Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #40 of Genesis, chapter 14 and we are going to read Genesis 14:20-24:

And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto JEHOVAH, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

I will stop reading there. As we have been discussing, God is teaching through this historical parable events concerning Judgment Day. The deliverance of Lot and his goods and the tithes given to Melchizedek all point to the salvation of the elect that were delivered out of the Great Tribulation.

But Sodom was also delivered and the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.” On May 21, 2011 Christ took the kingdom of this world from Satan, as pictured by these four kings being defeated. In so doing, he delivered all the captives of Satan – all those that were under the rule and dominion of Satan, both in the churches and in the world. But, here, God is focusing on those in the corporate church. On one hand, we might think their deliverance is a picture of salvation, but that is not the case. They are simply delivered from under the rule of Satan because his official rule was for 23 years and that was it.

We could give many verses that prove this. For instance, after seventy years the Bible says that God would punish the king of Babylon, a type of Satan, and the seventy years typified the (actual) 23 years of the Great Tribulation. At the end of the 23-year Great Tribulation, God punished Satan and his kingdom of Babylon and at that time the punishment consisted of bringing him down. That was great punishment for Satan as he was brought low from his high and lofty perch, seated in the temple showing himself that he was God. Of course, Satan was never God, but an imposter. And, yet, now he cannot even show himself that he is God because God has removed him and put him down.

So, what about all of these people? The corporate church numbers almost two billion people. What is going on with them? Christ is ruling them and, as I mentioned, it is not for their welfare or good, but is for their punishment. He is pouring out His wrath upon them, as He rules with a rod of iron. We know the rest of the Bible teaches that, but do we see that here in this historical parable? Here is what we do see, as we notice what it says in Genesis 14:20:

And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Abram is giving Melchizedek tithes of all and, yet, nothing from Sodom. Notice it goes on to say in Genesis 14:22-23:

And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto JEHOVAH, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.

Abram did not take the least thing of Sodom. On a practical level, we can see that “a thread” or a “shoelatchet” are worthless. They are like the least of things one could think of, so Abram said he would not take any of the goods. When we went through the earlier passage where the word “goods” was used, we saw in the New Testament that the word “goods” is the same word as “vessel,” like vessels unto honor or unto dishonor. We saw that the strong man was bound and his “goods” were spoiled, which indicated that Christ ransacked the kingdom of Satan and took people out from under his bondage and delivered them and set them free. So, the goods or tithes given to Melchizedek would have contained nothing of Sodom and its inhabitants or the king of Sodom because those would have been vessels unto dishonor and not unto honor. God did not want them. So, Abram, as a type of God, does not want to receive anything from the king of Sodom or from the corporate church: “That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” It was a flat-out refusal to receive any goods or vessels from the king of Sodom or from the corporate church.

This also reminds us of the Lord Jesus Christ’s words in Luke 17:34-36:

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

In each of these verses, the word “men” and the word “women” were added and are not in the original. This parable is also given in Matthew 24:37-41:

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

We see that this parable has everything to do with Judgment Day and God ties it in to the “days of Noe” before the flood and then the flood came and took them away and then He immediately went in to the parable about two in the field, with one taken and the other left; and two grinding at the mill, with one taken and the other left. In Luke 17, it said, “in that night,” and it is further Biblical evidence that “night” has to do with Judgment Day because that is the context of this parable. Again, it says in Luke 17:34:

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

First, let us look at the words “bed,” “field” and “mill” or “grinding.” We are not going to go too deeply in the Bible to prove this, but I will just explain it. In Revelation, chapter 2 God speaks of a “bed” of great tribulation. Leading up to Judgment Day was the Great Tribulation period, so the “two” are in one bed, as “believers” and “unbelievers” or as “God’s elect” and those that are only “professed believers” that are not truly saved. Both parties are in Great Tribulation and then comes the end of the Great Tribulation and the “night” or Judgment Day. Two are in the bed and God settles the matter for the two. He does not have the same plan for both, as one is taken and one is left.

Regarding the two grinding at the mill, it spiritually relates to getting the Gospel out. So, in the time of Great Tribulation, “two” were involved in getting the Gospel out, but all along, only one of them was truly saved and the other was not, so in the “night” when Judgment Day came, God dealt with one by taking him and the other was left.

Thirdly, “two” were in the field and the field is the world, as defined in Matthew 13 and elsewhere. Two were in the world getting the Gospel out and then came Judgment Day and one is taken and one is left.

By the way Luke 17, verse 37 says, “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.” This is also a statement that identifies with the Great Tribulation. The “carcase” of the church has been fed upon by the birds of prey, just like a dead animal in the wilderness. The eagles have landed upon it, and with that concluding verse of Luke 17 God is saying that this will happen in relationship to the Great Tribulation. That is when you would find two in one bed, two grinding at the mill and two in the field. It was all framed by the Great Tribulation and the conclusion of the Great Tribulation because it was related to Noah and the days prior to the flood, but then the flood came, which ties in with Judgment Day.

Let us see if we can understand what is meant by, “the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.” How can we come to understanding? It has been written about in many commentaries and numerous theologians have concluded that it is referring to the Rapture and the taking up of God’s elect on the last day, as we would find described in 1Thessalonian, chapter 4. And, yet, we do not read anything about a Rapture here in Luke 17 or in Matthew 24. It simply says there are two in the field and two in the bed, and so forth, and there has been no solid evidence provided (by theologians) that this is speaking of the Rapture, but that is the conclusion theologians have come to, so how do we confirm their conclusion or come up with our own (Biblical) understanding? The answer is that we must search out the words that are used consistently in both places.

For example, it says, “the one shall be taken,” in verses 34, 35 and 36 of Luke, chapter 17 and in each verse the word “taken” is the same Greek word, Strong’s #3880. Let us spend some time looking up this word to see how it is used in several other verses and then we will come back to our verse and see how it might fit. Once we find it used elsewhere in the Bible, we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to develop His own definition of His own Word.

Let us start by going to 1Corinthians 11:23:

For I have received of the Lord…

The word “received” is the same Greek word, Strong’s #3880, that is translated as “taken.” Again, it says in 1Corinthians 11:23-24:

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

We know the Apostle Paul was moved by God to write the Book of 1Corinthians and when he says, “For I have received of the Lord,” how did he receive it? Christ taught him through the Holy Spirit through the opening up of his understanding or through the hearing of other Apostles and their teachings learned from Christ. He received it and it was taught him by the Holy Spirit through fellow believers or the Holy Spirit directly taught him through the Word of God. He received it from the Lord and then it says, “which also I delivered unto you,” and that is the typical way God distributes spiritual food. He “breaks the bread” and gives it to His disciples and then the disciples give to the multitude.

Let us go on to look at this Greek word in 1Corinthians 15:1:

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

Again, our word is the word “received” here. Then it says in 1Corinthians 15:3:

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

He received it through the hearing of the Gospel preached or through the Spirit of God. Again, we see this especially in verse 1, where it said, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.” How did they receive it? They received it through hearing the Apostle Paul. It had first come to him and then he brought it to them and they are receiving it; that is, they are being taught or instructed through the Word of God by way of this man. It is the same thing we could have said of the verse in 1Corinthians, chapter 11. Paul received the information concerning the Lord’s Table and he shared it. He was instructed and then he instructed.

So, in both places this Greek word translated as “taken,” where it said, “One is taken and the other is left,” has to do with receiving instruction from the Word of God. Of course, this is still early on in our study and this word is used multiple times in the Scriptures, but, so far, that is what it indicates.

Let us go to Galatians, another Epistle written through the Apostle Paul under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, meaning that God wrote it through him. It is just like the rest of the Bible was written. It says in Galatians 1:8-12:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul said he “received” it not of man. This is the fifth verse we have looked at using this word “received.” It is used twice in this passage in Galatians, chapter 1 and it has to do with “receiving” the Gospel or the Word of God. Verse 12 defines it further, saying, “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” He is saying that he received and was taught these truths “by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” We should not think that Paul was constantly receiving visions or that Christ was constantly appearing to him like He did on the road to Damascus. But when God opens up a Scripture to our spiritual understanding, we are the recipients of the revelation of Jesus Christ, even today. He has opened our understanding and we have received and are taught revelation of Christ. Now this is five times that this same Greek word, Strong’s #3880, has to do with receiving the Word of God as it is taught by Jesus Christ, who is the Word. Was that not the point back in 1Corinthians 11, verse 23, when it said, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you”?

We are going to continue looking at this. By the way, this is more than sufficient evidence. When we are studying the Bible and we look up a word that has supporting evidence, sometimes it is just a single verse or two that helps us and leads us in the way of truth and understanding, but we already have five verses.

Lord willing, in our next Bible study we will pick up more on this same word and I am even going to leave out some of the Scriptures we could go to because they are a little repetitive, but they teach the same thing. What we are looking at is that when God says, “one is taken, and the other left,” it does not seem that being “taken” has anything to do with being removed or “taken up” out of the world. (At this point, I am just talking about a possibility here.) But, rather, this word seems to be directing us along the lines of being instructed and being taught by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Of course, that would be very significant and extremely interesting to us because we have already seen in Romans 2, verse 5, for instance, that Judgment Day (the day of wrath) is a day of “the righteous revelation of the judgment of God.”