The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord , God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”
Genesis 14:21-24 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.14.21-24.NIV
Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek must have been a unique and spiritual. It’s not stated whether Melchizedek also met him at the King’s Vale, the same place he had an encounter with the King of Sodom. We don’t see the king of Sodom reacting to the sight of Melchizedek probably because he didn’t see Him, was far away from the scene or was an event in the spirit. It’s also noticeable that the kind of attitude the Sodomite King met Abram with was rather crude and careless. Even though Abram had helped him recover his people and possessions, he wasn’t at all thankful. Instead, he just blurted out in verse 21, ‘…give me the people and keep the goods for yourself!’ Abram’s response seemed to point to an existing relationship between the two. Scripture says that Abram ‘with raised hand’ answered him that he wants nothing from him except the supplies for his men so that he might not boast of making Abram rich. Abram knew the filth in the heart of this king and he chose to play as safe as he can by not associating with him in any way. Though he had landed a sizeable loot on behalf of his enemies, he was not going to go down as a man who established himself from siphoning what belongs to others. Integrity is tested in times when plenty is at our disposal. People of integrity are those who deliberately choose to keep only what they’ve earned and return the rest.
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