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Amen. Okay, so we're up to Genesis 14 now in our Wednesday evening Bible study and last week we were in Genesis chapter 13 where we saw Abraham and Lot come out of Egypt with a lot of wealth but the wealth became a problem for them. Basically they had too much substance for the land to bear and there was strife between the workers so Abram basically gave us a great lesson in humility didn't he? He said please let there not be trouble between us, choose where to go and I'll go the other way and and he could have pulled rank on him he could have you know said look I'm your uncle and I you know you do as I say but instead he was just humble he just wanted to just end that strife. Now Lot saw the well-watered plain of Jordan towards Sodom and he basically made a business decision he said that looks like I can make more money that way I'm going that way he went towards the basically the east and outskirts of Canaan towards a wicked city full of wicked people because he could get richer that way okay and look we looked at the many ways that Christians will compromise and put wealth before the things of God and that's an error it's an error all day long and we're gonna see that with Lot here. It was after Lot was separated by the way that God had more revelation for Abram if you noticed and a lot for me being a covetous Christian that would have hindered Abraham or Abram at this point is spiritual life and it was once he was separated that you know things then God was like right now I'm going to tell you some more and we looked at the promise to Abram and his seed and how it was fulfilled in Christ and will be fulfilled eternally and in verse 14 we're just going to look at the end of 13 again obviously the chapter divisions came much later it's interesting to see where we're at verse 14 of Genesis 13 says the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him lift up now thine eyes look from the place where thou art northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it to thy seed forever and I'll make thy seed as a dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbered arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it for I will give it unto thee then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebron and built there an altar unto the Lord and then we go straight into now chapter 14 of verse 1 which reads and it came to pass the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Ariot king of Eleazar, Kedoleomah king of Elam and Tidal king of nations that these made war with Bera king of Sodom and with Bershe king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admar and Shemeba king of Zeboim and the king of Bela which is Zoar I'd like to pray before we get going with this chapter father thank you for your word thank you for this chapter of the Bible which I'm about to preach from Lord just help me to just preach this now just just clearly Lord and accurately as well and help me to preach the messages that I've taken from this chapter just you know in a way that people will remember them that it will edify your church Lord and fill me with your spirits and I'm just able to do that and just preach through me please Lord in Jesus name pray all of this Amen okay so you've got these four kings coming from the east okay Shinar was where Babel was which was basically not far from Baghdad in what we know of now as Iraq Elazar was a region in what is now northeastern Syria not far from Nineveh Elam was a descendant of Shem and and an area east of Babylon Persia and then Tidal he did say king of nations was likely the king of various tribes in that Arabia region I believe so it's basically everyone east from northeast to southeast of Canaan have made war with these eastern cities of Canaan because that's what all these are they're all near to the Dead Sea these cities that we that we're seeing listed here it said that they made war with beer a king of Sodom Bursa king of Gomorrah Shina king of Admah and Shemaeba king of Zeboim and the king of Bela which is Zohar he's all very close to what we know as as the Dead Sea now all these were joined together it said in verse 3 in the vale of Siddim which is the salt sea 12 years they served Kedoleoma and in the 13th year they rebelled and in the 14th year came Kedoleoma and the kings that were with him and smote the Rephaims in Ashtoreth Carneim and the Zuzims in Ham and the Eimims in Shaveh, Kiriathayim so Ashtoreth Carneim is basically east of the Sea of Galilee okay so that's quite a long way off now from where where where the Dead Sea is Ham being likely a similar area here to there near Galilee I think the Zuzims where it said being in Ham may be related to the giant Zamzimims we're gonna see later in the Bible Shaveh, Kiriathayim is likely in Moab east of the Dead Sea he said in verse 6 and Ahorites in their Mount Seir unto Elparam which is by the wilderness Mount Seir being southeast of the Dead Sea and Elparam being the wilderness south of Canaan where the children of Israel later wander so again we're looking at pretty much eastern nations although it goes now deep south and high and north they've just been going around just smashing everyone on those sort of eastern southern and northern borders of Canaan it said in verse 6 sorry in verse yeah verse 6 and Ahorites in their Mount Seir unto Elparam which is by the wilderness so so the wilderness by the way that is where Israel later wander as well just south of Canaan verse 7 says and they returned and came to Enmishpat which is Kadesh and smote all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites that dwelt in Haziz on Tamar now Kadesh in the south okay Haziz on Tamar being just west of the Dead Sea so this is now the furthest east now into Canaan and basically look to cut a long story short there Kedar Layomah of Elam and his Confederate cities it looks like it says here they've been running the show for 12 years okay they've been getting you know you'd imagine some sort of tribute money or tribute goods or some percentage of their animals of their wealth or something else and now these are now they've decided right we're gonna rebel okay we're not having this anymore so they they they've decided to rebel against him now is an interesting thing this seems to be the first obvious warfare recorded since the flood and obviously there's a lot of violence in the flood and everything else but this is the first obvious warfare really recorded at all and just to put it into perspective Noah only died a few decades ago here okay so we're not a long way off and I know obviously Noah lived a long time okay but it's a few hundred three hundred fifty years after the flood that's still not a great deal of time is it in the history of the world so we're talking sort of you know a few centuries on from the flood and they're all relatives these people aren't they okay they're all relatives of and look everyone is a relative really however here it's pretty close relatives that you know basically I yes the whole earth ultimately is a relative now but here these people know each other they know who went where and everything else they know who went out you know from Shemham and J fifth and which areas and their kids and everything else so it's it's still pretty close isn't it genetically the world here we're talking at you know a handful of generations down and already there's tribute being paid people going to war didn't take long did it didn't take long for people to just start now killing each other and what does it come down to really what did come down to wealth and power look at first for 12 years they serve keyed Oleoma and in the 13th year they rebelled so they're serving him he's taking something from their rebelling against him like I said it'll be some sort of tribute some sort of money some sort of tax they're paying him and he's then just gone around killing people killed all these different groups people basically relatives of his just going around you know putting people to death I'd imagine with some sort of you know probably swords and things like this just killing people over money over wealth didn't take long did it verse 8 says and there went out the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboim and the king of Bela the same as Zohar and they join battle with them in the veil of Sidim so these guys have joined together for greater numbers okay now here's a question should the kings of Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Zohar be joining with Sodom should they be joining with Sodom look back in chapter 13 if you're going well well how bad was Sodom well chapter 13 and verse 12 chapter 13 and verse 12 said Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan a lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly so at this point by the way lot is in the cities of the plain okay these cities that it's talking about here said it said that lot dwelled in the cities of the plain they're not mentioned here it's the men of Sodom that are noted as the filthy Sodomites basically isn't it it's not the rest of it that he's in the cities of the plain he pitched his tent towards Sodom but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly now what was the result of their affinity with Sodom well turn to Deuteronomy 29 okay we just read in verse 8 well you turn to Deuteronomy 29 I'm just going to remind you what we just read in in Genesis 14 verse 8 where it says and there went out the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboim and the king of Beelah the same is Zoar and they join battle with them in a veil of Sidon okay now Deuteronomy 29 the children of Israel being warned about turning away from God in the repercussions it says in verse 22 Deuteronomy 29 in verse 22 so that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you and the stranger that shall come from a far land shall say when they see the plagues that land the sickness which the Lord had laid upon it and that the whole land thereof thereof is brimstone and salt and burning that it is not so nor beareth nor any grass growth therein like the overthrow of Sodom and where and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim which the Lord overthrow overthrew in his anger and in his wrath even all nations shall say wherefore have the Lord done thus unto this land what meaneth the heat of this great anger so was it just Sodom was it now we often say Sodom some will say Sodom and Gomorrah it wasn't just Sodom and Gomorrah but also Admah and Zeboim which got destroyed okay and we've just read those as these people confederate with with Sodom now go back to Genesis but chapter 19 because you might be there going well what about Zoar what about Zoar what happened to Zoar why didn't they get smashed as well why didn't they get raised to the ground to the point where you can't even grow anything on the land there because it got so smashed with fire and brimstone well Zoar was only spared because it was where Lot fled to if you remember it was spared due to one righteous guy and his daughter's going there that's the only reason that place was spared Genesis 19 we see Lot's fleeing Sodom and verse 17 says and it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said escape for thy life look not behind thee neither stay thou in all the plain escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed and Lot said unto them all not so my lord behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and now has magnified thy mercy which thou has showed unto me and saving my life and I cannot escape to the mountain lest some evil take me and I die behold now this city is near to flee unto and it is a little one oh let me escape there is it not a little one and my soul shall live well you know you think what you ever wonder why does it keep going about how little it is you know and if I think if God was willing to spare Sodom for ten righteous remember when he haggles with Abraham gets down to ten righteous ten to save people perhaps Lot and his daughters were enough to spare little Zoar maybe that's why it was spared it was spared because he was a similar percentage maybe because this righteous guy going into little Zoar it did get spared it's not on that list it didn't get raised we see Zoar later on and he said unto him see I have accepted the concern in this single so that I will not overthrow this city for the which thou has spoken haste the escape there therefore I cannot do anything till thou become there therefore the name of the city was called Zoar the Sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground okay that's what God thinks about sodomites and in fact it's not just what he thinks about sodomites it's what he thinks about sodomites and and cities and people confederate with sodomites because I don't there's no evidence again we can assume you could go maybe that's full of sodomites I don't see that I see some nations which yoked up with Sodom get raised as well and yeah I'm sure they were infected I'm sure they were they were open to it and everything else and sodomite friendly however that's what we're seeing there aren't we why Zoar got a very fortunate pass but why did the rest of these Confederate cities get wiped out because they were yoked up with wickedness okay because they were yoked up they were joined up they they were a part of that by being yoked up with them and that's the result of yoking up with God haters of joining affinity with the wicked with reprobate and that's a lesson to all of us isn't it because a lot of people do that in life in various ways whether it's to get richer like lot you know you know and here look you could argue these you know it's not the same way a lot at least managed to escape however look still bad things happen we're gonna see in lots life bad things happen because he yoked up with a bunch of god-hating reprobates and we need to make sure we don't yoke up with god-hating reprobates okay and there's a lot a lot of god-hating reprobates around and is it is there any difference if your best buddies with a Pentecostal pastor is that any different in fact let's be honest he's doing more harm against Kingdom of God than some sodomite walking around being a sodomite is it any different if you're yoked up with some c of e priest somewhere well it's you know the family member and you know okay so he wears a dress and you know has a silly thing on him preaches work salvation but in fact it's probably a sodomite as well anyway but regardless he's a false prophet but people yoke up with these people people go well it's like well they just think a bit differently now don't get me wrong you've got some unsaved family who are into a false religion that doesn't mean you can't fellowship with them yeah you want to try and get him saved okay however if they're if they're preaching they're leading there there's some false prophet behind some version of a pulpit somewhere and I'll include the Imam and the rabbi and all of that stuff these are on the same level in fact they're worse they're worse than these people we were talking about it with some of these guys in it because again there's people that you don't even think about I can get him into this sermon people like Andrew Tate for example and all these guys they're false prophets they're out there preaching foot they pull people in and then they try and take that guy's trying to preach Islam now to his millions and millions of clown followers who somehow think that the guy's manly which is a laugh okay and the rest of these guys like all these your your atheist you know professors and everything else if they're preaching that stuff and they're trying to teach that way and everything else I look for me you know I'm starting to see false prophet in them right and all these people we want to be away from you don't want to be yoked up with them you don't want to think that somehow it's the right to be like best buddies with them hanging around with them friendly with them and everything else that's what happened to these are they yoked up with them they went to war alongside them and look what happened they got raised raised to the ground and that's what happened and even in an individual sense they'll bring you down they will destroy your life in one way or another these people are dangerous around your kids they're dangerous around your families they're dangerous around you they'll find a way to stab you in the back one way or another you don't want to join affinity with them that's why David said by the way you have to turn there though in Psalm 101 and verse 4 forward heart shed apart for me I will not know a wicked person I will not know a wicked but I don't want to know these people I want to know what they're teaching I don't want to know all their rubbish that they're proud I want to and nowadays you can know these people online can't you nowadays you can know the wicked in various ways can't you can know them just through through through YouTube you can know them through through social media you can know and we shouldn't be wanting to know the false prophets we shouldn't be wanting to know all these people out there that are just teaching lies and just teaching falsehoods and teaching false gods what we want to know is the Word of God don't we want to know the Word of God he said David said I will not know a wicked person and all these nations around the world as well all these nations yoking up with sodomites with with the pushing and promoting of filth they they're gonna get destroyed too aren't they I mean if you think about it those those nations in the coming wrath that are eventually just gonna get all this grief and all this stuff happening to them I mean really what the end of the day who do you think's gonna get it worse do you think that the the people in the middle of some nation someone had got nothing to do with anything do you think for example do you think those out in in Uganda where they're basically at least they're kind of halfway there and they're saying okay we're not having this sort of stuff we've got the death penalty on certain stuff like that we're we're arresting people for this sort of filth do you think do you think they're gonna be getting as raised as quickly as some of these just wicked Western just pro-sodomite nations no way it's coming on these nations and it comes on individuals too they will be destroyed and and with that I don't know if anyone's looked into the Uganda thing but good on him right I mean us they haven't gone far enough but good on them good on them for at least standing strong and resisting because they've been trying to push him with money it's always money isn't it they're gonna withdraw funding withdraw this withdraw that and their presence I don't care I'm not having it not having it and and all they're all they say this is how this is how messed up this world is they're saying the death penalty for those abused children and those that knowingly infect people with you know filthy diseases I mean there should be the death penalty across the board yet then our Western nations others go this is just tragic abuse of human rights it what are you talking about because it because they're the death penalty of people that should have been killed a lot before that unbelievable isn't it but anyway I don't go down that route but okay so here we we see like I just said where we were he overthrew those cities and it's these cities that have yoked up go back to verse 8 of Genesis chapter 14 where it says and there went out the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah like I said and the king of Admah like we've just seen the king of Zebarim like we've just seen the king of Bela the same as Zoar that got off lightly and they joined battle with them in the veil of Sidim with Kedah Leomah the king of Elam and with Tidal king of nations the Amravel king of Shinar and Ariot king of Elisa four kings with five now you could go yeah but it was a righteous cause wasn't it these guys were exacting probably tribute money they were controlling them they were rebelling it was still unacceptable doesn't matter what the cause is you don't yoke up with a bunch of God haters you know yoke up with open sodomites that's why Jehoshaphat was told in 2 Chronicles 19 2 by the man of God by the seer he was told should have so help the ungodly and love them they hate the Lord therefore is wrath upon me from before the Lord wrath is upon me when you're yoking up when you're helping out open blatant God haters and by the way they didn't succeed anyhow the you know they they got destroyed anyway so they tried they tried to help the truth of it was a king of Sodom probably rode out on a pink pony or something and it all went a bit downhill but I don't know I don't know what happened there but what I do know is they failed anyway and end up fleeing into the mountains it says in verse 10 the veil of Sidim was full of slime pits and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there and they that remained fled to the mountain now this is some sort of adhesive mud remember they were using it as mortar back in chapter 11 perhaps one of the sources of wealth for building I don't know I mean if you remember they were using that to build back in chapter 11 when they're building the Tower of Babel in the city there and they were using slime for mortar maybe somewhere with a lot of slime there's some sort of some some sort of benefits to that if a lot of people are building cities I don't know I don't know how common it was but they've all fled these guys have fallen here so when you're talking slime pits it's it's mud that's used for kind of as a mortar and verse 11 says and they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their victuals and went their way so basically they've ransacked the cities okay victuals is food sustenance they've gone and taken everything worthwhile there and I'd imagine you know the animals cattle all this sort of thing and they took Lot Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed now the last time that we saw lot in chapter 13 of verse 12 it said in chapter 13 verse 12 lot dwelled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom so lot wasn't in Sodom was he he dwelt in the cities now he's living in Sodom isn't he why because of compromising because of putting wealth first God's second and eventually you're justifying all sorts like living in Sodom well we've already been warned that these men of Sodom we're just it was like just his hive of just filthy homosexual iniquity and he's now living there but it started with his pictures tender it started with him seeing the well-watered plains and compromising on the things of God going out at least towards the outskirts of the land of Canaan away from where God wanted him for wealth for money that's where it starts you start picking and choosing you start you start pick your choosing what you will and won't follow what bits you ignore out of the the word of God watch which bits of God you don't want to do which which sort of things in in your life that that you think well yeah I don't really have to follow that you put money first and what's the answer that you cannot serve God a mammon can you you can't have both one will eventually give now he's dwelling in Sodom and what's the result he's taking captive his sings his his wealth we see you know here they took all the stuff out of there so that would have included lot who had a lot of sustenance he had a lot of substance it called it him as well that's why they couldn't dwell together him and Abraham his treasures on earth I'd imagine you know whatever was there was taken turn to Matthew 6 because lot for me is a great real example to put alongside Jesus preaching in Matthew 6 now you're turning to Matthew chapter 6 a lot like I said look he's he's put money first he's put wealth first above God and now he's been taken captive he's probably lost a lot of his wealth you know look at verse 19 in Matthew 6 where Jesus said in Matthew 6 and verse 19 lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and still so that's what happened here to law and regardless of what was recovered or not afterwards you you know ever think here because I think often we read the Bible and you kind of read it almost sometimes like a story don't you but put yourselves back in history you're living in a city okay back in in these days that people weren't these automatically different people you know they would have had a say a very similar thoughts feelings ways that of doing things that you would have done right okay it's not like a kind of separate type of person you're living in a city seeking wealth the leader of the city and his army got to battle next thing you know you're being what violently rounded up you've been invaded you're being rounded up your other magic can you imagine how stressful that I mean can you imagine how scary that would have been people coming with weapons you didn't you couldn't defend your family his his daughters his wife whoever else people around him all just being grabbed and taken away knowing probably what their fate was as well like this isn't just oh well yeah well I got captured for a bit now I got back I mean this is a massive truck this is the sort of trauma that if this happened in your life you would never forget it you'd be talking about it for years and years and years to come you'd be talking about until your old age wouldn't you that time when they came in and they basically just just kidnapped us kidnapped my family you probably have post-traumatic stress disorder from it you'd be having nightmares about this or I mean this is serious stuff isn't it I mean he's expecting to probably now why do you get taken captive I'd imagine because he was a farmer because he was like a cowboy so he's probably useful but he's no good taking loads and loads of cows and livestock and all this other stuff if you got no one to deal with it right so they're capturing people that would he would have been enslaved I'd imagine to some degree okay so he would have now been under the the you know the well at least the leading of this keyed Oleoma who didn't sound like the most pleasant of fellas he would have been taken away dealt dealing with all of that who knows what would happen to his wife to his daughter I mean what an absolute nightmare what an absolute mess everything taken all your stuff and what what was that as a result of laying up for himself treasures upon earth where moth and rust are corrupt where thieves break through and still now look and look because something this stuff comes up a lot in the Bible and just to make it clear look some people have money yeah there's like that doesn't mean they're bad people okay some people earn good money that doesn't mean they get bad people that doesn't mean that they need to stop doing that however where your priorities that's what's important where are your priorities if your priorities are on that if money goes here and God goes here then there's a problem okay but here it says in verse 20 but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven how'd you lay up treasures in heaven by doing the will of God by going out and doing things not just so winning but so winning is obviously a big part of it it's like the first commandment the first love but doing things for God doing living the Christian life lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust of corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also and just to make this clear do you have to make this clear when you preach this sort of stuff you almost forget because we you're just so used to being surrounded by people that understand it's gracefully faith okay let's talk about treasures in heaven that's not to about earning heaven okay that's talking about when you are already saved you can earn a lot of treasures in heaven okay on top of that you get saved by putting your faith in Jesus Christ but after that there's a lot of treasures there's a lot of rewards you can earn if you want to earn them okay or you can you can just go okay well I'm saved and that's that right and it's your choice however you can lay up for yourself treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also and that's what we should be focusing on the things of God and believe me lots heart was not on treasures of heaven because what happens he ends back he ends up back there soon after so all this happens and then in chapter 19 he's back in Sodom unbelievable it says in verse 12 they took lot Abrams brother's son who dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed and there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew for he dwelt in the plane of Mamre the Amorite brother of Eshkol and brother of Einah and these were confederate with Abram so Abram is living in Mamre which is named after it's named after an Amorite okay here called Mamre Mamre the Amorite it said he clearly doesn't mind Abram there as they they must have had some sort of deal going you'd imagine Abram obviously had a lot of animals and a lot of wealth now Abram hasn't gone and taken anywhere by force okay just to make it clear he's gone to dwell in the land that God led him to and it seems to be a mutual agreement here doesn't it and although the Amorites are descendants of the curse Canaan they're not automatic Sodomites by the way so in case you're wondering you think that the curse of Canaan must be that like every descendant was weak no like a lot of those nations end up doing all sorts of wickedness like that and obviously look Sodom they came from the Canaanites as well it's still all land of Canaan yeah however not that every not every single tribe was was some sort of sodomite because what was the actual curse the curse was that the Canaanites would be a servant of servants being conquered and controlled by the children of Israel in the future the curse wasn't that every single Canaanite was going to be some sort of vile reprobate okay so there's nothing wrong with them being allied by some agreement at this point he's not yoked up like they're doing all this stuff there's a confederate there's some sort of agreement okay there's some sort of agreement that they have going here for him to be able to live in their land and it says in verse 14 and when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his trained servants born in his own house 318 and pursued them unto Dan isn't isn't isn't he his nephew so he called it his brother because why because more importantly than him being his nephew he's a brother in Christ that's why that's why he's called when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive it's because he's a brother in Christ yeah a lot was saved he's described as just lot and there's nothing just about lot barring his salvation by being justified by the blood of Jesus Christ but he's called a brother turn to Galatians 6 it was a quick point I want to make here is that look we want to be good to our fellow man don't we yeah to the unsaved yeah we want to help them not just with salvation okay that's one way we help them but we want to look we want to help people out yeah we want to help our family out you want to help your flesh and blood don't you want to be a kind family member you know a kind brother sister father son you know daughter mum whatever it is you want to help people out whether they're saved or not yeah but Galatians 6 10 does put it into perspective here where he says in Galatians 6 and verse 10 as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men yeah look we should be good unto all people shouldn't we okay obviously barring if you put this in in context with the rest of the Bible barring God haters haters of God who we should therefore hate however let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the household of faith especially yeah there should be an extra drive for our brothers and sisters in Christ shouldn't there there should be something extra there should be like an extra want to to do more to to do good unto your brother and sister in Christ it shouldn't be the opposite something can get a bit jaded with church and church members and everything else and sometimes you're seeing people regularly and then they start to kind of they're more likely to go and help out the unsaved person than their brother and sister in Christ hello obviously if we got like you know you do get in church sometimes professional grifters you kind of work churches just to get stuff off people you know get money get everything they can but we don't have that here you know and what we should do is is that we should be looking to help each other find ways it says especially there the household of fashion it and you know what you know here it's described he was described as his brother not as his nephew Abram heard that basically his backslidden nephew didn't he that that covetous compromiser which is what he was wasn't he that that sellout who'd yoked up with the sods of Sodom I mean that was a pretty bad family member as they go wasn't it first and this is a safe guy as well yeah had got himself in a spot of bother so what did Abram do he said mount up let's go save him that's what he did and look why was that because he's a brother in Christ I reckon had it been some unsaved nephew I don't reckon he would have gone after him that's what I think maybe would have done and look I'm not saying he shouldn't have done what I'm saying is he went I believed because he was a brother and it makes that point of it being his brother verse 14 said when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his trained servants born in his own house 318 and pursued them unto Dan now Dan is right up north beyond Galilee okay it's a thousand mile journey Abram had his own special forces didn't he okay the servants that were born in his own house were trained and that's not a bad idea is it you know you got your your loyal servants train them up and I don't know how like how trained they were but they do well here now what was the difference between being born in his own house well they were loyal weren't they okay they were loyal that they had no other allegiances so it's not that they were kind of hired from somewhere else they still had allegiance to maybe there I remember like we said like I said earlier still were at kind of an early point in the world's kind of families and everything else and maybe these people now they're born in Abrams house era they're off really the family of Abram now aren't they rather than of wherever it was that you picked them up you know along the way of the cowdies or elsewhere so they're loyal they weren't maybe previously compromised maybe already you know maybe they're a bit dodgy and got in there as a servant but really they were looking to help out someone else in their past and I reckon the reason I say that is I reckon that you could apply that both to your own family members okay it should be the case that your family members are the most loyal people in the world to you that should be the case and if that isn't the case and when I say your family members I'm talking about if they're raised in Christ and everything else I'm not talking about just kind of exterior family somewhere okay but your own household your own house if you're they're saved and you and you know and you're you're not unequally out they should be they should be your yeah they should be your team shouldn't they yeah your kids you should be raising to be loyal and and and because it's not always automatic something kids aren't that little you know and and you want to be raising that in them you want to instilling that loyalty to each other as well loyalty to their siblings a lot of the time siblings can be like the opposite can't they they should be loyal to each other because you have more in common with you you're you're like a safe family here or you know in the future you've got more in common with each other than anyone else in the world okay and you should be loyal to each other you should be law like for example these people of his own house there but I would add as well hopefully to those raised in this church raised in the things of God hopefully not bringing a load of baggage with them like most of us have here most of us first-generation Christians here are bringing baggage into the Christian life and bringing maybe some weird allegiances to things and doors opened in our life to certain sins and everything else however and look don't get me wrong it's not the kids here aren't gonna walk on water okay some people get too messed up with this they just sing oh they're saved yeah you know they should just kind of just be reading the Bible all day every day and you know skipping along merrily singing hymns and you know they'll never have any temptations in life okay that's not reality however they do have the massive advantage of having not had the start that most most people here have had yeah most and been in the world and everything else and therefore you would hope that if we can get things right and raise the kids here right and the things of God they're gonna be some law church members aren't they be some churchmen they'll be loyal like these like like for example his trained servants born in his own house were for Abram to the point where they just pursued with him they were like so they were they were the truck because these kids are getting trained young here aren't they as well but they said but again it's a big responsibility for all of us as parents here as well to train them in right to get them right to make sure that they're going to continue in the things of God but you know there's some application for that there Abram heard that his brothers take captive he armed his trained servants born in his own house three hundred eighteen and pursued them unto Dan and he divided himself against him he and his servants by night and smote them and pursued them unto Hobar which is on the left hand of Damascus so Hobar is probably another another 30 miles or so so he's not just gone sort of on a hundred mile journey like Dan is right up like north beyond Galilee I don't know if I mentioned that to you but it's a long way he's now got another probably 30 miles from there and and you know you could look at this and say those servants must have been told I think these servants were tough okay they're mentioned for a reason that they're trained they're born his own house it's 318 in there I don't know if there's a reason why it's 318 or not but what you know there's a couple of things just to point out here it was an army of four cities okay however they have just had a big battle or some maybe they did it maybe it was just a route I don't know but they were on the back of a previous battle but in verse 24 it does seem that some Amorites went with him verse 24 says save only that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the men which went with me aina this is Abraham talking about Abraham at this point aina Eshkol and Mamre let them take their portion now those men we saw were kind of I mean Mamre was where the plane of Mamre was named after maybe they also when it mentions those men it might have included their men as well with them I don't know so maybe look maybe because verse 14 15 didn't specifically say that it was just a 318 on their own so when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive here armed his trained servants born in his own house 318 and pursued them unto Dan but we've just read that there are other people with him and he divided himself against him he and his servants by night and smote them I reckon they did most of the work though and pursued them unto Hobo which is on the left hand of Damascus and he brought back all the goods and also bought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people so either way that these guys got stuck in they won they brought back the goods and he brought back his his brother Lot again calling him his brother rather than his nephew I believe because of the salvation here and his goods and the women also and the people now they'd captured other people too okay and and maybe there are other farmers it's it like I said some you know people of use to them so Abram rescued his brother Lot from trouble in his life okay he rescued his family from those from those you know I know others around him okay rescued those people in his life and what did Lot do did he rethink his ways get away from Sodom that was the cause of this because that's what it was all about wasn't it he went back to the filth back to the money back to the world didn't he okay and that's it's pretty sad this story isn't it really he's just he's been captured because of basically the uselessness of the king of Sodom as well who then flees and falls and old things just an absolute mess and he goes back there by chapter 19 he's calling a brethren while they're trying to beat down his door I mean this guy's is a joke really isn't he yeah what a joke and but the thing with this is it is something that you just have to accept in the Christian life because you know you'll have this and we'll have this as a church because it's not just myself all of a church you'll help people in church life there'll be people that will come in in the future and you know you'll help them for a time they'll come and then maybe they'll grow and you'll see some things changing their life and stuff and then you're just kind of you know maybe it's a new convert maybe something we just had an effect in one way or another rescue them like in a way here from pain and destruction and whatever else in life and for many of the pitfalls and then watch them go straight back to the old life and that's that's that can be kind of the not so nice parts of church life can't it when you just when you and we'll see that you know we probably already have you know for people that you know will have come here for a bit and then kind of dropped out and everything else and it's sad isn't it because believe me the grass isn't greener they're not going to suddenly be smashing things up and tearing things up for God okay they're not you know they're not going to be soul-winning like they were they're not going to be they might for a little bit you know whoever you know when people leave and they might have some good intentions but they won't and and it can be sad can't it and you'll see people and you see them grow and you see things change and then you know and that's obviously what you want to do it's more concerned if you don't see that but you want to see change and then sadly you're gonna we're gonna lose people along the way and I think that's gonna be hard and it'd be hard for many of us here sometimes you think what a disappointment but it is the way it because you can't force someone can you you can't you can't force you you could try and part of church life is trying to encourage people to live for God not just for themselves but part of that is because let's be honest I don't think anyone here I hope isn't looking back and going that old life was so much better right let's go for a show of hands but I don't think I don't think you are are you look yeah sometimes you have some some there can be some pitfalls gotten in the Christian life there can be some harder times it can be tiring sometimes and it you know and you can have some rough times with it right but however there's there's nothing like it is there it's nothing like serving God there's nothing like knowing that you're on the front lines there's nothing like there's nothing like knowing that when you're in the will of God and you feel like you're in the will of God are you doing things for God on a daily basis on a weekly round I'm not saying you're sinless but you're trying your hearts right your heads in it there's nothing like it is there life isn't the same without that and and you know and you but you can't force that and other people but what you can do is try and encourage them and here he tried he what you can do is try and rescue them and you could try and get him and try and change their lives and try and get him into the things of God and you could try and preach those sins out and look you you know sometimes we're gonna get it wrong with some people you know and some some people just maybe won't deal with it you know in in the way we try and do it whatever else but we're gonna try aren't we but and it can be disappointing however it's down to them ultimately isn't it people have it is there look at the end of the day we all have responsibility in life yeah it's not our responsibility we'll try but the responsibility is individual and what we do can do though is do what what Abram did here where he got his walk right okay Abram made sure his walk was right okay and that and and that's something look because sometimes you can even focus too much on other people and then start compromising to try and help them out to try and get that personal try and encourage them and everything else well Abram doesn't do that verse 17 says in the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Kedah Leomah and the kings that were with him at the valley of Shaveh which is a Kings Dale so this is back in Canaan again pretty central I think a Melchizedek king of Salem yeah in fact we're quite near to Jerusalem that's what Salem Salem is is short for brought forth bread and wine and he was a priest of the Most High God so now we're gonna meet Melchizedek okay who is he well it says here that he's a king of Salem which is short for Jerusalem he's a priest of the Most High God and he blesses Abram it says in verse 19 he blessed him and said blessed be Abram of the Most High God possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be the Most High God which is delivered thine enemies into thine hand and he gave him tithes of all and by the way Abram gave Melchizedek tithes of everything as we're gonna see in a minute in Hebrew 7 it's not the other way around so he's clearly someone important and a popular opinion and I'm sure many of you have heard it is that he's Jesus Christ appearing in the Old Testament okay that's a very popular opinion out there a pre incarnate Christ now turn to Hebrews chapter 6 because it would be just by the way it would be the only time when Jesus Christ appears in the Old Testament that he's referred to by the name Melchizedek okay just out of interest and I don't know it's one of those things I've always just kind of thought yeah well that's what it is you know however our pastor recently preached through Hebrews and he's of a different opinion on this and he kind of presented this and I'm kind of I'm a bit unsure on this so I'd be interested what some of you guys think afterwards now the end of Hebrew 6 speaks of Melchizedek in verse 20 where it says whether the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus made and high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek Melchizedek is actually mentioned a few times in the book of Hebrews but here we're going to see now going into chapter 7 what it what what put on we assume it's Paul writing Hebrews maybe not but what the author of Hebrews says here about Melchizedek says in verse 1 and obviously the ultimate author is God for this Melchizedek king of Salem priest of the most high God who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all first being by interpretation that was a tithe by the way so it's Abraham given to him king of righteousness and after that also king of Salem which is king of peace Salem by the way meaning peace without father without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God abideth the priest continually now that first part of that verse without father without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life you'd understand why most people are going this is a pre-incarnate Christ isn't it all day long but he was made like unto the Son of God wasn't he didn't say made the Son of God made like unto the Son of God abideth the priest continually again you know you could look at that in a couple of ways there let's continue reading though now consider how great this man was he's a great guy under whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils and verily they that are the sons of Levi who received the office of the priesthood have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law that is of their brethren though they come out of the loins of Abraham but he who's descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promises and without all contradiction unless is blessed of the best so he's clearly a better person than Abraham who is a friend of God okay so this is a great guy milk is a deck and here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them of whom it is witness that he liveth and as I may so may so say Levi also who receiveth tithes paid tithes in Abraham and basically being that because Abraham paid those tithes and a Levi wasn't paying tithes but ultimately Melchizedek being you know this is priestly order was being paid tithes for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him if therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood for under it the people received the law what further need was there that another priest should rise off the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron so this is talking about Jesus Christ for the priesthood being changed or is made of necessity a change also of the law for he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah of which tribe Moses spake concern nothing concerning priesthood and it is yet far more evident for off for that after did it say he is or did it say the similitude it's a similitude the similitude of Melchizedek there rise if is it the same priest or another priest another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life for he testifieth thou to priest forever after the order of Melchizedek but it's rarely a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof for the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God and inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest for those priests were made without an oath but this with an oath by him that said unto him the Lord swam will not repent thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek which by the way is from Psalm 110 where God the Father is talking to God the Son and says the Lord has sworn and will not repent thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek about the Lord Jesus Christ so okay like I said I'm not really kind of I don't have a strong opinion on this if he's not Jesus Christ and who is he though so if it's not Jesus Christ who is he could verse 3 without father without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God abideth the priest continually I don't know could it be talking about his parents and birth that were unknown or maybe not at all is it just so therefore he's a picture of Christ or was it Jesus Christ maybe maybe is okay but either way it shows that there was a priesthood before Aaron okay so like I said I'm not really that kind of I don't have a strong opinion on that I'll be interested what what others think but either way there was a priesthood wasn't there okay there's a priesthood before Aaron and it's something that I was talking about with brother Hooner recently we do see priests mentioned a few times before Aaron don't we in the Bible as well you you've got you've got Joseph married Asenath who was a daughter of Potipharah priest of on and it's never really we don't really know what exactly was that what was he a priest of it's just never really explained there were priests in Egypt that by the way were exempt from the law that Pharaoh introduced but it was Joseph that kind of made that law under Pharaoh and and basically the fifth of everything was being taken there also kind of being almost loaned back the land were after the famine but the priests they were exempt from that law okay so there all these priests at Joseph who was a godly guy right Joseph didn't want to tax the priests which makes you think by the way this is at the end of Joseph's sort of governance he's basically like the second-in-command over the whole of the what seemed to be quite a world power and was there for quite a long time I'm not sure I'm I don't know if we know exactly the dates or not that doesn't come to mind but however then there's all these priests there then you've got then you've got Moses father-in-law was Jethro the priests of Midian and Moses father-in-law was a pretty godly guy by the sounds of it wasn't it so I've got a feeling that that well for me there was this priest priestly order there was a priestly order after the order of Melchizedek that continued for me up until Aaron that's what I believe now I don't know exactly who was and was a part of that but there has always been a priesthood basically is what I believe and you've got at least from Melchizedek and then it changes with the law with then it becomes after the line of Aaron right and anyway point being verse 19 says and he blessed him he blessed Abram back him where we were sorry in Genesis 14 and he blessed him and said blessed be Abram of the Most High God possessed of heaven and earth and blessed be the Most High God which has delivered thine enemies into the hand and he gave him tithes of all so this priesthood this line this this this line from Melchizedek of priests and here we have Melchizedek again we don't know exactly who he is what he is or whether he's the Lord Jesus Christ or not he's receiving tithes of Abram though isn't he okay and and that's not a first either Abel like we said before he bought an offering to God didn't he and it was an offering of the flock Cain bought an offering it was just an offering of the of the fruits of the ground wasn't it Noah offered straight after he got off the ark Abram here and we see it onwards with Isaac and Jacob and the reason I say that just because there are a lot of clowns out there that try and say that tithing is of the law okay that it's it's only in the law and they try and attack it like how on earth would any any of this function without tithing it's ridiculous but people honestly believe this stuff or at least they want to believe it then they say it should be a house church and no one should get no one should get any money towards anything it's just it's complete nonsense we have tithing here long before the law okay and that's it's it's just a fact of the godly life is tithing and the reason people try and fight it battle it backed a lot it's covetousness it's because people hate parting with money even when it's going to the things got now the problem is you got a lot of fake churches around as well and you can understand people have been burnt by that as well but look I've been tithing a long time now and I will never stop tithing because I know full well that I'm blessed when I talk not just blessed like in terms of goods and stuff though I know that it's that I mean God's will doing that and it's from early on here from the first from the first offspring we see basically at least an offering yeah well he didn't call it I well he gave tithes of all to Melchizedek why because Melchizedek was in the correct that was the godly person to give it to okay and I'll and for us we give it to the New Testament Church don't we and then the work of God continues and here he gives it to Melchizedek and the king of Sodom said unto Abram give me the persons to take the goods to thyself so he's given these tithes of all to this to this Melchizedek the king of Sodom then says to Abram in verse 21 and give me the persons and take the goods to thyself so he basically he he he's he's saying look look you can take like all the stuff all these animals all these goods all the victuals we saw seen and stuff like this all the things which have been taken out of Sodom why is he offering it all to Abram wondered that why did he say that I think it's I think he's trying to buy him I think it's probably flattery and people do that a lot you know and that's something you kind of really got a watch for in in life you know you know people I've had it a bit in this in this job before and people just kind of want to give stuff to you and give you and look there's nothing wrong with if you're just being kind and nice okay and I don't want to go too far in this but sometimes you know when it's just trying to buy you trying to flatter you trying to control you through giving you and again look if people just want to be kind and do stuff I'm not saying there's a problem with that okay but I have seen the opposite with this as well and people do and a lot of you dealt with that before here as well people trying to buy you trying to give you stuff trying to trying to bribe you with what they give you and and do for you and everything else but really the goal was wasn't a genuine goal was it okay it was to basically to it was to do an absolute really wasn't it a lot of it and you know here I think that's what he's doing here he's saying oh take all the goods just leave the people you could have it you know have the goods for yourself he's thinking he can buy me thinking Abrams quite a handy guy you know he's got 318 train service as well pretty tough guys but Abram he has the right response here doesn't he okay look you don't have to reject anything anyone ever tries to give you in life but when it's someone as wicked as the king of Sodom okay well it's just some blatant reprobate trying to buy you don't get tempted to take that yeah and people do it with other things and it's kind of like oh well I could just you know at least do it in this way or this person oh they're a bit wicked but they're just trying to I'll just take it it's free but you got to watch out for that stuff and what do they often do these people afterwards they use it against you don't know and and Abrams where he's aware of this he says in verse 22 and Abram said to the king of Sodom I've lift up mine hand unto the Lord the Most High God the possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latch here that I will not take anything that is thine lest I should have say I've made Abram rich save only that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the men which went with me a no ash column memory let them take their portion so he said I don't want anything from you know and anything of yours I don't want you to say that I owe you anything basically okay I don't want you to say look what I did for you I don't need to get involved with people like you and they do like because you can imagine in the future well look what I did for you I gave you all that stuff I didn't have to do that Abram you owe me now he's not yoking up with some filthy sodomite verse 22 it says and Abram said the king sodom I've lift up mine hand unto the Lord by the way that's another way of saying that I've sworn to God okay he's lift up his hand to to the Lord the Most High God the obsessed with heaven and earth he's sworn he's made a promise to God that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latch it and I will not take anything the design lest I should have said I've made Abram rich save only that which the young men have eaten and the portion of the men which went with me a no ash column memory let them take their portion and and look that's not a bad bad stance to take is it that's a good stance to take with a wicked I'm not taking a thing out of you you know I don't want anything of yours we'll do things God's way we don't need wicked people you know trying to trying to trying to control us and everything else and that was Genesis chapter 14 the I don't know I think there's some good talking points there like I said if anyone's got any thoughts on Melchizedek love to chat about it on that we're gonna pray father thank you for your word thank you for well you know just another chapter with so much to learn from it Lord so many just you know just in in verse of the Bible they're just so the Word of God as we know is just so rich so much we can get from it so many angles you can go with things and learn from and apply to our lives today Lord we thank you for that we thank you for the word thank you for this church thank you for everyone that made it here tonight Lord please just you know help us now to just get home safe and sound help us all return on Sunday for for the day of church there Lord and in Jesus name