PROCLAMATION
“And
Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto The Lord, The
Most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 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 …” Genesis 14:22-24 (KJV)
EXPLANATION
These
are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God. After Lot separated from Abram, he
resided in an area near Sodom. There was a war between the kings of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and the four kings to the east who prevailed against
them. The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah
including Lot and his possessions. (Genesis 14:1-12) When Abram
heard what had happened to Lot, he gathered 318 of his men and went and rescued
Lot. He also recovered all of the
possessions which were taken from Sodom and Gomorrah, including those that
belonged to Lot. (Genesis 14:13-16) The king of Sodom offered the
recovered possessions to Abram, but he refused them. He said that he
swore to The Lord God that he would not take anything from him, and so that the
king could never say that he made Abram rich. (Genesis 14:17-24)
APPLICATION
There
are a number of reasons for not taking any form of payment from the
enemy. He may feel that he owns you, or that he has bought your
loyalty. However, the main reason for not doing so is that it would
appear to others that the two of you are in some kind of partnership with each
other. The Bible says that we are to do that which is good and
right, and we are to avoid evil. It also says that we are to avoid
even the appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22) Don’t partner
with people who are doing evil. Don’t be bought. If we
are going to do something good to help someone who is in need, then do not
accept payment for doing it. Also, do not broadcast the good deed to
get public acclaim. If we seek the glory of men then we already have
our reward for the good deed. (Matthew 6:2)
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