Two words used in this verse are interesting. First, is the king's reference to God, Lord. Unbeknownst to many people, but knownst to some, there are actually two Hebrew words used in the Hebrew Scriptures for a "lord" or "master". One is "Adonai" which is commonly used to refer to human masters and God. The other is "Baal" which is not as common, an older idiom, used in the Hebrew Scriptures for a "lord" or "master" and almost exclusively used to refer to the Canaanite god of thunder. The word this Canaanite king uses when he replies back to God is "Adonai", not "Baal". Interesting that he knew to do that.
The second word is what is translated here as "blameless". The word is typically translated as "righteous", but has the connotation of being "just", "justified", or "vindicated" in court settings. So this Canaanite king replies back to the Master of universe correctly, and refers to his kingdom as "righteous", or "right before God." A pretty amazing thing to find in this passage. And yet, in verse 6 God replies in agreement with this king in his assessment of himself (and by inference, his nation).
Now before I leave this tidbit of detail, I want to also note that in verse 3, God Himself uses the Canaanite word for "lord", "baal" to refer to the relationship of Sarah and Abraham; "she has been married to a baal". So there was plenty of room for this word to be used in the king's reply, yet he didn't. So, this isn't necessarily a "writer's ploy" or just an idiom from the writer's day/perspective. There's good reason to believe that this king and his kingdom were actually followers of Abraham's Master.
This is very similar to my entry a few weeks ago when I was impressed by these "pockets" of righteous people in Canaan during Abraham's sojourn there. Perhaps this is what God was referring to when He said that the sin of the Amorite is not yet complete. Perhaps there were at the time, more righteous in Canaan than were found in Sodom and Gomorrah. It would seem that changed over time. But there I dealt with religious prejudices I hold and am not necessarily aware of, here I want to look at God's "remnant" often found in strange places.
Abraham assumed that there was no fear of God in that place, and was wrong. Another prophet later discovered that he was not as alone as he thought he was in the increasingly pagan Northern Kingdom of Israel. What I derive from this is that I can find people on whom my Master is already working, and I can find them anywhere. I found a worship leader in a guy who delivered coffee to me at a camp ground this past weekend. It turned out we had other common interests as well. Unlooked for, but welcome, brotherhood found in a very tiny mountain town.
But what about in my own neighborhood? It is possible that I will find pockets of people already in a relationship with my Master. It may look different than mine (again the prejudice could kick in), but it might still be there. I found a guy and his wife at the camp ground in the site across from ours who is a Christ-follower, but practices and believes very differently from me. We both rely on the grace of our Master, Jesus for salvation, but we differ over how we see church and how we view the Scriptures (the Hebrew Scriptures to be specific). It's possible that he might not be saved, but the odds are good that he is.
So the challenge for me is find that remnant, and join my Master in the work He is already doing. This is a "Henry Blackaby" "Experiencing God" -ism, actually the basic premise of that study. This is specifically looking for a "remnant" of followers of my Master, but where they are, He is working. Joining them instead of trying to re-invent ministry for or in place of them is a much more "kingdom-minded" approach. So, in my neighborhood/community, where are other followers of my Master being used by our Master, and what can I do to further that work? Perhaps later I'll look at filling a gap left by the work of others. Right now, I believe that this is where the work is, among His busy servants and knights. Tally-Ho!
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