Brethren Divided

"And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was so great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and three, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as thou comest into Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD." (Genesis 13:1-18)

While Abram and his family sojourned in Egypt (we are not told how long that was but can assume it was quite some), God had blessed Abram in material ways: "in cattle, in silver, and in gold." And Lot was blessed as well, for God had already begun to make Abram a blessing to others as He had promised would happen; so much so that "their substance was so great that they could not dwell together." That God was the One who brought all of this about for Abram and his family will be confirmed in chapter 14 of Genesis.

In spite of all his blessings of wealth, and the burden that such great riches bring in terms of time and effort spent managing them, Abram took the time and "called on the name of the LORD;" in other words, he worshiped God, and surely he did so with a grateful heart. The rest of this passage tells us quite a bit about Abram, and perhaps why it was that God chose him in the first place.

Yes, he lost his faith for a moment back there when entering into Egypt, when he let his fears overcome him. But we can see from this passage that he had a humble heart. And a desire to live in peace even if it cost him the best pick of the land. It is important to note also, with the mention that "the Cannanites and Perizzites dwelled then in the land," that Abram was concerned about presenting the best witness of his God to these unbelievers, and felt that any disputes between brethren needed to be settled quickly and amicably rather than risk casting aspersions upon the name of the LORD in the sight of pagans.

Abram was senior and elder to Lot; we might have expected Lot to defer to his uncle. The fact that Lot did not defer, but willingly took what appeared to be the best land, shows a bit of covetousness in Lot. The fact that Abram prudently offered the choice to Lot, showed wisdom and a lack of greed; it showed a flexible, yielding spirit.

But the passage also gives us a clue as to what lies ahead when it tells us that "Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah…" Sounds like some destruction of the worst kind is heading into Lot's chosen land; the worst kind because it sounds like a judgment of God is soon to be seen in the land!  In fact, the passage mentions that "the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly."

But Lot is guided not by humility and wisdom, but by what is appealing to the eye (sort of like Eve eyeing the fruit on the forbidden tree; sort of like what unfortunately guides us much of the time as well). Perhaps Lot picked up more than just wealth in Egypt; perhaps he picked up an attitude of "more is not enough." That isn't to say that he was no longer a believer in God, but that he went a bit astray perhaps in his priorities.  Something most of us can understand having done so ourselves at one time or another in our walk with the Lord.

Lot leaves the less watered land, apparently, to his uncle Abram; but that turns out instead to be the best land. In fact, right after Lot departed, God told Abram to look in a 360 degree circle, promising him that whatever he could see would be his. That might have included the land that Lot chose, as well, for surely Lot's choice of land was still in view as Abram had not picked up and moved yet. AND we will soon see that Lot loses all that he owns. Not deferring to his uncle when he had the chance, brought no gain to Lot after all; while Abram's humble spirit brought him much gain.

After receiving God's promise, "Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron." Hebron is just 19 miles southwest of Jerusalem and is rich in biblical history; it is a name that we will see mentioned in the Bible many times more, a place of memorable events. And it is the place where Lot's fate will be determined as we will see in the next posting.