Life Project Blog

Genesis 14

Abram remain conscious of God’s promises; he remained in Canaan and prospered. Lot saw a financial advantage and left Canaan to live on the Jordan plain, taking up his headquarters in Sodom, a town filled with wickedness against God. I don’t know whether or not he prospered there, but in the end, he surely came to regret his choice as war swept into the region and Sodom was defeated along with Gomorrah and their possessions, and Lot himself were carried away by their foes. When word came to Abram, he raised an army of 318 men and went after a vast army, defeated them and seized everything they had, including Lot. Abram was a warrior-hero and the king of Sodom offered him a reward that Abram refused to accept; he would only take his share of the spoils and no more, for his trust was in God alone. Another king came to see Abram, this time it was the King of Salem.

I’ve written about this king before; what follows is my article from our recent study of Hebrews:

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Hebrews 7:1-3

The story of Melchizedek and Abraham is found in Genesis 14:17-20, and he isn’t mentioned again, except for an obscure reference in Psalm 110 that is only understood when it is quoted here in Hebrews 7.  He came suddenly out of nowhere, and was gone just as quickly, and many scholars believe that Melchizedek is a pre-incarnation appearance of Christ (called a Christiophony).  Clearly there are similarities between the two, but without more evidence, I’ll only say that he was a “type” of Christ.

Don’t go too fast in this passage; you don’t often come across a guy who is both king and priest, in fact that is not the Jewish model at all; only Jesus Himself comes to mind quickly for these two offices.  Note also the similarity of names. Melchizedek is called “king of righteousness” and “king of peace” while Jesus is called “Righteous King” and “Prince of Peace.”   He has no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life… Very interesting. Here is a comparison chart for Melchizedek and Jesus:

Isn’t it interesting also that the author says that Melchizedek resembles the Son of God.  I’m having a hard time thinking of another text that makes this kind of statement…

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Hebrews 7:4-10

Up to this point in Hebrews, we have seen that Jesus is superior to the angels, and we have seen that Jesus is superior to Moses, but now we see that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham; in Jewish tradition, nobody is superior to Abraham! Yet when you consider the author’s evidence, it would seem that he has a valid point. Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, this can also be rendered “tribute” which is always paid by the lesser to the greater.  Under the Law, a tithe is paid to the Levites, the priests, and yet the father of all the Israelites paid a tithe to this Melchizedek centuries before the Law, and in a sense, Levi himself was involved in the payment, since his ancestor paid it.

The really amazing statement that the author makes in this section is this: In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. (7:8) I don’t mean to be overly simplistic, but you just don’t come across writing like this very often; who is this guy?  It’s becoming easier to understand why many scholars have concluded that he must be Jesus pre-incarnation. Of course, the point was also made in verse 7 that the lesser is blessed by the greater.  Clearly, Melchizedek is superior to Abraham, as mind-boggling as that must have been to a Jewish audience.

Before I wrap this up, I think we need to recognize here and now that this section is entirely intentional in the letter, for our author is building up to a massively important crescendo.  As we continue, we will see that not only was Melchizedek greater than Abraham, but the Jesus is like Melchizedek, and as a result, He is also a high priest superior to the Levites, administering a covenant superior to the Law of Moses, and theologically speaking, that’s the ball game.

Genesis 12:10-20

After God called Abram, he packed up everything and everyone in his rather considerable household and set off for a destination God would show him, and as we discussed in the last section, this is one of the great examples of faith in the Scriptures. They set out and God leads the party right through Canaan and into Egypt because of a famine in Canaan. When they approached Egypt, Abram became concerned about his wife Sarai, for she was a beautiful woman: He devised a plan:

As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” (12:11-13)

Was Abram having a crisis of faith or did he just not quite comprehend what God had promised him? Of course, we have no way to know for sure what was going on in Abram’s head; we can only note that he had fallen from his high ground of extraordinary faith into a very deep valley at that moment. One might even expect that God might inform him that their deal was now off.

Yet God didn’t do that.

God did take notice of the fact that Sarai had been taken into Pharaoh’s household as his wife, and He intervened in a rather interesting way; He sent sickness into the household and made Pharaoh aware of the real relationship between Abram and Sarai and Pharaoh was horrified at the deception. Here we might expect Pharaoh to kill Abram, and yet once again God intervenes, and rather than kill Abram he shames him when he takes the position of being the righteous one and expresses his disgust at Abram’s behavior. Then he returns Sarai to Abram and has the two and their entire household, including the gifts Pharaoh had given them, escorted out of the country.

What an adventure!

It’s even more interesting when we take note that in Old Testament prophecy Egypt represents this world. Taking an apocalyptic view, we could say that before God fulfilled His promise to give the Land to Abram, he led Abram into this world where Abram fell into sin, and then God redeemed him out of it, a theme that will be repeated throughout Scripture.

That theme also plays a big role in the “Christmas Story”, for through Christ we have all been redeemed, and received God’s promises, yet in this world, we continue to stumble around in our sin; yet God remains faithful to His promises even when we are so very weak.

When you come right down to it, isn’t that the whole point of the “Christmas Story”?

Abram’s adventures aren’t nearly over yet and in the next chapter he will once again manage to find the high ground; see you next time!

I like nativity scenes; they are the one thing we see around us this time of year that actually have something to do with what we are supposed to be celebrating. Yet sadly, even most nativity scenes, whether sculpted or painted… and certainly those that are reenacted… don’t portray reality.

When Joseph and Mary arrived in the City of David on that fateful day, there was no room at the Inn and they found shelter in a “manger”. We think of this as being like a barn, a really nice barn, but it would have been more like a cave where animals are penned up. Such a place would not be charming, rustic or romantic, it would most likely have been a stinking hole, a place lower than low.

We depict the scene with radiating light, a kind of heavenly ambiance, but in addition to the stench, it also would most likely have been dark, cold and damp, infested with flies… yuk.

We often see paintings of Mary after giving birth looking as if she has just put on her best gown after a day at the spa, but if you have ever been a mother who just gave birth, of have been with a mother who just gave birth, you know very well that is a lie. Giving birth is nothing if not messy, sweaty and bloody, and mothers are not looking their best at that particular time.

In our songs about this amazing event, we see the Baby Jesus sleeping so peacefully; “not a cry he makes”… Seriously?

Later on a bunch of shepherds arrived to pay homage after an encounter with a squad of angels, and we depict them in their Sunday best as though shepherds were anything other than the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder of the time.

Yes dear reader, we romanticize the entire scene, and that is a great shame.

Look at what Paul said about Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:6-8

When Jesus was born in that manger, there were no divine trappings of any kind; it was cold hard reality. Jesus left glory behind entirely when He came to earth and He was just like we are in every way. He grew hungry, thirsty and tired, He sweated, He needed bathroom breaks, He had body odor, He caught colds… there was nothing about Him that set Him apart from anyone else in the physical sense; according to Isaiah, he wasn’t even good looking. In the manger, He entered this world naked; on the cross He left this world naked in the physical sense.

In between, He taught and healed and brought hope to Mankind that so desperately needs all of these and He did so without pretense or any worldly glamour or greatness; He was naked in the metaphorical sense, for in Jesus God is naked before Man with nothing standing in between.

Earlier this year, I wrote a series of posts about our need to be naked before God, to take away everything that comes between us and God and to approach His presence in complete humility and openness.

How hard that can be!

Yet in this, as in all things, Jesus is our model. If only we would resist the temptation to sanitize His story, maybe His humility and humanity would be easier for us to grasp, and we could see how truly awesome His divinity is. Yes, maybe that would make it easier for us to strip away everything that separates us from God in this life.