The Foundation: Study in Genesis Part 15
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Genesis 13 Abraham and Lot
Genesis 13 Abraham and Lot
Begin with Prayer
Recap Chapter 12
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.
As we mentioned last week, Abram came back from Egypt a much wealthier man than he was when he went down to Egypt. Though Abram made serious mistakes in Egypt (and even going down to Egypt in the first place was a mistake), yet God still blessed Him greatly. We have to ascribe this to the grace of God. How many times in your life and my life has God blessed us not because of what we’ve done but in spite of what we’ve done. We also need to look at this through “covenant lens.” God had promised to bless Abraham greatly. God was going to keep His end of the bargain! Finally, I would also say that God did not see a rebellious heart in Abram. He saw spiritual immaturity. There is a great difference. We deal (or we should deal) with our children differently when their actions are the result of immaturity than when they are the result of outright rebellion. We have no record of God ever punishing Abram for going down to Egypt. I don’t believe that God looked at Abram’s sojourn to Egypt as rebellion against God but rather as immature faith. We’re going to see Abram’s faith in this chapter mature greatly!
3 He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
So now we see Abram going back to where he was to begin with...He goes “back to Bethel.” BTW Bethel means “the house of God”. He had strayed by going down to Egypt, but now he goes back to the last place he had an encounter with God. He builds an altar there again...and calls on the name of the Lord.
Pastor Mike has shared before that when you have lost your way, go back to the place of your last obedience. I think that is what is going on here with Abram. He renews His faith in God. The blessings of God that he acquired in Egypt haven’t caused him to turn from God. He is now turning TO God.
This is all a very good lesson for us. When we have lost our way (maybe taken an Egyptian detour), we need to return to the place where we last encountered God. Perhaps we’ve lost our way because he has told us to do something and we haven’t done it. Or maybe he told us not to do something...and we did it anyway. We need to return to Him in repentance...and He has promised to receive us!
3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.
5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.
I love the thought that God doesn’t reluctantly forgive us when we return to Him. He is ready to forgive. It is like that He can’t wait to forgive us!
5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
6 And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
So now Lot comes back on the scene. We are going to hear a lot from Lot in the next several chapters...and its not going to be good! As we look at the lives of these two men, I want you to see the vast difference in their character. While Abraham is a type of a faithful believer in Christ, Lot I believe is a type of a carnal Christian. One who has made a profession of faith but doesn’t live it. Abraham will draw closer to God. Lot will go the opposite direction. He will go away from God.
So it seems that Lot being in proximity to Abram, he also is blessed by God. He has many flocks, herds and tents as does Abram. You know, wealth is not always a blessing. The more we have, the more problems we have taking care of what we have...and the more potential for conflict. There begins to be a conflict between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen over grazing land. It is significant that our text tells us that the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling in the land there. Something had to give here. Both Abram and Lot professed faith in a strange God (to the Canaanites), but their witness to the local tribesmen were in peril here. What do you think the Canaanites were thinking about Abram and Lot here? They profess this strange God, but they act just like us! They are really no different than us!
We need to be careful of our witness to those around us. We need to be careful that we aren’t negative witnesses to those around us who aren’t following the Lord!
Questions/Comments
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.
Abram does a remarkable thing here. In ancient cultures, the elder tribesman was always revered and was given preference. So Abram had every right to insist on his rights here. But he does not. Before we talk about that though, I want to mention that Abram doesn’t stick his hand in the sand and pretend that there is no problem. He takes the matter in hand. We don’t do well when we ignore problems. Sometimes, we have to “take the bull by the horn” and deal with problems when they come up. Abram realized that their witness to the people around them is at stake.
So, despite all of his rights, he gives up his rights and he gives Lot a choice of the land. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.
I mentioned that I see Lot as being a type of a carnal Christian. He acts the part here. He is walking by sight and not by faith. He looks at the Jordan valley and he sees a beautiful land. It was like Eden...but only superficially. What he was looking at was the land that contained Sodom and Gomorrah...and our text mentions that God is going to destroy those towns. This is the scriptures way of telling us that Lot has made a bad choice. Notice that it says that Lot “chose for himself” all the valley of the Jordan. Lot was taking care of himself. When we put ourselves first, it seldom turns out well!
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
These verses show the stark difference in Abram and Lot’s choices. Abram is in the promised land. Lot settles near Sodom. Verse 13 explains for the first time how wicked and depraved the city of Sodom is. Notice that at this point Lot only is near Sodom. He gets right up to it, but doesn’t move in. Later we will find Lot and his family IN Sodom.
Isn’t this like the allurement of sin? We think we can sneak right up to it and it not affect us. But we are wrong. Lot pitches his tent as far as Sodom (some versions say “towards Sodom”) Much later in Genesis, we will see Joseph confronted with sin. He will run from it. Here, Lot sneaks right up to it. It doesn’t end well. It never does!
This episode reminds me of what James says...
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
Amplified Bible says in verse 14 “every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desires...” This valley of the Jordan was like Satanic bait to Lot...And it lured him in!
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
16 “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.
17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”
So in response to Abram giving up his rights, God renews His covenant with Abram. This passage builds on the earlier proclamations from God towards Abram.
While the first promises in chapter 12 had to do with blessing Abram and his descendants as a nation, this further revelation of God’s covenant is specifically concerning the land. Now Abram is told that He will give Abram all of this land. He has Abram look in every direction and his says, “I will give it to you and your descendents forever.” He also gives Abram the breathtaking promise that his descendants will be innumerable...”as the dust of the earth.”
I mentioned last week in chapter 12 that the Abrahamic covenant as explained there is the “title deed to the land.” I should have held that thought one week. This promise in chapter 13 is the part that has to do with the land.
Look at first 15 again.
15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
The land that Abram sees would be given to him and his descendants forever. How long is forever? Forever is forever!
Let’s not spiritualize this. There are indeed spiritual elements to the Abrahamic covenant. But we can’t overlook the fact that this actual land was actually given to the actual descendants of Abraham. There is no getting around this!
And God has been faithful in this promise. Even after almost 2000 years of virtual exile from the land (although a few Jews always lived there), God in His faithfulness brought them back and made a nation of them in 1948. He is faithful!
Some people want to say that the Israel of today is not God’s chosen nation and even that the Jews of today are not really Jewish. If this is so, then when is God going to fulfill this promise? If He is not going to fulfill His promise, then we can’t say that God is faithful, right? If God is not faithful in this promise, how can we take any of the promises of God seriously? How can we trust Him for our salvation if we can’t even trust Him to fulfill this promise to Abraham?
Let’s look at verse 17 again.
17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”
Let’s stop to realize right now what we mentioned last week. According to man, Abraham owned no land. Though he was rich in every other way, he was landless. But God tells Him, “Abram, I want you to believe this promise. I want to walk through the land and see its length and its breadth. Take hold of this!”
So there is a spiritual dimension to this promise. When God gives us a promise, we have to take hold of it! We have to act on it as if it is already done.
We here have been given a promise, haven’t we? We’ve been given the promise of revival...in this very place. We have to hold on to that and never let it go!
The greatest promise He has ever given us or will ever give us is the promise of salvation. But remember that Paul said we have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If we said “walk it out” I don’t think that that would do it much violence. We have to put all of God’s promises in shoe leather so to speak.
Paul says it this way in Ephesians:
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
As Abraham walked the breadth and length of the natural land, so we spiritually must walk the length and breadth of the spiritual land. The love of Christ surpasses our knowledge. We never will fully understand all the dimensions of it. But we are to try! The result of meditating on His greatness is that we will be “filled up to all the fullness of God!” There is more to this than I can get ahold of!
18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
In obedience to God, Abram keeps moving along. He begins to stake his clam to the land that God has promised him. Hebron, by the way, is about 22 miles south of Jerusalem.
I’d like to close with some verses from Hebrews 11, the “Faith Hall of Fame chapter.” We’ve read there about Enoch and Noah before. Let’s see what it says about Abraham.
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
At the end of the chapter, it sums up the lives of all of these men and women.
39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
As we mentioned last week, Abraham will never own any land in Canaan except his burial plot in Hebron. He died not having seen the promise. But Hebrews points us to a greater promise. Not just the promise of the land, But the promise of a city which the land is a type of. It is a city whose builder and maker is God. We are part of that great city of God. God has provided something greater for us than he gave to Abraham...It is called the church of the living God!
