And His tabernacle is in Salem, And His habitation in Zion.
– Psalm 76:2 YLT
The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.
9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Abraham: New Allies in a New Land
Abram was a prince, a sheik with flocks and family tribal leadership on his shoulders; first in Ur under his father and then in Haran before traveling to the promised land. I might mention that Abraham was a merchant and trader with a sizable household. Abraham commanded a guard of men led to protect his interests.
Abraham did not go to Canaan or later to Egypt to challenge kings and princes (sheiks, to borrow the common title for Semitic tribal leaders). Abraham journeyed to Canaan at the leading of Almighty God. Abraham came before men like Melchizedek and others kings as prince anointed by Almighty God sent to others as ally or as their enemy. Even if Abraham and his many men were to be underestimated by other kings, the LORD God has anointed this man to be a father of many nations and a conquerer of an inheritance promised by God.
So a battle ensues hundreds of centuries ago to which we pay little heed of a few details, except the names of Abraham and Melchizedek.
The kings who opposed Abraham and Melchizedek were no more or less evil than those who oppose the LORD in this day.
So returning to our journey with Abraham:
Genesis 13:
So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. 5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
Two Sheiks, princes if you prefer, Abraham and Lot travel together then decide to settle in lands nearby. Though by different circumstance, this is not so unusual or different than Jacob leaving Laban or Jacob and Esau choosing peace between their neighboring tribes. Powerful princes in a land of promise, living among other princes with armies and interests different than their own.
11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
Lot would rule his tribe from Sodom and his lands nearby, as Abram had traveled first with his father from Ur to Haran, then set out on his own to his own principality promised by the Lord. Meanwhile, back in the land along the Euphrates from Ur to Haran, other kings were mustering troops to expand their influence into the very promised land to which Abraham and Lot had settled.
To be continued…
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