Abram’s Restoration, Lot’s Separation

Text: Genesis 13:1-18

Introduction

Genesis 12 closed with Abram being deported from Egypt. Genesis 13 opens then with Abram’s actions afterward. Will Abram continue in fear, or will he learn his lesson and live by faith?

In Genesis 13, we see a different kind of test—not one of famine in the land, but of great prosperity in the land—and we are reminded again of the drastic difference between the life of faith and the life lived by sight.

We see in Genesis 13 Abram’s restoration, but Lot’s separation.

I. Abram Turns Back to Canaan, and to God (vv.1-4)

1. This passage informs us that Abram is not merely aimlessly wandering now; Abram makes a beeline for Canaan again, the land God had promised him.
   1. And Abram even returns to the very place where he had begun his journey of faith (v.3), and to the first altar he built (v.4).
      1. Abram is not merely leaving Egypt, and Abram is not just returning to Canaan; Abram is repenting and is turning back to God.
   2. Here is a lesson to learn from Abram. Following Abram’s hard failure, Abram followed hard after God.
2. v.4 Abram is returning to the worship of God! Tho he has wandered, tho he has struggled, Abram is turning back to Canaan, and to God.
   1. The story of even God’s most faithful servants is not a story of flawlessness; it is the story of people who turn to God over and over in repentance and in faith.
      1. It is the story, not of people who perfectly worship God, but of people who trust in the perfect God whom they worship.
   2. Abram called on the name of the Lord, and was restored to intimate fellowship with God. Abram was experiencing the truth later expressed by John: 1 Jn 1:9

II. Prosperity Tests God’s People (vv.5-11)

1. vv.5-6 Abram and Lot now face the opposite temptation from when there was a famine in Canaan; now they experience the equally great challenge of prosperity in Canaan.
   1. This passage is the first mention of wealth in the Bible: how instructive it is!
   2. Both Abram and Lot possess great wealth, but they handle it differently.
2. vv.7-9 describe a simple logistical problem which arose by virtue of the abounding prosperity which both Abram and Lot were now experiencing.
   1. There was not enough room/provision for all the flocks/herdsmen belonging to Abram and to Lot. Abram therefore, in an attempt to avoid strife, graciously suggests that they separate, and offers Lot first pick of the surrounding area.
   2. What is conspicuously missing from this narrative? Any mention of concern now on Abram’s part that God can provide for their needs.
      1. Abram is now reflecting unquestioning faith in God’s ability to care for the needs of God’s people, no matter what the situation.
3. vv.10-11 then describe Lot’s decision making process, and how he and Abram end up separating from each other.
   1. Lot scans the area and sees the well-watered Jordan Valley. It is probably wise not to read too much into his decision to move toward Sodom, as Lot perhaps did not yet know the wickedness that existed in Sodom.
   2. But what should be both instructive and cautionary is that, in all of Lot’s calculations, there is no mention of any altar to the Lord or consideration of God’s provision/promises.
      1. This is further indicated by the fact that Lot is choosing to leave Canaan, the land God had promised.
4. v.10 Moses has to include for his reading audience the explanation that this all happened before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
   1. Apparently, this same area was so barren and lifeless in Moses’ day—following God’s judgment on Sodom—that his readers wouldn’t even be able to understand or imagine Lot’s decision from their later perspective!
      1. People looking back from Moses day, after God’s judgment had fallen on Sodom, could plainly see the wisdom of Abram and the foolishness of Lot.
   2. Similarly one day very soon, when this earth is on fire, every decision made in light of eternity will be unmistakably wise; and every investment in this earth’s wealth will seem hard to even understand.

III. Abram & Lot Settle Down, but Differently (vv.12-18)

1. vv.12-13 While Abram and Lot both in a sense settle down, their situations could not be more divergent. Abram is in Canaan, the land God has promised; yet Lot is near Sodom—a city we are now told plainly was a city of exceeding sin and wickedness.
   1. Tho we perhaps should not fault Lot for moving in this direction in the first place (Abram may have headed in this general direction had Lot chosen the opposite direction), Lot is now clearly exercising bad judgment.
2. vv.14-18 provide a vivid and arresting contrast. Where Lot is choosing physical prosperity over prosperity of soul, Abram is following God by faith. And to Abram God then renews his assurance and promises.
   1. God repeats the covenant promises he expressed to Abram in Gen. 12, though Abram has had some notable failures already.
      1. As Paul later reminds us in Romans, the promise was never received thru works but through faith.
   2. v.14 is one of many purposeful contrasts in this chapter between Abram and Lot: whereas in v.10 “Lot lifted up his eyes,” saw the rich land, and pursued it—Abram is now encouraged by the Lord to“Lift up your eyes,” by faith, and see the riches of God’s promises to him.
      1. In v.18 we see the same bookend that began chapter 13: Abram worshiping at the altar of  the one true God.
3. Yet even as God confirms his covenant with Abram, and as Abram worships his God, we are pointed beyond Abram and his story to Christ and the promises that all believers have in him. Notice in the promise in v.15 to Abram and his descendants, that God will give them a promised land “forever.”
   1. Tho this promise of land would be partially fulfilled in Joshua’s day, and further thru David and Solomon, the land would eventually be taken away from Israel.
      1. In fact, this seeming disparity btw the“forever” promises of God and the loss of those blessings by Israel later in Babylonian captivity, is one of the great problems that the later prophets seek to answer for God’s people.
   2. And what is their answer? The New Covenant which God will bring to pass through the Messiah. Not that God’s promises have failed, but that in fact they will be fulfilled in ways infinitely greater and broader than Israel could even imagine.
      1. In a sense the land promises to Abraham are fulfilled to every believer in Christ, who desire a heavenly country—and will be given it for their eternal inheritance! Hebrews 11:9-16
   3. But ultimately, God’s promises to Abraham and his seed are fulfilled in Christ himself, as the preeminent descendant of Abram and all God’s promises to him: Hebrews 1:1-2.