The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Tithe” it comes from the Hebrew Word “ma’aser” which means “a tenth part, an offering.”
War breaks out between kings, and Abram is pulled into it because of one person he loves. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Genesis 14.
A coalition of four kings goes to war against five kings, including the king of Sodom. The four kings win, plundering Sodom and Gomorrah and taking captives, including Lot, who is now living in Sodom. When Abram hears that his nephew has been captured, he arms 318 trained men from his own household and pursues the invading kings.
Abram defeats them by night and recovers all the goods, along with Lot and the other captives. On his return, the king of Sodom comes out to meet him. So does a mysterious figure named Melchizedek, king of Salem and “priest of the most high God,” who brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram.
Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything, an offering called a “tithe” from the Hebrew word “ma’aser.” When the king of Sodom offers Abram the recovered goods, Abram refuses to take so much as a thread, so that no one could say the king of Sodom made Abram rich.
It is worth pausing on Melchizedek, since so little is said about him yet so much is implied. He appears with no recorded genealogy, blesses Abram as a priest of the Most High God, and disappears from the story just as quickly. Centuries later, both the Psalms and the New Testament book of Hebrews point back to this brief encounter as a picture of an eternal priesthood, making this small scene far more significant than its length suggests.
Abram risked everything to rescue Lot, even though Lot had chosen the more selfish path earlier. Family loyalty moved him to action. And by refusing Sodom’s wealth, Abram showed that his trust was in God’s promise, not in what any earthly king could offer him.
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