This post is Day 24 in a series of studies about “The Weather”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.
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The Weather – Day 24
Melchizedek shared bread and wine with Abram and blessed him. Abram gave this king a tenth of everything he had gained from the battles. It is from this verse that the church began the tradition of tithing a tenth of everything to the Lord or to His work on earth.
Genesis 15:12
As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
The Thought
The rising and setting of the sun had an important impact on life in Old Testament times. It’s hard for us today to imagine no artificial light, and daily tasks stopping at sundown. But it seems that the sundown mentioned in today’s verse was not a natural one.
In the previous chapter Abram had rallied troups and rescued his nephew Lot who had been captured from his home in Sodom (Genesis 14:12-16).
On his way home from that battle, Abram met Melchizedek, The King of Salem. He is mentioned ten times in our scriptures (Psalms 110:4, & nine times in Hebrews). Many believe it to be an appearance of Jesus thousands of years before He actually lived on the earth.
This Melchizedek shared bread and wine with Abram and blessed him. In return Abram gave this king a tenth of everything he had gained from the battles. It is from this verse that the church began the tradition of tithing a tenth of everything to the Lord or to His work on earth.
Chapter 15 begins with God appearing to Abram in a vision. God promised Abraham that no matter how old he was he would have his own son, and from this family line there would be thousands of descendants. This promise was followed by Abraham preparing a sacrifice as instructed by God and darkness fell, not a natural darkness. But God obviously hid the sun for a while!
Action
Read Genesis 15 today and imagine the conversation between God and Abram. They really did chat and have intimate conversations. Pray for your conversations with The Lord to be more intimate, and His presence to be more evident in your personal prayer time.
Rejoice that He is there and listening, even if you don’t have the weather change that Abraham experienced.
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