Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #7 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read Genesis 14:4-5:

Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

I will stop reading there. Last time we discussed the numbers God gave us in these two verses. For 12 years they served Chedorlaomer and in the 13th year they rebelled; and in the 14th year, Chedorlaomer came and that is when the battle took place. We saw how these numbers fit so well with the dates we have learned from the Biblical calendar of history that relate to the loosing of Satan. Satan was loosed in the year 1988. Upon his loosing, the Bible viewed that as “12,000” years. There were 11,000 years until Christ that ended with Him going to the cross to begin the figurative “1,000” years of Satan’s binding. When you put those two numbers together, you get “12,000,” but, the year 1988 was (actually) the 13,000th year of earth’s history. So, Satan was really loosed in the 13,000th year. Chedorlaomer and the kings with him (four in total) picture the “four beasts” or Satan’s rule at the time of the end, starting with the Great Tribulation period and throughout its 23 years. The numbers fit perfectly with what we have learned in our studies of the Biblical calendar and the timeline of history.

Again, who can make these kinds of arrangements? Who is it that developed this calendar? What super-genius could have developed this Biblical calendar and worked all these things out to fit with verses like these? We see these things falling into place, time after time, as we are studying certain passages in the Bible, such as the famine in the days of Joseph. The Bible tells us in Acts, chapter 7 that the famine was “great tribulation,” which are the same two words (megas-thlipsis) used in Matthew 24. The Biblical calendar of history shows the Great Tribulation began in 1988, the 13,000th year from creation. In that historical account of Jacob and his sons entering Egypt where Joseph had, amazingly, risen to be second in command under Pharaoh, the Pharaoh asked Jacob how old he was and Jacob did not say he was 131 or 118, but Joseph said he was 130, a number that breaks down to “10 x 13.” The Bible tells us elsewhere that the number “10” has to do with completeness and the number “13” has to do with the end of the world. And when did the Great Tribulation begin? It was in the 13,000th year of earth’s history and the number “13,000” contains the number “13” and multiples of “10.” If you add a few “zeros” to Jacob’s age, you will get “13,000.” He was “10 x 13” at the point that Acts, chapter 7 identifies with “great tribulation” and the Biblical calendar confirms that the Great Tribulation began in the 13,000th year of earth’s history.

That is not the exception, but it is the “rule” as we go through the Bible and study these things. There was that 120-year period that God gave to Noah leading up to the flood. Where did that number come from? The number “120” breaks down to “10 x 12,” or the complete fulness of whatever is in view. The Bible basically teaches that there should be only 12,000 years of history: 11,000 years until the Messiah and 1,000 years from the cross to the loosing of Satan (in 1988) and then comes the end stage, starting with the Great Tribulation and followed by Judgment Day. So, in some places God uses the number “12” or the number “120.” As we find in Genesis 14, God is using the number “12,” as well as the number “13.” We see these things and we see the context of the battle relates to a deeper spiritual meaning in the picture God is painting regarding the judgment that comes upon the churches at the time of the end of the world at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period.

There is not enough time to go through all the instances in which these numbers “pop up.” The term “pop up” is probably not the best term to use because it implies something that is random, but there is nothing random in the Bible. They are precisely used and God has selected them because He knew full well what they point to, so we see these numbers arise in our verse and it would be easy to “gloss over” them and not consider them. Many teachers of the Bible do that because they do not have a high opinion of the Scriptures nor of the brilliant mind of God that is behind these Scriptures. They have a low opinion of Scriptures because they see these writings as writings of men – yes, it is inspired by God in some ways, they would say, but they spend time telling you the mindset of the Apostle Paul or the other scribes as they wrote these things. You see, whether they are aware of it, or not, they are looking at things in a natural-minded way. Sad to say, most theologians are natural-minded because the majority are unsaved and in their natural minds they want to give glory to man and they look toward the writing of men and they cannot really see that God wrote these things and He is the God who knows the end from the beginning and He is the God who put together this universe, in which we see incredible design built into the fabric of all existence. The same God has written the Bible in an extremely intelligent way, with intelligent “design” built into every jot and tittle and every Word, passage, chapter and Book. The brilliant mind of God has pieced together His Word, the Bible, and He has given it to us. It is mind-boggling to us creatures. We are just men of very limited, finite understanding. Our minds are very small. God’s mind is far above us, as far as the heavens are from the earth and, yet, we can slowly follow the leading of the Holy Spirit by comparing Scripture with Scripture. God is light years ahead of us in the way He has written the Bible in its design, formatting, cohesiveness and harmony. But through the methodology of comparing Scriptures, we are just able to “touch upon” it.

It is like scientists today when they look in to “DNA” and they look at aspects of creation under a microscope and they see the wonders God has created. Of course, if they are not someone who recognizes God, then they are blinded, but what they are looking at is incredible and wonderful design by the Creator. And there are all these tiny “details,” in the smallest molecules and they are perfectly designed by God to perform their function. Due to advances in technology at the end, mankind is getting a little glimpse of the beautiful things built into creation.

If God has taken such care to show forth His handiwork in creation, then how much more would He take care to show forth His handiwork in His Book, the Bible, which is His speech and His communication to mankind? If we are redeemed by God we are granted the indwelling Holy Spirit as our guide and then we follow the guidelines God has established for searching His Word. If we want to know truth, we must slow down. Do not speed read. Do not think you can just read something and understand it, but you must dig in to it and study. You must check out the words in each verse and follow where they lead. It is a very tedious process and it takes a lot of time, but this is the way that God has established for coming to truth. By God’s grace, the people of God have Bible helps today that assist in that process and we can dig in to the Word of God. We have the additional help of the Holy Spirit within and the ability to pray for assistance: “O, Lord, help me to understand. Help me to see. Guide me in to truth.” As we do so, we begin to get glimpses and insight in to this wondrous Book, the Bible, and we see the hand of God. We certainly see the hand of God in historical parables like this and the timeline being given. Let us read it, again, in Genesis 14:4:

Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

This battle was between four kings against five. The four kings are typifying the forces of Satan coming against the corporate church. The five kings led by Sodom and Gomorrah are a picture of the corporate church. That is our spiritual understanding. Again, there are 12 years, 13 years and 14 years and these numbers fit our understanding very well. As we discussed, instead of years, they represent thousands of years: 12,000 years and 13,000 years and 14,000 years, which would be any day after the full 13,000th year was reached.

Now we have that understanding, but then we must answer a question. It says, “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer,” and Chedorlaomer was the head of the four kings. It appears to be his alliance and Chedorlaomer is a type of Satan. Who served Satan? It was the corporate church, but maybe we should refine that. Given the 12-year timeframe that points to 12,000 years, it would involve much more than the corporate church because the corporate church has only been around about 2,000 years. If this goes back to creation and the beginning of the world, then who are these five kings a picture of? So, instead of saying it is the corporate church, we can understand the five kings to be a picture of the outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth. The outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth involved the churches, but it also involved national Israel for another 2000-year period. But, more than that, we can go clear back to the Garden of Eden. In a perfect world, God established boundaries around a certain portion of earth He called the Garden of Eden. The events we read in the early chapters of Genesis were worked out within that Garden of Eden. In a very definite way, the Garden of Eden was the outward representation of the kingdom of God on the earth in its time and its time was at the very beginning of creation and for whatever period of time the Garden of Eden was in existence. Now with that understood, the 12,000 years that these five kings served Chedorlaomer points to those that are the outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth doing service to Satan. We can now double-check that to see if that is correct. To begin with, let us go back to the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 3:1-6:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which JEHOVAH God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

So, we have the Garden of Eden, which was the outward representation of the kingdom of God on the earth and we have Satan entering that garden and approaching the woman. The woman is confronted with test of whether she would believe God who said she would die in the day she ate of the tree or whether she would believe the serpent who said she would not die, but she would be like gods, knowing good and evil. She believed the serpent and Adam also ate along with his wife. We know what happened, of course. It was the “fall of man” and they died in their soul existence in that day.

But going back to our verse in Genesis 14, it said, “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer,” and Chedorlaomer was a type of Satan and so was the serpent who had entered into the outward representation of God’s kingdom on earth, the Garden of Eden. And Adam and Eve did “service” to Satan instead of God. The Bible tells us that we are servants of whom we obey. You can read that in Romans 6:16:

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

In this verse, God says that you are the servant to the one you obey. That makes sense. God had commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree. Did they obey God? No – they disobeyed God. The serpent said, “You will not die.” He implied that if they ate of the tree, all would be well. Did they obey the serpent? Yes, they did and, therefore, they became servants of the serpent and the serpent was Satan. They became servants because they obeyed him. That matches with what we are laying out here in Genesis 14 concerning these five kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar, which are a picture of the outward representation of the kingdom of God. For 12,000 years they served Satan. The service to Satan did begin, figuratively, 12,000 years ago, when we look at the entirety of history. As I mentioned before, it was 11,000 to the Messiah and 1,000 years of Satan’s binding and it comes to a total of 12,000 years. Throughout that entire period, beginning in the Garden of Eden, service was done to Satan.

We do not have time in this study, but in the next study we can look at verses that show Israel was disobedient to God. That is not be hard to find, is it? You can look at the Books of Jeremiah, Lamentations or Ezekiel and there are all kinds of verses that show that national Israel, the corporate body and the outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth in Old Testament times, they were constantly disobedient to God. If you are disobeying God, who are you obeying? We saw in the Garden of Eden that when you disobey God, you are serving sin and Satan. You are captive to sin and Satan and he is the one receiving your worship. He is the one receiving your service. Of course, Israel was constantly guilty of disobedience to God.

And what about the New Testament churches and congregations? What does the history of the church teach us? We see, again, and again, through the centuries of the church age that they were disobedient. Entire denominations and countless congregations arose, but then perished because of their disobedience. God warned in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3 about remaining faithful and, yet, they failed to be faithful. It was the reason that God finally brought judgment upon the house of God. He did not bring judgment upon them because they were obedient, but because they were disobedient. The corporate church followed in the footsteps of her sister national Israel and, likewise, was disobedient to God. Their disobedience to God reveals a prior obedience to the devil, the one who is a liar and the father of it. The churches were not upholding the truths of the Word of God and, instead, they turned to error and faulty doctrines and lies that did service to Satan.

When we look at the history of the corporate bodies or the outward representations of God’s kingdom to the people of the earth, we find a longstanding history that goes back 12,000 years, but (actually) 13,000 years, that was full of deceit, dishonesty, corruption and service to Satan.