Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #3 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read the first two verses in Genesis 14:1-3:

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. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

In our last study, we spent some time going over the places and the names of the individuals found in verses 1 and 2. We saw in verse 1 that the four kings identify with the kingdom of Satan and the rule of Satan, especially during the Great Tribulation period, as these four kings tie in with the four beasts we read about in Daniel, chapter 7; the beasts there relate to Revelation 13 and other places in the New Testament. It is picturing Satan’s rule at the time of the end of the world.

In verse 2 the five kings identify with Israel or Judah, as we saw. I am going to go to a different verse that shows this because there are a good number of verses that point to this. Let us go to Jeremiah 23:13-14:

And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness…

By the way, the Lord specifically tells us how this was done in Ezekiel, chapter 13 where He also addresses the false prophets, in Ezekiel 13:22:

Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way…

This is exactly what it says in Jeremiah 23:14: “they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness…” So, this is a parallel statement to Ezekiel 13:22:

…and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:

We are told the reason why at the end of the verse: “by promising him life.” That is the condemnation for just about every corporate church today. They all promise their members “life,” if you are a member in good standing or you have been baptized or you partake of the Lord’s Table or you have accepted Christ, and so forth.

It is a transaction in which the leaders of the congregations are promising their members life if they follow their church and do certain things. This strengthens the hands of the wicked (unsaved people) because the pastor says, “If you say the Sinner’s Prayer and you truly believe that Jesus is Lord and Saviour and you accept Him, then you’re a child of God. See it says so here in the Bible.” He promises the person life and, yet, there was no change in the heart of that person because God did not establish a salvation program whereby repeating certain “magic words” can save anyone. It is alien to the Bible. It is contrary to the Bible. Salvation is of the Lord and God will do the saving of those He determined to save during the time period He allotted for salvation, but the day of salvation has now expired.

God does all the work when it comes to saving sinners and that is why it says, “…and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:” Now the person can “have their cake and eat it, too.” He can have his sins and he can still have the world and he can have assurance of salvation, but the problem is that it is not assurance from God because it is not salvation from God. It is only assurance from the church and salvation of the church, which is not true salvation at all. That is why it is such a terrible thing and these people will remain in their wickedness because they are content in that condition.

It goes on to say in Jeremiah 23:14:

…they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

Israel of old qualified to be labeled as, “ye rulers of Sodom” and “ye people of Gomorrah,” in Isaiah, chapter 1. Here, again, unfaithful and rebellious Judah had set up their own gospel. (Yes, there was a gospel in Old Testament times, too.) They were “as Sodom.” The rulers (the priests and the Levites) were like Sodom and the inhabitants thereof were like Gomorrah. I just quoted from Isaiah, chapter 1, but I want to read it again. Notice what it says in Isaiah 1:10:

Hear the word of JEHOVAH, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

God is making a distinction. The rulers are like Sodom, but the people that follow them are like Gomorrah. That is similar to Jeremiah 23, verse 14 where the Lord speaks of false prophets that are doing the teaching: “they are all of them unto me as Sodom.” They are the rulers and the ones that are in authority and they are violating that trust; they are the shepherds and pastors that ought to be feeding the flock, but, they are feeding themselves of the flock. They are “as Sodom” and the inhabitants thereof “as Gomorrah.” Why does God liken the people in Isaiah 1:10 to Gomorrah, but He likens the rulers and the false prophets that do the teaching to Sodom?

It is interesting when we look at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as Admah and Zeboiim, we read about the sin of Sodom. For instance, when God came in the form of the angels that came to Sodom, it was the men of Sodom that were trying to “know” them through the sin of homosexuality. It says of the people of Sodom in Genesis 13:13:

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before JEHOVAH exceedingly.

God found fault with Sodom. Sodom was an extremely wicked place and, yet, He also destroyed Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim and He would have destroyed Zoar, but Lot interceded for it and it was spared. Why did God destroy the other cities when Sodom appeared to be the main culprit? It is because Sodom was leading the other cities of the plain in to evil, just as it was the spiritual leaders of Israel (the rulers and the teachers) that led the nations of Israel and Judah astray. Yes, God condemned them as “Sodom,” but He also pronounced condemnation upon the people of Israel and Judah because “the people loved to have it so,” as we read elsewhere in the Bible; they were not innocent as they were following these things.

So, the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain is a picture of God’s judgment upon the churches and congregations. Israel and Judah point to the New Testament church age and, finally, at its conclusion God began judgment at the house of God (the corporate church) because of their spiritual “high places” that were established by church leaders, such as the popes, bishops, priests, ministers, pastors, elders and deacons. They were the ones that set up the high places. They were the ones that wrote the theology books and the commentaries and led the people astray on doctrine after doctrine. They were the ones that came up with other kinds of gospels. The people simply followed and, yet, there is no excuse. The people cannot say, “Well, it was the pastor. It was the elders. They led us astray. We just followed.”

It is similar to the leaders during the rebellion in the wilderness. Yes, there were the men of renown that were famous in the congregation and, yet, the people followed them. There is accountability and responsibility that all people have toward the Word of God. Every individual is responsible before God to follow the truth and maintain and uphold sound doctrine. When a preacher or another leader goes off course, the people have a responsibility to no longer follow him. They should say, “I am sorry. We do not want you as the pastor any longer. We do not want you teaching here anymore or we must leave.” Then it was up to the people to leave and go to another church during the church age. There is dual responsibility. It starts with those in authority that are proclaiming and teaching the Word of the Lord. They were as Sodom, but because the people allowed it to happen without confronting the pastor or teacher they also share in the blame; they are as the inhabitants of Gomorrah. And God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone, even though we could say Sodom was more wicked because they were the instigators that were leading everyone else in to sin. And, yet, Gomorrah and its inhabitants, likewise, perished.

So, we see as we look at the “five kings,” there is no question that Sodom and Gomorrah identify with the corporate church. That would be the spiritual connection as they identify with Israel and Judah and they, in turn, identify with the corporate church. As far as Admah and Zeboiim, we looked at Hosea 11, verse 8 in our last study, where God likened Ephraim and Israel to those two cities of the plain, so four of the cities of the plain can be tied to the churches and congregations. This fits with this historical battle that took place in the days of Abram because it is a picture of the battle that would occur at the time of the end of the world at the end of the church age when God came to visit the churches and congregation to see if they had repented of their “high places” and error. He found that they had not repented and at that point God loosed Satan out of the bottomless pit. He is “Gog” that gathered together “Magog,” the unsaved of the nations, and they come together (the four beasts, as it were) against the corporate church in battle. Satan won that battle because God was no longer within the churches. They ceased to be the corporate people of God, as God ended that association, and they were on their own. However, there were still elect within the churches, as typified by Zoar in Genesis 14, verse 2. As God allowed Satan to overcome the churches and congregations, Zoar was protected. Zoar was not destroyed. The “little city” was not destroyed. The name “Zoar” means “small one” or “little one.” Remember, Lot interceded, as it says in Genesis 19:20-22-25:

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. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then JEHOVAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from JEHOVAH out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Where was Lot? He was in one of the cities of the plain, but protected while all around him the other cities were burning and their inhabitants killed. There was terrible destruction in the plain of Jordan for four cities out of five. We saw that Zoar became as a city of refuge. When Lot entered Zoar, it was a picture of the elect finding salvation.

We have a dual picture because of the way God uses Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom can typify the churches or it can typify the world, so we have a dual spiritual meaning. God would not bring judgment upon the corporate churches until every one of the elect firstfruits (as typified by the 144,000 of Revelation14) had experienced salvation. As righteous Lot entered “Zoar,” it was like the elect had entered that eternal “little city,” the kingdom of God; then God could begin judgment upon the corporate church. Everyone the Lord had ordained to become saved via the churches had become saved.

In a secondary way that points to the final judgment of the world, Lot represents all the elect that were saved by May 21, 2011. The Lord could do nothing until Lot entered the Zoar and, likewise, when the last of the elect that was to become saved was saved, then God began to bring about the final judgment on the world. So, we can see both spiritual pictures in view. And, I say “both,” based on the ways Sodom is used in the Bible; we cannot limit it only to the churches. For instance, in Luke 17 God speaks of the destruction of the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, tying it in to the end of the world and the final judgment on mankind. You cannot relate that to the judgment on the churches. And, yet, in Revelation, chapter 11 where the judgment on the churches is in view, God brings up “Sodom.” Since we have God giving this wider understanding of Sodom in regard to either the corporate church or the world, we can see that the destruction of Sodom can apply to both. It can apply to the judgment of God on the churches and the judgment of God on the world.

Let us go back to Genesis 14 and read Genesis 14:3:

All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

The word “vale” means “valley.” It was in the valley of Siddim. The word “Siddim” appears to mean “field” or “country,” so it is in the valley of the country or of the field, “which is the salt sea.” The battle between the four kings and five took place in this location in the valley of Siddim, which is the salt sea. It was there that the warfare occurred and the four kings overcame the five and took captives, and so forth.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next study we will look more closely at verse 3 and the word translated as “joined together.” It really has a very interesting meaning, especially as we look at them as joining together as two armies running toward one another and killing one another. And, yet, the word leads us to an unusual understanding of what that means.