Sunday, June 12, 2011

Genesis 14

"I will take nothing except what the servants have eaten..."
Genesis 14:24


Unconditional love - giving all without expecting anything in return.  Abram risked his life, and the lives of all his men, to rescue his nephew Lot, who was a prisoner of war.  In doing so, Abram also brought back all the other people and goods that had been taken during the battle.

Bera, King of Sodom, offered all of these goods as repayment for rescuing his people.  However, Abram refuses to take any more than necessary.  He had already given 10% of everything to the Melchizedek, a priest to God Most High, and his servants had already eaten some of the goods while traveling back home from the fight.  Other than that, Abram gives everything back.

The reasoning that Abram gives for not wanting to take anything is that he doesn't want Bera to be able to say that he made Abram rich.  I think it's important to note that Abram didn't rescue Lot out of a desire to become rich, but rather out of compassion for his relative.  Even though he and Lot had quarreled in the past, he loved his family member enough to risk everything to save him.

No comments:

Post a Comment