14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
The Old Testament is known for its treatment of war, much more than the New Testament. This is one of the reasons people ignore or even reject the Old Testament. It is just too violent, mean, and, well, old. These verses in Genesis 14 tell us one of the reasons we can and should relate to and study the Old Testament. At first glance, we see that it is standard fare. Abram takes a bunch of men and goes to war, wins, and takes back a lot of spoil. The most important phrase is in verse 14 and tells us that, more than any possessions, Abram went into battle to rescue his kinsman Lot. This tells us a lot about the New Testament.
Jesus Christ came to earth to do battle with Satan, sin, and death. He did not do it to get stuff and kill thousands of people. He did it to sacrifice himself and save billions of people. People are the reason Jesus came and if you were the only person here, he would have gone to the cross for you. That is not violence; it is victory. It is not mean, it is true love. It never gets old to think that Jesus loved us so much that he would go to war for us…
And win.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church