“Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me; Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
Genesis 14:21-24
Now the King of Sodom enters the picture and starts wheeling and dealing Abram. This is another moment for Abram to prove his faith. He could have easily taken “the goods” from Sodom, in which case the king of Sodom might have taken credit for the blessing that Abram received from the Lord. As we’ve come to find out “the goods” that the king of Sodom offered are actually no good at all. This is the part that cracks me up, when being addressed by the King of Sodom, Abram doesn’t even acknowledge the guy until he’s done worshipping the Lord with Melchizedek. His first priority was to look to the Lord and worship before taking part in anything, an important example for us to follow. Abram responds to the enticing offer of the king of Sodom by telling him that he wants nothing to do with what Sodom has to offer, “From a thread to a sandal strap” (And people say New Yorkers are cut, dry, and to the point!) Abram didn’t want to be associated with the wicked reputation of the Men of Sodom (Genesis 13:12, 13).
Abram wasn’t being rude, he was being shrewd. He knew what was attached to the king of Sodom’s offer. He wasn’t condescending at all; he didn’t force his conviction and standards upon anyone else. He simply stood firm in what he knew God had instructed him to do. Raising his hand as a symbol of taking an oath, Abram basically takes the opportunity to share truth with the king about Yahweh, making a clear statement of who he was and where he stood.
Notice Abram didn’t stop the others from “taking their portion.” God gives us all conviction through The Word and via the Holy Spirit. We all know “the hand that makes us sin or the eye that causes us to stumble” and we must be obedient to chop off and pluck out the fleshy enticements of our lives. These things are different for everyone, I may struggle in one area where another brother might not. It is better to live maimed than to miss out on abiding with the Lord, others might not understand, and that’s okay, but we are responsible to not compromise the areas where God has directly instructed us to obey.
“Why burn your bridges?” You might ask.
Abram has already crossed the bridge into obedience to God, as he showed when he ignored the King of Sodom to first worship the Lord. He has no intention of returning to that old culture and lifestyle of the world. Abram sets a precedent that we all should follow, he wasn’t open to any negotiations of making provision for the flesh, there wasn’t any room for compromise…Abram committed himself to the Lord without apology or shame.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”Ephesians 2:1-10
As we live life in this world we will experience the wheeling and dealing of this world, but as Abram shows, it is possible to be in this world but not of this world.
“By faith he (Abram) dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents…for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God…because he judged Him faithful who had promised…These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”Hebrews 11:9-16
Enticing offers, alluring propositions, and “the goods” will come our way, but like Abram we must show our allegiance to God alone. If it’s not coming from the hand of the Lord, there’s probably some strings attached. And as we learned from Pinocchio, all strings really do is hold you down. Jumping through hoops and being lead by strings is Satan’s mode of operation. The Lord shows his love and grace with no strings attached, we don’t need to jump through hoops or be puppets, we have but to enjoy the free gift of salvation and respond in love to the One who gave it.
