Abram rescues Lot; Melchizedek blesses Abram
Genesis 14; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:1–17
Abram led 318 trained men to rescue Lot from four invading kings, and Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, blessed him.
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.
Genesis 14:18 (World English Bible)
Four kings from the east, led by Chedorlaomer of Elam, crushed a rebellion by Sodom and its neighbors and carried Lot off. Abram pursued them north past Dan, attacked by night, and brought back Lot and everything taken.
On his return, Melchizedek came out with bread and wine and blessed him, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Hebrews 7 presents Melchizedek, a king-priest without a recorded beginning or end, as a picture of Jesus' eternal priesthood.
Places
JerusalemDamascusSodomMount SeirDanGomorrahKadesh-barneaSalt SeaElamZoarShinarAdmahZeboiimValley of SiddimEllasarGoiimKing’s ValleyAshteroth-karnaimEl-paranHamHazazon-tamarHobahShaveh-kiriathaimValley of Shaveh
Dating notes
Ussher dates the rebellion to 1913 BC and the campaign to the following year, 1912 BC (Genesis 14:4–5). Salem is generally identified with Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2).