[Text: Genesis 14)

Scripture Intro: Humans needs separation of powers. We have two houses of Congress, three branches of government and a host of anti-monopoly laws because “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” What if human corruption wasn’t part of the equation? A person could rule with all authority and their purity would lead them to do justice in the earth. I could actually delight in someone having absolute power and authority over my body, even my soul, if that person was powerful AND pure AND loved peace AND if they proved that they loved me deeply.

(Read text and pray)

We’re going to walk our way through the text today and consider it in three different contexts: Abram’s, then Israel’s during the time of the OT and finally in light of the NT and the arrival of Jesus. If we leave out one of those, then we miss aspects of what God did, was doing, has done and will yet do in the Story of Redemption that we have been looking at these many weeks. God gave His people this huge, amazing Story and He gave it over time. That means that Abram didn’t know the whole Story, but he knew something. Israel as a nation didn’t know the whole story, but more had been revealed to them than to Abram. We who live on this side of the cross need to understand both what Abram and Israel knew of God and themselves AND we need to know how Jesus is the fullness of all the promises of God. We need to hear the one Story that the Scriptures tell so that we can know our place, and our part to play, in God’s plan to restore the whole world through Jesus to a beauty that is better than that which was in the beginning.

I. So what did Abram learn from this part of his story? In Gen. 12, God promised Abram that He would be given offspring, blessing and a land from the LORD’s own hand SO THAT Abram would be a blessing to the whole world. He also said, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,….” Abram understood something of his role in the world. By grace God entered into a relationship to bless Abram and that blessing was meant for others, too. And somehow, God would deal with people in relation to how they deal with Abram; blessing for blessing and curse for dishonor. We’re about to see that in action.

Our text tells the story of a war fought by great kings of men: Four dominant kings against Five kings in rebellion. The dominant kings were mostly from the region of Abram’s ancestors; Mesopotamia. They had ruled over the kings in the region where Abram now lived for twelve years and enough was enough. The Five Kings rebelled and war broke out. Here’s the short version: The Four dominant kings came through, broke the back of the rebellion and, in typical ancient fashion, carried off everything they could while burning and destroying the rest. All the men, women, children, cows, goats, crops, tools, gold and silver of the whole conquered region instantly became the property of these Four powerful kings. They had defeated everyone by the power of their army. No one had the authority or power to challenge them.

As it turns out, Abram’s nephew, Lot, was among those who had, in a moment, become the property of a foreign king. Remember Lot had followed his eyes and left the land of the promise for the land of Sodom that looked good to him, and yet was full of all kinds of evil. Lot finds himself swept away in the flood of foreign soldiers. Unsure of his fate and in great danger, Lot’s eyes have deceived him.

But Abram doesn’t abandon him. As soon as he hears about Lot he gathers his forces and pursues the Four Kings who are on their way home. He pursues them a total of about 130 miles (think Fuquay to Wilmington, NC) on foot with a tiny force of 318 men, hunting down the hunters and in a nighttime battle defeats them and rescues Lot, his possessions, women and the people who were with them. Abram did what 5 armies of kings weren’t able to do.

Here’s the part where we’re tempted to say, “Wow! Look at how great Abram was. Look at how successful Abram was! All I have to do is BE LIKE ABRAM and go out and do the right thing and God will give me success.” The problem with that thinking is…that’s not at all what this story is about.

So, what did all this mean to Abram? The answer is in the next section, vv. 17-24.

This section presents us with a sharp contrast between two encounters. When Abram returns from the pursuit of the Four Kings with Lot and everyone and everything with him, he is returning to his new land a hero. This foreigner, this Hebrew, this stranger among the Canaanites has rescued not only Lot but everything and everyone that had been captured in the preceding battle. The phrase “to the victor goes the spoils” should come to mind here. Everything now belongs to Abram.

And Abram is met by two men, two kings; the King of Sodom and Melchizedek, King of Salem. The focus of the passage is on the contrast between these two interactions.

When they meet the returning Abram, Melchizedek is ready to refresh Abram and celebrate the victory that has saved so many people from their land, even if they did belong to other kings and peoples. The bread and the wine is not referenced anywhere in Scripture as being some sort of prefigurement to the Lord’s Supper, so we should probably lean toward the understanding that this was simply meant to be a party, a celebration of victory and life over defeat and death.

The text notes in v. 18 that this Melchizedek was “priest of God Most High,” who as a priest blesses Abram and blesses God Most High. He blesses Abram by asking God Most High to bless Abram with the indication that in the act of speaking there is real benefit from God Most High being given to Abram. He then blesses God Most High himself, praising his God for (listen for it…) “deliver(ing) (Abram’s) enemies into (his) hand!” Melchizedek knows that the point of this victory isn’t about praising the bravery or success of Abram. This is an opportunity to bless and praise the LORD for his mercy and his protection and his faithfulness to Abram.

And Abram knows it, too, because of his response to the words of Melchizedek. In acknowledgement of the truth of what he just spoke, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of EVERYTHING. We can assume that didn’t mean the people, but the goods, the money, the food, etc.

And in that same act of giving a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, Abram is also acknowledging the reality of the special office Melchizedek held as a priest of God Most High, especially as in v. 22 he specifically connects the name of YHWH to God Most High, claiming that those two names are talking about the same powerful and good God. He submits himself to this man, openly, in front of everyone, acknowledging Melchizedek’s greatness as a priest of God Most High. Abram - the covenant representative of God, the one to whom belongs the promises of God, the one from whom a nation would be born, from whom would come the offspring of the woman who would crush the head of the dark power that deceived humanity from the beginning - submits to this priest of God and humbly receives a blessing from him as a blessing from God Most High himself.

Compare that to what happens next.

The King of Sodom speaks. This king comes to Abram with an offer…a quite rude, short-sighted, ungrateful, disrespectful, very dishonoring offer. He tells this victorious warrior to give him the people but keep the rest of the stuff for himself. Abram says, “No way. I’ve sworn to YHWH, who IS God Most High, Possessor/Creator of heaven and earth that I will look to him for blessing and not to you. You can’t have the credit for what God is doing here. God protected me and God will be the One blessing me…not you. The people who came with me will get their due, but as for me…I don’t need or want anything from you.”

We won’t focus on this too much, but note what just happened in light of the promise God made earlier to bless those who bless Abram and curse those who dishonor him. The curse will come very quickly upon Sodom (for this and for other reasons) in just a few chapters but blessing, as we’ll see today, will rest upon Melchizedek forever as he stands in Scripture as one who points us toward Jesus.

Abram understands at least a couple of things from this part of his life. First, he understands that there is a priesthood that he must acknowledge as superior to his own role in the covenant with the LORD. He needs the blessing of God from Melchizedek. He also understands that all the glory and honor for the blessings promised to him belong to God alone. He keeps no glory or praise for himself and he does not allow any other to try to keep some at God’s expense. To receive something from the King of Sodom would be to diminish the glory of the God who had made the promises to Abram.

II. So, what did this mean for Israel in the OT? As time went by and the nation of Israel heard this, both in the time of the Exodus and beyond that time as God gave to them kings and priests of their own to serve as their covenant representatives, God had revealed more to them about the redemption that He was working than Abram had known. So, they would have been reading this in light of two things in particular. First, they would have read about Melchizedek, the first priest of God mentioned in the Bible, in light of their own experience with priests, who were priests of a different kind, of a different order than Melchizedek. Second, specifically in the time of the kings, they would have read this in light of Psalm 110 where Melchizedek’s priesthood is connected to the role of the promised future KING who would rule over them in complete power and goodness.

The priests Israel was familiar with were the descendants of Aaron, who served in the presence of the LORD and offered sacrifices to the LORD for the sins of the people. God had set up that order of priests, all descendents of Abram through Aaron, as a way of making it possible for sinful people to remain in a relationship with him. Here was the thing about the priests who descended from Aaron: they were sinful themselves and they did not remain a priest forever because, well, they died. Their order of priesthood was imperfect. Their office had a beginning and an end. And their work had to be repeated over and over and over because of the sin that was in their own hearts as well as in the hearts of the people.

God also made it clear that the office of priest was to be kept separate from the office of king. The king was supposed to govern and protect the people, conquering their enemies and serving the people in goodness and truth as God’s representative. Sort of like when a judge likes to act like a legislator, when a king tried to take on the role of priest, too, things didn’t go well. Sinful human nature was understood by the LORD and so he kept the two offices separate.

And yet in Psalm 110 the people of God would hear that there would be a king one day who would belong to a different order of priest, a superior order of priest like Melchizedek. This One, God promised, would subdue all his enemies and reign in the perfect goodness and power of God himself and would be both king and priest, but not a priest like the sons of Aaron. His service to God and to men would be like Melchizedek’s.

All of this together was given to the people of God so that when the promised One came, they would be able to recognize the King/Priest when he arrived and, like Abram, openly acknowledge his greatness, his authority, his goodness and his work and as they do those things, receive his rule and his blessing as he does the work of a priest, being a living bridge between God and man, restoring what was lost in the beginning because of our sin and brokenness.

III. So, what does this mean for those of us in this time of God’s Story of Redemption after the coming of Jesus? When Jesus came, there were some who recognized him as king. Today we remember Palm Sunday, the day when the whole city of Jerusalem, the ancient city of Melchizedek himself, greeted Jesus as her king waiving palm branches in the air and saying, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD, even the King of Israel!” They greeted Jesus as a conquering king and yet their expectation was shattered as his kingship didn’t look like what they expected. They expected an earthly kingdom to be established. They expected the Romans invaders to be turned out in an instant from their land. But those very people who saw in Jesus a king did not understand at that time that he is both king and priest, and a priest of a different kind than the sons of Aaron whose office and work was incomplete, imperfect and weak because of human sin.

In Hebrews 7, God reveals that Jesus is the king and priest promised long ago who belongs to the better, perfect order of priest like Melchizedek. His kingship is absolute but his kingship is incomplete without his role as priest of God.

And Jesus’ priesthood is not like the priesthood of the sons of Aaron. He never had to offer a sacrifice for his own sin because he had none. And the sacrifice that he offered for our sin was not the blood of lambs and bulls, it was his own blood which was acceptable to God because of his perfection. And because he is perfect, the sacrifice was needed only once so that the blood he shed on the cross was enough to cover every sin for every child of God from the beginning of the world through the end of this age.

The priest from Aaron all died and their ministry came to an end but the priesthood of Christ goes on and on forever because of the power of indestructible, resurrection life that is within him, making him a priest for the people of God forever! There is a living, permanent priest for you and for me – always saving, always keeping, always interceding for us before God the Father and pleading the worthiness of his blood poured out for you and for me to cover our rebellion against the Father.

Melchizedek, whose name means King of Righteousness, was King of Salem, that is, King of Peace; King of Righteousness, King of Peace and Priest of YHWH God Most High all in one person. Melchizedek becomes a model of what people need; a righteous king of peace and a priest of God together in one person; someone powerful to save and able to intercede for us before God.

Jesus is the substance of which Melchizedek was the picture. He is our King of Righteousness who by giving us his righteousness through faith in him also gives us his peace. He makes peace between us and God by the power of his blood poured out once for all on the cross. He is our King. He is our Priest. Absolute power and absolute mercy are joined forever into one person who loves you deeply and has proved it by dying for you even when you did not yet exist and could not chose or respond to him.

If you have received him as your King and Priest, then rejoice in this truth that as your King he has subdued your enemy and accuser, Satan. He has conquered death itself and removed forever the threat your sin placed you under, freeing you to live as his brother, a child of YHWH God Most High. He lives and protects you even now so that not a hair can fall from your head apart from his will. And as your priest he prays for you and acts on your behalf before the throne of God himself. He purified you once for all through sacrificing himself. By his blood you are set free, by his wounds you are healed.

What part of your life would you withhold from the reign of your King Jesus; your time, your money, your family, your thoughts, your body, your very life? What offering would withhold from your High Priest? What worship would you not offer to him from your heart? The reality is, there is often a great deal that we keep back from him. Our weakness is quite real. There is a place here for repentance, to turn away from our attempts to sit on the throne that belongs to the true King alone.

And still he keeps us. Still, there is no condemnation because his blood has already been poured out. Still, Jesus pleads his merit before the throne of God above to cover our brokenness and shame. All he commands is that you receive what your King and Priest has already done for you. Submit to the blessing of Christ like Abram submitted to the blessing of that priest long ago. Submit and rejoice! (Yes, those two things can go together) Submit and rejoice because your King and Priest Jesus loves you, proving it on the cross, and will always protect and bless you right up through the day of his coming and beyond it in the age to come. Submit, rejoice and glorify God in all that you think and say and do. Submit, rejoice and glorify God in your work and in your families, in the time that is yours and in the time that belongs to someone else. Submit, rejoice and glorify God because it is he who has saved you and brought you into his kingdom under the reign and ministry of Jesus, your good King and perfect High Priest.