Abram answers the king of Sodom with a solemn oath: I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. The same divine title Melchizedek used — God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth — is now on Abram's lips. He has received the interpretation of the victory from Melchizedek and is now applying it in the moment of temptation. The raising of the hand is a covenant oath gesture (Exodus 6:8). Abram is making his refusal a matter of sworn covenantal loyalty, not merely personal preference. The application: the language you receive in worship equips you for the moment of temptation. Abram uses Melchizedek's theological vocabulary when facing Sodom's king. What you receive in the encounter with God most equips you for the encounters with the world.

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