Genesis, message 17: Enjoying Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Fighting for the Brother

My Great Delight in God's Word

Crystallization-Study of Genesis, Message 17

Enjoying Christ in His Heavenly Ministry by Fighting for the Brother

Abraham learns a life lesson through his failure.

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
¹² Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
¹³ Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." (Genesis 12:10-13 NKJV)

Very soon after Abram got out of his own country, he easily got into the land of Canaan. He had a wonderful experience with God there. God kept appearing and speaking to him, confirming what He had promised to him. Abram called upon the name of the LORD and had a very intimate relationship with Him. This probably was a high peak of his spiritual pilgrimage.
But one day, he was struck by a severe famine. Sadly, instead of trusting in God, he decided to leave the land and went down to Egypt, which represents the world, without consulting God. There is no record of His praying to God for this matter. Even worse, to save his own life, he decided to risk the life of Sarai his wife by asking her to tell the king of Egypt that she was his sister, which was halfly true. He quickly fell down from his high peak.
Nevertheless, regardless of Abram's faithlessness, God was always faithful to him and to the promises he has given to him. God demonstrated His love and mercy for him. God preserved his life and his family, and brought them back to the land of Canaan.
Brothers and sisters, it might be not so difficult for us to reach a high peak of our Christian walks, but it could be much more challenging to remain there. If you are there right now, try your best to remain there or even rise up to a higher peak. Be vigilant and keep enjoying sweet relationship with God by reading the Word, talking with Him, and calling upon His name. Don't take this lightly, as our enemies - the world, the flesh and the devils - are trying hard to pull us down from the peak.
But if one day a temptation comes and strikes you, and you fall down. Instead of trusting God as your only Source, you start to trust in something else, such as the world, other people, or even evil schemes. Please don't let your failure keep you away from God. Just repent, and turn back to Him immediately. Call upon His name and trust Him. Remember that He does not show His faithfulness according to our faithfulness, or His love for us according to our love for Him. He is always faithful regardless of our faithlessness. He loves us even when we abandon Him. Our God is the God of a second chance. Come back to Him quickly!

¹ Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.
² Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. (Genesis 13:1-2 NKJV)
⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
⁸ So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." (Genesis 13:7-9 NKJV)

By God's mercy, He brought Abram and his family back to the land of Canaan safely, and blessed him so much that he became very rich (perhaps too rich). And there came another problem for him to solve. The possessions of Abram and Lot became too great. As a result, there was strife between their herdsmen. Abram and Lot therefore agreed to separate from each other.
And here came a good evidence that Abram's life had changed a lot. Instead of living by sight as he previously did, he allowed God to make the decision for him. He told Lot to choose where he would like to go, and he would go to the other direction. He did not rely upon his wisdom anymore. He fully trusted in God.
The experience of God in Egypt must have been a great life-changing experience of Abram's. Because of this experience, Abram's life had been transformed, and his faith had been dramatically increased. Abram who used to fall down from the peak now had risen up. He was not the same Abram who trusted in this world and his evil schemes as recorded in Genesis 12. He was now the new transformed Abram who totally trusted in the Lord. He became the one who walked by faith, not by sight.
Brothers and sisters, when you fall down, never think that you are wasting a lot of time in vain because of your failure or because of a bad choice you have made. In Christ, no experience can ever be in vain. All things will work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Take this opportunity to grow in life, rising up to even a higher peak of your Christian walk. As Abram experienced, your life will be transformed, and your faith will be dramatically increased after experiencing God's unconditional love and great faithfulness.

Abraham fights for Lot and gains great victory

¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
¹³ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. (Genesis 13:10-13 NKJV)
¹ And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations,
² that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). (Genesis 14:1-2 NKJV)
¹¹ Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
¹² They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. (Genesis 14:11-12 NKJV)

To see the victory of Abram clearly, I would like to show the absolute failure of Lot, his nephew, first.
After being asked by Abram to choose where to go, he looked out and decided to go to the plain of Jordan, because it looked so good. He then moved towards Sodom, and eventually moved into the city. The bible revealed that the men in that city were exceedingly wicked and sinful. Therefore this city became the symbol of wickedness. And one day there were kings who came and took the city. Lot was captured by them. Lot became absolutely defeated.
What was the cause of Lot's failure? His defeat did not start when he was captured by the kings. His defeat started when he departed from Abram. He knew exactly that Abram was the called of God. When Abram asked him to leave, instead of trying to solve the problem he had with Abram and continue staying with him, he left Abram and chose to live by sight, not by faith.
We learn from the New Testament that Lot was a righteous man. I think he knew God. But he might have thought that only the vertical fellowship with God was enough for his spiritual walk. He did not realise the importance of living with God's people. He ignored the horizontal fellowship with others. As a result, he gradually moved away from God towards and into the wicked city. Eventually, he was captured by the kings.
Brothers and sisters, many times living with other saints in the church seems to be difficult. One may be tempted to leave the church, thinking he will be okay to live alone without fellowshipping with others. He thinks he can keep walking a healthy spiritual life only by having a good vertical relationship with God. That is a big trap from Satan who has been trying to keep us away from fellowshipping with other saints in the Body. As we see from the story of Lot, the prognosis of that person is not very good, is it?

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
¹⁴ Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
¹⁵ He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
¹⁶ So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
¹⁷ And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. (Genesis 14:13-17 NKJV)

Now let's consider the great victory of our hero of faith. Praise the Lord that inspite of Lot's failure, He still showed His mercy on him. He allowed one to told this breaking news to Abram. Without hesitation, Abram decided to go with his 380 men to bring his nephew back from captivity. And God gave him an absolute victory over the kings.
Where did the victory of Abram start from? It started from the point when he decided to put his life into God's hand, and fully trust in Him. He did not walk by sight, but by faith. And here we see how wonderful he was. Even though he was not a trained soldier, he did not fear at all. He went with his only few hundreds men to fight against the kings who should have had more than a thousand well-trained soldiers with them. Abram saw the importance of fighting for his brother. Abram's confidence was from the Lord.
I'm really impressed by the reaction of Abram here. He had a good reason not to help Lot. Lot departed from him and he deserved what he got. The mission was too difficult and dangerous. But he did not let these excuses to prevent him from doing it.
I recall what brother Watchman Nee used to explain about the levels of our reactions towards common situations. May I correlate that with Abram's reaction here.
If Abram was in the level of reasoning, he had the right to get angry with Lot, because Lot had offended him by leaving him and allowing his herdsmen to fight with Abram's herdsmen. He therefore could just be happy that Lot was captured, because he deserved punishment.
If Abram was in the level of good deeds, he would be able to forgive Lot, and feel sorry that he was taken into captivity. But I don't think he would risk his life to fight with the kings and bring Lot back.
Praise the Lord that Abram had gone beyond these levels. His reaction was in the level of the life of the holy God. He had not only forgiven Lot, but also loved him and risked his life for him.
Brothers and sisters, let's follow the example of Abram. Let's walk by faith, not by sight. Let's be ever ready to fight for (not fight with) brothers and sisters. Take those who have gone astray from the Way or fallen down into sin or temptation back to the Lord and to the fellowship with saints. Even though we may not be so strong, trust in the Lord. With Him, we can. Fight for them for God's glory. And you will experience an absolute victory as Abram did.
Moreover, let's learn from the reaction of Abram. Let's live in the level of the life of the holy God. Let's always ready to go the extra mile for others. Let's imitate Christ. Regardless of our sinfulness, Christ loved us so much that He came to die for us, even when we were His enemies. Christ came to defeat the enemies for us, so that we could come back to Him. Likewise, even though the one who is falling down used to offend us, let's forgive him, love him, fight for him, and take him back to the church life. Never leave anyone behind!

Abraham encounters Melchizedek the kingly high priest

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
¹⁹ And he blessed him and said: " Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰ And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all. (Genesis 14:18-20 NKJV)

After the great victory, Melchizedek king of Salem came to Abram. Interestingly, he was indicated to be "the priest of God Most High." Even though the bible does not say explicitly, we can assume that as a priest of God, this kingly high priest had been praying for Abram. His intercession had helped Abram win the battle and gain his brother back. And we know that this high priestly king is the type of Christ.

The LORD has sworn And will not relent, " You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4 NKJV)

Brothers and sisters, we always have the great High Priest who is both the King of Righteousness (the meaning of the name Melchizedek) and the King of Peace (the meaning of Salem) intercede for us. When it comes to fighting for brothers and sisters, take heart and do not fear. Christ is always ministering to us by interceding for us.

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25 NKJV)

Let's fight for our brothers and sisters, defeat the enemies and experience Christ as our kingly High Priest today!

Further reading

• The Holy Word for Morning Revival: Crystallization-Study of Genesis, week 17.

• Life Study of Genesis, messages 42 and 43.

Thirayost Nimmanon (Tony)