1 And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar. 8 And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim, 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
Genesis 14:1-12 (NASB)
Bad luck
Bad “luck” for the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah who got stuck in the tar pits (but somehow escaped – see tomorrow). How about Lot? For Lot too. Or was it rather, bad choice? “Lot had made a poor choice after all. Those believers who conform to the world must expect to suffer for it. For the sake of gain Lot went to Sodom, and now he loses all at a blow: if we are too careful to grow rich, the Lord can soon impoverish us.” (Spurgeon)
The battle
This is the first recorded battle in the Bible. The one set of kings (from the Babylon area) wanted to control those in the Canaan area. Those kings had rebelled so the main king, Chedorlaomer, went to set them straight. It seems senseless they still chose to fight. Chedorlaomer and his kings came and first defeated a number of other kings before they fought the king of Sodom and the other four. But they did anyway and suffered loss. Not only that, Chedorlaomer and his kings went and looted Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot with them. You might say they took the whole lot.
RЯeflection
- There are consequences for our bad decisions. We need to humble ourselves and repent and plead with our Lord to cleanse us of our unrighteousness and restore the relationship with Him. Do you need to do that now?
