Genesis 14:18-24

I haven't blogged for a long time because this passage seems so familiar that I've found it difficult to handle. I've finally found a place where it is living afresh in my heart.

The more I allow myself to meditate on verse 18 the more I realise how rich it is with prophetic imagery and perhaps even suggestive of an appearing of Chirst. Not only is 'King of Salem' synonymous with 'King of Jerusalem', the title of the coming Messiah but there he stands with bread and wine in his hands. I believe this is the first time these symbols have been introduced in Scripture and it is paired with perhaps the strongest picture yet of the coming Christ. These symbols will become the most significant meal in the life of the Church and will be shared probably on a daily basis around the world until God's story reaches its culmination and everything is restored by Jesus. It is profound to find these symbols so closely tied to Christ and yet thousands of years before his incarnation. Verse 18 is surely a nugget so easily missed and yet so deep, so rich and so prophetic.

So what a stage Abram finds himself on. Here he is stood before the "Priest of the God Most High" perhaps before Christ himself. The sequence of events in the next 2 verses is crucial in what will become a central teaching in the life of the Church - giving. If you asked most people to recall this passage they would probably jump straight in to the fact that Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe. Lets not make that mistake. The following words are central - "he blessed Abram".

Abram gave a tenth of everything in response to the blessing of God. The blessing is expressed in terms of God's deliverance of Abram's enemies into his hands. This is the place giving must flow from - realisation that God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. In other words we give because we have been blessed or enriched beyond our own means. Often we are told we give because God will give back to us. I think the biblical foundation for giving is clearer here. Giving as a response to the blessings already poured out upon us. God's blessing transcends the tenses - it isn't just about the things he has done, we live in its reality and also enjoy the knowledge that his blessing makes provision for our future to. We are in the hands of God.

So we give to Christ as a joyful response for what he has done for us. Perhaps this can be mistaken for an attempted repayment - I prefer the thought that is a reflection of trust in the God who has proved he is more able to provide for me than I am able to provide for myself.

I do not intend to make much of the "tenth" that Abram gave. It would seem to me this is merely the first marker in Abram's journey towards giving everything and that is expressed fully in Abram's willingness to sacrifice Isaac.