Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #19 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read Genesis 14:14-16:

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

As we have been discussing, Abram’s entry into this battle is a picture of Judgment Day, which followed the Great Tribulation. And immediately after the Tribulation, Christ went forth with “ten thousands of his saints,” just as Abram went forth with all his trained servants born in his own house. Abram and his servants went to fight this battle by night and they smote the enemy. They smote Chedorlaomer, the other kings and their armies.

We do not read anything further concerning Chedorlaomer, Tidal king of nations, Arioch king of Ellasar or Amraphel king of Shinar. They were defeated in the battle and we do not read of their soldiers being taken captive by Abram and his trained servants. We only read that Abram and his men smote them; they killed them.

It says they smote them “and pursued them unto Hobah, which is of the left hand of Damascus.” At the end of our last study we saw that Damascus identified with the location where the Apostle Paul became saved. We read in Galatians that he went from Damascus to Arabia. Mount Sinai, where the Law was given, was in Arabia; and from Arabia he went back to Damascus. We spent a little time discussing how the child of God is saved by the grace and faith of Christ and from our saved condition, we go to the Bible (the Law) or we go from Damascus to Arabia. Then after going to the Bible, we always return back to Damascus or back to the truth of how God saved us, which was as a result of unmerited favor and completely by the grace of God and faith of Christ. God did all the work when it comes to salvation, so true believers do not get caught up or entangled with the Law in any kind of attempt to be justified by the Law.

This is where people always make a mistake in their erroneous criticism of the child of God. They hear the child of God refer to the Law and we do so continually because the entire Bible is the Law. We see the Law of the Bible concerning the Sunday Sabbath; or the Law of God regarding who should teach the Bible (men) and who should not teach the Bible when men are present (women); or, what the Bible says concerning alcohol when it says that it is not for kings to drink wine. There is point after point, after point, of the Law, but there are people that do not understand spiritually that when you are saved in Damascus, you make a trip to Sinai (where the Law of God was given), but you always return to Damascus.

Some people fail to understand that and they charge the people of God with “legalism,” or trying to get right with God through the keeping of the Law because the child of God says that it is not for the child of God to smoke cigarettes or drink beer, and so forth. It has been the constant charge made by natural-minded people that do not have an understanding of the true Gospel of the Bible and they fail to comprehend that God’s people go to the Word of God to know how to live the life that God has given them as a Christian, but we are not going to the Law in order to get saved. There is a huge distinction. There are those that basically say, “We are saved by grace, so we can do whatever we want. We can smoke, drink or go to the game on Sunday. What does it matter?” If we raise a verse that says we are not to harm our bodies with cigarettes or that we are not to drink alcohol or do worldly things on Sundays, they call us “legalists” and accuse us of trying to bring man back under the Law, but that is just an “alibi” and it is an excuse for people that want to enjoy salvation along with the pleasures of sin. They want them both, so they developed this convenient idea that you can do whatever you want after you are saved. If anyone tries to tell them they cannot do certain things, they charge them with “legalism.” Are you a legalist because you want to keep the Law of the Bible that says you are not to murder? Or, do I want the freedom (because I am saved by grace) to murder someone? Or, is it being a legalist to follow the commands not to steal or lie, or do I have the grace to do those things? No – they will not go so far as to say that, but they only go as far as their individual sinful pleasure. They only go to the degree they wish to go with their doctrine, like having a nice time on the weekends with everyone else in the world, smoking and drinking and doing as they please. If we carry their point to its logical conclusion and we say, “Well, then you can shoot someone or rob a bank or lie or do whatever you want, because you are saved by grace.” But, no, they stop short of that because they recognize that they are not justified in these kinds of things. If they were honest with themselves, they would recognize they are not being just about smoking, drinking or doing worldly things on Sunday either.

However, after salvation the child of God turns to the Bible to learn how to live because we were people of the world and we do not know how to live a Christian life that is pleasing to God. The Bible tells us, of course, so we read the Bible and we read that we are to love our neighbors and love our enemies and husbands are to love their wives; and parents are to raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord; and children are to honor their parents. There is law, after law, after law, and we do not think that the keeping of these laws can save us, but it is how we live after salvation. The Bible tells us how. “It is not for kings to drink wine” and “Thou shalt not kill,” and that includes killing our own bodies with cigarettes or drugs, and so forth. God’s holy day is the Sunday Sabbath and we desire to observe it because that is the ideal way to live one day of every week on the Sabbath, according to the Law of God.

So, there is really a lot of wisdom in that Galatians verse when it says that from Damascus he went to Arabia and from Arabia he returned to Damascus; a child of God always returns to the fact that we are saved by the faith of Christ and not by our own works, including that work of faith – it is not our faith, but His faith.

Again, it says in Genesis 14:15:

And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night…

Remember, they first pursued them unto Dan, as we saw in verse 14 and “Dan” is a word that is derived from the word “judgment.” It is Judgment Day. He pursued them with his servants “by night,” which also identifies with Judgment Day.

Then it says in Genesis 14:15:

… and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Damascus identifies with salvation, according to Acts, chapter 9. Saul was on the way to Damascus and Christ met him and Saul was struck with blindness. He was led by the hand to the city of Damascus and the Lord came to Ananias and told him to go visit Saul of Tarsus. When he did so, scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, a clear picture of salvation. This took place in the city of Damascus. Remember, Paul is a pattern of them that believe, the true believers. Paul was saved in Damascus and the city of Damascus identifies with that salvation.

Here, as Abram (a type of God) and his servants (a picture of the elect) are smiting their enemies and pursuing them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus; that is, there is no place of deliverance for these enemies of God. There is no rescue for the armies of these four kings that identify with the four beasts and the rule of Satan and his emissaries (Gog and Magog). There is no salvation possible for them, so they are not in Damascus, but they are on the “left hand of Damascus.” They are on the left side of Damascus. In the Bible, we know the right hand has to do with the place of blessing. For instance, in Genesis 48, Joseph brought his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh to his father Jacob (aka Israel) for blessing. We are told that Jacob did something interesting with his right hand and left hand. It says in Genesis 48:13-14:

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Jacob (Israel) blessed the younger son Ephraim over the elder Manasseh and Joseph was upset by this, but Jacob did this “wittingly” or knowingly. It points to being on the “right hand” and receiving blessing, while on the “left hand,” you do not receive the blessings of the firstborn. We can also think of when Christ was on the cross and there were two thieves, one on His right and one on His left. Although the Bible does not tell us, we can probably assume that it was the thief on His right who entered into paradise that day, but the one on His left did not and we can assume this because it says in Ecclesiastes 10:2:

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

In the Bible, to be wise relates to salvation and to be a fool relates to someone that is not saved. To be on the “right hand” identifies with the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Bible tells us is seated on the “right hand” of God. To be on the “left hand,” you would not be identified with Christ and you would be likened to a “fool” and it is really a picture of not having experienced salvation.

We could also go to Matthew, chapter 25 where there is the parable of the sheep and the goats. It says in Matthew 25:32-33:

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Very definitely, the sheep point to those God has saved, His elect, and the goats point to those God did not save.

Let us go back to Genesis 14:15-16:

And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

If we continue reading, it says in Genesis 14:17:

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

We read that Abram smote them. We read that he slaughtered the kings and, yet, we might wonder what was the final disposition of all the men in the army. The four kings were not alone, but they each had their band of soldiers and these men were smitten. But there is a final disposition, a statement that lets us know their final end. It is like in Matthew 25 where the goats were placed on the left. I should have read that, so I am going to go back there because it lets us know what happened to those that were set on the left hand. It says in Matthew 25:41:

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

The “everlasting fire” refers to everlasting destruction. When God speaks of eternal fire in the Bible, He speaks of Himself as a “consuming fire” and when His wrath is poured out on the wicked on the last day of the Day of Judgment, they will be burned up, as it were, and the entire corrupt universe will be melted with a fervent heat. Isaiah 51, verse 6 tells us that they that dwell therein will die in like manner. They will be burned up and gone for evermore. It will be everlasting and final destruction and there will be a complete end of the men that are in rebellion against God.

That is what happens when you end up as a goat on the left hand and, in our verse Abram smote them and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. Again, Damascus identifies with salvation. We could say that all those chosen before the foundation of the world are in Damascus, as it were, but the majority of people that were brought into this world will end up on the “left hand” of Damascus. They are on the side where the cursed are found and they will burn for evermore.