July 12, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Proverbs 10

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 John 1:9

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 13:1-13 (NASB95)
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. ^[1]

Abram returned from Egypt to the place where he had departed due to difficult times.  I wanted to point this out because many of us will leave God's plan to follow our own understanding.  Our return may not be physically back to the place where we started, such as Abram's first altar, but it will be back in the same pew.  When we return to continue our journey with the Lord, we will return to a similar situation where we left off.

Trouble did not depart from the land, if Lot and Abram were to possess the same land, there would be famine in the land again.  This time Abram made a decision to split the tribe.  We don't know if this was an option before, but it is interesting that this was an immediate answer to the problem of famine that they faced. 

One of the reasons that there was trouble in the land was because the best of the land was taken by the residents of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.  Abram and Lot had to fight over what was left over, or conquer the current residents.  Up to this point, aggression is not offered as an option, when aggression was used it was in the case of murder.   

One other thing that is interesting is that Abram chose to take a servant's position offering the best to his nephew.  His goal seemed to be keeping the peace between himself and his nephew.  Lot took the best of the two choices, moving into the valley where premium land was to be found.  Abram took what was left.

Matthew 6:32 (NASB95)
³² “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Romans 12:10-11 (NASB95)
¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

Philippians 2:4 (NASB95)
⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ^[2]

Consider the way that Abram molded the ideas of his children.  Jesus even built upon the idea that what seems to be best is not always the best.  The best thing to do is to seek peace with our brothers and to regard others as more important than ourselves.  It's easy to write these words, but imagine if you were standing in Abram's shoes when he was faced with the decision of splitting the land.  Abram had spiritual authority because God had already given him the promise. 

However, notice the end result, Lot lost everything that he had to sin, leaving years later with just the clothes on his back and a few family members, (Genesis 19).  Riches and wealth are deceptive, we have a good example of this in these verses.

Genesis 13:14-18 (NASB95)
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.” 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.^[3]

Imagine God standing back and watching the discussion between these two men.  Then God promised Abram the land that he had already chosen, and added a promise of prosperity with it.  God rewarded the decision of Abram, giving him legal possession of the land. 

Look at Abram's first reaction, he built an altar to the Lord.  Abram recognized that God was in control of his life and returned to follow the Lord.  Abram had learned his lesson in the journey to Egypt.  He returned to the land that God had promised, and built an altar to validate that God was his God. 

Before Abram had reached this point, he had traveled to Egypt, stumbled into sin, and had almost lost his family.  Abram had eaten dirt and experienced the disappointment of failing at the first attempt to possess the land, then failed at moving to Egypt by his own sin of deception, resulting in a request to leave the land.  Then he returned to the Promised Land with a new attitude, it was time to deal with the problem of famine.  It was time to settle his differences with his nephew, and to return to following the Lord God.  The mere act of allowing a subordinate to be a superior demonstrates that Abram had a heart that demonstrated humility.  Abram built an altar and returned to following the Lord. 

I may have read into these verses, I apologize if you see it that way, but it seems to read right.  We have a tendency to make Abram out to be super-human, he wasn't.  The Holy Spirit was careful to make sure that an accurate history was recorded in the Bible, recording victories as well as defeats.

Questions for thought:

1.  Why did Abram allow his nephew to have the best of the land?

2.  In your opinion, considering Abraham's sacrifice in verse 18, was it a return to the Lord, or did it have another meaning?

Father, as we consider Your word, guide each of us and bring us back to the places where we departed your will so that we can journey in your path.

In Him,

Joe Turner.