Hebrews 7:1-10
Remember when Abraham met the mysterious priest Melchizedek? It's only the one time in Genesis 14, and then he's alluded to in Psalm 110. Remember the circumstances?
This bible story plays out like a Steven Seagal action flick. The king of Sodom and four other kings had been ruled by Kederlaomer of Elam for twelve years, and then they rebelled. So now king K is coming back to knock them down a peg and take away their cities. King K, along with three allies, goes up against the five kings in a valley filled with tar pits. Kederlaomer, of course, wins the fight, and men of Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboyim and Bela run away, falling into the inky tar and never being seen nor heard from again.
Sounds just like Hollywood, yes?
So enter Abram, the humble Hebrew. He finds out that his nephew Lot, who chose to live on the fertile plains of Sodom, has been kidnapped by these conquerors. Abram saddles up his camel and brings along 318 of his best men to go up against the bad guys and save his nephew.
Now don't think that Kederlaomer was any kind of pushover; after all, he had just come back from soundly whipping the rebels and carrying off their women and possessions. (Well, think about it. If you beat a guy and carry off his stuff, he'll have sons and they'll come and beat up you and your sons when you get old. If you beat a guy and take away his stuff and his women, he won't be able to have sons to come after you later. And you get more women for the men in your town or tribe to have sons with. It seemed like a win-win situation at the time.) Kederlaomer is a tough cookie, and Abram is going up against this cat with his own men and no allies. And is Abram scared of ticking off this Canaanite king? No way. He's in hot pursuit.
Can't you just see Seagal standing there with his shepherd's staff? "Now, you don't wanna make me mad."
End of story? Abram plans an ambush and has the bad guys running away with their tails between their legs in time for Oprah.
Okay, now. So to-be-Father Abraham is coming off a big win, and then he comes to Melchizedek, the "priest of God Most High". And what does Abram do? Abram gives the first part of the spoils to God, no questions asked.
This is a very cool thing.
Think about it. Have you ever worked really hard for something, maybe for a long time, put everything you had into this and maybe even took on some big personal risk to get it? That's Abram all the way. Abram just put up his own men, the men in his house, the men he ate dinner with; he put their lives and his on the line to win this battle. He fought smart--this was no Gideon, where the bad guys were stabbing each other in fear. Abram used solid tactics and hard training and a lot of gumption to win this fight.
We would say that Abram deserved that win.
And yet, his response is to give the first part to God, though His priest Melchizedek.
What he does after is even better, but I'll leave that for you to read. Let's leave it with this:
Abram paid honor to God through Melchizedek the priest. Whoever Melchizedek was, the author of Hebrews says, that's what Jesus is like: He's God's first, best priest. Better than Aaron. Better than Levi. Jesus is the One that goes to bat with God for us.
When we win the major victories in our lives, we have a Melchizedek in Jesus. Do I pay honor to Jesus, like Abram did to Melchizedek? Or do I decide to keep the spoils for myself? Do I remember to thank God for the things I earn with my own sweat? Or do I feel like these things belong to me, that God doesn't deserve credit for them?
Ah, but friends. It never belittles us and our efforts to give glory to God, because God gives us the greater glory. Sometimes we have to wait for it, but we have a reward waiting, if we stay true to Him.
Let us give God the first part of our triumphs, me and you, and see how He also takes part in our sorrows! Let us trust God with our lives, broken and torn as they may be, and see how He gives them back to us, shining and new!
Let us give glory to God!
This bible story plays out like a Steven Seagal action flick. The king of Sodom and four other kings had been ruled by Kederlaomer of Elam for twelve years, and then they rebelled. So now king K is coming back to knock them down a peg and take away their cities. King K, along with three allies, goes up against the five kings in a valley filled with tar pits. Kederlaomer, of course, wins the fight, and men of Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboyim and Bela run away, falling into the inky tar and never being seen nor heard from again.
Sounds just like Hollywood, yes?
So enter Abram, the humble Hebrew. He finds out that his nephew Lot, who chose to live on the fertile plains of Sodom, has been kidnapped by these conquerors. Abram saddles up his camel and brings along 318 of his best men to go up against the bad guys and save his nephew.
Now don't think that Kederlaomer was any kind of pushover; after all, he had just come back from soundly whipping the rebels and carrying off their women and possessions. (Well, think about it. If you beat a guy and carry off his stuff, he'll have sons and they'll come and beat up you and your sons when you get old. If you beat a guy and take away his stuff and his women, he won't be able to have sons to come after you later. And you get more women for the men in your town or tribe to have sons with. It seemed like a win-win situation at the time.) Kederlaomer is a tough cookie, and Abram is going up against this cat with his own men and no allies. And is Abram scared of ticking off this Canaanite king? No way. He's in hot pursuit.
Can't you just see Seagal standing there with his shepherd's staff? "Now, you don't wanna make me mad."
End of story? Abram plans an ambush and has the bad guys running away with their tails between their legs in time for Oprah.
Okay, now. So to-be-Father Abraham is coming off a big win, and then he comes to Melchizedek, the "priest of God Most High". And what does Abram do? Abram gives the first part of the spoils to God, no questions asked.
This is a very cool thing.
Think about it. Have you ever worked really hard for something, maybe for a long time, put everything you had into this and maybe even took on some big personal risk to get it? That's Abram all the way. Abram just put up his own men, the men in his house, the men he ate dinner with; he put their lives and his on the line to win this battle. He fought smart--this was no Gideon, where the bad guys were stabbing each other in fear. Abram used solid tactics and hard training and a lot of gumption to win this fight.
We would say that Abram deserved that win.
And yet, his response is to give the first part to God, though His priest Melchizedek.
What he does after is even better, but I'll leave that for you to read. Let's leave it with this:
Abram paid honor to God through Melchizedek the priest. Whoever Melchizedek was, the author of Hebrews says, that's what Jesus is like: He's God's first, best priest. Better than Aaron. Better than Levi. Jesus is the One that goes to bat with God for us.
When we win the major victories in our lives, we have a Melchizedek in Jesus. Do I pay honor to Jesus, like Abram did to Melchizedek? Or do I decide to keep the spoils for myself? Do I remember to thank God for the things I earn with my own sweat? Or do I feel like these things belong to me, that God doesn't deserve credit for them?
Ah, but friends. It never belittles us and our efforts to give glory to God, because God gives us the greater glory. Sometimes we have to wait for it, but we have a reward waiting, if we stay true to Him.
Let us give God the first part of our triumphs, me and you, and see how He also takes part in our sorrows! Let us trust God with our lives, broken and torn as they may be, and see how He gives them back to us, shining and new!
Let us give glory to God!
posted by ionathas78 at 6:05 AM
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