PREPARATION FOR SUCCESS

There is a record in Genesis that arrested my attention; it is an example of what preparation — with God’s blessing — can accomplish. In Genesis chapter fourteen there were four kings, Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations that fought against a group of other kings, 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. Not only did they fight against these kings they won and subjugated the kings of Sodom, Gamorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela for twelve years.

PREPARATION FOR SUCCESS
There is a record in Genesis that arrested my attention; it is an example of what preparation — with God’s blessing — can accomplish. In Genesis chapter fourteen there were four kings, Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations that fought against a group of other kings, 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. Not only did they fight against these kings they won and subjugated the kings of Sodom, Gamorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela for twelve years.
When we read about kings we are reading about men that represent a lot of people. Not only did these kings have armies of men but armies of soldiers that were good at war. After twelve years the five kings that were in subjugation along with all the people that they ruled rebelled against the four kings. This turned out to be a really bad idea because the four kings came into the land, killed a lot of people and took all of the good things out of the land.
Genesis 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
2 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.
3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
9 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.
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.
11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way
The one thing that they should have done was to leave Lot, Abram’s (Abraham’s) brother alone. But they didn’t and they took Lot and all of his house (women, children, servants, animals, money, food, clothes, etc.) captive with them.
12 And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Can you get the mind picture of this large army that just captured thousands of people and animals moving slowly back to where they came from. The conquerors were gloating over the captives and because their campaign was over, they were still alive, they were rich form the spoils of war and they were victorious. Get in mind the number of people that were involved in this scene. Thousands of people were involved. But something is about to change!
13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
14 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.
So now Abram (Abraham) decides to deliver Lot and his family from this hoard. So he takes 318 servants of his and goes after this hoard of people. Is that right? NO! It says that he took 318 of his “trained servants” that were “born in his own house”. What were they trained for? Accounting? Gardening? What is the context? War and fighting! Not only were they trained but they were loyal because they were “born in Abram’s house”.
Did they have tanks and laser guided missiles and smart bombs? NO. All they had were the weapons of war for that day swords and spears and perhaps some bows and arrows. But with training and with God on their side they did what five kings and their armies couldn’t do. They defeated the four kings and their armies.
15 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.
16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
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.
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
All too often people think they can be successful by just doing something such as a business or a ministry and they expect God to prosper them. I will not say that it is not possible for God to help because “all things are possible with God”. But this wasn’t the case for Abram. Abram had God on his side but he didn’t stop there he trained his servants for years and years to be able to protect him, his family and all that belonged to him. With all of that preparation and with God “for” him and his men they delivered Lot, Lot’s family and all of the inhabitants of Sodom, Gamorrah and the other kingdoms.
What do you think the odds were when Abram and his men attacked? One thousand in the enemies army would have been a three bad guys against every one of Abram’s men. How many do you think were in the armies of the enemy? How many soldiers does a kingdom have? I would dare to say that it was a lot more than a thousand men from each kingdom. If each of the four kingdome only had one thousand soldiers it would mean that for every man that Abram had there were approximately thirteen enemy soldiers. That is a really high number. How would you like to be matched up in anything with those kind of numbers. If, for example, you were playing football it would be like you playing against the New England Patriots, you and you alone. Last time I looked the Patriots weren’t carrying swords and spears.
What type of men went with Abram? Men prepared for war. Men that didn’t shrink from danger. Men who believed and trusted in God Almighty. These are the type of men that went with Abram. What an example for us today. In our day to day lives we too are to be prepared, brave and sure of God’s love for us and hand of protection around us. As it says in Romans 8:38 “more than conquerors in every situation”.