The Need for Spiritual Food
CHAPTER THREE: THE NEED FOR SPIRITUAL FOOD
THE Lord wants us to enjoy His friendship and to share His secrets just as two friends who are very close to each other are able to share each other’s secrets. To be able to do this we must learn to speak to Him freely and hear His voice clearly every day. We must be led by him in every detail of our life. If day by day we spend our quiet time prayerfully we will find the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to us from His word, and showing us many secret things, things which are hidden from the wise and prudent. But to gain His friendship our response to Him must be a true one.
In Gen.12: 22 we see that the Lord appeared ten times to Abraham within a period of forty years. In chapter 12 He appeared for the first and second times. In chapter 13 He appeared for the third time and now in chapter 14 He revealed Himself for the fourth time, this time in Melchisedec as a type. At that time Abraham was returning from fighting and defeating the enemies of the King Sodom. These enemies are captured and taken captive not only the King of Sodom but also Lot the nephew of Abraham who was then living at Sodom. Abraham rescued Lot and his family and his goods and his people with him (v.16); At the same time he rescued King of Sodom and all his men.
The King of Sodom and the four other King, his confederates had been defeated by three kings, and Abraham had gone out defeated the victors with a handful of his own men. Now the king of Sodom was extremely thankful to Abraham for rescuing his men and all his property. He came to Abraham and said generously: " Give me the persons and take the goods to thy self." This could have been a very big temptation to Abraham but God had prepared him for it, when he spoke to him through Melchisedec.
We had already seen how wicked the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were. They defiled in the sight of the Lord and all that they had was also defiled. Now the Lord did not want Abraham to accept any of these defiled 'goods' from the hand of the King of Sodom, so he sent Melchisedec to him in Gen. 14:18 to give him the extra strength he needed to overcome the temptation to accept the offer made by King of Sodom. As we see from Heb.7: 1-3 Melchisedec was a high priest of the Most High God, - "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God he abideth a priest continually." Melchisedec brought bread and wine with him and blessed Abraham. This was the spiritual food, which Abraham needed to overcome temptation. In this way Melchisedec becomes a type of our Lord Jesus Christ who has become both our bread of life, and our Great High Priest.
The thought that our Lord Jesus Christ is our bread of life is repeated seven times from John 6:v.48 onwards. How can we eat and drink our Lord Jesus and make him our meat and drink? By faith and with the help of the spirit we can do so at any time and at any place. Just as we drink water when we are thirsty, and eat food when we are hungry so also we can eat and drink our Lord Jesus when we are hungry and thirsty. In this way we can conquer any temptation. All of us are subject to many temptations every day, and God has made for us a loving provision of victory by making our Lord Jesus Christ our daily bread and drink.
Abraham was tired and weary after his long march finally to overtake the enemy and fight with them. His shoes were also worn out and doubtless needed shoelaces. The King of Sodom came to him with full of gratitude and offered him all the goods that Abraham had rescued, and said: " Give me the persons and take goods ". What a temptation! But Abraham answered: "Even though my clothes are torn and my shoes worn out, I will not accept thread to stitch my clothes nor shoelaces to tie my shoes. Though I am hungry I will not touch any of your food".
From all this we can see that Abraham was not refusing ' the goods' because he was rich and did not need them, but because he wanted to show that he was wholly and solely dependent on God for all his needs even to a shoe-lace. This is the first thought.
The second thought is that he refused to defile himself with the defiled things of the Kings of Sodom and Gomorah. That is why he refused to take thread or shoelaces or even a piece of bread. It is when we are very hungry and thirsty that we have many temptations. We get doubts about trusting God for all our needs. Many preachers and so-called God's servants are not 'God's servants' ' at all. They go begging for many things in one-way or the other. It makes no difference whether they are Indians or Americans or English. Only the way they beg in India is different from the way they beg in America or England. In India they put on old clothes to beg, but in England they put on good clothes and stand by the wayside trying to sell something or other, as shoelaces or matchboxes or pens. The fact that their real business is not selling things, but they are in need of financial help is so obvious that kind-hearted people will take a matchbox and put five-rupee note in their hands, and ask them to keep the change. Open begging is forbidden, but all the same it is begging. In the same way some servants of God say that they serve God but, by means of letters and photos, they beg for money. For this reason they send the report of their work. They want more and more money. They are not satisfied. So they remain in want and remain in barren spiritually. But if you just trust God he will provide you with all your wants even to your shoelaces. Don't go to King of Sodom for help for this is how many believers lose their faith. To get a job or promotion they go to worldly people and use worldly methods, or trust their aunts and uncles for money for their marriages.
It was to enable Abraham to withstand the temptation of accepting the offer of the King of Sodom that he received spiritual food, and, being strengthened he was able to conquer temptation when it came. We have to eat and drink our Lord Jesus Christ by faith everyday. Say to Him: "Lord Jesus, You are my bread and you are my drink. Satisfy me and give me inward strength, and prepare me to resist the temptations that are likely to come to my way today. Save me from being defiled from the things of Sodom. Help me to put my trust in thee and thee alone. Help me to look to thee alone for all my needs." He will honor your faith.
Abraham gave the tithes of all he had to Melchisedec. This he did to show that what he had done in defeating the enemy was by the help of God. He was also acknowledging that the same God would supply all his needs in the future. By giving our tithes we show that all we have is in him. We also show that we have confidence in our Lord that he can provide all our needs, no matter what they are, and we also tell the Lord that we will not look to any worldly friends or relations for any help.
In these days of food shortage in India there is the temptation to send reports to America or other countries. They do not say outright that they want money but will say that there is great shortage of food in India and so many are starving in Calcutta, or some other place. Then when the money does come, twenty-five percent of it goes to wife and children, twenty-five percent to some other cause and a small percentage to the starving. What hypocrisy! Such deceive themselves and others, and lose faith in God. But if we honor God, as did Abraham, God will honor us, and supply all our needs.