Only when we allow the Holy Spirit to purify our soul/heart can we make the right (Note: wise, appropriate, good) decisions with a sanctified heart or soul, subject to the Spirit. These decisions are then based on the revelatory impulses given to us by our Heavenly Father, which fall into our hearts so that we can make the right decision, which has a valuable effect.

 

Before Abram was called by God to become Abraham and Sarai to become Sarah, which corresponds to the time of purification of the soul into the dimension of the Spirit, Abram learned to submit to the guidance of God, who is Spirit. In doing so, Abram did not allow himself to be intimidated or negatively affected by challenging circumstances, in this case a famine in his soul (cf. Genesis 12:10).

 

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

 

 

He decided to go to Egypt, taking with him the wife God had given him, that is, the glory entrusted to him (Note: The woman is the crown of her husband. cf. Proverbs 12:4a i.c.w. Genesis 12:11) to act, so that he was preserved with her in Egypt and increased in blessing in his economy (cf. Genesis 12:11-16).

 

4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, …

 

11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are.

12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” Then they will kill me but will let you live.

13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.

15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.

16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

 

Because of Sarai’s implementation of Abram’s counsel, his economy grew enriched by the blessings released by Pharaoh. This shows us that when we align our hearts/souls with the truth of God’s Word and His instruction, God’s heart is touched. He releases blessings for us because we make decisions based on the knowledge we have according to the truth of God’s Word (cf. Deuteronomy 4:9a i.c.w. Psalm 103:2).

 

9a Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. …

 

2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – …

 

 

The realm of Abram and Sarai’s walk is equivalent to the phase of obedience to the Word of God and His instruction, to which we have submitted ourselves, so that at a certain point in time, the Spirit of God intervenes in our lives and inspires us in a new way, as is evident in the renaming of Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah (cf. Genesis 17:5.15 i.c.w. Isaiah 40:31).

 

5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. …

15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.

 

… 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

 

God, after making a covenant with ‘Abram – high father’, put the Hebrew letter ‘He’ in his name, so that he became ‘Abraham – father of a multitude’. After Abraham received his new name, at God’s instruction, he named his wife ‘Sarai – dominative’ with the new name ‘Sarah – Princess, Queen’ (cf. Genesis 17:5.15).

 

Genesis 17:5.15:
5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. …
15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.

 

The Hebrew letter ‘He’ carries the numerical value ‘5’ and means, among other things, ‘a breath of wind’ that calls to behold the things that God reveals. Furthermore, the numerical value ‘5’, reveals the power of God’s hand in the form of grace.

 

Thus, it is the walk in the realm of the Spirit that makes us hear of new things and hidden results of which we were previously unaware because the Spirit’s starting point and arrival destination are hidden from us, allowing us to be led by His movement (cf. Isaiah 48:6b-7 i.c.w. John 3:8).

 

Isaiah 48:6b-7:
… 6b ‘From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, “Yes, I knew of them.”

 

John 3:8:
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’

 

Through the activation of Abram’s glory in the form of Sarai, God began to act supernaturally in the life of Pharaoh, oppressing his house so that Abram could continue his journey with Sarai, protected and blessed (cf. Genesis 12:17-20).

 

17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

 

Their stay in Egypt was necessary for the blessing of Abram’s economy, similar to what later happened to the people of Israel when they were in slavery in Egypt and left at the right time with great possessions (cf. Exodus 3:21-22; Exodus 11:2 i.c.w. Exodus 12:35-36).

 

21 ‘And I will make the Egyptians favourably disposed towards this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.

22 Every woman is to ask her neighbour and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.’

 

‘… 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbours for articles of silver and gold.’

 

35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.

36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favourably disposed towards the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

 

 

It is said that after Abram left with Sarai and his people as well as livestock which represents a functioning economy and thereafter separated from his nephew Lot due to economic growth, he later learned that Lot had been captured by an alliance of four kings.

 

Since Lot is described as righteous in the Word of God (cf. 2 Peter 2:7), it can be said that Abram saw it as his mission to free righteousness from captivity to restore it to its rightful place in society. This situation, in which allied kings fought together, can be compared to our spiritual battle in the present day, it is a matter of freeing justice from the influence of the adversary and restoring its place in society.

 

Abram was not dependent on his five allied kings and their possessions but knew who he was in God. This is shown later in the conversation with the king of Sodom after the victory over King Kedor-Laomer and his three allied kings (cf. Genesis 14:21-23).

 

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.’

22 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, 23 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.”

 

The five kings whom Abram supported in battle represent a spiritual quality that tears down the access of evil, symbolized by the four allied kings. This is linked to the Hebrew letter ‘He’, which has the numerical value ‘5’ and means, among other things, ‘a breath of wind’. The number ‘4’‚ in Hebrew stands for ‘Daleth’, which means ‘door’ or ‘wing of a door’ and pictographically represents an ‘open tent door’.

 

The tearing down of the gateway of evil is like Samson’s intervention, who tore the gate of Gaza from its hinges and placed it in an elevated place. This involves spiritually tearing down the gateway from the place of injustice to the place of God’s justice, which is the foundation of His Word, in order to reestablish justice in society (cf. Judges 16:3).

 

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron [Note: means ‘connection, seat of association, society, place of covenant’].

 

 

After Abram won the battle with the five allied kings over the four kings, he had a supernatural visitation in the earthly realm from Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who was already a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. The visitation with Melchizedek in the King’s Valley could only take place after all that Abram had experienced before and his establishment of justice (cf. Genesis 14:17-20 i.c.w. Hebrews 7:1-10).

 

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

19 and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.

20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace’.

3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever.

4 Just think how great he was: even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!

5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people – that is, from their fellow Israelites – even though they also are descended from Abraham.

6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater.

8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.

9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

 

This reveals that we must properly place our souls under the Spirit to make the right decisions in our hearts with the impulses of God’s revelation and to enter the visitation planned by God for us, which can be supernatural-natural.

 

It is the Heavenly Father’s desire to make us more deeply acquainted with His first love, so that we may vehemently oppose and resist the adversary and his horde of fear (cf. John 3:16; 1 John 4:18 i.c.w. James 4:7).

 

16 For God [Note: the Father] so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 

18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

As already mentioned, Melchizedek was already a sign pointing to Jesus Christ, the dead and risen King of kings and High Priest, at the time of Abraham.

 

 

This is clear from his name (Note: ‘Melchizedek’ => ‘King of righteousness’), his place of residence (Note: ‘Salem’ => ‘peace, foundation of peace’), his position of authority (Note: king and priest), and the attributes of the Lord’s Supper (Note: bread and wine) that he presented to Abraham after Abraham freed his nephew Lot from the hands of king Kedorlaomer and the three kings allied with him and defeated them.

 

After Melchizedek had presented Abraham with the bread and wine, he blessed him, with the result that Abraham voluntarily gave him a tithe of his spoils of war (cf. Genesis 14:17-20 i.c.w. John 6:53-58).

 

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

19 and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.

20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

53 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’

 

Therefore, as saints in Christ, we can boldly move forward in our identity in the dynamic of Jesus Christ’s triumph and His resurrection power in the glory and blessings made available to us. It is about our decisions as those who live by faith and live our identity as the sons of God, who we are in him, uncompromisingly and incorruptibly, and who put the powers that make themselves available to the adversary in chains and iron shackles (cf. Psalm 149:5-9).

 

5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honour and sing for joy on their beds.

6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword [Note: spirit filled Word of God; cf. Hebrews 4:12] in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them – this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the Lord.

 

Holding sharp swords in our hands implies that we do not compromise or contradict our behavior, which is based on God’s standards and is true before God, ourselves, and other people. It is free from dull conformity to the misleading norms of the world and also free from humanistic heresy, which only wants to hold us back as God’s people.

We should not allow that!

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm