Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #13 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we will begin by reading Genesis 14:10-12:

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

As we have spent a good amount of time discussing, this battle pictures the spiritual battle that took place at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and throughout that period, in which Satan and his forces came against the “camp of the saints,” the New Testament churches and congregations.

We saw that it said in verse 10 that the valley of Siddim was full of slimepits. We talked about how that identifies with the wrath of God, just as “Enmishpat” identified with the wrath of God. The vale of Siddim was the salt sea, as we were told in verse 3, and salt also identifies with the wrath of God. It is language that indicates God has begun judgment on the churches and congregations. Chedorlaomer, a type of Satan, and the other three kings with him are coming against the New Testament corporate church, as typified by Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar and by their kings. We were told in Genesis 14:4:

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.

In verse 9, it had said, “With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.”

Then it says in Genesis 14:10:

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

We are told the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there. Before we look at them fleeing and falling, let us remember that “kings” in the Bible can refer to true believers who are prophets, priests and kings, but the Bible also refers to “kings of the earth” and these kings of the earth are professed believers, but they are not truly born again. They occupy the pews of the congregations of the world. It says in Revelation 17:18:

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This city refers to Babylon. The kings of the earth would be the corporate church because Satan and his forces overcame the churches and, therefore, Satan began to rule over them. The kingdom of Satan (Babylon) ruled over the New Testament churches after God loosed Satan and turned the corporate churches over in to his hands. So, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah are the same as the “kings of the earth” that we read about in the Book of Revelation and they identity with the “tares” in the corporate church; they are unsaved people that continue to go to church and continue to think they are worshipping God, but all the while they are worshipping the man of sin that took his seat in the churches during that 23-year Great Tribulation period.

God also makes references to kings in another significant place in Hebrews in His discussion of Melchisedec. It says in Hebrews 7:1:

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

This happens later in the battle after Abraham gathered his servants and went to battle against Chedorlaomer and Tidal king of nations and the other two kings and he destroyed those kings. God refers to that as the slaughter of the kings as well. These four kings that identify with the four beasts can relate to these other kings of the earth or the spiritual leaders and rulers within the corporate church as Satan overcame them and began his rule over the churches of the world during the entire 23-year Great Tribulation period.

Going back to Genesis 14, verse 10, we read that the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there in the vale of Siddim that was full of slimepits. If we go to 1Samuel, chapter 4 we will find these words “fell” and “fled” in an historical context that identifies with another battle between the Philistines and the people of Israel. That battle also relates to the Great Tribulation. It says in 1Samuel 4:10:

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

Then it says in 1Samuel 4:16-22:

And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her. And about the time of her death the women that stood by her said unto her, Fear not; for thou hast born a son. But she answered not, neither did she regard it. And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

This battle was catastrophic. It was as bad a day for Israel as you can find in the Bible. Their army was defeated when they lost 30,000 men. Their ark was captured by the enemy, the hated Philistines. When a man escaped the battle and came to Eli, the high priest, upon hearing the news that Israel had lost the battle, his two sons were slain and the ark of God was taken, Eli fell over backwards and broke his neck. It is all terrible language pointing to the wrath of God upon His own people. God was judging Israel. But it did not stop there. Phinehas’ wife delivered a child, but died in childbirth and the child was named “Ichabod,” meaning that the glory is departed from Israel. It was a terrible day in the history of Israel and it was marked by the language of “fleeing” and “falling.” They fled to their tents. They fell that day in battle. And Eli fell over backwards. It was indicative of God’s furious anger upon them because of their rebellion and their lack of faithfulness to His Word.

That is what has happened to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. They fled and fell there. There is nothing good about either of these things. They fled before their enemy in battle and they fell. Many died and others were captured. They were overcome and that is what we know from other Scriptures regarding when Satan was loosed and overcame the camp of the saints. There are numerous verses that point to this. It says in Revelation 11:7:

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.

Then it says in Revelation 13:6-7:

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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.

Satan won during the Great Tribulation period. Satan overcame them and he was victorious. This is one of the reasons when we read of Satan winning, it must identify with the Great Tribulation and the judgment upon the corporate church. Some have attempted to apply verses like Revelation 11, verse 7 to Satan winning on May 21, 2011. They do not understand. That was the end of the Great Tribulation and the Bible very clearly declares that the end of the Great Tribulation is the time of Satan’s fall. What happened to the king of Babylon after the 70 years that typified the Great Tribulation? He was slain by the king of the Medes and the Persians. Or, what happened to Haman on the seventeenth day of the second month? He was hanged. Whenever we find language of the conclusion of an historical type and figure of the Great Tribulation, it does not end well for Satan. Historically, when we read of the king of Babylon overcoming Judah and Jerusalem and destroying them and carrying the Jews away captive, it is pointing to the period in which Satan was victorious, which was from the beginning of the Great Tribulation and throughout its duration and we will find historical, parabolic language painting a picture of the enemies of God being victorious and overcoming the camp of the saints. However, at the completion of that time period, Babylon fell. That is what the Bible declares in the Book of Revelation and in other places. Babylon is defeated and the king of Babylon is slain, and so forth. It is an indicator that we are either looking at the Great Tribulation period when the enemy forces and their evil king are victorious or we are looking at the completion of the Great Tribulation period and the beginning point of Judgment Day when the enemy forces and their evil king are defeated. It is very consistent throughout the Bible.

Here, the king of Sodom and Gomorrah typify the occupants and the rulers of the churches and congregations and they have fled and fallen. They have been defeated and overcome by Chedorlaomer and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar and Tidal king of nations. (Remember that Shinar identified with Babylon and Tidal king of nations indicates that Satan is ruling over the nations of the world as never before at the time of the end.) They conquered and were victorious.

Then it says in the last part of Genesis 14:10:

… and they that remained fled to the mountain.

This is making a completely different statement. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there. But then there are these other people God refers to and He simply calls them “they.” Remember who else was involved in this battle besides Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim? It was Zoar. And as we talked about previously, Zoar refers to the elect of God that were still within the corporate churches at the time God loosed Satan and Satan spiritually assaulted the congregations. Here, it does not say “Zoar,” but it says, “they that remained,” meaning those that were left and survived the battle. They were not killed. They were not taken captive. They remained and also fled. But, again, this is different in the wording because the kings fled and fell. It does not say that those that remained “fell,” but it just says they “fled.” They fled to the mountains.

When we look at the Hebrew word translated as “remained,” it is Strong’s #7604 and it can be translated as “left” or “leave.” For instance, it says in Ezra 9:8:

And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from JEHOVAH our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

The word “leave” is our word.

This same word is also the word found in Isaiah 24:6:

Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

This chapter in Isaiah 24 has to do with Judgment Day, but it is letting us know that God has left His elect upon the earth to go through the Judgment Day.

In 2Chronicles, chapter 30 King Hezekiah called for a Passover and it says in 2Chronicles 30:5-6:

So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto JEHOVAH God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto JEHOVAH God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

The remnant are those that remain. It is the same idea: a little number of people out of the whole. The whole of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians, but there was a remnant that was faithful.

Or, we read in Isaiah 4:3:

And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:

This refers to having one’s name found in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It is the one that remains in Jerusalem or is left in Zion. It points to the remnant of God’s elect.

It is also the word used in 1Kings 19:18:

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

In all these verses, it is pointing to the elect people of God, so in Genesis 14, verse 10, so where it says, “and they that remained fled to the mountain,” what do we think of immediately when we hear that kind of language? Because we have already gone through the Great Tribulation, God had opened the Scriptures to reveal a command that was hidden in parabolic language; it was the command to come out of the churches and congregations that had been turned over to Satan for destruction. God had a remnant in the churches and congregations, but at a certain point He opened the Scriptures to reveal this truth and He also opened the ears of His people to hear the voice of Christ. This is what the elect heard in Matthew 24:15-16:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

We understood that the “abomination of desolation” was referring to Satan and Judea was referring to the churches. They are types and figures, so it requires “ears to hear” what God commanded, but once you have been granted spiritual ears to hear and God opens your eyes to know that Satan has taken his seat in the temple as the man of sin, then the command is activated. Let those that are in the churches flee to the mountains or flee to God and His kingdom, as typified by mountains. The word “mountains” is singular in Genesis 14, verse 10 because God is One God, but it is plural in Matthew 24 because God is One God that reveals Himself as three Persons, but it is teaching the same thing: go to God or go to kingdom of God. There was no longer an outward representation of that kingdom, but we went to God directly by going to the Bible. There is a parallel verse in Luke 21:20-22:

And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

God had commanded us to flee to the mountains and depart out of the midst of the churches. We were to get out of the corporate church and that command has not been rescinded, revoked or changed. It is still in effect. When individuals say, “Oh, it does not matter if you go to church or do not go to church,” they are contradicting the Word of God. They are going against the commandment of God that was made “crystal clear” during the Great Tribulation period. We were told we must get out and flee. There was no other option, so it is not an option when someone says, “Oh, you can get out if you want to or you can leave one church and go to another church.” Those were not options the Lord provided. It was simply to get out and “flee to the mountains;” that is, go to the Bible; go to God Himself. Of course, when you get out of the churches you do not go back. You do not return. When you have fled Sodom, you do not look back. If you do, you turn into a pillar of salt, like Lot’s wife.