Fork in the Road

Text: Genesis 13:5-18

Central Idea of the Text: In spite of Lot’s doubt and dividing, God displays his faithfulness to Abram.

Proposition: When making tough choices, remember and rely on the presence and promises of God, over man’s wisdom.

Purpose: All hearers should seek God’s will in all of life’s tough choices.

The year was 2009. The location Paris, France. As the gathered stadium continued to hear the opening acts perform, their anticipation and impatience built. When will the headliner be out? As 30,000+ fans heard the last one perform, and saw the crew reset the stage, the noise of the crowd stirred even further, ready to answer the call when the lights dimmed, and ready to roar when their heroes hit the stage. But as everything was set, the wait grew long. 10 minutes. Then 20. Then 30. The crowd grew restless. What is going on?

Finally, a man who was clearly not in the band walked to the microphone and made an announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, there was a falling out. The band is over. Tonight’s concert is cancelled, along with the rest of the tour.” The crowd threw a fit, and one of the opening acts was thrown back out to try to appease the crowd, to no avail.

But behind the scenes, the normal turmoil of the band Oasis had turned to chaos. The band’s core was based on a set of brothers: Noel and Liam, who had a tempestuous relationship over the years, yet had managed to hold the band together. But not that night. Liam arrived for the show drunk, complained about some business decisions and his brother Noel’s girlfriend in the dressing room. That argument ended when he threw a plumb at the wall and walked out. But then it resumed when Liam stormed back into the room, armed with a classic 1962 Gibson guitar, and literally swung it at his brother’s head, as if he were his brother’s executioner. The Guitar wound up in pieces, and Noel ran for his life. He posted 10 minutes later on the band’s website that their run was over.

History is literally littered with bad breakups: in romantic relationships, in business agreements and brotherhoods. This morning’s text is going to present what looks like a big blowup. And to some extent, it is. It is a fork in the road and the parting of ways between two parties that will affect the stories of the rest of this book. As we look at the fork in their roads, I hope you’ll pause with me and consider the forks in our own roads, why we make the choices we do, and whether God has something better for us. Let’s begin by setting the table and rereading the text we ended with last week, starting in Genesis 13:1-4: [Read Text]

Genesis 13:1–4 ESV

1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Please pray with me: Lord, as we encounter a difficult time in the lives of Abram and Lot, please remind us that you are faithful and you will guide us through difficult relational waters as we trust in you. Lead us to a place of peace, to be peacemakers and to always be seeking your will for us. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Today’s text in all of chapter 13 tells the story of the breakup. And we are going to read it in three parts. But it’s not the breakup of a band that we’ve been fans of or grown attached to. It’s the break up of two men that to this point we’ve only had a couple chapters to get to know. The two men in question are Abram and Lot. Abram, later called Abraham, is known as the great patriarch. It is he, as we read in chapter 12, heard God’s voice, left his home, and went to the land of Canaan, the place God showed him. God has already explained that he is giving him this land, that he will be a blessing and all people will be blessed thru Him. And by his side the whole time (aside from his wife Sarai), his Nephew Lot. Lot is the son of Abram’s brother who has died, a man named Haran.

It is significant then that Lot, who could have stayed put before Abram heard and responded to God’s call, chooses to go with Abram rather than remain in their home territory. Lot did not hear the voice of God speak to him. But Lot did hear the voice of Abram, who said: “God wants me to leave and go to a new place. Are you staying here, or are you coming with me?” So Lot goes with Abram. He may or may not have a faith in God, but he has enough faith in Abram to say: “If you’re going? I’m going.” They travel to Canaan. Settle there. Then head south to the Negeb, settling there, only to find there’s a famine. And as we noted last week, they go together to Egypt, where Abram operated out of fear, and yet God was faithful. He saved Abram’s wife Sarai, blessed Abram with material blessing from Pharaoh, and now, as we’ve reviewed this morning, has sent him back to worship at the place where he last heard from and worshipped the Lord. He’s now in the land, with great livestock, much silver and gold.

Well, now that he’s back there where he met God and he’s got all this stuff, thing are gonna be honky dory, right? Wrong. There’s a fork in the road for Abram and Lot that will lead to a parting of ways. When our life and circumstances present us with a fork in the road, with tough (and even divisive) choices, we must ask for and receive the Lord’s wisdom over man’s wisdom. Let’s look at the rest of the chapter in three portions as we examine and learn from the fork … We start by looking at the ...

Divide?

What sets this whole conflict off anyway. Follow along with me as we look at verses 5-9:

Genesis 13:5–9 ESV

5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

There are a great many things that cause conflict between people, but this issue that is brought up between Abram and Lot is one of the common ones. There is just too much stuff for not enough space. That idea of a conflict could be brought to apply to wealth, to possessions, or perhaps just egos. It’s “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us” syndrome. In their case, it’s the pasture land. As any of you may know if you do much with animals, unless you have a steady supply of feed, grazing animals require a lot of land to feed their appetites. Yes, God has given Abram this land, but we also read here that the Canaanites and Perizzites are living in the land, and taking up their own grazing space. So, with God’s provision and blessing, and both of these men coming back. There’s no place to park the flocks, and they keep trying to eat in each others spaces. Lot’s servants are constantly getting into it with Abram’s servants. As much as they want to let this slide and treat it as a minor inconvenience, they can’t. This has become a major logistical headache.

So Abram calls for Lot and comes to solution. “This space won’t work. Let’s pick a direction and move apart. You choose the way, Lot.” To this point, Abram and Lot have moved together. Where Abram goes, Lot is right there with him. As we will continue to see, even though there is a disagreement here and now, Abram doesn’t hate his nephew. And in proposing this solution, he is killing two birds with one stone: He is considering a way by which they might both prosper and not feel confined, and he is making a way of peace with his relative. “We are kinsmen.” He says. It’s not right that we should bicker, fight and be confrontational.

Many times in life, facing forks in the road, we come to this points of decision because of a pressure point, a conflict, or something that just won’t stay the way it is. It is at those points that we evaluate: Is it best that we stay together, or is the way forward operating separately. This may pertain to whether you can live close to family, whether you remain in a friendship, or whether you continue in some sort of financial/business partnership. What do you do when it comes to such situations? Sometimes, in the midst of the fighting, you get stuck and think there is no way forward.

The apostle Paul spoke to the attitude that all who love the Lord ought to adopt in Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Sometimes, living peaceably with all is sitting, discussing and resolving the conflict. Sometimes, it means discussing such things and coming to an agreement that we can’t come to an agreement. Thus the point of the fork in the road becomes a true fork. Some of you may remember that the very Paul that wrote about living at peace at all once had a dividing of ways and paths. Some of you may remember in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas were great ministry partners, but they had a deep divide as they went to serve the churches that they had planted. What do we do with John Mark. Paul says: “he’s a deserter. There’s no way he should come with us.” But Barnabas says: “He’s a great servant and help. There’s no way he’s not coming with us.” Who is right and who is wrong? Neither. They had well reasoned takes. They talked it out. They decided that they could come to no peaceable solution where the two of them would stay together. So Barnabas and Paul parted ways. But was it a good and godly solution? Yes. Because it did no damage to the church, and God blessed both of their work with the church encouraged and planted through both of them.

When it comes to the place where the fork in the road divides and there is a division between brothers, we as followers seek the way of peace and present peaceful solutions. We are not to be a people who bear long grudges, who sow discord, and who contribute to bringing out the worst in others. The way of peace and wisdom is the way Abram chooses and the solution he proposes. We ought to walk in his steps when we encounter the fork.

So to consider Lot’s portion in this we ought to consider his path of the fork in the road and what he will ...

Decide?

Lot is about to be given the choice. We can’t both stay here. So which way will you go. Listen to what Abram proposes and Lot decides in verse 9-13:

Genesis 13:9–13 ESV

9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

Now we might remember what God had promised to Abram in the place where they now stand. He said in Gen 12:7: “To your offspring I will give this land.” Abram isn’t under any obligation to give anything, but he graciously offers Lot first choice of the land and which way he will go. Abram holds the blessings of God loosely. After all, he has been blessed to be a blessing. And as we generally understand nowadays, a gracious offering should inspire a gracious deferral. We do this out of courtesy often when someone gives an overly gracious gift. When you grandma gifts you a chair that is a family heirloom, or your dad gifts you the classic car that he no longer needs and can’t use. What do you say to that gift? Oh no, grandma, I don’t need it. Are you sure you don’t want someone else to have it. Courtesy says a generous gift should be questioned at its first glance. This was actually true in Abram’s time as well. If Lot understands the generosity of the gift, he will defer it back, perhaps saying: “Abram, God gave you the land. It is you who should be choosing first.”

But both Lot’s reaction and Lot’s choice display the attitudes of his heart and his relationship to his “stuff”. There’s no deferral or questioning. There’s not even much debating. When Lot look across that Jordan valley and river, he sees green. Not just the green of the land, which will be wonderful for his flocks. He sees the green of money, the wealth that lives in prosperous but idolatrous cities. Interestingly, the text describes the Jordan valley as well watered like the garden of the Lord, and the land of Egypt. Are we starting to see a pattern here? Prosperous and Idolatrous Ai? Prosperous and Idolatrous Egypt? Prosperous and Idolatrous Sodom? All of them green and well watered. All of them a case of the grass looking greener on the other side. But this text ominously gives us a spoiler of what is coming: This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. He says the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

Whereas Abram held loosely to the blessings of God, Lot clung tightly and selfishly headed across that valley and was magnetized toward the wicked city of Sodom. The text says that he moved his tent toward Sodom. He is not yet in the city, but he will soon find himself getting sucked into it. I do not think that when Abram sent Lot in a direction, he meant for him to travel far away, far away from Abram. Just move in a direction to where we have have space for our livestock to flourish. But Lot takes the freedom and grace of Abram and he runs far away from the one whom God has blessed. Does this sound like a wise move to you? It doesn’t sound like a wise move to me at all.

Without getting too far down the line, what is coming for Lot simply because of this choice is not good. That is why, when we are faced with the branches of the choices that are before us, we ought not look simply to the green grass of the now, the colorful, the attractive, the shiny and new. Things are not always what they appear. In situations such as this one, I think of Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” At the point of our choosing, we ought to more fully look and investigate down the road. What will be the outcomes and consequences? How can I think with my mind, with wisdom and seeking God’s will? How can I overcome and get past thinking with my eyes, my desires, my hormones, my impulses and urges? This is the flesh that we must overcome when seeking to walk God’s way. When it comes to choosing a way, we must look with God’s eyes rather than man’s.

And now that Lot has made his choice, we are left with Abram. How will he respond? He will make a conscious choice to ...

Dwell.

Dwell in the place where God has designs for him. Now that the point of conflict has left, Abram is certainly not alone, but there is a certain loneliness that can find us in the wake of someone we are close to leaving us. Especially when it was under tenuous circumstances. We may sit and wonder, “God, did I make the right choice. Did I act and think rightly according to the promise you made to me? Take a look at the remaining part of the text in verses 14-18, to see how God meets Abram here:

Genesis 13:14–18 ESV

14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Now, let’s observe here: Abram stayed in the place where he was. it was the place where he heard from God before, the place he worshipped, and the place of he and Lot’s dispute there between Bethel and Ai in the land of Canaan. It was Lot that ran for greener pastures, but it was Abram that awaited further instructions at his current encampment. A phrase this scripture uses often for this is waiting on the Lord:

Psalm 27:14 “14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 37:7 “7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”

Lamentations 3:25 “25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

I could go on but you get the point. Waiting upon the Lord. Praying and listening where you are. Awaiting further affirmation and instructions.

And so God answers. What does God say? Abram, lift up your eyes. I love the verbal contrast between what verse 10 says “Lot lifted up his eyes.” and the Lord in verse 14 saying: “Lift up your eyes.” What is the difference? One is compelled by his own desires. The other is compelled by faith. Abram will look up and look out with eyes of faith. And where will he look?

God says, look north, south, east and west. All that you see, this I will give you. Not just to you but to your “offspring” or in Hebrew, your Zera, your seed forever. That word “Seed” there, that is a singular. A unit, a people. That word “forever” is Ad Olam in the Hebrew, which means for a long time or long age moving forward. We will continue to unpack that in the coming weeks to understand God’s intention in this promise. But I will simply place a pin in this conversation to say that God affirms that Abram is on the right track as he dwells with God, waits on the Lord, and hears the affirmation of his promises.

When it comes to the fork in your road, so often the path that belongs to the Lord will require patience and listening. It will require prayer and Godly guidance. Are you willing to have patience: to stop what you are doing? To stop talking long enough to hear from him? So often, we fill the space with other voices: bad advisors, bad influencers, social media experts. Can you shut these things off? Can you sit in the silence? In the walk of Faith and the true choice between the forked road, we need to have eyes to see God and his way. That way is better.

Today’s text has shown us the Fork in the Road of Abram and Lot’s life together, and it has given us three important reminders for navigating the forks in our own roads. When it comes to Dividing? Let us seek the most peaceable way. When it comes to Deciding? Let us see our choices through eternal impact over temporary means. When it comes to Dwelling? Let us seek what God would say and live in the space of his blessing.

But these stories aren’t simply here to give us moral guidelines and wisdom for our actions, they are here to help us see the great fulfillment of all these scriptures. When Abram’s eyes look up, what was he seeing? He was not simply seeing land to the North, South East and West. What Abram saw was something better. We are reminded in Hebrews 11:10, of what Abram’s eyes of faith saw when he looked at the land. “For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

You see, Abram didn’t just see land. He saw land filled with people, an eternal city built by not man but God. And that city would come because of the true Gospel connection of this passage. That seed that would inherit the Land would ultimately be Jesus. As Abram would walk from north to south in the land, having built an altar for worship in the north, then building another altar for worship near Hebron in the south, he would walk the same paths that would be walked by Jesus 2000 years later. And that same Jesus would come as Abram’s descendant, seed and heir, to claim a people forever for God. He would do it when his hands and feet were nailed to a cross and the cross was driven into the ground, forever planting a spike in the middle of this land and the eternal marker of God’s love for us. The cross is God’s eternal stake and claim: he keeps his promises forever. Jesus is Abram’s seed, and it is by faith in Christ, that we become people of the promise of God as well.

So as you have fled from the savior, and tried to find other paths to satisfaction or joy, would you turn back to Him today? Respond by calling on the name of the Lord. “Jesus, I’ve taken my own paths. Tried my own way. It’s been vacant and empty. I’ve sinned against people and against you. I need you to forgive me.” There is a road back to Jesus from every wrong fork taken. Turn to him, be baptized and live in a new life, dwelling in the Savior’s way.