Genesis Origins Part 2: Abraham and Sarah – Week 2
Genesis:14:1-10
- Before we begin reading, let me lay so frame work
- In the first Part Genesis 14,
- A coalition of four powerful kings from the east
- Invades the region where Lot is living.
- Five local kings—including the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
- Try to resist them,
- But they are defeated in battle.
- When the invading armies sweep through the land,
- They carry off everything from the cities,
- Including people and possessions.
- In the chaos of the defeat,
- Abram’s nephew Lot
- Who had been living near Sodom
- Is captured
- And taken away with the other prisoners.
- One survivor escapes
- And runs to Abram to tell him what has happened.
- When Abram hears that his family has been taken captive,
- He gathers 318 trained men from his household
- And sets out to pursue the armies and rescue Lot.
Now let’s pick up the story in
Genesis 14:11–24
11 The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on.
12 They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, and they went on.
13 One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.
14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15 And he and his servants deployed against them by night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus.
16 He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer (ket-ed-a-low-mer) and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.
19 He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
20 and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
23 that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’
24 I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”
- Today, I want to talk to you about how Gratitude Gives Back
- That Faith doesn’t just trust God in hardship
- It honors Him in victory.
- True generosity flows from gratitude, not obligation.
Intro:
- Most people pray harder when life falls apart.
- But the real test of faith
- Often comes when life starts going well.
- Most people assume faith is tested when life falls apart.
- When the diagnosis comes.
- When the job disappears.
- When the relationship fractures.
- When the bank account is empty.
- Those are the moments when we cry out to God.
- But Scripture shows us something many of us miss.
- Hardship is not the only test of faith.
- Sometimes the real test of faith comes after the victory.
- After the breakthrough.
- After the prayer is answered.
- After the battle is won.
- After things start going well.
- Hardship often drives us toward God.
- But Success tempts us to replace Him.
- God warned Israel
- About this very danger before they entered the Promised Land.
In Deuteronomy 8:17–18 He said,
17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’
18 but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm his covenant he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
- In other words, the danger wasn’t the wilderness.
- The danger was prosperity.
- Genesis 14 shows us Abram after a victory.
- And what he does next
- Teaches us what faith looks like when things go well.
- Genesis 14 unfolds in three clear movements,
- And each one reveals something about how faith responds after victory.
- First, we will see the rescue.
- Then we will see the blessing.
- Finally, we will see the refusal.
The Rescue (Genesis 14:1–16)
- When Abram hears that Lot has been taken captive,
- He does not hesitate.
Genesis 14:14 says,
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he mobilized his 318 trained men born in his household and pursued them as far as Dan.”
- Abram could have stayed out of it.
- This wasn’t his war.
- Lot had chosen to live near Sodom.
- Lot’s choices created the situation.
- But Abram moves toward rescue.
- Faith moves toward people in need.
- That’s part of why we stepped forward in faith as a church through SEEK.
- We believe God has blessed us not just so we can be comfortable,
- But so that we can move toward people who are distressed and dejected
- Those in our city who need help, hope, and the gospel
- Through the ministries God has entrusted us with.
- Abram takes 318 men and pursues the armies
- That had just defeated five kings.
- Humanly speaking,
- The odds were not in his favor.
- Yet Abram trusted God more than he feared the enemy.
- (let that sit with you for a moment…)
- Do you trust God more than the fear the enemy tries to throw at you?
- One of my life verses speaks to this
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield (Who is? The Lord Not you or me)
My Heart Trust in him, and (here’s the benefit of that trust) I am helped (I am surrounded) Therefore (Because of this fact) My heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song.
- How do you know if you are trusting over-fearing the enemy?
- Your heart posture is worship
- Later in the passage, if we skip to verse 20
- We learn the real reason Abram won.
Genesis 14:20 says,
“God Most High has handed over your enemies to you.”
- Abram fought the battle.
- But God gave the victory.
- Faith steps forward in obedience,
- Trusting that the outcome belongs to God.
- But the real focus of the story begins after the battle is over.
- What Abram does next reveals what was living in his heart.
- The second movement
The Blessing (Genesis 14:17–20)
- After Abram returns from victory,
- Two kings come out to meet him.
- The first is Melchizedek.
Genesis 14:18 says,
“Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.”
- Melchizedek blesses Abram and says,
Genesis 14:19–20
“Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you…”
- Notice what happens.
- Melchizedek redirects the credit.
- Abram may have fought the battle.
- But God gave the victory.
- And Abram immediately responds.
Genesis 14:20
“…And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
- No law required this.
- No rule demanded it.
- Abram gives because his heart is full of gratitude.
- Gratitude always turns into generosity.
- When we truly recognize
- That what we have comes from God,
- Our instinct is no longer to hold tighter.
- It is to open our hands.
- Gratitude shifts our perspective.
- We stop seeing our resources as something we earned
- And begin seeing them as something we were entrusted with.
- That is what is happening in Abram’s heart.
- He knows the victory didn’t come from his own strength.
- It came from God.
- And when your heart is filled with gratitude toward God,
- Giving stops feeling like loss
- And starts feeling like worship.
- Gratitude leads to worship
- Because generosity is simply gratitude put into action. (Pause)
- Abram is acknowledging
- That everything he has… ultimately came from God.
- But this moment in Genesis
- Is doing more than showing Abram’s gratitude.
- It is pointing forward to someone greater.
- Psalm 110:4 gives a prophecy about the coming Messiah. It says,
“The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
- Hundreds of years before Jesus was born,
- God promised that the coming King would also be a priest
- Now a priest in the Bible had one main role.
- A priest stood between God and people.
- He represented people before God
- And helped bring them into relationship with Him.
- But this coming King
- Would not come from the line of Levi like the priests of Israel.
- He would be a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
- The book of Hebrews later explains this connection.
Hebrews 7:1–2 says,
“For this Melchizedek—king of Salem, priest of God Most High—met Abraham and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.”
- Then the writer of Hebrews tells us
- That Melchizedek was pointing forward to someone greater.
Hebrews 7:17 says,
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
- Who?
- Jesus is the true and greater priest-king.
- Melchizedek appeared suddenly in Genesis
- And brought blessing to Abram
- As both king and priest.
- Melchizedek isn’t Jesus,
- But he foreshadows Jesus
- The King and Priest who would come.
- Jesus comes as the true King and the true Priest
- The one who brings us back to God.
- And brought blessing to Abram.
- Jesus came into the world
- As the greater King and Priest who brings salvation to us.
- Through His victory over sin, death, and the grave.
- And just as Abram responded with worship and gratitude,
- The right response to Jesus is the same
- Our lives offered back to God in gratitude.
- Melchizedek foreshadows Jesus
- The true king and priest
- Who brings blessing and represents God to His people.
- But another king approaches Abram that day,
- And the offer he makes reveals a second test of Abram’s faith.
- The Third Movement
The Refusal (Genesis 14:21–24)
- The king of Sodom now speaks.
Genesis 14:21 says,
“Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.’”
- This was the normal reward for victory.
- No one would have questioned it.
- Abram had earned it.
- But Abram refuses.
Genesis 14:22–23 says,
“…I have raised my hand in an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich…’”
- Where your blessing comes from matters.
- Not every opportunity is meant to be taken.
- Not every reward is meant to be received.
- Sometimes the real question is not,
“Is this good for me?”
But,
“Where is this coming from?”
- Because the source of the blessing
- Often reveals the direction of your heart.
- Abram understood something deeply important.
- If the king of Sodom became the source of his wealth,
- Then the king of Sodom could claim the credit.
- But Abram wanted it to be clear
- That everything he had came from God.
- Abram did not want the king of Sodom
- To ever claim credit for what God would provide.
- Faith refuses anything that would steal the glory from God.
- Because faith understands something the world often forgets.
- When God is the source of your blessing,
- God is the one who deserves the credit.
- And Abram wanted his life to make that unmistakably clear.
- What Do You Do with Victory?
- Abram faced that question in Genesis 14.
- And every one of us eventually faces the same one.
- This story forces us to ask a question.
- What do you do when things go well?
- When the promotion comes.
- When the business grows.
- When the prayer is answered.
- When life improves.
- Do you take the credit?
- And sometimes “taking the credit” isn’t with our words.
- It’s with our actions.
- We say things like,
- “I worked hard for this raise.”
- “I earned this opportunity.”
- “God wants me to enjoy this blessing.”
- And slowly, without realizing it,
- We begin treating what God provided
- As if we produced it.
- This is not about getting bigger offerings.
- It’s about exposing our hearts.
James 1:17 reminds us,
“Every good and perfect gift is from above.”
- Every victory.
- Every opportunity.
- Every provision.
- It all comes from God.
- And gratitude changes the way we live.
- Gratitude leads to worship.
- Gratitude leads to generosity.
- Gratitude leads to integrity.
- Genesis 14 ultimately points us to Jesus.
- Melchizedek appears as a priest-king who blesses Abram.
- Hebrews tells us Jesus is the greater priest in that same order.
Hebrews 9:11–12 says,
“But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… He entered the most holy place once for all time… with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”
- Abram gave a tenth of his victory.
- Jesus gave His whole life.
- Jesus won the ultimate victory over sin, death, and the grave
- So that we could be forgiven and restored to God.
- Abram shows us something powerful.
- Faith doesn’t just trust God in hardship.
- Faith honors God in victory.
- Abram rescued with courage.
- Abram worshiped with gratitude.
- Abram refused what would steal God’s glory.
- And when we remember that every victory comes from God,
- Our hearts begin to live the same way.
- Because gratitude always gives back.
- And the way we receive that victory
- Is not by earning it—but by trusting in Jesus.
- So the real question becomes this:
- Where in your life right now
- Do you need to give the credit back to God?
- Maybe it’s a victory.
- Maybe it’s provision.
- Maybe it’s an opportunity.
- But instead of holding tighter,
- Faith opens its hands.
- Because when we recognize that everything we have comes from God,
- Gratitude becomes the way we live.
- Why don’t we practice giving it to him by bringing whatever it is
- And laying on the altar
- We have already learned in the last two weeks
- That altars represents a place of worship
- And today we learned that a heart posture of Worship
- Demonstrates that we trust God
- Will you come to the altar
- And give the glory back to God?