At the end of the whole war, the war is over. Baruch Hashem, as we understand it now, the pasuk (verse) says, “Baruch Hashem, it’s over.” God comes to Avraham in a prophecy and tells him, “Don’t be afraid.” What does that mean, “Don’t be afraid”? That means he was afraid. If somebody tells you, “Don’t be afraid,” what does that mean? It means you’re afraid. So God tells him, “Don’t be afraid.” I don’t know why Avraham’s afraid. God said, “I’m going to protect you. You have a lot of reward.”
So the explanation is like this: Avraham was concerned because the Gemara says that anytime a miracle is done to you, it eats away from your merits. Nothing for nothing; you have to pay. There’s no free ride in this world. So the Gemara says, if Hashem makes a miracle for you, so it depletes your account. Avraham was concerned that maybe after this war of the four kings and the five kings—I mean, it’s a big victory. Nobody expected it. Now Avraham comes back with a crown on his head. He’s the king. Oh, he’s the king. And where did they make him the king? In that Emek HaMelech (the valley of kings).
Well, now I understand, by the way, why it’s called Emek HaMelech, because it is in that place that Avraham Avinu saved the Melech (king). Who’s the Melech? Melech HaMashiach (the king). So Nebuchadnezzar is telling you the real place. This is Emek HaMelech, this is Emek HaMelech, we’re the king, the valley of kings. And therefore, when the crown is put on Avraham’s head, that’s God’s way of saying, “You deserve to be the king because you saved the king.” But wait, over here it says Avraham is worried: “Maybe you depleted all my reward.”
There’s a halacha (Jewish law) that says if the miracle is for personal benefit, then they deplete your merits. But if it’s for Klal Yisrael (the people), if you’re doing it for the greater good of the people, why should they take credit from me? I’m doing it for the people. So God says to Avraham, “Don’t worry, your credit is not depleted. Your reward is intact because you were doing this for the people to save Mashiach (Messiah).” You weren’t doing this for money. You didn’t take a shoelace from the war. You didn’t take a string. You didn’t take a nickel. You only saved Lot for the purpose, as we know.
And therefore, God says, now what if God would have just said, “What’s—who was the first man in creation?” Adam. Now Adam was supposed to live to a thousand, but he gave 70 years to King David because he said, “If we don’t have King David, we’re not going to have the Mashiach.” That’s why we call him Adam, because Adam is three letters: Adam, David, Mashiach, because it represents the three that are connected. So God is telling Avraham, you were involved over here in bringing the Mashiach. That’s connected to Adam, who gave the years to David. That’s... And therefore you have nothing to worry about. Your reward is definitely intact.