Abraham the Warrior

The first battle on the pages of the Bible is recorded in Genesis 14.  This battle involved a coalition of 5 kings against 4 kings.  Chedorlaomer dominated the people that occupied the Dead Sea area for 14 years. They rebelled, yet their cities were still plundered and enslaved.  The war between these pagan kings was not an issue with Abraham until his nephew Lot was taken captive.  Abraham gathers his trained warriors and rescues Lot and his family from captivity. 

This passage teaches us some valuable lessons about our spiritual warfare.  The first lesson comes from Lot.  Compromise will eventually bring you into captivity. Lot looked at the well-watered plain of Sodom and pitched his tent there.  He should have known that the wickedness of the people would affect him. When will we learn that nothing good comes from compromising our moral values? Every time we set aside biblical virtues we end up in some kind of slavery.  Another principle of spiritual warfare is the fact that God calls us to rescue the captives.  Lot was part of Abraham’s family, so he took action to bring him back home.  We as believers in Christ have the responsibility to rescue our brethren who are taken captive in sin.  We also are called to rescue those who are perishing, by giving them the gospel of Christ.  The third principle teaches us that we must prepare carefully for spiritual warfare.  Abraham’s 318 warriors were trained for battle.  We are called to do the same.  Eph. 6:10,11 says: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil”.  Finally, we see that Abraham recognizes God’s hand in the victory.  He meets Melchizedek after the battle who addresses him with these words: “blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand”.

We, as sons of Abraham, are also called to battle.  Our weapons are not fleshly but spiritual.  Our enemy is the devil and his coalition.  Our mission is to do battle for the Lord and rescue our Lots.