ABRAHAM, THE WARRIOR
‘Father Abraham, had many sons, man sons had father Abraham………..’ so goes a Sunday school Christian chorus. Abraham is associated with many things including patriarch, man of faith, explorer, willing to sacrifice, grand old man and so on. But there is also a remarkable description of him being an exceptional warrior.
The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. —–When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. (Genesis 14:11-16)
Kedorlaomer, who led the alliance of four kings that defeated the alliance of five kings, certainly led a significant army. Yet, when Abraham heard that his nephew had been captured, he didn’t think twice. There are instances mentioned in the Bible where Abraham showed fear in the alien lands that he inhabited. Yet, here the power of God came upon him in a special way that created for a remarkable event that found its way into the pages of the Bible. Fear was hardly a thought as Abraham, in faith, sets off in pursuit of a larger army that had just won a great victory.
He takes his own men, undoubtedly men who had been trained for warfare in his own household. Using his own men gave him the advantage that they would all be on the same page and would behave in a predictable manner. Controlling a ragtag army of mercenaries would have been a challenge. At times strength is not in numbers but in unity of thought and action. And so even with a paltry number of 318 men, Abraham had a chance against a larger army.
We further see strategy as the army is divided to rout the enemy, and the persistence of a battle where the enemy is chased down till victory was secured. Abraham ends up not just rescuing Lot, but also recovering the entire possessions of people and goods that the kings had captured from Sodom and the other kings. And on his way back, to reinforce the message that this was truly an extra-ordinary event planned and organized by God Himself, Abraham has an encounter with Melchizedek, perhaps the greatest of men mentioned in the Old Testament. Abraham is blessed by him and gives Melchizedek a tenth of all his possessions. Melchizedek is given a supreme place by the authors of Psalms (110:4) and Hebrews (7:17), being likened to Christ Himself.
And as we read through this event, we see Abraham praising God and giving Him the glory. We also come away with the impression that for Abraham it was business as usual, where a life of faith naturally gave way to incredible deeds, just like a beautiful flower naturally coming to bloom on a healthy plant.
