Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #2 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read the first two verses in Genesis 14:1-2:

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these 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, which is Zoar.

Just to remind us, in our last study we saw that the four kings mentioned in verse 1 relate to Babylon. Shinar was a place where the house of the Babylonian god was located. Arioch was the name of a Babylonian guard. Elam was a place where Shushan the palace was located. We discussed “Tidal king of nations,” and how that was a good name for a type and figure of Satan because Satan ruled the nations up to May 21, 2011, when he was put down from all official rule. These four kings are representative of Satan and his rule as king. For instance, if we go to Daniel, chapter 7 it speaks of a vision Daniel received. It says in Daniel 7:3-4:

And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings…

Then it says in Daniel 7:5:

And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear…

Then it says in Daniel 7:6:

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard…

Then it says in Daniel 7:7:

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Remember what we said regarding Haman in our last study. Haman had ten sons and Haman was called the adversary and enemy and he was used by God as a figure of Satan. Likewise, his ten sons were also a figure of Satan. When Haman was hanged, he lost his house when King Ahasuerus gave his house to Mordecai. The ten sons of Haman continued to exist, although they lacked power and authority because their father’s house had been given to Mordecai. Yet, they continued to live until Purim and at Purim they were also put to death. This relates to Satan’s defeat on May 21, 2011 as he lost all official rule and, yet, he continues to exist until the end of the world on the last day; then he will be destroyed.

The four great beasts are a picture of Satan. It goes on to say in Daniel 7:17:

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

We are reading about four kings in Genesis, chapter 14 that have ties to Babylon and the fourth king was said to be “king of nations.”

It says in Zechariah 14:2:

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle…

Here, Jerusalem would be a picture of the corporate church and God’s plan was to gather the nations against Jerusalem. But how would God accomplish the gathering of the nations? In the last Book of the New Testament, we read in Revelation 20:7:

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

In Zechariah, God said He would gather the nations and brings them against Jerusalem, but God accomplished it by loosing Satan and Satan immediately came against the camp of the saints, the local churches and congregations of the world. He was able to completely overcome them because God’s Spirit was no longer within because the Lord had departed out of the midst of the churches, delivering them up to Satan for destruction. So, God gathered the nations by utilizing Satan, exactly as we read in the Book of Jeremiah when the Lord used the king of Babylon and the nation of Babylon to come against Jerusalem and God said of the king of Babylon that he was His servant. The way God used King Nebuchadnezzar in ancient history was as a tool of destruction upon the rebellious city. King Nebuchadnezzar was very good at that, just as Satan is very good at spiritual destruction, so God used Satan to gather the nations to battle. There was “Tidal king of nations,” and there were four kings coming against five. It says in Revelation 13:1-2:

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion…

If we go back to Daniel, chapter 7 that I read earlier, you will find it refers to those beasts being as a leopard, a bear and a lion. Revelation 13 speaks of a beast rising up out of the sea and it is the same beast as in Daniel, chapter 7, verse 17 which was said to be “four kings.” Therefore, as we relate four kings to our verse in Genesis 14, these four kings are a picture of the beast or the final rule of Satan during the Great Tribulation period. Then it says of the beast in Revelation 13:7:

And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him…

Again, there was spiritual warfare between the beast and the camp of the saints, just as in Revelation, chapter 20, although I do not think we read that verse after it said they were gathered together to battle or “war.” It says in Revelation 20:9:

And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about…

So, the nations came against the churches and in Revelation, chapter 13 the nations under the power of Satan came against the churches. Babylon came against Jerusalem or Judah.

Also, in Revelation, chapter 11 it speaks of the two witnesses, a figure of Moses and Elijah, that represented the Law and the prophets or the Word of God within the churches and congregations and the Word of God had power and authority as long as the Spirit of God was in the midst. But, once the Spirit departed out of the midst, the Word of God lost its power, authority and ability to save within the churches. So, it says in Revelation 11:7-9:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Again, this is language indicating the lifelessness of the Word of God during the first part of the Great Tribulation. That lifelessness would continue during the entire Great Tribulation within the corporate church. When the two witnesses rise upon their feet it identifies with the witness of God outside of the churches and congregations and the Word of God, once again, had the power, authority and the ability to save. That began on September 7, 1994 with the outpouring of the Latter Rain. But notice that the beast is making war with the two witnesses and their bodies are lying in the street of the great city, “which spiritually is called Sodom,” and that brings us back to Genesis, chapter 14. We know that in verse 1 four kings are listed, pointing to the universal rule of Satan during the Great Tribulation. Then we read in Genesis 14:2:

That these 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, which is Zoar.

We just saw in Revelation 11 that it speaks of a beast and Daniel 7 identifies it as “four beasts” because the number “four” is pointing to the universal aspect of Satan’s rule during the Great Tribulation period. So, there is warfare because the beast made war with the camp of the saints and overcame them. He defeated them and we are going to see in Genesis 14 that the four kings do defeat the five kings. They defeat the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar. It appears to be a rout because there is no evidence that these other city states put up much of a fight; they were defeated handily and many captives were taken. We can relate that to Satan’s overcoming the churches and congregations of the world during the Great Tribulation. That means that Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar also identify with the corporate church. We have evidence of that regarding Sodom, in Revelation 7, verse 11, but we also see it in Isaiah 1:1:

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The vision is concerning Judah and Jerusalem, but God goes on to speak of His people in Isaiah 1:7-10:

Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except JEHOVAH of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of JEHOVAH, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Again, the Lord is addressing Israel or Judah and He is calling them “rulers of Sodom” and “people of Gomorrah.” Yes, it is because of their great wickedness that He says this, but, nonetheless, there is a typology being developed and an association is being made between the people of God and Sodom and Gomorrah. By the way, Zoar is also mentioned here, but not by name. God says, “Except JEHOVAH of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” Remember, later in the Book of Genesis when the Lord is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, Lot fled to Zoar. Notice the language concerning Zoar in Genesis 19:20-22:

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

It was called Zoar or a “little one,” as in a very small remnant. Zoar was located in the plain of Jordan, along with all the other cities. We sometimes forget about Admah and Zeboiim, which were likewise destroyed. They were all in the plain and fire and brimstone fell from heaven destroying four out of five cities, leaving only the “little one” remaining. The little city became as a city of refuge for Lot and his family. God did not destroy it. A very small remnant escaped the judgment and that identifies with the remnant within Israel and it identifies with the elect remnant that was within the churches and congregations. At the time God began to bring destruction upon the corporate church, there were elect attending the churches. They were members and very faithful individuals within their churches and, yet, God allowed Satan to come against the churches while the elect were still within the churches and congregations of the world.

It is just as in this battle, Zoar was not exempt. Zoar was not excluded from the fight. The king of Bela or Zoar is named among the four kings, but it is just a “little one” and it is a place that identifies with the remnant. The Lord has told us about Zoar as being part of the alliance of kings because the elect were aligned with the corporate church. The wheat and the tares grew together until the Lord issued forth issued forth the command for His people to come out of the midst and flee to the mountains. However, that did not happen until several years into the judgment upon the corporate church that began at the house of God.

So, here in Genesis 14, verse 2 we see that the four kings made war with Bera, King of Sodom, and we can easily see that Sodom relates to a type of figure of the corporate church. They made war with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, and we saw in Isaiah 1, verse 10 that God spoke of His people as people of Gomorrah, so we can relate Gomorrah to the corporate church.

But what about Admah and Zeboiim? Let us go to Hosea 11:8:

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

God is speaking of giving His people up and he relates Ephraim, which is Israel, to Admah and Zeboim. The Lord did not always use Sodom and Gomorrah as the figure and He did not mention Sodom and Gomorrah here, just as he did not mention Admah and Zeboim in Isaiah, chapter 1, but we know four cities of the plain were destroyed in the days of Lot and all these cities are joined together in battle against these four kings that represent the rule of Satan, the beast, during the Great Tribulation period. The four kings will overcome the five.