Genesis 14:1-7
The Rebellion of the Valley Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
The Rebellion of the Valley Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations,... [ Continue Reading ]
that these 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, which is Zoar. Those were the days of the city-states, just before the rise of the great Eastern nations. According to contemporary documents,... [ Continue Reading ]
All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea. At the time when this history was written, the vale of Siddim was no longer in existence, its former fruitful fields being covered by the waters of the Dead Sea. Cf Genesis 19:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. Chedorlaomer at that time was the head of the northern confederacy, and therefore the rebellion of the southern kings and their refusal to pay tribute is represented as being directed against him.... [ Continue Reading ]
And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,... [ Continue Reading ]
and the Horites in their Mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they returned and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. It was a campaign of revenge and conquest which the kings of the northern, or Babylonian, confederacy undertook under the leadership of Chedorlaom... [ Continue Reading ]
And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;... [ Continue Reading ]
The Capture of Lot... [ Continue Reading ]
with Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and with Tidal, king of nations, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings with five. Flushed with their recent conquests, by which they had eliminated all the possible confederates of the southern confederacy, the kings of the north p... [ Continue Reading ]
And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. This was the outcome of the battle: the five southern kings were routed by the armies of the north and sought to save their lives. The kings of Sodom a... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their victuals, and went their way. Even in those days the spoils belonged to the victors; they plundered the cities of the conquered armies, down to the last remnant of food, and then marched on.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. Thus Lot was obliged to suffer with the godless people among whom he lived, whose city he had chosen for his home, This was to prove an excellent chastisement and correction for him.... [ Continue Reading ]
And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram, the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram. Abram, living at some distance from the scene of all these happenings, was not aware of the straits into wh... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM'S MARCH AND VICTORY... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. By the time Abram received the news, the enemies had gotten a long start on their way to their home country. But he acted with commend... [ Continue Reading ]
And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. By making use of strategy and with the help of Almighty God, before whom mere numbers are not the deciding factor, Abram was able to put the Babylon... [ Continue Reading ]
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. The whole spoil of the enemy was thus taken from them by Abram's little army, who thereby, in magnanimous love, rewarded Lot good for evil. Thus true faith produces holy cour... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. The news of Abram's victory preceded him, for, with all the spoil and the women, he was unable to travel so rapidly... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAHAM'S RETURN... [ Continue Reading ]
And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. of this Melchizedek, king of Salem, probably Jerusalem, nothing more is known. Cf Hebrews 7:3. He seems to have been one of those that clung to the worship of the true God after the majority of... [ Continue Reading ]
And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth;... [ Continue Reading ]
and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand. And he gave him tithes of all. So Melchizedek transmitted to Abram the blessing of God, of the Most Exalted One, of the Founder and Owner of heaven and earth. And, in turn, he praised the Lord, the Exalted One, to... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. His intention was to repay Abram for the work which he performed in delivering the captive Sodomites, especially the women and children, from the hands of the enemy. He asked only for the souls, the people who... [ Continue Reading ]
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the Possessor of heaven and earth,... [ Continue Reading ]
that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich;... [ Continue Reading ]
save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. It is a kind, but solemn and emphatic refusal. With a confession in the true God, in whose name he swears, Abram declares that the men belonging to his... [ Continue Reading ]