Genesis 14:14-16. 14When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
What you just read is the dramatic conclusion to a story about a war that happened right in Abraham’s back yard. The Bible says that four kings from Babylon teamed up against five kings from Canaan (the Promised Land) and they all went to war with each other. One of the five kings was the king of a city named Sodom. And can you guess who lived in Sodom? That’s right, Lot, Abraham’s nephew. The four kings attacked Sodom and captured everyone there, including Lot.
And that is where our passage picks up the story – When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive…
What would you do if you were Abraham? Would you help Lot? Remember Lot left Abraham behind. Lot took the best land. Lot moved into the city of Sodom, a very wicked place to live.
Lot definitely didn’t deserve to be rescued, but Abraham loves Lot and he will not rest until Lot is saved. Abraham will show grace to Lot. Do you remember what grace is? Grace is when we get something good that we don’t deserve. So Abraham will take his own mini-army of 318 trained men, they will pursue the bad guys for over 100 miles and they will rescue Lot and his family, and get back all of his stuff too.
Needless to say, this is a pretty surprising story. Who knew that Abraham was a warrior and that he had his own special forces of soldiers ready to go into battle. So far we have only seen Abraham as “Clark Kent, but now we get to see him as “Superman.”
This story of Abraham rescuing Lot should remind us of how Jesus has rescued us. Jesus is the better Abraham who ran into battle for us. Undeserving us. We are all like Lot, wandering away from God and his promises, chasing after the fun, glory, or safety of our own city of “Sodom” – whatever we use to feel good about ourselves or feel popular and accepted. But when we chase after things that aren’t God, we end up being attacked by an even worse enemy – the devil and his temptations to sin. For example, if you chase after being popular, you will likely be tempted to lie or even be mean in order to stay popular. Or if you chase after having fun and never being bored, you will be tempted to never slow down and talk to God and just listen to him.
Just like Abraham wasn’t just a shepherd, he was also a warrior-king, Jesus was not just a carpenter. He was also a warrior-king who would fight sin, death, and Satan for us on the cross. But unlike Abraham, Jesus had to lose before he could win. Jesus had to die before he could rise from the dead. And he did!
Today, Jesus is still chasing after the bad guys to save us. His love for us never stops running after us. He will find us in the dark of night and rescue us from every sin and every temptation, so that we don’t have to be a prisoner to our own selfishness any more. Not because we deserve it. Never. But because Jesus loves us, and we believe in Jesus.
You: Can you name some of the things that you chase after to make you feel good about yourself? How might those things temp you to be selfish or forget about God?
You with Jesus: How does Jesus’ death and resurrection free us from sin? Think about how it proves his love for us so that we don’t have to worry about feeling safe, popular, or cool – Jesus loves us no mater what.
Prayer: Father, you sent Jesus to chase after me and destroy my enemies. Jesus, you left your heavenly “tent” and went into battle for me, even losing in order to win. Help me to chase after your love more than anything else. Amen.
TLICfamily 