Abram’s Bold Stand and the Symbolism of Numbers

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

Greetings to the brightest audience in the country and welcome to Theology Thursday. I’m Nicole McBurney. Every weekday we bring you the news of the day, the culture, and science from a Christian worldview. But today, join me and Pastor Bob Enyart as we explore the source of our Christian worldview, the Bible.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:14

Cheder Lamer, King of Elam, entitled King of Nations. And this King of Nations, that’s Goyim in Hebrew, and that’s their typical word for Gentiles. So the King of the Goyim. And I wonder whether or not that land is where Israel eventually got their word for the nations, for the Gentiles. And back then, that might have been the name of a region, Goyim, and eventually that word came to mean the nations or the Gentiles. So perhaps it should say king of Goyim instead of king of the nations. Verse 2, that they made war. These first four kings, and just for example, this Ariok king of Elessar, he might be a king named Ariuk that we know from the 18th century before Christ, these Mari tablets, where we have King Ariuk. A-R-R-I-Y-U-K. So we might be able to identify some of these, but it’s unclear. Anyway, these first four kings… made war with Bera, king of Sodom, Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Adma, Shemaber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, and that is Zohar. Now, Chedorlamor had subjugated these five kings, Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors. He had subjugated them, levied a tribute against them. They had to pay him every year, they had an answer to him. They didn’t have their independence. So these five kings, Sodom and Gomorrah and crowd, they got angry, probably somewhat like our Boston Tea Party. And they said, hey, we’re not going to pay taxes to you guys anymore. And they rebelled against Chedolamor. And so Chedolamor got his allies, four kings from the east. And they said, oh, yeah, well, watch this. And they came down and they were going to show who was in charge. Verse 3, all these joined together in the valley of Siddam, that is, the Salt Sea. So in the centuries after the flood, when the waters were subsiding, a very low area, which we call today the Dead Sea, and there was no outlet for the Dead Sea, and as water would flow into it, it would evaporate, But all the minerals would stay and become more and more dense, similar to our Salt Lake in Utah. And you go there and you float on top of the water and women take the mud and put it on their face and all. It’s a little strange. But back then they called it the Salt Sea, even then. And so these all joined together in the valley. So you have nine kings. Now they’re called kings, but we shouldn’t. Think of them as kings of like France or Germany because those areas are too large with too vast populations. It’s like the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. It’d be a city state, only a small city state. The population of the earth was still just getting started. And so there were significant numbers, but they weren’t tens of thousands of people in their cities or hundreds of thousands or armies of millions. We can’t think like that. These are villages. Maybe today, maybe Boulder would be the biggest of these five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, anyway, probably not nearly the size of Boulder. When did this happen? You know, we can call this really the first real world war Nine kings at war. The first real World War I, right here, as far as the historical records indicate. And so when did our modern World War I, what year did it start? 1914, right? So what year is this back then? Well, it’s somewhere between 1910 and 1920 B.C. So we could just, just for a rough estimate and make it easy to remember, we could say this was 1914 B.C. in the modern World War I in 1914 A.D. Okay, now verse 4. Twelve years they served Chedolamor, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. We’ve talked about the first appearance of different words in the Bible. And sometimes the first appearance of a word seems to indicate its significance or its symbolism. And here’s the first appearance of the number Chedolamor. the word 13th, 13th as an ordinal. And then we also have the first occurrence of 13 without the TH. That comes later in Genesis. So this first occurrence of 13th is associated with rebellion. In the 13th year, they rebelled. And in the Bible, sure enough, 13 seems to be a symbol for rebellion. And in our Genesis, the fall study, which we have available in albums, we covered that why. Why would Friday the 13th be considered an unlucky day? Why is the 13th? Why do we have skyscrapers without 13th floors? It’s just uncanny. And around the world, why is this fear of the number 13 in existence? And the Bible does seem to put a stress on 13 and rebellion. And that’s sort of a fun topic. Anyway, the number 13, its first occurrence is when Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. And Ishmael was Abram’s son after the flesh. So that also has a negative connotation. It’s interesting that the word 13 appears in the Bible 13 times in 13 verses. At least that’s in my New King James. Check that. Chapter 5, verse 5. In the fourteenth year, Cheder-Lamer and the kings that were with him came and attacked. The Repham in Ashtaroth-Carnam, the Zuzum in Ham, the Emum in Shavav-Kiriatham. Now these Emum guys, they were called giants. The Anakim by Moses and the Moabites in Deuteronomy chapter 2. They were called giants. And we talked about the giants, the Nephilim, that lived before the flood. And when Moses wrote Genesis 6, he said there were giants in the land in those days and afterward, before the flood and after. And sure enough, in the history of the Old Testament, we know that there were giants in the land of Canaan, which is interesting, but we’ve talked about the implications of that. Okay, verse 6. And the Horites in the mountain of Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is by the wilderness… These Horites, a tribe of Canaanites, were eventually kicked out of Seir by the descendants of Esau. Then they turned back and came. Now this is, let’s see. This is, they’ve got a battle going. And, excuse me, I’m going to switch the texts I’m using here. Okay. Verse 7. Then they turned back and came to En Mishvat, that is Kadesh, and attacked all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazan Tamar. And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is Zoar, went out and joined together in battle in the valley of Siddam against Chedolamor, king of Elam, title king of nations, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariok king of Elessar, four kings against five. Now the valley of Siddam was full of asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way. They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods and departed. Then one guy escaped, and he told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. And they were allies with Abram. So Abram had some allies among the Canaanites, and he found out that his nephew had been kidnapped. And should he seek help from these Canaanites who were not believers? Sure, if unbelievers want to help me in various endeavors, I’m often thrilled to receive their help. What’s that book, The Art of War by Zeng Tzu from centuries before Christ? And he writes in there that if you can use your enemy’s resources… Like if you can get wheat from your enemy to feed your army, if you get 1,000 bushels of wheat, that’s the equivalent of 6,000 bushels of wheat, of your own wheat, because it’s your enemy’s wheat. And if you could use your enemy’s resources, we’ve had the ACLU defend pro-lifers who’ve been charged with disturbing the peace or whatever. And normally they win the case. So we despise their wickedness, but use their resources toward our own ends. Well, so he had some allies. And, you know, it’s sort of like in the Old West. Either you hang together or you hang separately. So they said, let’s work together here, guys. We have a problem. Verse 14. Now, when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his 318 men trained servants. You see that number? How awesome it is? Imagine what a successful businessman Abram must have been to have 318 trained servants who were born in his own house and he went in pursuit as far as Dan. So he went out after these guys and they were armed. Abram was not a pacifist. David was not a pacifist. They believed in Self-defense and an arming yourself. If they lived today, they’d be members of the NRA. Only they’d say the NRA is a little too squishy for them. He had 318 that he could arm. How many in his whole household? You know, he wouldn’t arm the women or the children or the elderly. And these were 318 trained servants, implying he might have had others that never quite got trained. And they were ones who were born in his own house, not ones he had purchased. Wow. He could easily have had over a thousand people that he was responsible for in his household, in his extended household. So when we see him and Lot were having difficulties, it’s not like he had his six people in his family and Lot had three and they were It was two villages that had been trying to coexist. So verse 15, Abram divided his forces against them by night. He and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Haba, which is north of Damascus. Now Damascus is about a hundred mile chase. He would have been chasing these guys for some time. This was quite an event. He had 318 armed men and he had two allies who who maybe they added another 300 between them or 400. So they had seven, maybe seven, 800 armed men going after these victorious kings. And verse 16, he brought back all the goods and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shava, that is the king’s valley, after his return from the defeat. Then, so, the king of Sodom, Bera, goes out and we’ll see in a moment that he talks to Abram as though he’s the obvious leader. But Abram had these two other allies with him and they’re men, but Abram was clearly the leader, which is interesting. Well, here’s the king of Sodom coming out to talk to him, but then suddenly he meets this other guy, Melchizedek. king of Salem. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God most high. And where does this guy come from? He just walks onto the biblical page out of nowhere, just shows up and then just does his thing and walks off, disappears. And the Psalms and the book of Hebrews talks about this guy. And he’s a fascinating character. So he was the king of Salem and Salem certainly could refer to Jerusalem. Salem meaning peace. And he brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God most high. And the bread and wine strike us as the elements of communion at the Passover when Christ took the bread and the cup of wine. And he said that this symbolizes my body and my blood, the blood of the covenant. So here’s the priest way back in Abram’s time, 1900 years before Christ. And here is the bread and the wine. And he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave Abram and Abram gave him a tithe of all. So Abram gave this guy 10%. He tithed to Melchizedek. Now we’ll look at the other references to Melchizedek. Psalm 110 verse four says, the Lord has sworn and will not repent. Now I know many versions say relent, and that’s a little tragic because the word is repent. The word appears hundreds of times in the Bible. It’s the word. it’s the word for repent. In fact, it’s the normal word used when God repents. When it says in quite a few verses that God repents, it’s that same Hebrew word as when anyone repents. But translators tend to not like that. So they translate it relent whenever it refers to God or often when it refers to God. And that to me seems strange because relent seems to… connote the idea of repenting because you were pressured into it. You relented. Are you going to relent now? Okay, I will. So it seems even worse. But maybe they feel like since people are not familiar with that word, it gives them a little wiggle room. So Psalm 110, verse 4, The Lord has sworn and will not repent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, we saw that the Levites broke up into 24 divisions and John the Baptist’s dad was after the order of the 8th division, Abijah. Well, here in Psalm 110, this is all about the Messiah. And it says the Messiah is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. So who’s this Melchizedek guy? He showed up in this little story in Genesis and that’s it. Showed up and disappeared. And this is the next reference. And those are the only two references in the whole Old Testament to Melchizedek. Then when we get to the book of Hebrews, we read in a couple places that Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And I’d like to read some verses in Hebrews chapter 7. about Melchizedek, and actually these are verses about Christ, and the author of Hebrews is establishing his position and authority by referencing it to Melchizedek. He says at the very end of Hebrews 6 that the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem and priests of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated King of Righteousness and then also King of Salem, meaning King of Peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. but made like the Son of God. He remains a priest continually. Now, when the author of Hebrews is saying, look, Melchizedek, he had no father, he had no mother, no genealogy. Now, what does he mean by that? It’s difficult to say. Does he mean this Melchizedek person didn’t have any parents and he was really a theophany? He was really an appearance of God, a Christophany. Was it an appearance of Jesus Christ back then? Or is he making an analogy? And there was a guy named Melchizedek, the king of Salem. And since the record doesn’t tell us what his genealogy is, well, then we could make an application of that. And Paul will do this at times where you’ll go to the Old Testament and quote a verse to make your point. Now you could have quoted verses before or after that might have contradicted your point. You could quote maybe 300 verses that would contradict your point. But you’re making a point, and this one verse makes your point. Even though you might say, I know there’s other factors, but I think my argument is valid, and here’s an illustration of my point from the Old Testament. That’s a very common thing that the Jews do in Hebrew thought. They can take a story, whether it’s part of the Bible or not, and make an application of it. And we might call it wrenching it out of context and reading something in that wasn’t ever there in the first place. But that is perfectly acceptable to do that. So whether the book of Hebrews is telling us that this was not an ordinary human being, or if it’s just making an application, I’ve not been able to determine. And I’ve looked at it and considered it for 25 years. Maybe there’s someone who can identify some additional evidence or information and say, you know, here’s the key to figuring it out. I’d be thrilled to hear from you. Well, this king, so he says he had no genealogy and he remains a priest forever, actually referring to Jesus Christ. Hebrews 7, 4. Now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. Now, it does say, consider how great this man was. And that would have been before… No, but we can’t really push that too far. To whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. Now, Abraham gave Melchizedek one tenth. And indeed, those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law. So the story he’s going to tell is this. He says the Levites get 10%. When we tithe, we give it to the Levites. But Abraham gave 10% to Melchizedek. Now, which is greater, the Levites or Melchizedek? He says that the Levites were still in Abraham’s loins. They were still in his body when he tithed to Melchizedek. So he says, obviously, Melchizedek must be way greater than the Levites. And Jesus Christ, he says, was not born of the tribe of Levi. He was born of the tribe of Judah. He says, where in the Bible does it say that a priest would come from the tribe of Judah? It says no one from Judah ever officiated at the temple, at the altar. So he argues that Jesus Christ is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, who was a priest forever who was Abraham’s priest. So it’s just a very interesting presentation of the authority and the position of Jesus Christ. And that’s pretty much everything we can know about Melchizedek in the Bible. Now, in John 1, we know that Jesus is called the Word, that He was with God, and the Word became flesh. So He was with God from the beginning. In fact, Psalm 93 says that you are from old, from everlasting. In the prophecy in Micah 5.2, that out of Bethlehem would come the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting. So like Melchizedek, who had no beginning, Jesus Christ truly had no beginning, for he is God, the Son of God, and is eternally existent. In the past, one of the names of God, we receive grace from him who is and who was and who is to come. So Christ has always existed. The first and the last, beginning and end, the alpha and the omega. Back to Genesis verse 21. Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, give me the persons and take the goods for yourself. And back there in a situation like this with the spoils of war, the victor gets to keep the people and the goods. But Sodom figured he might be able to strike a deal here. And he says, look, give me the people and you keep all the goods. And Abram could have kept everything. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the Lord, God most high, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing from a thread to a sandal strap and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abraham rich. Abram rich. Wow, that’s interesting. It seems to me like Abram despised the king of Sodom, saying, I don’t want your help. That’s really a low attitude towards someone else. And God blessed Abram for that attitude. In Indianapolis… We did the seminar yesterday. Had 96 people at the seminar on predestination and free will. Had a great time. Then the Indianapolis Ice. It’s a minor league hockey team. They play in a coliseum there. I got invited to that game. And the organist for the Indianapolis Ice during the game, he played the song Do Right and Risk the Consequences. And he also played the new intro theme song, Bob Enyart Live. which was fun. But I got in an argument with a guy there who we were talking during the game. He was a Christian guy and we were talking through the issues and he said, well, what if you’re on a picket line and a non-Christian wanted to help and wanted to save a child? Would you let him help? I said, yeah, I’d be thrilled. Sure. Help. He said, oh, what if a homosexual wanted to help? I’d say, leave. We don’t want your help. And this guy was really shocked and angered and offended. And we talked through it for about a half hour. And I think we gave him overwhelming evidence that the homosexual community generally tolerates pedophilia. They tolerate it or support it. Quoting from their leaders, their publications, their political leaders, articles about them and in Time Magazine and on and on. The ACLU defending pedophiles in the name of we can’t go after different groups of people. We have to defend them. Disney supporting the pedophile who made the movie Powder. So with all this evidence, I hope that he began to see the reality. But we said to him, no, we don’t want help from a homosexual. Because it’s too wicked. It’s too vile a sin to normalize it by saying we can have normal interaction. And Abram here with the king of Sodom saying, I don’t even want a shoelace from you. That’s pretty harsh. I don’t want your help. I don’t want a thread from you. I don’t want anyone to say that Abram received one penny from Sodom. He did not like the Sodomites. And we’re stuck with the fruit of their wickedness now, 3,800 years later. So Abram would not take any of the recovered property and back to the last verse of the chapter, verse 24, except only what the young men have eaten, he said, and the portion of the men who went with me, their rations, in other words, the guys who were in his household, So this chapter goes to great lengths to make it clear that Abram did not keep any of the spoils that he won back. But when he gave this tithe to Melchizedek, it was a tenth of the spoils. So he didn’t keep it for himself, but he gave one tenth of everything to Melchizedek, as it says in Hebrews 7.4, speaking of this guy, Melchizedek, to whom Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.