Girl Read Your BibleShembull

After they left Egypt, they traveled to the Negev, setting up camp between Bethel and Ai, exactly where they were before. Both Abram and his nephew Lot had become very wealthy, and the land they were camped on was not big enough to support all of their flocks. Instead of there being a conflict between the two of them, Abram suggests that Lot choose a section of the land and the two of them go their separate ways. Lot chooses first and selects the whole Jordan Valley east of them, which looks the most fruitful and beautiful, but the land he chooses ends up being next to all the evil and wicked people. Soon after, a war breaks out between kings (14:1–2), and Lot is kidnapped along with everything he owns. One of Lot's men was able to escape and tell Abram what happened. Once Abram hears the news of his nephew's kidnapping, he gathers 318 of his men together to go rescue Lot and his people. After Abram's victory over the kings, he is met by a man named Melchizedek. He pretty much appears out of nowhere in the story; there's no genealogy of his descendants or anything, but he is an important character (read more about him in Hebrews 5:1–10, ch. 7). Melchizedek, whose name means "king of righteousness," is both a king and priest. He brings out some bread and wine for Abram and blesses him (14:19–20). Melchizedek is said to be a picture of Jesus; Hebrews 5:6 says of Jesus, "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Don't forget his name, as it will be showing up a few more times in Scripture.

After everything that had just taken place, I love how God comforted Abram. God told him in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great (15:1)". I'm sure Abram was feeling a lot of anxiety at this point. He had just defeated kings to rescue his kidnapped nephew, so the thought of retaliation was probably lingering in his mind. God was blessing him, but he still didn't have the one thing he longed for most: a son. In chapter 5, verse 4, God promises Abram his own son, his heir. And to Abram, this promise, having yet to be fulfilled, probably seemed like a long shot, but he held tight to the promises of God. He believed in God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. This is the first time in Scripture that the word "believe" is used. Though Abram believes, he still asks God for confirmation. Like most of us, he needed reassurance. God makes an irrevocable covenant with Abram to assure him of His oath. God has Abram gather a heifer, goat, ram, turtledove, and pigeon that are to be cut in half down the middle, except the pigeons. Abram falls into a deep sleep, and once he is awake, he sees God's divine presence pass through the animal parts (15:17). By this taking place, the covenant is signed and sealed, and the covenant between God and Abram is made. Fire represented God's consuming zeal and His holiness; we'll learn more about it in Exodus 3:4, 13:21–22, 19:18, etc.