Genesis 14.17-24
After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
Now, this is a bit of a weird passage, because here we see Melchizedek, who we haven't heard of before—this mystery priest king who's the king of Salem and also a priest of the God Most High. And he enters the scene sort of surprisingly. He's the king of Salem, which later becomes Jerusalem. And he shows up as a ruler whose name means literally the king of righteousness. And his city, you know, the king of Salem—Salem means peace. It's Shalom in the original language.
And he brings bread and wine and he blesses Abram in God's name. This is the first time a priest and a king combine into one person. And so this is interesting and we need to wrestle with this because this is important. Because here are two kings and there are two offers on the table for Abram.
Melchizedek gives a blessing. The king of Sodom dangles riches in front of Abram. And the passage sets up a kind of fork in the road for us. What is Abram going to choose? Is he going to anchor his future in God's gift? Or is he going to anchor his future in the worldly payouts of this conquest that he has been a part of?
Abram here chooses worship over his wealth. He responds with a voluntary tithe to Melchizedek and a flat out nope to the king of Sodom and his offer of all the spoils. And so this passage underlines that God, not human kings, is what is important in our story, what is important in God's story, and what is important in the redemption story that God is playing out as part of his rescue plan.
Now notice that this king of Salem, Melchizedek, is a king who brings bread and wine. I think we should notice this because this ultimately becomes a picture of the Lord's Supper, which we will celebrate in the future, where Jesus takes the bread and the wine and he says, "Take and eat, this is my body. Take and drink, this is my blood." This is a picture straightforward to Christ, who is the ultimate Melchizedek, a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek, as we read later on in the book of Hebrews. And so this is a fascinating passage with ties right into the New Testament that we shouldn't miss.
Now why does this matter? Well, because we can't take blessing and bargain at the same time. Jesus himself says that you must choose who will you worship. You can't worship both God. You can't serve two masters. You can't get the blessing plus the monetary value. And this is important for us in today's society, particularly when we work in business or those sorts of things. We shouldn't partake in the career shortcuts that trample other people. We shouldn't look the other way when money enters into our coffers. There is this kind of test here about where does our trust lie? Is it in God to whom we give voluntarily, as Abram did, a tithe? Or do we trust in our own strength or in the power of wealth to keep us secure?
The second thing I think this passage challenges us with is that generosity—our generosity towards God—comes out of our gratitude for what God has done. Now Abram here doesn't tithe this gift to Melchizedek. He tithes because he is already blessed. Notice what happens in the story. Melchizedek, the king of Salem, comes, he blesses Abram, and then in response, Abram offers this tithe. And so it should be with us. We should act out of the love that God has shown us in Jesus Christ. Our generosity towards God should flow from our desire to serve him as a result of his blessing us. We don't serve God. We don't do the right things in order to get blessed. We do the right things because we are already blessed in Christ.
Finally, I think this passage points us to the fact that our reputation, our character matters more than riches. Abram here refuses the offer from the king of Sodom. And in so doing, he keeps God's glory uncluttered, untarnished. He could have taken the blessing, he could have taken the money, but he chooses instead that God's honor and God's glory and God's name should matter more than these things. So he asks not for riches, but only for the food that is required for his people to stay alive. And when we partner in our lives with dodgy organizations or dodgy people or dodgy situations, we can wreck our reputation and so besmirch the name of God. And so if we really want to live for God, we should choose the right kinds of partnerships, the right kinds of allegiances in order to live for him.
Now, this passage points us directly to Jesus, who is this ultimate priest king. He is the greater Melchizedek. Hebrews chapter 7 tells us that Jesus is forever or is the forever Melchizedek. He righteously rules. He eternally makes this intercession and blessing for us before God. And he brings this bread and wine that becomes the new covenant meal. And so in this story, we are already seeing forward to the New Testament.
And Jesus is the greater Abram who rejects the greater Sodom's offer. So in Luke chapter 4, Satan comes to Jesus and he offers them something very similar to the king of Sodom here. He says, "I can give you all the wealth, all the power, all the kingdoms of the earth, if only you would bow down and worship me." And Jesus ultimately rejects that offer in order to finally become the greater priest king in our place. Of course, he does that ultimately on the cross and he pays the price. He gives the offering so that we might give an offering of thanksgiving and gratitude back to him.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, in this passage we see a tale of two kings, one who blesses and one who bribes us. Help us to respond in the right way to the blessing of grace we have received through Jesus. Help us to spot the Sodom deals in our lives and to walk away from them. Help us to grow in generosity and grace so that we can, with gratitude, make your name great and give you the glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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