It turns out, Abraham, the patriarch of monotheism, was no exception. His story isn't just about grand pronouncements from God; it's also about family drama, petty squabbles, and even a full-blown war!
We pick up the story after Abraham's sojourn in Egypt. According to Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, things get tense between Abraham and his nephew Lot. Their herdsmen start fighting. Abraham, being the responsible one, provided muzzles for his herds. Lot, not so much. When Abraham's shepherds called out Lot's shepherds for letting their flocks graze where they shouldn't, the response was… audacious. They basically said, "God promised the land to Abraham's seed, but he's barren! Lot's the heir, so we're just eating what's rightfully ours!" Ouch.
As we find in Midrash Rabbah, God wasn't thrilled about this. He clarified that yes, Abraham's seed would inherit the land, but only after the current inhabitants, the Canaanites and Perizzites, were dealt with. They still had rights! But the damage was done. The strife escalated, and Abraham, frustrated by Lot's behavior, decided they had to separate. And Lot didn’t just separate from Abraham. He separated himself from Abraham's God, choosing to settle in the infamously wicked region of Sodom. Talk about a fall from grace.
God, as you might imagine, wasn't pleased with Abraham either. Not because of the separation itself, but because Abraham wasn't striving for peace with his own family. He was also displeased that Abraham was seemingly accepting Lot as his heir. God had promised Abraham his seed would inherit the land. After the split, God reaffirmed his promise, saying Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. As the sand covers the earth, so would Abraham’s offspring be scattered. And just as the earth needs water, so would Abraham's line be blessed through the Torah, which is likened to water.
Now, this is where things get really interesting. Lot's choice to live in Sodom had serious repercussions. It set the stage for a war involving Abraham, a conflict often referred to as “The War of the Kings.” Lot moved to Sodom, a city in the well-watered Jordan valley, because its king took him in out of respect for Abraham. But the five kings of that area planned to war against Sodom (because of Lot) and then advance on Abraham. One of these kings was Amraphel, none other than Nimrod, Abraham's old enemy!
The immediate cause? A rebellion. According to Ginzberg, Chedorlaomer, one of Nimrod's generals, rebelled after the Tower of Babel debacle and became king of Elam. He subjugated the cities of the Jordan plain, making them pay tribute. After twelve years of faithfulness, they rebelled. Nimrod, seeing an opportunity, attacked Chedorlaomer but suffered a humiliating defeat. He was then forced to acknowledge Chedorlaomer's rule. Chedorlaomer then formed an alliance with other kings to crush the rebellious cities of the Jordan valley.
These kings, a massive force numbering eight hundred thousand strong, marched on the five cities, obliterating everything in their path, including the descendants of giants! They pushed through the desert to Kadesh, and then turned towards central Palestine. There, they faced the five wicked kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain – Bera, Birsha, Shinab, Shemeber, and the king of Bela. According to the text, even their names were descriptive of their wickedness.
The five kings were routed in the Vale of Siddim, which would later become the Dead Sea. The surviving soldiers fled to the mountains, while the kings themselves got stuck in slime pits. Only the king of Sodom was miraculously rescued, so that he could convert the heathens to belief in God after they witnessed the miracle of Abraham's deliverance from the fiery furnace. The victors plundered Sodom, taking Lot captive. In doing so, they revealed their true target: Abraham. "We have taken the son of Abraham's brother captive," they boasted, betraying their desire to strike at Abraham.
It was the first night of Pesach, Passover, and Abraham was eating matzah, unleavened bread, when the archangel Michael, also known as Palit ("the escaped"), brought him news of Lot's capture. The angel is called “the escaped” because, according to the text, during the fall of Samael and his host, Michael was nearly dragged down but escaped with God's help.
Immediately, Abraham put aside his past disagreements with Lot and focused on rescuing him. He gathered his disciples, those he had taught the true faith, who all called themselves by the name "Abraham." He gave them gold and silver, reminding them that they were fighting to save lives, not for riches. He warned anyone who feared divine punishment for their sins to stay behind. Fearing their sins, everyone except Eliezer remained behind. God then told Abraham that Eliezer would have the strength of the 318 men he had sought.
The battle, fought on the 15th of Nissan, the night appointed for miracles, was epic. Arrows and stones were useless against Abraham. Instead, the dust, chaff, and stubble he threw at the enemy transformed into deadly weapons. Abraham, described as tall as seventy men and requiring the food and drink of seventy men, took giant strides, each step covering four miles, until he overtook the kings and decimated their armies.
He couldn't go further, though. He reached Dan, the future site of Jeroboam's golden calves, and his strength waned. His victory was only possible because the celestial powers were on his side. The planet Jupiter lit his way, and an angel named Lailah fought for him. It was, in essence, a victory for God.
The nations acknowledged Abraham's superhuman feat, building him a throne on the battlefield. But when they tried to crown him, proclaiming him their king and god, Abraham refused. "The universe has its King, and it has its God!" he declared. He returned all the spoils, keeping only the children, whom he raised in the knowledge of God to atone for their parents' sins.
The king of Sodom, proud of his miraculous rescue from the slime pit, offered Abraham the spoils of war. Abraham refused, vowing to God that he wouldn't take even a thread or a shoelace. He would only accept what his men had eaten and the portion for those who stayed behind to guard the supplies.
Abraham's generosity became a precedent. Later, King David would follow his example, sharing spoils with those who hadn't fought, despite protests. Despite his victory, Abraham worried. He feared he had violated the prohibition against shedding blood and feared the resentment of Shem, whose descendants had perished. But God reassured him, saying he had only "extirpated thorns" and that Shem would bless him, not curse him.
And so it happened. Shem, also known as Melchizedek, king of righteousness, priest of God Most High, and king of Jerusalem, met Abraham with bread and wine. Melchizedek taught Abraham the laws of the priesthood and the Torah, blessing him as God's partner in the world. However, Melchizedek arranged the words of his blessing in an unseemly way. He named Abraham first and then God. As a punishment, he was deposed from the priesthood, and it was passed to Abraham's descendants forever.
As a reward for sanctifying God's name by refusing the spoils, Abraham's descendants received two commandments: the commandment of the tzitzit, the fringes on their garments, and the commandment of the tefillin, the phylacteries worn on the arm and forehead. These serve as a constant reminder that their ancestor refused even a thread or a shoelace. And because he wouldn't touch a shoelace of the spoils, his descendants would one day cast their shoe upon Edom, a symbolic act of conquest.
So, what do we take away from this whirlwind of a story? It's a reminder that even the most righteous figures face complex moral dilemmas, family conflicts, and the ever-present temptation of power and wealth. But it also highlights the importance of staying true to one's principles, even when it's difficult, and the enduring power of faith and generosity. It's a story not just of war and conquest, but of choosing the path of righteousness, even when the world around you is mired in slime pits and moral decay.