Read Genesis 13 and 14 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions for these chapters are:
Gen 12:10-13:18 {p} Abram’s faith in the promise tested + promise reaffirmed
Gen 14:1-24 {s} Signs of Messiah: victory over death, Melchizedek, bread and wine
When the history of Abram opens, God is not anyone’s God. He has been rejected as God and as Creator at Babel. The rebellion at Babel introduced paganism among men as a religion, to replace YHVH, the Creator God, as God. But when God spoke to Abram, Abram listened to Him and obeyed Him. God’s instruction was, “Separate yourself, and I will make a nation of you, so that in you I might bless all the families of the earth.” You mean, all those seventy families from Gen 10-11 that just rejected YHVH as God and turned to serve the creature rather than the Creator? Yes, precisely all those families. The nation of Abram’s seed will have YHVH as their God (Gen 17:7), unlike every other nation on the face of the earth, and will be a blessing to all the other nations who have rejected God.
Where is the vengeful, wrathful, judgmental, angry God of the Old Testament? His plan is to bless those families that rejected Him, by making a way for them to return to Him, through the nation of Abram’s seed.
God had given Abram a two- fold promise of descendants, and land for his descendants to dwell in (Gen 12:1-4, 7). But then immediately Abram endures trial after trial, which tests his faith in the promise:
Famine in the land, Gen 12:10
Sarai his wife (mother of potential heirs) taken away by Pharaoh of Egypt, Gen 12:11-15
The land was not able to support both Abram and Lot, Gen 13:5-6
War in the land, Gen 14:1-9
Lot (Abram’s nephew and potential heir) taken captive, Gen 14:11-16
In each instance Abram responded to the trial in the way that reveals his greater trust and faith in God, so that God fought for him on his behalf. God plagued Pharaoh’s house until Sarai had been restored. In order to avoid strife in his own house, he gave Lot first choice of the land that had been promised to him (and he was the elder!), so that God renewed the promise to Abram. And even though he was greatly outnumbered, he pursued the armies of four kings in order to retrieve his nephew, who, at this point in his life while Sarai was barren, may have been considered his potential heir. In fact, when he met Melchizedek on his return, he confirmed that it was God’s doing that he had gained the victory over his enemies (Gen 14:20).
If you are facing trials in your own life, it does not mean that God’s promises to you have been invalidated — God may just be waiting to show Himself strong on your behalf!
The strong themes encountered so far in Genesis:
Gen 1:1-2:3 {px7} Seven days of Creation, i.e. God is our Creator
Gen 2:4-3:21 {s+s+p} Disobedience = sin = painful toil and death
Gen 3:22-6:4, {sx11+p} Exile/ death follows from sin/ walking with the flesh; but life follows from walking with God
Gen 6:5-8 {p} God will destroy the wicked, but Noah found grace
Gen 6:9-9:17 {sx3+p} God preserves the righteous and destroys the wicked
Gen 9:18-29 {p} Shem and Japheth blessed/ Canaan cursed
Gen 10:1-32 {s+s+p} The seventy descendants of Noah who became the fathers of the nations
Gen 11:1-9 {p} The tower of Babel: all seventy nations rebel against God
Gen 11:10-32 {sx8+p} The seed of Shem
Gen 12:1-9 {p} Call of Abram + promise of land and descendants
Gen 12:10-13:18 {p} Abram’s faith in the promise tested + promise reaffirmed
For further reading:
Gen 12:1-13:18 chiastic structure
Chronology Wars: the early history of Egypt and other nations, and biblical history
Did Chedorlaomer and the other kings really exist?
Abram’s 318 men (I love Biblical Horizons and Biblical Chronology newsletter. They respect the accuracy and authority of Scripture, and they answer puzzles that geeks like me like to puzzle over, LOL).
Studies in Genesis index
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