Genesis 14: 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God
Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:
“Blessed be Abram
of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
And he gave
him a tithe of all.
21 Now
the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the
goods for yourself.”
22 But
Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord,
God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will
take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not
take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made
Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have
eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre;
let them take their portion.”
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Upon Abram’s successful
return, he was met by the King of Sodom to be thanked for getting all the stuff
back. Abram was then met by Melchizedek king of Salem. He was the priest of GOD
MOST HIGH. Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all that was taken from Sodom, Lot
and all the people. He did this in front of the king of Sodom, who then asked
for slaves.
My Observations:
- Abram chose to give a tenth of the “Plunder” to Melchizedek.
- Abram could have kept all the stuff for himself, but chose to give some of it away and the rest back to their owners.
- Abram then told the king of Sodom that he would not allow the thought of being made rich from a person who practiced evil against the LORD.
Gifts were given to
Melchizedek; I believe because he followed GOD with all his heart. Melchizedek
was a servant leader who GOD recognized as the first priest. He may have led
the people through servant leadership and was therefore not invited to fight
with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. Melchizedek did not ask for anything,
instead offered a blessing over Abram.
Meanwhile, the King
of Sodom was worried about stuff and slaves. Abram, through this action, set a
precedence for giving that would later become a law to support the Levitical priests.
Abel sacrificed an animal to GOD showing belief in GOD’s mercy. Abram was the
first to give to a priest, because of the priest’s relationship with GOD.
Challenge
- Why does GOD call Melchizedek a priest and mention him to Moses?
- Have you ever felt like you do not have enough?
- What is GOD asking you to do with your stuff?
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