Abram's Slaughter of the Kings
It “has been already observed, that to form a just judgment of character we must view men in divers situations: we should not have expected however, to find Abram in the character of a warrior. Yet so it is: for once in his life, though fi man of peace, he is constrained to take the sword. We have seen in him the friend of God, and the friend of a good man: now we shall see in him the friend of his country, though at present only a sojourner in it. The case appears to have been as follows.
Ver. 1 — 7. Elam and S/miar, i. c. Persia and Babylon, and the country about them, beina: that part of the world the sons of Noah began to settle, after they went out of the ark, it was there that population, and the art of war, would first arrive at a suflficient maturity to induce them to attempt the subjugation of their neighbours. Nimrod began this business in about a century after the flood; and his succes-
16S SLAUGHTER OF THE KINGS. [Dls. 21.
sors were no less ambitious to keep it up. The rest of the world einigiating from those countries, would be considered as colonies, which ought to be subject to the parent states. Such, it seems, were the ideas of Chedorlaom&r, who was at this time king of Elam or Persia. About three or four years before Abram left Chaldea, he had invaded Palestine; and the country being divided into little kingdoms, ahnost every city having its king, and having made but little progress in the art of war in comparison of the parent nations, fell an easy prey to his rapacity. in this humifiating condition they continued twelve years: but being by that time weary of the yoke, five of these lesser kings, understanding one another, thought they might venture to throw it off Accordingly, the next year they refused to pay him tribute, or to be subject to the authority under which he had placed them.
Chedorlaomer hearing of this, calls together his friends and allies among the first and greatest nations, who consent to join their forces, and go with him to reduce these petty states to obedience. Four kings and their armies engage in this expedition. If each one brought only fivehundred men with him, they would form a great host for that early age of the world, and capable of doing a great deal of mischief. This it
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did: for not content with marching peaceably through the country till they arrived at the cities which had rebelled, they laid all places waste which they came at, smiting in their way, first the RephaimSy the Ztuims, and the Emims; then the Horites of Mount Seir; and after them the Amakkites, and the Amorites,
Ver. 8 — 10. By this time xVbram’s neighbours, the kings of Sodom, Admah, Zeboim, and Beta, must have been not a little alarmed. They and their people however determine to fight, and fight they did. The field of action was the vale of Siddim. Unhappily, the ground was full of slime pits, or pits of bitumen, much like those on the plain of Shinar; and their soldiers being but little skilled in the art of war, could not keep their ranks, and so were foiled, routed, and beaten by the superior discipline of the invadersr ]lfany were slain in the pits; and those that escaped fled to a neighbouring mountain, which being probably covered with wood, afforded them a shelter in which to hide themselves.
Ver. 11, 12. The conquerors, without delay, betake themselves to the spoil. They take all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the victuals; and what few people are left, they take for slaves. Among these was Lot, Abram*s brother’s son, his friend, and the companion of his travels, with all his family, and all his goods! And this notwithstanding he was only a sojourner, but lately come amongst them, and seems to have taken no part in the war. Oh Lot, these are the fruits of taking up thy residence in Sodom; or rather, the first fruits of it: the harvest is yet to come!
Ve7 13. Among those who fled from the drawn sword, and the fearfulness of war, there was one who reached the plain of IMamre, and told the sad tale to Abram. He feels much: but what can he do? Can he raise an array, whercM’ith to spoil the spoilers, and deliver the captives? He will try. Yes, from his regard to Lot, whose late faults would be now forgotten, and his former love recur to mind: and if he succeed, he will not only deliver him, but many others. The cause is a just one; and God has promised to bless Abram, and make hint a bless’mg. Who can tell, but he may prove in this instance a blessing to the whole country, bj delivering it from the power of a cruel foreign oppressor
Now we shall see how the Lord hath blessed Abram. Who would have thought it? He is able to raise three hundred and eighteen men in his own family; men well instructed too, possessing skill, principle, and courage. Moreover, Abram was so well respected by his neighbours, Ma/ire Eschot and Ajier, that they had already formed a league of confederacy with him, to defend themselves, perhaps, against this blustering invader, whose coming had been talked of for more than a year ago: and they, with all the forces they could muster, consent to join with Abram in the pursuit.
Ver. 15, 16. By prompt movements, Abram and his troop soon come up with the enemy. It was in the dead of night. The conquerors, it is likely, were off their guard, thinking no doubt that the country was subdued, and that scarcely a dog was left in it that dare move his tongue against them. But when haughty men say, Peace, peace; lo, sudden destruction Cometh! Attacked after so many victories, they are surprised and confounded: and it being in the night, they could not tell but their assailants might be ten times more numerous than they were. So they flee in confusion, and were pursued from Dan even to Hobah in Syria, a distance, it is said, of fourscore miles. In this battle, Chedorlaomer, and the kings who were with him, were all slain. Abram’s object, how-
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ever, M^as the recovery of Lot and his family; and having accomplished this, he is satisfied. It is surprising that amidst all this confusion and slaughter, their lives should be preserved; yet so it was: and he with his property, and family, and all the other captives ‘taken with him, are brought safe back again. It was ill for Lot to be found among the Sodomites; but it was well for the Sodomites that he was so, else they had been ruined before they were.
Fer. 17 — 24. This expedition of Abram and his friends, excited great attention among the Canaanites. At the very time when all must have been given up for lost, lo, they are, without any effort of their own, recovered, and the spoilers spoiled! The little victorious band, now returning in peace, are hailed by every one that meets them .... nay, the kings of the different cities go forth to congratulate them, and thank them as the deliverers of the country. If Abram had been of the disposition of those marauders whom he had defeated, he would have followed up his victory, and made himself master of the whole country, which he might probably have done with ease in their present enfeebled and scattered condition. But thus did not Abram, because of the fear of God.
In the valley of Shaveh, not far from Jerusalem, he was met and congratulated by the king of Sodom, who by some means had escaped in the day of battle, when so many of his people were slain. He was also met in the same place, and at the same time, by another king, of high character in the scriptures, though but rarely mentioned; viz. Alelchisedtk, king of Salem. He came not only to congratulate the conquerors, but brousrht forth bread and wine to refresh them after their long fatigues ....
The sacred historian having here met with what I may call a lily among thorns, stops, as it were, to describe it. Let us stop with him, and observe the description. — IMention is made of this singular man only in three places; viz. here, in the 11 0th Psalm, and in the seventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. He is held up in the two latter places as an eminent type of the iMessiah. Three things may be remarked concerning him: — (1.) He was doubtless a. very holy man; and if a Canaanite by descent, it furnishes a proof among many others, that the curse on Canaan did not shut the door of faith upon his individual descendenfs. There never was an age or country in which he that feared God, and worked righteousness, was not accepted. — (i.) He was a personage in whom
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was united the kingly and priestly offices, and as such was a type of the ]Iessiah, and greater than Abram hinlself. Under the former of these characters, he was by interpretation “king of righteousness, and king of peace;” and under the latter was distinguished as the ‘’priest of the most high God.” This singular dignity conferred upon a descendent of Canaan shews that God delights, on various occasions, to put more abundant honour upon the part that lacketh. — -(3.) He was what he was, considered as a priest, 720t by inheritance, but by an immediate divine constitution. Though as a man he was born like other men, yet as a priest he was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually.” That is, neither his father, nor his mother, were of a sacerdotal family: he derived his office from no predecessor, and delivered it up to no successor, but was himself an order of priesthood. It is In this respect that he was “made like unto the Son of God;” who also was a priest, not after the manner of the sons of Aaron, by descent from their predecessors; for he descended from Judah, of which tribe Moses said nothing concerning priesthood; but after the similitude of IMelchisedek, that is, by an immediate divine constitu-Gen. 14.] slaughter of the kings. I75
tion, or as the new-testament writer expresses it, “by. the word of the oath;” and “continuing ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”
Ver. 19, 20. Melchisedek being “priest of the most high God,” he in that character blessed Abram. It belonged to the priests by divine appointment to bless the people. In this view the blessing of Melchisedek would contain more than a personal well-wishing: it would be prophetic. In pronouncing it, he would set his official seal to what God had done before him. It is not unlikely that he might know Abram previous to this, and be well acquainted with his being the favourite of heaven, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed, and to whose posterity God had promised the land of the Canaanites: and if so, his blessing him in so solemn a manner implies his acquiescence in. the divine will, even though it would be at the expense of his ungodly countrymen. His speaking of the most high God as possessor of heaven and earth, would seem to intimate as much as this, as it recognizes the principle on which the right of Abram’s posterity to possess themselves of Canaan depended. There is much heart in the blessing. We see the good man, as well as the priest of the most high God in it: from blessing Abram, it rises to the blessing of Abram’s God for all the goodness conferred upon him.
In return for this solemn blessing, Abrani “gave him tithes of all.” This M^as treating him in character, and in fact presenting the tenth of his spoils as an offering to God.
Ver. CI. All this time the king of Sodom stood by, and heard what passed; but it seems without feeling any interest in it. What passed between these two great characters appears to have made no impression upon him. He thought of nothing, and cared for nothing, but what respected himself. He could not possibly claim any right to Mhat was recovered, either of persons orthino’s: vet he asks for the former, and speaks in a manner as if he would be thought not a little generous in relinquishing the latter.
Vey 22, 23. Abram knew the man, and his communications; and perceiving his affected generosity, gave him to understand that he had already decided, and had even sworn in the presence of the most high God, what he would do in respect of that part of the spoils which ha previously belonged to him. Abram knew full well that the man who affected generosity in relinquishing hat was not his own, would go on to boast of it, and to reflect on him as though he shone in borroNved phimes. No, says the jmtriarch, “I will not take, from a thread even tp a shoe-latchet, that which was thine,” save that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of Aner, Eschol, and Mam re,” his allies.
In this answer of Abram we may observe, besides the above, several particulars: —
1. The character under which he had sworn to God: “Jehovah, the most high God, the jiossessor of heaven and earth.” The first of these names was that by which God was made J^nown to Abram, and still more to his posterity.* The last was that M’hich had been just given to him by Melchisedek, and which appears to have made a strong impression on Abram’s
* What Moses says in Exod. vi. 3, that God appeared to Abram, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God almighty; but that by his name Jehovah he was not known to them, cannot be understood absolutely. It does not appear however to have been used among the patriarchs in so peculiar a sense, as it was after the times of Moses among the Israelites. From thence, it seems very generally to denote the specific name of the God and King of Israel. In this view we perceive the force and propriety of such language as the following: “Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah is our lawgiver, Jehovah is our king — Oh Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” Lai. xxxiii. 22. Psal. viii. 1, p.
A a mind. By uniting them together, he in a manner acknowledged Melchiscdek’s God to be his God; and, while reproving the king of Sodom, expressed his love to him as to a brother.
2. His having decided the matter before the king of Sodom met him, as it seems he had, implies something highly dishonourable in the character of that prince. He must have been well known to iVbram as a vain, boasting, unprincipled man, or he would not have resolved in so solemn a manner to preserve himself clear from the very shadow of an obligation to hira» And considering the polite and respectful manner in which it was common for this patriarch to conduct himself towards his neighbours, theic must have been something highly offensive in this case to driw from him so cutting and dismaying an intimation. It is not unlikely that he had thrown out some malignant insinuations against Lot, and his old wealthy uncle, on the score of their religion. If so, Abram would feel happy in an opportunity of doing good against evil, and thus of heaping coals of fire upon his head.
The reason why he would not be under the shadow of- an obligation, or any thing which Eiight be construed an obligation to him, was not so much a regard to his own honour, but the honour of him in whose name he had sworn. Abram’s God has blessed him, and promised to bless him more, and make him a blessing. Let it not be said by his enemies, that with all his blessedness, it is of our substance that he is what he is. No, Abram can trust in “the Possessor of heaven and earth” to provide for him, without being beholden to the king of Sodom.
3. His excepting the portion of the young men who were in league with him, shews a just sense of propriety. In giving up our own right, we are not at liberty to give away that which pertains to others connected with us.
Upon the whole, this singular undertaking would raise Abram much in the estimation of the Canaanites, and might possibly procure a little more respect to Lot. It had been better in the latter, however, if he had taken this opportunity to have changed his dwelling place.
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