Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 14:17 - 15:16
Two important concepts in Christianity are faith and salvation. Unfortunately, some bad ideas have crept into evangelicalism regarding these two concepts. Some people think faith is some mystical thing that you have or don’t have. Likewise, attaining salvation has been misrepresented as something like “ask Jesus into your heart” or “have a relationship with Jesus”, both of which are insufficient.
There is a verse in today’s passage that forms the foundation for how we should understand both faith and salvation.
The early part of chapter 14 tells us an alliance of kings from the Mesopotamian Valley waged war against some kings in the Dead Sea area, including the king of Sodom. The Mesopotamian Alliance won, and captured much spoil and many people, including Lot. Abram went after the Mesopotamian Alliance, defeated them, and rescued Lot from captivity.
Gen. 14:17 ¶ Then after he came back from striking down Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
The pronoun “he” refers to Abram.
Gen. 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.
The Hebrew word “melchi” means king. The Hebrew word “zedek” means righteousness. Therefore, the name Melchizedek means King of Righteousness.
The Hebrew word “Salem” means peace. Melchizedek was the king of Salem. Later, the word “Jer”, which is the Hebrew word for city, was added to the beginning of Salem to form Jerusalem, which means city of peace.
Notice the phrase “he was a priest of God Most High”. This is significant, because Psalm 110 and Hebrews 5-7 tell us Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Gen. 14:19 Then he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
Melchizedek blessed Abram.
Gen. 14:20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”Then he gave him a tenth of all.
Abram gave a tenth to Melchizedek. According to Hebrews 7, since Abram gave a tenth to Melchizedek, and since Levi was a descendant of Abram, that means Levi gave a tenth to Melchizedek. This means the Melchizedek priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
Gen. 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me, but take the possessions for yourself.”
Gen. 14:22 Then Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to Yahweh God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,
Gen. 14:23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you would not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’
Gen. 14:24 I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre were Amorites (see Genesis 14:13). Genesis 14:14 tells us Abram had 318 trained men who were born in his house. This verse tells us the force that defeated the Mesopotamian Alliance was not just Abram’s men, it also included some Amorites who were allied with Abram.
Gen. 15:1 ¶ After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying,
“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”
Gen. 15:2 And Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, as I go on being childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
This is not the first time Yahweh had promised to reward Abram, but the problem remained that Abram and Sarai were childless.
Gen. 15:3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no seed to me, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”
Gen. 15:4 Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This one will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”
Gen. 15:5 And He brought him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.”
Gen. 15:6 Then he believed in Yahweh; and He counted it to him as righteousness.
Abram was childless. Yahweh promised the descendants of Abram would be too numerous to count. Abram believed Yahweh’s promise. Because Abram believed, Yahweh considered Abram to be righteous.
This is an example of faith. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). Abram did not have descendants, but he believed God’s promise. That is faith.
Some people think faith is some mystical thing that you have or don’t have. That is not correct. True faith is believing the Bible and God’s promises.
Just as Abram was credited with righteousness because he believed, so too you and I are credited with righteousness based on belief. Any person who believes in Jesus Christ will have eternal life. We are not saved through works, we are saved by believing in Jesus (see John 3:16).
Some people say the way to be saved is to “ask Jesus into your heart” or “have a relationship with Jesus”. Neither of those get to the heart of the matter which is the requirement to believe in Jesus; thus, both of those concepts are insufficient. They are not necessarily wrong, they are not specific enough.
Gen. 15:7 And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
Gen. 15:8 And he said, “O Lord Yahweh, how may I know that I will possess it?”
Gen. 15:9 So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Gen. 15:10 Then he brought all these to Him and split them into parts down the middle and laid each part opposite the other; but he did not split apart the birds.
Gen. 15:11 Then the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
Gen. 15:12 ¶ Now it happened that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
Gen. 15:13 Then God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your seed will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
This prediction was fulfilled when the Israelites spent 400 years in slavery in Egypt, as recorded in the end of Genesis and beginning of Exodus.
Gen. 15:14 But I will also judge the nation to whom they are enslaved, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
This prediction was fulfilled when Moses brought the plagues upon Egypt and led the Israelites out of slavery with much plunder.
Gen. 15:15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.
Gen. 15:16 Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
Ponder the phrase “the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete”. This demonstrates God’s patience. The Amorites were sinners during Abram’s lifetime, but Yahweh waited several hundred years until He punished them for their iniquity.
Two important concepts in Christianity are faith and salvation. Unfortunately, some bad ideas have crept into evangelicalism regarding these two concepts. Some people think faith is some mystical thing that you have or don’t have. Likewise, attaining salvation has been misrepresented as something like “ask Jesus into your heart” or “have a relationship with Jesus”, both of which are insufficient.
Faith is the conviction of things not seen. Salvation comes by believing in Jesus. Abram is an example of both concepts. When Yahweh promised Abram would have too many descendants to count, Abram believed Yahweh. Because he believed God’s promise, God credited him with righteousness.
How accurately does your church teach the true definition of faith?
Does your church emphasize the need to believe in Jesus for salvation, or does it teach insufficient concepts like “asking Jesus into your heart” or “having a relationship with Jesus”?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”