"Beginning With Moses and the Prophets"
<Man With No Records - Melchizedek - Part I
>
Genesis 14; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7: 1 - 10
Introduction
I want us to not forget the main focus of what we’re
going through in these messages; that day on the road to Emmaus when Cleopas
and his walking companion were joined by Jesus the afternoon of the
resurrection but, But their eyes were
prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, "What are these words
that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they
stood still, looking sad. One [of them,] named Cleopas, answered and said to
Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things
which have happened here in these days?" And He said to them, "What
things?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of
death, and crucified Him. "But we were hoping that it was He who was going
to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these
things happened. "But also some women among us amazed us. When they were
at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying
that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.
"Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly
as the women also had said; but Him they did not see." And He said to
them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets
have spoken! "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things
and to enter into His glory?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the
prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the
Scriptures.
We’ve come to a place in Genesis were
a mysterious individual just comes on the scene and isn’t heard from again,
with the exception of Psalm 110 & in Hebrews.
Well, Abram has crept out of Egypt,
and apparently sometime later a problem comes up with his nephew Lot &
Lot’s herdsmen.
We have a great set-up for a cowboy
movie about range conflicts. Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks
and herds and tents. 6 And the land could not sustain them while dwelling
together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain
together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and
the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. To keep it from escalating into
a range war, Abram, with grace offers Lot his choice of land & says to him "Please
let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your
herdsmen, for we are brothers. 9 "Is not the whole land before you? Please
separate from me; if [to] the left, then I will go to the right; or if [to] the
right, then I will go to the left." 10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all
the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere--[this was]
before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of the LORD, like
the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. 11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley
of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.
God tells Abram, after Lot left out
on his own to look to the north, the east, the west & to the south and that
all the land he sees is given to him & his descendant.
He settles in Mamre & was there
for sometime - He built and altar where his family and servants could worship
the Lord formally. He built similar altars in Shechem & Bethel. We should
note that all the places mentioned in these chapters, shechem, Bethel, Sodom,
Ur & others have been shown by modern archaeological excavations to have
been real cities at the time of abram -
At this point in time Abram lived a
relatively quiet & secure life in Mamre for some years after Lot went his
way. Archaeology has confirmed that the area from Syria down through the Sinai
was peaceful & fruitful.
Then, almost suddenly, all this calm
was broken; it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch
king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 [that]
they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab
king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is,
Zoar). 3 All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt
Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they
rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with
him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham
and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as
far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to
En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites,
and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
These kings placed the local kings
under tribute then, after twelve years the kings under tribute rebelled. That
resulted in Chedorlaomer’s invasion and from the archaeological evidence it
was, according to archaeologist, Rabbi Nelson Glueck, an annihilation. They
finished by turning & going against the five kings: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah,
Zebouim, & Bela (Zoar).
The four, Chedorlaomer (Elam/Persia),
Goiim, Shinar (Babylon) & Ellasar against the five: And the king of
Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim
and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle
against them in the valley of Siddim, 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and
Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of
Ellasar--four kings against five. 10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar
pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But
those who survived fled to the hill country.
The five were not a match for the
troops of Chedorlaomer - What about Lot? Well, he had greedily chosen the best
part of the land & that proved to be disastrous - The enemy took everything,
all the possessions of Sodom & Gomorrah & left. How much had Lot lost?
Loved ones, sons or daughters taken by some Hittites as a prize? There he is
trudging along across the Transjordan ---
Possibly at some point maybe a
survivor escaped and was able to get to Abram. He was only about 20 or so miles
away.
Commando Raid -
Let’s fast forward three thousand
years or so to June 27, 1976 AD to be exact - Operatives for the Palestinian
Liberation Organization had hijacked an Air France Jetliner and had it fly to
Entebbe in Uganda where under the congeniality of President for Life Idi Amin
Dada the plane and hostages remained in a secure airport. Hijackers and the
hostages remained there for seven days while the hijackers prepared for their
next move -
At the same time, about 2400 miles
away in Tel Aviv Israel, as the hostages pondered what was going to happen,
three Hercules C-130 transport planes took off with Israelie commandos who
within hours attacked Entebbe, under the cover of darkness & in one hour,
sixty minutes, rescued 110 of the 113 hostages -
Yitzhak Rabin, the following day,
July 4th, declared the mission “will become a legend,” which it truly has.
But, the resolve isn’t anything new
to the Hebrew Nation because, like father like son & the apple doesn’t fall
far from the tree, this same quality can be traced back to the prowess of their
father Abraham.
Abram gets the news, and that his
nephew Lot is among those taken - Abram recruits 318 trained men from his
household & takes off in hot pursuit - He closes in on the kidnappers some
120 miles later on the northern border of Canaan -
Abram’s commandos engage the four
kings in a surprise attack & the four kings were put to flight. He
divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated
them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 He
brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his
possessions, and also the women, and the people. (vv.14-16). An account
of the Entebbe-like operation - Lesson? Don’t mess with father Abram.
This is a proto-version of masterful
command presence like Brig. Gen Anthony McAuliff at Bastogne during the Battle
of the Bulge & courageous leadership like Gen. Frank Merrill of Merrill’s
Marauders in Burma during WWII.
When Abram returns after the defeat
of the four kings, he was a hero at the peak of martial success - Now
picture him on his mount, sword in hand, dirty from combat, leading his 318
proud men, plus Lot & all the captives & all the plunder, through
downtown Salem.
If you can picture it in your mind,
you should be able to appreciate Abram’s somewhat strange & almost mystic
encounter with the shadowy figure in Scripture, the man who is priest &
king of Salem; the man who had no record on file, no data on him - Melchizedek
-
This has been a rather long
introduction to verses 18 - 24, but we will continue this on the 29th.
Let’s pray.
