The battles that took place in Genesis 14 would be lost to history, but for Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Kedorlaomer and his 3 allied kings soundly defeated the other confederation of 5 kings, and in the process carried off Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. Subsequently, Abraham mobilized his 318 fighting men to rescue Lot. Many a prosperity preacher has justified their riches by pointing to Abraham as a man of obvious wealth and resources. No one can argue with the latter point. After all, how many of us have a private army of 318 men on hand? The most famous part of this otherwise obscure incident is the involvement of the priest-king of Salem, Melchizedek. Melchizedek was ‘priest of God Most High’ (Gen.14:18). His blessings upon Abraham acknowledged Abraham as one being blessed by his God, the ‘God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.’ He goes on to praise God as the One who delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hands (Gen.14:20). “Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything” (Gen.14:20b). In Psalm 110:4 the Psalmist says of the coming Messiah, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The writer of the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 7), quoting from this Messianic psalm, presents Melchizedek as the ‘type’ of the eternal royal priesthood of which Jesus is the ‘antitype’—fulfilment. The new covenant of Christ had a new priesthood. Superior to the Levitical priesthood. One founded on a priest-king superior to Abraham. One whom Abraham himself had given a tithe, and by extension, the Levitical priesthood had given a tithe through Abraham.
Don’t be surprised if this is not what you were expecting when you read the title: ‘Nine Kings Went To War.’ The day that Abraham rescued Lot after the battle of the nine kings, was a day of surprises that has served to bring blessings to this day. Jesus Christ is Priest and King. As the High Priest of the eternal priesthood, he offered himself as the pure and acceptable sacrifice that atoned for our sins. As King of Kings, he rules over his kingdom. Thus, he had the love and the qualifications to make Christians a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1Pet.2:9). Those nine kings remain as a testimony that their petty wars, and all others, can and will be used in the eternal battle plan that continues to be played out to this very day.
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