Abraham Puts God First
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Genesis 14:17-24
Memory Verse: "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Matthew 6:24
This lesson continues after Abram and his small army return victorious from defeating the four kings (against whom the five kings of the Dead Sea Valley rebelled). He has rescued Lot and all the people and "stuff". Abram meets the King of Salem and the King of Sodom in the Valley of Sheveh (the Kings' Valley) near Jerusalem. (Notice that Jerusalem is opposite the north end of the Dead Sea.) Mel-chiz'-e-dek, King of Salem (Jerusalem) meets Abram. Why was the King of Jerusalem meeting Abram? This had been a large, regional war, covering an area from the south end of the Dead Sea to north beyond Damascus and involving nine kings plus Abram and his little army. Everybody knows about it.
Melchizedek was both a king and a priest of God Most High (the God of gods). He came to bless Abram because God had blessed him with victory. He came prepared to offer sacrifices and worship God who had blessed Abram.
Salem means peace and was an ancient name for Jerusalem in pre-Israelite times. The book of Hebrews (7:1-17) tells us Melchizedek means righteousness so Hebrews call him King of righteousness and King of peace. He is both king and priest so the writer of Hebrews sees him as a messianic "type", (symbol, fore-shadowing), pointing to Jesus, who is both priest and king of righteousness and peace. Hebrews also sees this king as greater than Abram because Abram gives a tithe (a tenth) to him as an offering. Hebrews sees Melchizedek as a likeness to Christ who has an eternal priesthood greater than the Levitical priesthood descended from Abram.
Abram gives the King of Salem a tithe of everything as part of his worship of God. Abram gives off the top, "first-fruits", of all that he has gotten. Word received: Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe of all. Teach the children about tithes and offerings. Teach them they are given to Me. Ask the children to say in their hearts. "I am giving this to God."
Giving a tithe of everything as part of the worship of God goes back in time beyond Moses to Abram and probably beyond. The Old and New Testaments teach about tithes and offerings. This is still part of the Jewish and Christian faiths. A tithe is an acknowledgement that everything we have is from God and we give back a tenth to him from what he has given us. We say this every Sunday in church at the time of offerings. There are times when we give other offerings to God as well as giving to the poor and needy. Whatever we give we need to see as given to God. God blesses us for what we give as well as blessing the object of our giving. Our children need to learn to give from what is theirs and not just what is handed to them. We need to learn to say in our hearts, "I am giving this to God". A fellow missionary once told us, "You can't out-give God". But giving our money should be a symbol of giving ourselves to God to love, serve and obey him. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders who tithed all their kitchen herbs but did not obey God in important things like justice and the love of God. ( Luke 11:42)
Notice that in dealing with both kings, Abram puts God first. Word received: I want you to always put Me first in everything. It was Abram's heart and attitude that put God first. That is what he wants from us. Abram's action flowed out of his heart. Look at the three ways Abram put God first. (1) The first way was in worship. Verse 18 refers to the bread and wine the king-priest of Salem brought to worship God with when he have Abram God's blessing. (2) Then Abram gave an offering to God by giving it to the priest of God (vs. 20). (3) The third way Abram put God first was the oath (solemn promise, vow) Abram had made to God that he would not owe anyone but God anything. This would keep him from being under obligation to the King of Sodom. (This decision could be dangerous.) Abram's loyalty was to the King of kings, the Maker of heaven and earth. Abram was willing to openly state his loyalty to God and so give glory to God in front of the pagan king of Sodom.
Word received: "I have sworn to the Lord..." (vs. 22) Abram was willing to be bound by his vow to Me. Will you be bound by your vows; will you live them out as Abraham did? The vowed like is a life of freedom, when your vows are directed by My Spirit. What vows have you made? What priorities are there in your vows? In inner healing they talk about breaking ungodly vows with God's help.
Now look at the Memory Verse. Abram was NOT in the position of serving two masters. He was not tempted by the money and possessions. He chose to serve only God. He was not double minded. His heart and attitude were right before God. Abram is our model here. He had wealth by this time but he was not captive to it. Word received: This is My work in Abraham. He has found a freedom from possessing more. I want My people to know My freedom so that as Abram did, they can give and they will not be captive to their possessions.
Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be your as well" (Matthew 6:33) because your heavenly Father knows what you need. So don't be anxious and troubled. Word received: To be able to give as Abraham did is a work of My Spirit. My service is perfect freedom. Abraham has freedom in Me. I want you to have that same freedom.
Share: in what ways have you experienced serving God, tithing, etc, as freeing? Notice the reward God gives Abram just after this. (See Genesis 15:1) :"After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Fear not, Abram, I AM your shield; and your very great reward." In addition to whatever things God gave him, God HIMSELF, the relationship with him, was the biggest reward.
Look at a similar model of giving in the early church that Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 8: 1-5.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 07
Please read the Study Guide first.
Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones.
1. God wants to be our best friend. (A personal relationship) God also want us to have HIM as our best friend.
2. God loves us and wants to give us the very best He has for us.
3. To show God we love Him, He wants us to give Him the best of what He has given us.
4. Everything we have is really God's, because He has made everything in the first place. He has given us health, abilities and many blessings.
5. Abram is a good example to follow.
6. Serving God gives us real freedom.
Activities
We will give the children 10 pennies each and ask them to give one penny back to God. These will be put in an offering plate and a couple of smaller children will take them up during the offering time in church.
Acting out the scripture lesson, either in class or if they are willing, the high school class will do a skit. (They are good at this.)
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