... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
“Abram stayed in the land of Canaan; Lot moved
near well pastured cities, pitching his tent near Sodom. However, the men of Sodom were exceedingly
wicked sinners to the Lord.”[2]
During the reigns of Amraphel, Arioch,
Chedorlaomer, and Tidal; the kings of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam, and Goiim made war
with the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela: kings Bera, Birsha,
Shinab, Shemeber, and Zoar. These all joined
together in war at the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea. They had served Chedorlaomer twelve years; but,
in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
Now, in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer,
with the kings that joined him, came and smote the Rephaims at Ashteroth Karnaim,
the Zuzims at Ham, the Emins at Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites from mount Seir
to Elparan, which is by the wilderness. Then
they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, smote all the country of
the Amalekites, and the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
So, the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah,
Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) went out and joined in battle with Chedorlaomer of Elam,
Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar at the valley of Siddim;
four kings against five….
The valley of Siddim was full of asphalt
pits: the kings of Sodom[3] and Gomorrah fled defeated
there; while the others fled to the mountains.
They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food, and left. They also captured Lot, Abram’s brother’s son,
who stayed in Sodom, with his goods, and left.
Even so, one that had escaped, came
to tell Abram the Hebrew, who stayed near the oaks of Mamre, brother of Eshcol
and Aner, the Amorites that were Abram’s confederates. When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,
he armed his three hundred eighteen trained servants, born in his own house, and
pursued them to Dan. There he with his servants,
divided against them by night, struck them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which
is west of Damascus. He brought back all
the goods; He also brought back his brother Lot, with his goods; the women, and
the people as well.
Thus the king of Sodom went out to meet
[Abram] after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer with his
allied kings, at the valley of Shaveh, the king’s valley.
Now, Melchizedek king of Peace, brought
forth bread and wine, [Melchizedek] was the priest of the most-high God. He blessed [Abram], saying, “Blessed be
Abram of the most-high God, possessor of heaven and earth. Blessed be the most-high God, Who has delivered
your enemies into your hand.” So [Abram]
gave [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything.
Then the king of Sodom said to Abram,
“Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lift
up mine hand to the Lord, the most-high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.
I will not take from a thread to a shoe-tie.
I will not take anything that is yours, lest
you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ These are the only exceptions: what the young men
have eaten, and the shares of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre,
let them take their share.”
________
If you have been
blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost or share all of
them.
[1]
This passage raises one profound question.
Whom did Abram rescue from destruction?
And why? The easy answer is Lot,
but that would be incorrect. To be sure,
Lot was rescued, but he is almost incidental to the narrative. Yes, and oh, by the way, Chedorlaomer
captured Lot. Yes, and oh, by the way, Abram
rescued Lot. Lot is an afterthought,
added to the main story. In the
arbitration of the spoils, Lot is not even mentioned. The narrative pivots around Chedorlaomer leader
of the four kings, Bera (who is nameless in the rest of the story) leader of the
five kings, Abram, and Melchizedek. Whom
did Abram rescue from destruction? The
only plausible answer in the light of the weight of the narrative is the people
of Sodom and their neighboring cities.
Why is it important that Abram rescue the people of Sodom and
their neighboring cities? The only sober
answer is that Abram, the believer has an obligation before the most-high God,
to protect the pagans around him, even though they are “exceedingly wicked sinners.” They live within the boundaries that the
most-high God has promised Abram, and they are his to protect, as long as there
is still hope and time for their repentance.
Lot, after all, is already under the protection of the most-high God.
The key to the story is Abram’s devotion and loyalty to the
most-high God. Everything pivots around
that relationship. This is the key to
our story as well. Everything hinges on
the relationship that the most-high God has given us through the priesthood of Melchizedek,
made clear in Jesus Christ, most-high God’s own Son. Because we are “in Christ” we have an obligation
before the most-high God, to protect the “exceedingly wicked sinners” around
us. We pray for them because, as long as
they are alive, there is still hope and time for their repentance. May God have mercy on our souls.
[2]
Genesis 13:12-13
[3] The
king of Sodom remains nameless throughout the rest of the narrative, because of
his extremely shameful behavior. He ran
and hid as a coward in battle, in contrast to Abram, who defeated the same
mighty armies with only three hundred eighteen men. After the victory, in which he has no part,
he comes climbing out of his hole to claim a share of the spoils, for which he
has no right; this in contrast to Abram who nobly forfeits all, rather than
compromise his worship relationship with the most-high God. It is clear from the right of conquest that
Abram is the rightful owner of all the property; yet, he knows that the
most-high God has given him the victory.
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