says he divided
himself against these this adversary, he and his servants by night,
in the darkness. There was a darkness over it
when he did this, when he took his captives and held captivity
captive. It was in night. It was in darkness,
wasn't it? Oh my, light came to the world. Here is condemnation. Men loved darkness rather than
light. We were all in darkness. Our Lord came. Light. We beheld
the light of the glory of God and smote them and pursued them.
Every last one of them will be taken by Abram and will be in
submission and subjection to him. And verse 16, it says, he
brought back all the goods. He also brought again his brother
Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. There was
not one thing missing that was taken. Sounded like Abram himself was
the one man that did it all to him. That's by design, to show
us that Christ is the one who obtained our redemption. by Himself
purged our sin. Christ is the one who brought
back all His people to God. Christ is the one who led captivity
captive. Christ is the one who is the
Savior. To Him belongs all the glory.