In this issue, we see Abraham as the man God blesses when he is a man of war, a generous person, and an intercessor for his nephew Lot. Every Christian man can learn from his example and become more like him.
In the last issue, I showed you how Abraham dealt with God-given prosperity. He also knew how to deal with issues that came up in his life. These three episodes show how Abraham’s character was tested. Abraham is not a man to be trifled with. He knew how to handle the situations mainly caused by Lot. Let’s look at how Abraham is the man God blesses.
Abraham the Man of War (Genesis 14:11-16)
Genesis 14 talks about how Lot became an issue for Abraham, the man God blesses. In fact, lot is the reason two of these of these episodes have been in Abraham’s life. I’m looking forward to our volume dedicated to Lot.
It is not Lot’s fault that these kings go to war against one another. He gets caught in the middle. But as we will discuss in his life lessons, he is in a wicked place, and vulnerable. The enemies of these kings in this area take Lot captive along with the spoils.
This Springs Abraham into action. We don’t know much about his valiant needs and fighting prowess until now. Abraham must rescue Lot because he is family and he cares much for him. Sometimes the things that happen to us are no fault of our own but we must spring into action.
When he finds out about Lot’s captivity, Abraham goes after him. He takes his allies with him and 318 trained men in his camp. Abraham was his own security force. He had the wisdom to train people in battle so if they needed to fight, like they do now, they were ready.
Abraham is the man God blesses because he has wisdom and foresight to see what may be needed down the road. He pursued these enemies as far as he needed to and overtook them. Once he got a hold of them, they would not be able to keep their spoils of war.
We often credit Julius Caesar with the battlefield tactic of divide and conquer. But Abraham used it way before him. He divided his forces against these enemies so he could conquer them. The Bible does not tell us how many people were in the enemy’s camp and ready to fight. I have to imagine 318 men may have been the underdog.
But they weren’t the underdog because God was with them. God blesses Abraham in every endeavor he puts his hand to. He gives the battle into Abraham’s hands and he brings back all the possessions of the people including Lot and his possessions.
God gave Abraham the victory, and He gives us the victory when we use wisdom, skill, and what is in our hand. We must become people of action who seize the day and take the fight to the enemy like Abraham did. We must be ready to fight when it is appropriate. Too many things are being stolen by the enemy and we must become like Abraham, the man God blesses.
Abraham Has a Generous Heart (Genesis 14:17-24)
This second episode in Abraham’s life is not about Lot. It happens immediately after the battle. With all the plunder Abraham took back because he is the man God blesses, he meets one of the kings, the King of Salem.
You will be familiar with Melchizedek. He is an interesting character in Bible accounts. The writer of Hebrews talks about him much more than Genesis does. Some people believe he was the pre-incarnate Christ. I don’t think he was, but he worshiped Yahweh in a land of people who did not.
Salem is the same city that later will be named Jerusalem. So he is a priest and king of a city that will become God’s chosen city. He is a special person indeed! Melchizedek is priest of God Most High. He knows the Lord and serves him as a priest.
Priest and King will be two of the three anointed offices of the nation of Israel. The third is the prophet. Jesus fulfills all three of these roles as the Prophet, Priest, and King. Melchizedek acts in the priestly role of blessing Abraham. He proclaimed what was already known, that Abraham is the man God blesses.
This does not mean Abraham has to do anything for him. But he does. He decides to bless Melchizedek with a tithe, 10% of all the possessions he had taken from the enemy. Melchizedek doesn’t ask him for anything. And when he receives Abraham’s gift, he only wants to take people instead of goods.
Abraham refuses. Abraham is not only a man of honor and valor but a man God blesses because he is generous. He even makes sure his allies in the battle receive their share.
Abraham the Intercessor (Genesis 18:22-33; 19:27-29)
In the final episode that involves Lot again, we see Abraham, the man God blesses, interceding for his nephew. We will be talking about this whole experience for Abraham in a later issue, but Abraham essentially meets God in three Persons and makes a meal for Him.
God reaffirms the covenant and prophesies that Sarah will be pregnant and will have the promised child within a year. When the three Persons go to leave, they let Abraham and on what God is about to do. They tell him God will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities for the great wickedness.
Abraham knows Lot lives in that valley, specifically in Sodom. He cares so much for his nephew that he is willing to risk confrontational conversation with God Almighty. I like how Abraham intercedes for his nephew. He does not presume because of his friendship with the Lord that he can demand anything.
Abraham has dealt with God before and knows He is a righteous God. He wants to know how righteous God really is. He is looking for the details of God’s righteousness. He draws near before the Lord and asks Him if he would destroy the righteous along with the wicked.
It is not just a philosophical question. Abraham is concerned about his family, Lot. So, he starts with a good number, 50. Abraham knows his place. When he addresses the Lord a second time, he does it with such deprecation, knowing that he is only dust, and God is eternal. He comes before the Lord with confidence, and yet such humility!
Abraham is the man God blesses because of his humility. He is curious to know God’s character but not in a demanding way. Abraham continues to address the Lord and goes from 50 down to 20, and finally 10.
Abraham approaches the Lord six times, lowering the number first by five and then by 10 each time. He does not presume to go down to the number of people in Lot’s family, which is only four. He keeps the conversation about the righteous and the wicked, not about family.
Abraham is the man God blesses because God agrees each time to not destroy the city of Sodom if there are that many people that are righteous in it. How sad it is that they’re not 10 righteous people in Sodom! Abraham stops at 10 people. He does not ask the Lord for a favor just because he knows Him. Abraham respects God’s sovereignty and righteousness.
I want to point out that God is more righteous even then Abraham allowed for. Abraham was willing to let the city go for 10 people. There are only four in his nephew’s family. He accepts that God is righteous even before he gets to the number of his kin he wants to save.
God is more righteous than we can imagine. We cannot fully comprehend His attributes because they are so much greater than we can imagine. We see the complete matter in Genesis 19:27-29. Abraham goes in the morning to look over the valley and sees that God has scorched it so that nothing was left.
What Abraham probably later find out is that Lot, his wife, and his two daughters escape from Sodom in time. Only Lot’s wife looks back and God turns her into a pillar of salt. God destroyed the city of wicked people. But He saved the four people considered righteous. Three of them survive through obedience. God is greater than we will ever imagine!
Life Lessons from Abraham the Man God Blesses
We can learn at least four life lessons from Abraham, the man God blesses. The first is that we need to have wisdom to see what we might need in the future. Abraham trains some of his servants to fight in case he will ever need to. When he does, they are already ready to go.
It would be unfortunate if Abraham had to train these men before he took them into battle with him. He also has the wisdom in the battle to know to divide his forces so he can conquer these evil enemies. We need to have the wisdom in the middle of our battles to know how to fight to see success and victory. God gives us the victory but we must have the wisdom to fight well.
Actually, there is another life lesson tucked away in this one. Like Abraham, the man God blesses, if we want to be blessed by the Lord, there are battles worth fighting for. Their heels worth dying on. We live in a land and culture that is wicked to its core. Abraham could’ve said, “I told Lot not to take that ground for himself. I guess his fate is in his own hands.” But he did not.
We must be willing as Christians to face those battles that deserve fighting and fight them with all our heart and mind. Do not shrink back from the battle that is worth taking the high ground for. Fight well, and the Lord will give the battle into your hand. But it won’t be for your glory. It will be for His, and you must give Him the praise.
A second life lesson we can learn from Abraham, the man God blesses is that God blesses generosity and generous hearts. Abraham did not have to give anything he won in the spoils of battle. He could’ve said, “I did this by my own hand and cunning. I deserve this.”
But Abraham had a generous heart because God had been submitted to him. Remember that God told Abraham he would bless him to be a blessing (Genesis 12:3). God does not bless us for our sake. He blesses us for the sake of those around us. We must have the generosity to realize we are blessed by the Lord and that God wants to use us to be a blessing to others.
Whatever we think we deserve because of our own ingenuity, power, or ability, we must realize God gave us those things. And He allows us to be blessed by Him. Our greatest act of worship is to have generous hearts and hands that give out of the abundance God has given us. Then we will also be blessed by the Lord as Abraham was.
A third lesson we can learn from Abraham, the man God blesses is that we need to learn how to pray with confidence and humility at the same time. Some people come before the Lord demanding their rights and what He has promised them.
I think this is a dangerous way to approach God. Abraham had it right. He was confident he knew the Lord’s character. He knew God is righteous and all-good. They wanted to know more specifically about God’s righteousness. But he didn’t demand, “God, you are righteous. You are not allowed to destroy that city because my nephew is there.”
Surely such a response would have gotten Abraham exactly the opposite of God’s righteousness and goodness. God would have put Abraham in his place. Instead, he is confident of God’s righteousness and approaches He with humility.
Humility in our prayers means we realize who we are and who God is. He is always greater than us, and He deserves our respect and reverence. We can approach Him in confidence and humility. This is the way we should intercede for others and ourselves. We can be confident of the results without being boisterous and demanding before Him.
A final life lesson we can learn from Abraham, the man God blesses is that God is greater and more righteous than we could ever imagine. We cannot fully comprehend God’s qualities and characteristics, but we know who He is. We know He is greater then we imagine.
We are so much better for it! Like Abraham, we best learn God’s attributes and characteristics through our life experiences. We learn through prayer and experience God is and how He loves us. We learn the greatness of His goodness as we walk with Him every day.
Never be afraid to go before the Lord for anything that’s happening to you, to your family and friends, or to anyone else in your life. You will find Him truer, greater, and kinder each time. As you grow in Him through these experiences, you will find you will never know more love and compassion them with Him.
The Saga Continues…
We have seen in this issue some of the life lessons we can learn from Abraham, the man God blesses, so that we, too, can become people God blesses. Because we have been talking so much about Lot, I think it would be pertinent for us to deal with Life Lessons from Lot in Volume 5 (3 Issues) before we continue with issues dealing with Abraham. If you wish to move on to further issues on Abraham’s life, you can continue with Volume 4, Issue 5 when it is available.
