The second test had passed, and the third test came. Genesis 14:11-12 says, "And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed." This was the last test Abraham experienced for the sake of the land.
When Abraham heard the news about his nephew's captivity, he did not say, "I knew that he should not have gone to such a place. When he did, surely God's hand was heavy upon him." What did Abraham do? Verse 14 says, "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." This shows that Abraham was truly an overcomer. He overcame his self and was brought to the point where he no longer had any personal feelings. It did not matter how Lot had treated him; he still recognized Lot as his brother. Although Lot had never overcome, he was still Abraham's nephew. Lot was an ordinary man in Mesopotamia, he was an ordinary man when he reached Haran, and he was an ordinary man after he reached Canaan. He even chose the good land for himself and moved to Sodom. Lot had no virtue except his sorrow over the licentious manner of life of the lawless (2 Pet. 2:7-8); he had no testimony other than this one. Yet Abraham still recognized him as his nephew. Only those who stand on the ground of Hebron, that is, the ground of fellowship, can engage in spiritual warfare. In order to have the strength for warfare, we must not harbor any complaint within us. Even if our brother has wronged us, we should still consider him our brother, and we should still pray for him and help him unreservedly. Only this kind of person can have the power to fight the spiritual battle. Abraham fought by standing on this ground. Therefore, he was able to overcome the enemy.
When Abraham defeated the enemy and took back Lot from the hand of the enemy, it would have been very easy for him to become proud. It would have been very easy for him to say to Lot, "I told you so, but you would not listen!" It would have been very easy for him to have had an expression of contempt on his face, as if Lot owed him something for such a deliverance. Yet Abraham did not show any such expression.
After Abraham brought back all the goods, including his nephew Lot and his goods and the women and the people, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh. Melchizedek king of Salem also brought forth bread and wine to meet him. "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself" (Gen. 14:21). Abraham had learned the lesson. He did not consider the goods as trophies of his hard-fought battle and that he deserved them. On the contrary, "Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich" (vv. 22-23). He took a certain stand and showed others that, other than Jehovah, no one could give him anything.
Abraham called God "the possessor of heaven and earth"! We should not think lightly of this title. This means that because of Abraham's stand for the Lord, heaven became the Lord's, and the earth became the Lord's. God was no longer the Lord of heaven only, but the possessor of heaven and earth! Abraham did not invent the title "the possessor of heaven and earth"; he learned this from Melchizedek. After he slaughtered Chedorlaomer and the other kings, he met Melchizedek at the valley of Shaveh, which was the king's dale. After he won the victory, he did not meet others at the height of the city wall, but at the bottom of a humble valley. Melchizedek came to him with bread and wine and blessed him, saying, "Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand" (vv. 19-20). Because a man stood on earth for God, Melchizedek was able to proclaim God as the possessor of heaven and earth. This is the first time in the Bible that God was called the possessor of heaven and earth. After Abraham won the victory on earth, God was called the possessor of heaven and earth!
Abraham had passed through all the tests. In the end he overcame! This was God's work on Abraham. Blessed be the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth!