Abram and the King of Sodom

 Read Genesis 14

Abram had saved Sodom’s bacon.  They should have been in his debt.  Yes, they still had been defeated in battle but Abram’s 318 men had defeated the 4 marauding armies. There had to be a little redemption in that.

The king of Sodom wanted to get his people back.  He told Abram, give me the people and you keep the stuff, much of which must have come from Sodom and the other 4 cities.

Abram said, no deal.  I serve the Lord God.  There is no way that you are going to get credit for anything here.  Nobody is going to say that the king of Sodom made Abram rich.  No deal.

Abram seems to be respectful in language, but doesn’t give an inch on having dealings with this man that might appear to give him some standing in Abram’s life.

You have to wonder if Abram didn’t know that Sodom was on God’s hit list because of their evil ways, though later he would plead for the people of Sodom.

Remember, this whole encounter would have just been a footnote in history—a JAWAP:  Just Another War Among Pagans if Lot had not been taken captive.  God did not make a covenant with Abram to be the referee of many nations.  He was not sent from the land of the Chaldeans to be the Warrior of Warriors among nations.

He would be the Father of many nations.

I noted previously that we did not see evidence that God gave Lot a special mission or purpose or calling, but Lot seemed to keep Abram busy at least until the destruction of Sodom.

Abram said that his men should get their rightful shares, so Abram probably left what was left to the King of Sodom.  These would be the spoils of war.  The commander could rightfully claim everything as spoils, but Abram only wanted what his warriors deserved.

It’s a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless.  Abram agreeing to what the king of Sodom offered and Abram just leaving what didn’t belong to the men behind for the king are different things.

Somewhere along the way, Abram had sworn to God not to play the game of politics with the king of Sodom. Abram rescued his nephew and others, came away with things of value that his warriors would consider ample pay for their duty in the reserves, and parted company with the king of Sodom without exchanging email addresses or inviting each other to the company parties.

Abram had accomplished what he set out to do and that was that, So remember this part of the story as we go forward.

Amen.