Genesis 13

 

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

  

1So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 

 

Abram returned to the Negev, which is the southern part of Israel from which he came. Lot also traveled with Abram to Egypt.

 

2(Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.)

 

Abram left Ur, so he was blessed materially by the Abrahamic Covenant.

 

3And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 

 

Abram traveled back to Bethel, which was the central hill country of Israel. Bethel means “house of God”.

 

4This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Lord.

 

Abram began and resumed public worship at Bethel. 

 

5Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 

 

Lot was blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant because of his relationship to Abram. Since Lot had extra tents, he possessed servants as well.

 

6But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another. 

 

Much of the grazing land was controlled by the Canaanite city states. Abram and Lot could only graze in the neutral land, which was usually more barren. Abram and Lot were so blessed with livestock by the Abrahamic Covenant, that the neutral land of Bethel could not support both of them.

 

7So there were quarrels between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.)

 

The strife was not personal for Abram and Lot, but it was a point of conflict between their servants..

 

8Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 

 

Lot was the nephew of Abram. After Lot’s father died in Ur, Abram had raised him like a son.

 

9Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

 

Abram was the patriarch. Lot should have allowed Lot to have chosen first. Abram had wealth, but the wealth did not have Abram. Lot had wealth, but the wealth had Lot.

 

10Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.

 

The modern hill country of Israel is barren today, but it was like the Garden of Eden in Abram’s day. There was a mini-ice age after the Flood which caused the plains to be well-watered.

 

 11Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east. So the relatives separated from each other.

 

Lot was thinking about himself first. He chose the best land for himself.

 

12Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 

 

Lot chose the best land, violating the Abrahamic Covenant. He would have been blessed more if he had given Abram the best land. Lot was still nomadic, but he placed his tent on the city limits of Sodom. The city would seduce him eventually to become a city dweller.

 

13(Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.)

 

The Hebrew word for “wicked” is רָעִ֖ים (rashim), meaning internally wicked. The Hebrew word for “extremely” is מְאֹֽד (moed), meaning extremely internally wicked. This extreme internal wickedness was directed “against the Lord.” This is a satanic type of wickedness. Sodom was a city of Satan worshipers.

 

14After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 

 

After Abram gave Lot the best land, Jehovah appeared a third time to Abram. He asked Abram to look at the land of Israel in all four directions.

 

15I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever. 

 

Jehovah reaffirmed the Abrahamic Covenant with Abram. However, this time he added “to you”. God promised Abram that the land that He just gave to Lot will not only be given to his descendants, but it will be give to Abram as well.  

 

The Hebrew word for “forever” is עוֹלָֽם (olam), meaning an age. Most English versions translate it as “forever,” but it does not always mean forever. Jehovah will give the land to Abram and his descendants for an age, meaning the 1000 year time period of the Millennial Kingdom. This means that God will have to raise Abram from the dead to fulfill this promise. 

 

Many Amillennialists and Post-millennialists spiritualize this passage to make it fit their own theology. This promise was not given to the church, but to Abram and his descendants.

 

16And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 

 

Abraham’s descendants include the Jews, Arabs, Edomites, Midianites, Ishmaelites, and many other tribes, nations, and kings.

 

17Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.”

 

If taken literally, then Abram physically walked through all of Israel. All of this land will be given to him during the Millennial Kingdom. 

 

18So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

 

Although Abram had been promised all of the land of Israel, he continued to live a nomadic lifestyle. Abram built altars in pagan places to show that the land spiritually belonged to him. These altars were also a testimony to the Canaanites of the one true God.

 

In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that the United Nations should decide the fate of Israel.

 

The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches that God owns the land and he gave it to Israel.

 

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1. SAQ--What is the theme of Genesis 13?

 

2. Who was Lot?

 

3. Why was Lot blessed by the Abrahamic Covenant?

 

4. Why was Lot cursed by the Abrahamic Covenant?

 

5. What mistake did Lot make with Abraham?

 

6. What was the result of this mistake?

 

7. What was the character of the citizens of Sodom?

 

8. Why was it dangerous for Lot to be living at the city gates of Sodom?

 

9. When will Abraham's descendants receive the land promise of the Abrahamic Covenant?