The Bible tells us that the church at the end of this age will be a degraded one. Feeling that they “have need of nothing,” they are “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Many today eagerly believe that we are approaching the time of our dear Lord’s return, yet fail to confess what this means for the condition of the church or hear the Lord’s call to repent (v. 19). There is much hope, however, if we can hear this call, for the Lord promises that “if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me” (v. 20). Even more, to the one who overcomes, “to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne” (v. 21). Out of this time of degradation in the church and corruption in the world, the Lord is still seeking for a people wholly consecrated to Him, who will stand for Him, so that He can have a foothold on the earth against His enemy and build His church.
The story of Abram and Lot in Genesis 14 illustrates the present situation of the church in the world. Lot, Abram’s nephew, had followed him out of Babylon to the promised land, but eventually chose to depart and settle in the low plain of the Jordan (Gen. 13:10). He made a choice for his own profit and left God’s called one. The name “Lot” in Hebrew means “veil,” and indeed, Lot was veiled from the Lord by his own desire for survival. He had passed through the good land, but did not truly taste anything from it and gained no testimony there. Many Christians are veiled in a similar way. They may believe they are decent people, professing to be followers of Christ, but in reality their living exposes a life solely for their own benefit. Like Lot, they have nothing to do with God’s calling or interest on the earth.
Lot disappears from Abram’s life until Genesis 14, which begins with the battle of four kings against five kings in the Valley of Siddim. A valley is a low place; here, the root in Hebrew for “Siddim” can mean “cultivated land” — again, signifying man’s toiling for a profitable living as his own source of life. The world situation today is not much different. Why nations are “joined together” (v. 3) or why they rebel is because of a very material value: money. These messy, political relationships reflect the fake, dishonest nature not just of outward “kings,” but of many people on the earth today. It was here that many fell into tar pits, sticky and entangling, and it was here that Lot was taken captive by the victorious kings (vv. 10-12).
In contrast to Lot, we then see Abram — an old, passive shepherd — surprisingly rise up with the demeanor of a king, leading 318 men to defeat the four worldly kings, rescuing Lot. After this incredible victory, Abram finds himself in another low place — the Valley of Shaveh. Shaveh, according to the Hebrew root, can mean “level” or “equal.” Here, the king of Sodom wanted to tempt Abram with a gift of the spoils, thus putting himself on “equal” terms with Abram, from one king of the world to another. Abram had taken a bold stand against one set of kings, but was now being asked to compromise his source of living from another set. Today, even if we are not taken captive first by our own self-interest, we can still be tempted to compromise the church, making it another institution of the world. The church today finds itself in such a low state. Whether for or against the world, the degraded church has put itself on the same level, being caught in the same battles, and relying on the same tactics — or utterly pushed into the corner, irrelevant and powerless.
Before this temptation came from the king of Sodom, Abram was visited by Melchizedek, king of Salem, who “dined” with him, bringing bread and wine. As a type of Christ, he was a priest of “God the Most High” (v. 18) and brought this God, who lives so far above the world, down to meet and minister to Abram in such a low place, sustaining him by a source that has nothing to do with the world. Being strengthened, Abram refused the offer from the king of Sodom. Although he was a weak man who had come out of the world just like Lot, he had seen and tasted something that caused Him to consecrate himself to the “Possessor of heaven and earth” (v. 22). Abram’s testimony was “equal to,” or one with, the Lord’s testimony rather than that of the worldly kings; in this way, Abram could be victorious. Abram could refuse a single thread or sandal thong from the world (v. 23).
Abram’s battle with the worldly kings in Genesis 14 shows much more than how to live a good Christian life individually; it shows how the Lord possesses the earth through us. Today, we are Abraham’s spiritual offspring, not just as individual men, but as a corporate people who can stand for His testimony, living by a different source and reigning as co-kings with Him. The Lord Himself is our “true Witness” (Rev. 3:14), or martyr, who gave His life and earned a testimony! He is our source, “the beginning of the creation of God” (v. 14), but is also seeking a completion of this testimony on the earth through His church. Amidst the deep corruption of the world, and facing a degraded church being compromised by this same value, do we see the urgency? We have all the riches of His supply, yet do we have the reality? Where on the earth today is such a people who are paying the price to stand for the Lord’s interest, who dine with the King, and who, though in an earthly valley, live and reign far above the worldly kings?
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 5/19/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)