This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.
Scripture References: Genesis 14: 1-24; 2 Peter 2: 4-9
“After the sun goes down, I will take half of our group, and sneak around to the right side. The other half will sneak around to the left side. Make sure you are very quiet. Remember. They are not expecting us. We well them surprise them when we charge together from each side and fight them!” Abram was giving the instructions to his small army of 318 servants and neighbors.
Chedorlaomer, the king, had a very large army. They took slaves from the cities they conquered, including Lot and his family. Lot, Abram’s nephew had lost everything he worked so hard for.
But Abram went after them when he heard what had happened.
Each group of the small army waited for the signal that they were in place, and they charged towards the giant army in the dark of night.
And the Bible tells us that Abram WON! His tiny army won against a giant army! How do you think they won?
God helped them! There is no other way that Abram could have won that battle. It had to be God. Lot was reunited with his uncle. And Abram took everything back that was stolen. The king of Sodom heard about Abram’s victory, and went out to meet Abram to thank him. Another king had also gone out to see Abram. His name was Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a king who worshiped the One, True God. The Bible calls him the priest of the most high God. Long before God told Moses that his brother Aaron would be the first priest of Israel, there was a man who worshiped and loved God so much that he was a priest. When Melchizedek showed up, he brought bread and drink for Abram’s army. He knew they were tired after such a long trip, and then a battle in the middle of the night. King Melchizedek walked up to Abram and said “Blessed is Abram in the name of the most high God, who owns all of heaven and earth. And blessed is the most high God who gave you the victory in the battle.” King Melchizedek was showing Abram that God deserved to have all the credit for his victory. And God was the one who gave Abram and Lot all of their riches, too. I’m sure that Lot heard the King.
Abram then gave King Melchizedek tithes of everything he had taken back from Chedorlaomer. This is the first record we have of tithing. Tithing is giving God back a portion of what He has given to us. God owns everything and doesn’t need anything. But when we tithe, we are showing God that we know it is HIM that has given us what we have. He gives us food to eat. He gives us clothes to wear. He gives us every good thing we have. Giving God back a small part of what we have is a way to thank Him. It is a way to say “God, I don’t have anything without you. You are a GOOD GOD!” Abram was showing God that he knew God gave him everything. Is it important to tithe? Yes! The bible tells us so. Proverbs 3:9 says “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:”
This means we should give the best of what we have back to God as soon as we get it. God told the Israelites to give 10 percent of what they had to God. We follow this example as Christians today. This is what is called a tithe. Anything more than the 10% we give to God is called an offering. We are offering Him more.
When we don’t tithe, we are robbing God.
Malachi 3:8 says “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” God is telling the Israelites that we rob God when we don’t tithe. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to steal from God! I want to honor Him and thank Him for all He has done for me!
Abram wanted to do the same, so he gave his tithe to King Melchizedek, the priest.
Another king showed up, if you remember. Who was it? [The king of Sodom]
The king of Sodom was happy to see Abram. That is because Abram had all of the people Chedorlaomer and his army took out of Sodom to be slaves. There were many people who had been separated from their families. The king of Sodom wanted all of his people back in the city. He knew Abram didn’t have to go rescue them, and he wanted to thank Abram. “Abram, because you fought for us you can have all of the money and animals that you won back from Chedorlaomer. But give me all of the people who were taken as slaves.”
“King, I have told the most high God, the owner of heaven and earth, that I won’t take anything from you. I won’t take a single shoelace, or even a piece of thread. I won’t take a single thing, because I don’t want you to say “Look at Abram! He is so rich, because of me! I gave him everything he owns!” The only thing that will be taken from you is the food that the men who fought have eaten. Also, you will pay my neighbors for fighting.”
Abram didn’t want the king of Sodom to get the glory, or praise for anything he had. He didn’t want anyone, including the king, to say “Look at Abram! He must be the richest man around! All because the king gave him everything he had.” Abram wanted people to look at him and say “Look at Abram! God sure has blessed him!”
Sometimes we are tempted to give other people glory, or credit, for the good things we have. Sometimes, we are tempted to take the credit for ourselves! “Look at me! I am so smart! I have the best grades in school!” or “Look at me! I am the best singer.” We give ourselves praise, when we should be giving GOD praise and thanks. God is the only one who deserves praise. Psalm 29:2 says “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
We should praise Him and thank Him! We should honor Him with our tithes and offerings.
God is so good to us. He promised to send Jesus to die for our sins, and He kept that promise. He promised to forgive us when we put our faith in Jesus, and He keeps that promise, too!
Let’s pray that God will help us give our tithes to Him, and to give Him glory and praise.