We are live All right, so if you have your bibles let's go ahead and go to genesis chapter 14 We'll read for our text begin verse 1 I'm going down to verse 16. It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Elessar, Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, entitled king of Goem, that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shumeber, king of Zobroim, and the king of Bela, that is Zoar. And these came as allies to the Valley of Sidim, that is the Salt Sea. Now for 12 years, they had served Qudor Laomer, but the 13th year they rebelled. So in the 14th year, Qudor Laomer and the kings that were with him came and struck the Riffium in Ashtaroth, Carnium, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shavah Kiriatham, and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El Peran, which is by the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat, that is Kadesh, and they struck all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar. The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Edmah, and the king of Zeboam, The king of Bela, that is Zohar, came out and they arranged themselves for battle against them in the valley of Sidon, against Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goem, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariok, king of Elessar, four kings against five. Now the Valley of Sodom was full of tar pits. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and they fell into them. But those who remained behind fled to the hill country. Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and departed. Now watch this. They also took Lot. Verse 12 says, they also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions and departed. Now he was living in Sodom. Then a fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was dwelling by the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner. And these were in a covenant with Abram. So Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive. He led out his trained men, born in his house, 318 in number, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his men against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. And he brought back all the possessions, And he also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions and also the women and the people. And so today, this is what we're going to consider, this event that takes place here in the life of Abram. You know, Abram and Lott, they had recently separated. We read about that, and we had considered those things, and it was bound to happen. Even though Abram and Lott were presumably kind of minding their own business and trying to make a living of their own, got caught up in this terrible war that was going on. They had enjoyed relative peace since they arrived, yet the calm was interrupted by a confederacy of kings that swept through the land and devastated everything in their path. As we think about that, we know that we live in a time when there is war and trouble, and there are rumors of wars, and there are things going on in our world. Indeed, there has been times of trouble and wars, and there has been kings and certainly kingdoms that have gone to war with each other for thousands of years. This has been ongoing. There's not going to be any peace in this world until Christ comes. Whenever there is war or a rumor of war, there's a lot of anxiety and a lot of trouble, but we must remember We must remember that our God is in control of it all, that Yahweh has it all in control, just as he did here. This confederacy, well, it included the kings of Shinar, which is Babylonia. It included Elisar, which is one of the leading tribes of Babylonia. Elam. Elam is what is modern day Persia. And so it kind of gives you an idea of where all these people were coming from, what was going on. These are very tribal people, very warlike type individuals. even though their kingdoms would have been small at this point in time, their armies were fierce and cruel. These local kings had been placed under the service of this one Qudor Laomer, king of Enlum, and for for about 12 years, it seems, the city-states in and around the Jordanian Plain and Southern Dead Sea or Salt Sea. All these, this confederacy had been formed and Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zobium, Zoar, all these places that we read about. And so, then there was an uprising and a rebellion. and so this invasion must have been to bring them back in submission. As we read about this and kind of try to follow along, they had served this one king for 12 years, but then in the 13th year, they rebelled, and in the 14th year, Verse five, it tells us that Dorleomer and the kings that were with him came and struck. And so this rebellion, it was perhaps not as well planned out as what they might've thought and didn't go so well as what they might've I mean, to rebel against a great army or great confederacy or great leader is kind of risky business. We live here in the United States of America, and our country has gone through two rebellions. One was successful. That's why there is a United States of America. Otherwise, we might still be a colony of Great Britain. but in 1776 and the colonists declared their independence during a great conflict and a rebellion and ended up winning that after some time of war and all of that. You can go back and read the history of it. A few years later, The British ended up attacking us, and we got into another conflict with them and all that. But praise the Lord, we've been friends with the British ever since. And so it's been a good thing. We held on to our independence, and we've been friends with the British. In 1860s, the southern states declared their independence. from the Union and formed their own confederacy. And Georgia, of course, was part of that. But when you look at the map, you see we're one country now. And so that rebellion did not go so well. But for four years, there was a lot of fighting that happened. And sadly, a lot of people lost their lives, even here, and especially throughout the South, and so rebellions are risky. It was in our country, and it certainly was a terrible thing there. They may not have had the same kind of firepower like what Soldiers did here. I'm saying there wasn't maybe cannons and Muskets and things like that like what our ancestors had when they fought here, but I'll tell you what they did have It's very interesting as I read the account here The We get kind of a clue in this text, and that is in the fifth verse there. It says, they came and struck the Rephaeum, the Rephium in Ashtaroth, Carnaeum. And then at the end of that verse, it says the Emim in Shavah, Carithium. The Emim is a word that means terrible ones, terrible ones. It's very possibly Well If you go back to Deuter or you go over to Deuteronomy chapter 2 Deuteronomy chapter 2 We find them mentioned there Give you an idea of what they were up against and some of the people who were fighting in these in in the in these in these battles Deuteronomy chapter 2 and verse 10 The Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anikim. So these were tall people, giants. The passage goes on, like the Anikim, they are also regarded as Rephim, but the Moabites called them Emim. The referrium, also mentioned in our text, that's a word that means strong ones. Strong ones. These fellows were fierce fighters, but not only fierce fighters, but also they were giants. Yes, we are talking about giants once again. Uh, now in, uh, in, in, in, in the land that Yahweh gave to Abram, the land of Canaan, there, there were giants. In fact, in Numbers chapter 13, Numbers chapter 13 and verse 33, when the spies later, later, when, when the children of Israel were, were, were, were checking out the land after they had been in Egypt and all those things. Then they came back and they sent spies into the promised land. Well, what was the report that came back? Well, in Numbers chapter 13, verse 33 they said there also we saw the Nephilim now remember that's a word that we haven't seen since Genesis chapter 6 but there we saw the Nephilim the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight so we were in their sight and so so So the report that came from the spies, they used the same word that we saw in Genesis chapter six and verse four, right before the flood. When the Bible says, the Nephilim were in the earth in those days and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, they bore children to them. They were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. I've struggled with this because I believe that the things that were going on before the flood had to do with when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and all of those things. The sons of God, I believe, were angels who had fallen and all of those things, and yet that line was wiped out by the flood. Had to be. The only thing that survived was Noah and his family. But now all of a sudden, here on the other side of the flood, we begin to read there in the land of Canaan that there were these giants. Now, certainly there are people who are taller than other people and they have nothing to do with the sons of God who married the daughters of men. They had nothing to do with the Nephilim of Genesis chapter six and verse four. But the spies who went into the land, they said, we see that and that's what's going on here. It's very possible, very possible that perhaps an unusually demonic invasion was taking place in Canaan like what had been going on prior to the flood. And this may explain why Yahweh God would later tell Joshua and Moses to utterly annihilate all of the men, women, and children who were in the land, much like God had destroyed the antediluvians with the flood. Now, I can't be dogmatic about that, of course, but that may have something to do with it. We have this word, refium, which is in our text. The idea that it may have something to do with something demonic is strengthened when it's noticed that this Hebrew word is also used as a term for the spirits of certain of the wicked dead. And so sometimes it's transliterated, like it is in our text, to Rephaim, speaking of a certain group of people. But other times, take a look at this over in Job, chapter, 26. Job chapter 26 in verse 5. The departed spirits tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Now, you wouldn't notice anything just reading the English, but if you're using, if you were to get a Bible that's got the Hebrew there beside of it, you would notice that that is the Hebrew word Rephiam there where departed spirits are. In fact, if you have one of the legacy standard Bibles with the cross references in the footnotes, you'll notice there's a small number one there beside of departed spirits. You look down at your footnote and it does say Hebrew Rephiam, same word, Used there as what is used for this group of people who we read about in Genesis Proverbs chapter 2 Proverbs chapter 2 In verse 18 For her house sinks down to death and her tracks descend to the dead or the departed spirits or the Riffium same same Hebrew word chapter 9 and verse 18 But he does not know that the dead are there that those she called are in the depths of Sheol and so And so there's other passages we could look at now now, of course this doesn't mean that this theory is true. It could just be that these people were so evil that that was their nickname. They just called them all the departed dead. They're so fierce and all that. But it could very well mean that these were demonic and something was going on very demonic there. And that's the reason why I point this out. The fact that the armies of the invading kings could not, well, when we look at this battle, we see how powerful the armies must have been. And as they got in there, chapter 14 of Genesis, It says in verse 11, and they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply and departed. So like what happens in war today, so it is. So so it's always been, and they and they gathered the spoils of war, but also. In verse 12, they also took Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions and departed. Now he was living in Sodom. So here he was, he was in Sodom. They were at war with Sodom. He was a rich man, he had lots of possessions. They said, he must be important. He's got a lot of stuff. We're going to take him. So he became a casualty of war. Now, he wasn't killed. He was just captured. Him and his family and all his possessions. In those days, they didn't have Fox News or CNN. There was no social media. You know, the other night when things started happening in Venezuela, I started seeing stuff on X, on Twitter. And I mean, man, I started seeing live feed of helicopters flying into the capital of Venezuela. I started seeing video of somebody throwing missiles into the capital of Venezuela. And all over the social media, they were saying, somebody is attacking Venezuela. It must be the United States. And right away, I thought, oh, I'm sure it is. We'd had a naval blockade there for months. And so guess what I did? I didn't go to sleep. I watched it. I watched it all unfold. I think probably the first war that that ever happened that we were able to watch anything happen like that was probably a desert storm or when George H. W. Bush And all them started bombing Iraq, and CNN was there, and we were able to see it live on TV. I mean, it was a big deal. I was probably 10 or 11 years old then. All my life, pretty much, I've been able to see these things unfold live on TV and on the Internet, and it's a big deal. But in those days, they didn't have that. But a fugitive came. A fugitive, someone who was caught up in this and escaped. Maybe Lot said, go tell Abram. Maybe he knew about Abram. And somebody knew moving into town. And, you know, if you're curious, you're going to say, man, where did you come from? How did you get all these possessions and all that? Anyway, somehow they knew the connection. And so a fugitive came and ran to Abram. Told him, told Abram the Hebrew. Now, this is the first time that you'll find the term Hebrew associated with Abram. This is to distinguish him from the other people of Canaan. He was different, and by this time, while he wasn't, there was no nation of Israel yet, there was no nation of the Hebrews, there was no, no, the Hebrew The Hebrews hadn't developed yet into what they would later become. It was getting there. And Abram was so rich and powerful and had so many servants and all of these things that he was practically a king or at least a chieftain. And when they ran, they came to him and they said, hey, Lot's in trouble. He needs your help. Abram could have said, I'm done with Lot. I see him his own way. He shouldn't have. What's he doing in Sodom? I ain't got time for that. Yahweh has plans for me, and I don't remember hearing anything about Lot, so he can sort it out. No, no, he didn't do that. He was able to gather 318 men. armed men to go after these kings. They were trained in his own household and they went to rescue Lot and to help Lot out and to get Lot's possessions and his women and all those things. Sometimes people in our day, they say, oh, well, if you're a Christian, you ought to stay out of politics. You ought to stay out of war. You ought not to own weapons and all. Well, listen, that's not what the Bible teaches. A man ought to know how to defend his family. And certainly there is a time for war. I'm thankful. I'm thankful for men like Abram. I'm thankful for men like David. I'm thankful for men like Hedzik in our government now. Christian men who are willing to to take their post. Others, others who defend their families. I'm thankful for those heroes that we've had in the past. Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, George Washington, Christian men So we see Abram's character as he, without hesitation, he gathers up what he needs to do. He gathers this small army of 318, arms them and goes to take care of business, but also consider his faith. Lot had been taken by some pretty severe fighters, fierce warriors, giants even. some folks who would have been pretty scary. And no doubt he was aware that he was outnumbered, but he went anyway, knowing that Yahweh was with him. And look there in verses 15 and 16, it says, it says here in our text in chapter 14, And he divided his men against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. And he brought back all the possessions, and he also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women and the people." Abram didn't have a book to follow. He didn't have an army manual to go by. He didn't have a lot of examples to use, like what we've got at this point. But he had his greatest weapon, and that is his mind. And the Lord was with him. And, you know, God gives us common sense. And so he went under cover of darkness. He divided up his men and he attacked at all directions at once. And this group that had thought they were so mighty, well, they become demoralized and fled, but Abram chased them all the way to north of Damascus. And he was able to bring Lot home as well as all his possessions and the women. and the people. I don't believe that anybody was left behind. No doubt this would have been a surprise, not only to the armies, but also the captives who figured that there would have been no hope for them. When you read through the Bible and you come to these, and there are others, whether it's Abram against this bunch of, this army, Gideon's 300 against 135,000, the Midianites and Judges 6, or David against Goliath, or whatever it is. Number one, who said the Bible is a boring book? Someone that ain't never read it. But number two, all the praise goes to our God. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful that these passages are recorded for us, that we can rejoice and we can thank God for such good examples where we see the hand of God as he worked in and through these men.