BIBLE FOR YOU!--No.33!--Genesis Chapters 13 & 14! 19/11/90 DFO 2800
--Bible Classtime with Grandpa!
GENESIS CHAPTER 13!
1. (David: Thank You Jesus! We pray that You'll bless this time together, Lord, as we study Genesis Chapter 13. We pray that You'll help us to find interesting things in Your Word, Jesus. Help us to be able to concentrate & study the Bible here tonight, & help us to get lots of things out of this Chapter. Help us to remember them, too, in Jesus' name. Amen! Thank You Lord!)
Abram & Lot Return from Egypt!
2. All right! Our study tonight is Chapter 13 of Genesis: "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, & his wife, & all that he had, & Lot with him, into the South." This doesn't mean he went South from Egypt, but he was actually going North, into the South of Canaan.
3. (Verse 2:) "And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, & in gold." Wow, think of that! He must have sold a lot of cattle to get so much silver & gold! (Techi: Or maybe Pharaoh gave it to him.) Yes, maybe Pharaoh gave him all of that to get rid of him.--Ha!
4. "And he went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel." He was coming up from the South now. "Unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel & Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: & there Abram called on the name of the Lord." He was a man of prayer, right?
5. (Verse 5:) "And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, & herds, & tents." Wow, they really had increased in goods. "And the land was not able to bear them (both), that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle & the herdmen of Lot's cattle: & the Canaanite & the Perizzite dwelled then in the land." So there were three groups: The original inhabitants, Abram & his people, & Lot & his people.
Abram & Lot Separate --Lot Goes to Sodom!
6. (Verse 8:) "And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me & thee, & between my herdmen & thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
7. (Verse 10:) "And Lot lifted up his eyes, & beheld all the plain of Jordan." That was to the right, by the way, because they were most likely facing North. And the plain of Jordan was a nice big beautiful valley, very fruitful. "It was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord." What garden was that? (Kids: Eden!) Yes! And "like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."--In other words, it was like Northern Egypt at that time, which was watered by the Nile.
8. (Verse 11:) "Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; & Lot journeyed East: And they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, & Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, & pitched his tent toward Sodom." Ai-yai-yai! (Verse 13:) "But the men of Sodom were wicked & sinners before the Lord exceedingly!"
God Renews His Promise to Abram!
9. (Verse 14:) "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, & look from the place where thou art--Northward, & Southward, & Eastward, & Westward." Why do you suppose He's telling him that? (Techi: That his descendants would cover all the land?) Yes! "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it." You mean even the land that Lot took? (David: I guess so!) (Techi: Yes!) Right! "And to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the Earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the Earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered."--Both Jews & Arabs!--All descendants of Abram.
10. (Verse 17:) "Arise, walk through the land in the length of it & in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee." In other words, "Don't worry about what Lot took, Abram, I'm going to give it all to you!"
Abram Goes to Hebron!
11. (Verse 18:) "Then Abram removed his tent, & came & dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, & built there an altar unto the Lord." That was to the South. And there he was eventually going to build the city of Hebron, or maybe it was already there, I don't know. A lot of these things are real old ancient history & nobody knows the exact details. But anyhow, that's where he went to live, in Hebron. And what does that sound like? (David: Hebrew.) Yes, Hebrew & the Hebrews! Maybe that's why Abraham* was called a Hebrew!--And also because his forefather was Eber, or Heber. (Gen. 11:16.) So maybe he had some relatives there, some of his own people in Hebron. *(Abraham's original name was Abram, so God calls him Abram in Genesis Chapters 11-16, but God gave him a new name, "Abraham," in Gen.17:5, which is the name he's normally known by.)
12. Well, we got through that Chapter so fast, maybe we ought to read the next one too, Chapter 14! (Kids: OK!) Or would you like to have a test on Chapter 13 first? (David: We could read the next one, & then have a test on both of them tomorrow.) Good! I think there's just about enough time for us to get the two Chapters read tonight, because Chapter 13 was really a very short Chapter, only about one column. (David: Yes, it was.)
GENESIS CHAPTER 14
Battle of the Kings!
13. (Verse 1:) "And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer (pronounced "ked awr LAY oh muhr") king of Elam, & Tidal king of nations; that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, & with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, & Shemeber king of Zeboiim, & the king of Bela, which is Zoar." The kings of the North came down to make war with the four kings of Sodom & Gomorrah. Actually, Elam & Shinar are East of Canaan, in Mesopotamia, where Abram had originally come from. So the kings probably had to first travel North to Haran, & then South to Canaan following the same route Abraham did. But we can just call the invading kings the "kings of the North" since they were coming down from the North to attack the kings of Sodom & Gomorrah. (Techi: That's good! Maybe they got fed up with their wickedness.) Well, you'll see what happens.
14. (Verse 3:) "All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea." The Salt Sea is today called what? (Techi: The Dead Sea!) Right! And they battled there in a valley at the head of the Salt Sea. (Verse 4:) "Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, & in the thirteenth year they rebelled." See, the kings of Sodom & Gomorrah & the Canaanites had been serving these kings for 12 years, but then they rebelled. So who is rebelling against whom? (Techi: The kings of Sodom & Gomorrah against the kings of the North.) Yes, the kings of the South rebelling against the kings of the North.
15. (Verse 5:) "And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, & the kings that were with him, & smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, & the Zuzims in Ham, & the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim." It's kind of tough reading these names! It's a good thing you didn't have to read'm! I've read them before so I remember a few. "And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, & came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, & smote all the country of the Amalekites, & also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar."
16. (Verse 8:) "And there went out the king of Sodom, & the king of Gomorrah, & the king of Admah, & the king of Zeboiim, & the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); & they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim." Who's fighting who? (Techi: The four kings of the North are fighting the five kings of the South.) Yes. And the kings of the South were principally led by what wicked cities? (Kids: Sodom & Gomorrah.) Yes, & they were what people? (Techi: Blacks.) Yes, the Canaanites. (Techi: But what do you think the kings of the North were? Were they Shemites or Japhethites?) They were probably Shemites, although some could have been Japhethites.
17. (Verse 9:) "With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, & with Tidal king of nations, & Amraphel king of Shinar, & Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; & the kings of Sodom & Gomorrah fled, & fell there; & they that remained fled to the mountain. And they (the Northern kings) took all the goods of Sodom & Gomorrah, & all their victuals, & went their way." (Techi: Did you say all their "vittels"?) Well, it's pronounced "vittels."--In other words, their food.
18. (Verse 12:) "And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom." By this time Lot was actually dwelling in Sodom! First of all he pitched his tent toward the World, he wasn't planning to backslide all the way, but then by & by, finally he's living right in Sodom! So they took Lot "& his goods, & departed." Who took whose stuff? (Techi: The kings of the North took Lot & Sodom & Gomorrah's stuff.) Yes, right!
Abram Rescues Lot!
19. (Verse 13:) "And there came one that had escaped, & told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, & brother of Aner: & these were confederate with Abram." Now these are guys that were with Abram.
20. (Verse 14:) "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive"--it was actually his nephew, but he was like a brother--"he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred & eighteen, & pursued them unto Dan." All those souls he had won in where? (Techi: In Haran.) That's right! By this time, look how they'd multiplied! Boy oh boy! (Techi: Were they Blacks?) Oh no, they were probably Whites like the other Shemites. Abram was White, & his children & their people all came from up North of Babylonia really, so they were Shemites. (Techi: That's funny how it says "318 born in his own house." They must have been really loyal to him.) Yes, well, they were probably relatives or friends of the same nationality, etc.
21. (Verse 15:) "And he divided himself against them, he & his servants, by night, & smote them, & pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus." (Techi: So Abram smote the kings of the North?) Yes, clear up into Damascus! That's a city which is the capital of what country? (David: Syria.) Very good, David! He pursued them clear up into Syria, think of that! (David: That's amazing! The Kings of the North with all their men, there must have been thousands, against only 318 of Abram's men!) Well, that shows you what the Lord can do! (Techi: It's like Gideon & all of the Midianites!)
22. (Looking at map:) Here's Hebron, where Abraham was living, to the left of the Dead Sea. And over here all around the Dead Sea lived the Sodom & Gomorrites, especially here at the Southern end. So these kings of the North came down & they captured all the prisoners & goods from Sodom & Gomorrah, & then they went back up North on their way to where they belonged. And from way down here in Hebron, Abraham & his friends pursued them clear up to Damascus, the capital of Syria!
23. Here's Syria, see? (Techi: Oh, Syria is up there!) It's way up North beside Lebanon. Lebanon & Syria border Israel on the North. (Techi: So they travelled all the way from here up to here?) Yes! (Techi: Wow!) I'm just trying to give you an idea of the distance. Can you figure out how many miles he chased him, according to the scale on the map? (David: I think it was about 150 or 160 miles.) (240-260 km.) Think of that! From Hebron all the way up to Damascus. It was quite a great big invasion! --And quite a great big recovery!
24. (Verse 15:) So Abram "divided himself against them, he & his servants, by night, & smote them, & pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus." That's nice, it gives us the location of Hobah. Can you find Hobah on any of those maps? It's apparently West of Damascus.
25. (Verse 16:) "And he brought back all the goods, & also brought again his brother Lot, & his goods, & the women also, & the people."--All the captives that the Northern kings, led by Chedorlaomer, had taken away from Sodom.
26. (Verse 17:) "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, & of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale." So Abram was coming South again, & this happened to be right near where Jerusalem later was.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram!
27. (Verse 18:) "And Melchizedek king of Salem..." Salem!--Did you get that?--Jeru-salem! (David: Oh yes!) It means "City of Peace." "Salem" means "peace," "shalom." (Techi: Who exactly was Melchizedek?) That's one of the greatest mysteries in the Bible! Some people think it might have even been Jesus! Melchizedek was a great king of Salem.--He was not one of the Sodomites or any of those evil kings.
28. "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread & wine: & he was the priest of the most high God." We haven't even heard about any priest being appointed by God yet, think of that! So he was a very mysterious fellow, this priest Melchizedek, & there's been much guesswork about who he was, so important that even Abraham gave tithes unto him!
29. So Melchizedek came out, king of Salem, which was later called Jerusalem, "& brought forth bread & wine." Wasn't that nice? He made a party & a feast for these guys after they'd been working so hard in battle. "And he blessed him, & said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of Heaven & Earth." Who did he say was possessor of Heaven & Earth? (Techi: The most high God, ha!) Yes, not Abram! "And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all." Who gave who tithes? (David: Abram gave Melchizedek tithes.) Yes! Abram gave to this priest tithes of everything he had captured. How about that? (Techi: He must have been a pretty important guy!)
Abram Refuses to Take Anything from the King of Sodom!
30. The king of Sodom had also come out to meet him, "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, & take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of Heaven & Earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, & that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich." Abram didn't want to have any of this dirty Sodomite's goods!
31. (Verse 24:) "Save (except) only that which the young men have eaten, & the portion of the men which went with me." (Techi: What does that mean?) They'd already eaten it, so he couldn't give it back! The Northern kings had captured all of Sodom & Gomorrah's victuals --apparently they had a lot of food there--& carried it up with them, but then Abram got it all back. And Abram's soldiers, his young men, probably ate a lot of it on the way home. It's a long way. It took them days & days to walk that far!
32. "Save only that which the young men have eaten, & the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, & Mamre; let them take their portion." (Techi: So they were the only ones who ate anything?) (David: He let them take what they wanted.) The ones he had taken with him, his men, the 318 or whoever it was that he had taken clear up there to Damascus & over to Hobah & fought all of those battles & gotten all of those victuals of the king of Sodom & Gomorrah back again. So he said, "Just let them have what they ate on the way home," because he couldn't return that, could he? (Techi: No.) They needed the food.
33. So there you have the 13th & 14th Chapters of Genesis! Study & remember these things which I have told you, & God willing, we'll have a test on both Chapters tomorrow night. How's that? (Kids: That's good!) Have you got that all pretty straight now? (Kids: Yes.) We've got just a few minutes left here, I'll ask you a few questions that may give you a few ideas of what you're going to get on the test!
Review of Genesis 13!
34. When Abram left Egypt, where did he go back to? What is the name of that town?--Which Jacob later called the House of God? (Kids: Bethel.) Right! When Abram left Egypt he went back to Bethel.
35. And by that time Lot & Abram had so many flocks & herdsmen that they got too crowded, & they were fussing over pastures. So Abram told Lot to go ahead & take whichever part he wanted, & which part did Lot take? (Techi: The part by Sodom & Gomorrah.) The richest part, the rich valley. (Techi: The Plain of Jordan, wasn't it?) Yes, the Jordan Valley, which the River Jordan flowed through.
36. And where did Abraham go?--To what city? (Techi: Hebron.) Yes, to Hebron, up in the mountains. And Lot went down in the valley of the Jordan, & finally we find out that he was pitching his tent toward what city? (Kids: Sodom.) He went clear down to Sodom, the wicked city. And later on we find him living where? (Techi: In Sodom!) Yes, right in Sodom! So Lot was the selfish one because he chose the best of the land, whereas Hebron was located up in the mountains. He left all the mountains to Abraham.
37. And what were the men of Sodom like? (David: They were wicked & bad.) Wicked sinners, Sodomites! (Techi: Abraham probably much preferred the mountains to living there!) Yes! And the Lord encouraged Abraham at this time. He told him He was going to give him how much of the land? (Techi: All of it!) Yes, North & South, East & West, eventually he was going to have it all! And how numerous was He going to make Abraham's seed? (David: Innumerable!) (Techi: As the dust of the Earth!) Yes, either answer would be good.
38. And we haven't come to this yet, but what major divisions of Abraham's family have come down through the ages, who at present are at war with each other? (Kids: The Jews & the Arabs.) The Jews & Arabs, right! They're both from Abraham's seed.
Review of Genesis 14!
39. Now in this next Chapter, let's just call the invaders the "kings of the North," OK? (Kids: Yes.) So what kings of what area came down & attacked the kings of the Canaanites in Sodom & Gomorrah? (Kids: The kings of the North!)
40. And who were the major kings of the South? (David: The king of Sodom & the king of Gomorrah.) Yes. And what race or nationality were they? (David: Hamites, or Canaanites.) Yes--actually Canaanites. They were Hamites, descended from Ham, but nevertheless called Canaanites, after Ham's son.
41. And who was the principal king of the North? That's a tough question, but I want you to remember that name because he was the leader of the armies of the North.--Chedorlaomer! And that will be a question on the test. Who was the head of the kings of the North? (Kids: Chedorlaomer!)
42. And who were the principal kings of the South? (Kids: Kings of Sodom & Gomorrah.) Right! (Techi: Do we need to know any other names?) No, that's the main thing.
43. So the kings of the North came down & stole a lot of the people, & what else? You can say their "goods," or you can say their "victuals." They stole people & food, or all their goods, from the kings of the South. (Techi: Because they rebelled, right? For 12 years they served the kings of the North, & then in the 13th year they rebelled.) Right. Good for you! And in the 14th year they attacked them! (Techi: The Kings of the North attacked the kings of the South.) Right!
44. And they also took whom? (Techi: Women.) (David: Lot.) The most important person they took was Lot, & they also apparently took a lot of men & women for servants, etc.
45. And by this time Abram was called Abram the...what? What was the town he was from? (Techi: Hebron.) So he was called Abram the... (Techi: Hebrew!) Right! You're learning a lot of ancient history real fast here & you're doing great!
46. And by this time Abram had a lot of relatives & friends & young soldiers, & how many were there that he took with him? (David: 318.) To chase after whom? (David: Chedorlaomer.) Yes, Chedorlaomer & his gang. And what was the main reason he chased after him? --To recapture whom? (Kids: Lot!) Yes, his nephew Lot. He probably would have let the whole thing go if it hadn't been for Lot. He didn't give a damn about all the stuff these kings stole from Sodom & Gomorrah. (Techi: But wasn't it good of the kings of the North to attack the kings of the South, because they were so wicked?) Well, yes, I presume so, & the Lord allowed it, but Abram didn't want Lot to have to go with them. (David: The Lord was going to judge them later anyway.) Yes.
47. So who went out to meet Abram on his victorious return? (David: Melchizedek & the king of Sodom.) Very good! Abraham & his men had apparently slaughtered those Northern kings--Chedorlaomer & the kings that were with him. And Melchizedek was king of...? (David: Salem.) Yes! Which later became Jerusalem, which means the City of Peace. What does the word "salem" mean? (Techi: Peace.) And Jerusalem means City of Peace.
48. And what did Melchizedek prepare for Abraham & his army? (Techi: Bread & wine.) Right! Because he was a what? (Techi: The priest of the most high God.) Right! Because he was a priest of God.
49. And Melchizedek blessed Abram, & Abram gave him--what? (Techi: Tithes.) Tithes of all that he had captured, all the stuff they took away from Sodom & Gomorrah. Imagine, Sodom & Gomorrah paying tithes! Well, they didn't exactly do it willingly. (Techi: Abram captured things from Sodom & Gomorrah?) He captured these things of Sodom & Gomorrah, but he captured them from Chedorlaomer. He was bringing back all the stuff that Chedorlaomer had taken away & stolen. (Techi: Would Jesus have accepted tithes from Sodom & Gomorrah?) Well, they weren't the ones giving it. They didn't have any claim on it at all, because Abraham had captured it, it was his, so he gave tithes of it all. But then he gave what was left back to the king of Sodom.
50. Remember, his nephew Lot was just living down there, & Abram was trying to keep peace with the Sodomites. Get it? He didn't want them coming up & warring with him. And he didn't want them treating his nephew rough either, so he made peace with them & gave them back all their stuff, except what he tithed to Melchizedek.
51. Who do some people think Melchizedek was? (David: Jesus.) (Techi: Who do you think he was?) Well, it just says here that he's a priest of God, so that's all I'm going to say. (Techi: Wasn't Jesus mentioned as being "a priest after the order of Melchizedek?") (Psa.110:4; Heb. 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:17,21.) Yes, but that doesn't prove that He was Melchizedek!
52. So when the king of Sodom offered to let Abram keep all the goods he'd recaptured--which was what the other kings had taken up North--how much of Sodom's goods did Abram take? (David: Nothing!) (Techi: None!) Except... (David: For what they had eaten.) The food that his soldiers had eaten. (Techi: And the tithe.) Well, he'd already given that away, so he couldn't give that back.
53. All right! Those are the kind of questions you're going to get on tomorrow's test, so study & make sure you don't miss'm!--And make sure you know how to spell Chedorlaomer & Sodom & Gomorrah & Melchizedek & Hebrew & some of those names. OK? (Kids: Yes!) We only ran five minutes over, that's not too bad!--And we got two Chapters read, plus a review of the test questions! (David: That's really good!) That's fast! So shall we close in prayer?
54. (David: Amen! Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord for all we learned tonight! Thank You so much for the Bible, Lord, & how much we're learning from it, & from these wonderful Bible classes with Grandpa. We pray that You'll continue to bless our time tonight, in Jesus' name! Amen!) Amen!
55. It's important that you kids have these classes, because one of these days you're going to be teaching the Bible to others. You'll be teachers or pastors or heads of whole countries, & you'll need to know something about Bible History, right? (Kids: Yes!) These are simple stories that almost every Sunday School child knows, except you're learning it more thoroughly! So God bless you!
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