6 SEPARATE PATHS & DESTINATIONS

Abram not only offered to let Lot choose the land he wanted, but when Lot choose what looked like the most fertile and prosperous section, he allowed Lot to have it. Appearances deceive. Abram ended up with the morally better part. Lot did not see the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah and ended up with a very immoral and evil part.

Lot’s Part 13:10-13 Let’s observe and learn from the choice Lot made when he parted from Abram. One would have expected that Lot would not be so eager to separate from the man through whom he had received so many riches. Perhaps he might have expressed either an unwillingness to part from Abram or, at least, a reluctancy to do so. Lot actually, as the younger and lesser of the two, should have been so civil as to have given the choice back again to the respectable Abram. But nowhere do we see any deference or respect to his uncle throughout the entire record. Abram offered him the choice and, without compliment or gratitude, Lot seems to have accepted it and made his selfish choice. Selfishness is not becoming.

Lot had an eye to the physical appearance, material prosperity and general material goodness of the land. He looked at the green pastures and well watered valley and chose it, the flat country in which Sodom stood. It looked like the garden of the Lord, like Egypt. It may have been this very watered land that caused the herdsmen of Lot and Abram to quarrel in the first place. That valley, which was like the garden of Eden itself, now yielded him a most pleasant prospect. It was, in his eye, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth; and therefore he doubted not but that it would yield him a comfortable settlement, and that in such fruitful soil he should certainly thrive and grow very rich. That seems to have been his motive and therefore was all he looked at.

But what came of it? In the very next chapter we see he is in the briars. He and those with him are carried captive; they are mere spoils in a battle, and Abram must rescue him! While he lived among them, they vexed his righteous soul with their conversation, and never had a good day with them, till, at last, God rained down fire over his head, and forced him to the mountain for safety who chose the plain for wealth and pleasure.

If Lot was motivated by sensual matters (only a remote possibility) so much more shame should be piled on him. Sensual choices are sinful choices, and seldom lead to anything good. Those who in choosing relations, careers, positions, dwellings, or settlements are influenced by lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eye, or the pride of life without considering the superior moral atmosphere which would be good for their souls and relationship with God, cannot expect God’s presence with them, nor His blessing upon them. They may get the things they wanted but even that may be a disappointment to them. They get what they principally aim at, and miss what would have been better and more satisfying to their souls. If we want to be an exemplary Christian leader and gather or attract quality people around us, this rule should be our guide: whatever is best for our soul is best.

Lot did not consider the moral condition, the wickedness, of the neighborhood. Verse 13 says “. . . the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.” Though all are sinners, yet some are greater sinners than others. The men of Sodom were imprudent and daring sinners of the worst kind, they sinned before the Lord which may suggest that they flaunted their sin, brazenly, intentionally, deliberately and with defiance, sinned and liked it. Years later Isaiah wrote of another generation of willfully sinful people, “The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves” (Isaiah 3:9).

Some sinners are the worse for living in a good land. So the Sodomites were. Ezekiel wrote, “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). They were prosperous and the prosperity of those fools destroyed them. God sometimes allows great plenty to great sinners. Filthy Sodomites dwell in a city, in a fruitful plain, while faithful Abram and his godly family dwell in tents up on the barren mountains. Where would you rather live? We Christian leaders have no need or reason whatsoever to view the prosperous wicked persons around us with envy. We have the better path and the better destination. When wickedness arrives at the height of the sin of the people of Sodom, ruin is not far off.

Yet there is another side of this equation—the blessing that a righteous man in their midst could have been. Lot’s coming to dwell among the Sodomites could have been considered a great mercy to them, and a possible means of bringing them to repentance. With Lot they had a prophet among them and a preacher of righteousness, and, if they had only had the good sense to listen to him, they might have been reformed, and their ruin prevented. Sometimes a merciful and righteous God sends preachers, before he sends destroyers. 2 Peter 2:7&8 says, “and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—.” Lot, was not only grieved to see the wickedness of the men of Sodom, but was himself molested and persecuted, narrowly escaping being violated having been rescued by angels who visited him. All this because Lot would not do as they did. We will see this in a later chapter. Nevertheless, we must admit that Lot brought this on himself because of his own choice.

This thought leads us to a conclusion of major importance. Things may look good but not be good. If a Christian leader is going to lead men and women towards righteous thought, character and behavior, that Christian leader had better have spiritual eyes. Lot was blinded by appearances. He did not see the evil. We positively and absolutely must clearly see whatever is evil if we expect to be able to avoid it ourselves and help others avoid it too.

Abram’s Part 13:14-18

Now let’s look at the record of a gracious visit God paid to Abram to confirm His promise to him and his offspring. It happened after Lot was separated from him. God had said to Abram to leave his family and now he and Lot were separated. It is possible that God waited until Lot was out of the picture because His plan was for Abram, not for Lot. Also, it was after the quarrel was over and it is possible that the quarrel itself had been a sort of rite of passage to get Abram separated from others so God could complete His plan for Abram. This might have included another aspect of Abrams testing in which Abram showed himself to be unselfish. Those are best prepared for visits of divine grace whose spirits are calm and confident, not ruffled with passion. After Abram’s humble self-denying condescensions to Lot for the preserving of peace, then God came to him with this indication of His favor. I see some rich symbolism here. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace what we might lose for the preservation of neighborly peace. When Abram had willingly offered Lot one-half of his right, God confirmed the whole to him.

On the other hand, if Abram valued the friendship he had with Lot and relied on it somewhat, it is then possible that separating from him would be another kind of test in losing the satisfaction he experienced of having a relative nearby. He lost the comfortable society of his kinsman, by whose departure his hands were weakened and his heart saddened. Then, just at that particular time, God came to him with these good and comfortable words. Communion with God may, at any time, serve to make up for the need for conversations with our friends; when our relations are separated from us, yet God is not.

Another dynamic would be that after Abram had given Lot his voice and Lot had chosen that pleasant fruitful vale and had gone to take possession of it, Abram might have been envious of him. At just that juncture God comes to him, and assures him that what he had should remain his and eventually his heirs’. Lot perhaps had the better land, yet Abram had a more certain ownership. Lot had the paradise, such as it was, but Abram had the promise; and events soon would make it appear that, however it seemed now, Abram really had the better part. Think about what the territory Lot choose eventually gave to Lot in contrast to what the property Abram received eventually gave to him and his decedents. Then you will see how Abram received the better land.

Let’s look at the promises themselves with which God comforted and enriched Abram. Two things he assures him of—a good land, and numerous descendants to enjoy it. 

God gave Abram the grant of a good land, a land famous above all lands, for it was to be the holy land, Immanuel’s land. God showed Abram the land, as He had promised in Genesis 12:1, God had said He would show Abram the land: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Lot looked at the verdant valley, liked what he saw and had gone to enjoy what he saw. After that God rewarded Abram. Geneses 13:14, 15 says, “14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.’” This would be the same land that years later God showed to Moses from the top of Pisgah. It is as though Lot had seen the land he wanted and chose regardless of its low moral condition, and now God says to Abram, let me show you what you will receive. What God has to show us is infinitely better and more desirable than any thing the world has to offer. The prospects of an eye of faith are much more rich and beautiful than those of an eye of sense. Those for whom the heavenly Canaan is designed in the other world have, by faith, a comforting hope. Amazingly, what the eye of faith alone sees is more permanent than what the natural eyes sees in the material world. Can you comprehend that?

The promise is recorded in verses 15 & 17. “I will give you.” and “I am giving it to you.” God secures this land to Abram and his offspring for ever.  Every repetition of a promise is a ratification of it. I am giving it to you, not to Lot and his seed; they were not to have their inheritance in this land, and therefore God’s plan provided that Lot should be separated from Abram first, and then the grant should be confirmed to Abram and his seed. God often brings good out of evil and makes men’s sins and follies subservient to His own wise and holy counsels. God spoke directly to Abram as though to say, ‘to you and your offspring, to you to travel in as a stranger, to your descendants to reside and rule in as proprietors. God granting it to Abram and his descendants forever intimates that it was an illustration of the heavenly Canaan, which is given to the spiritual seed of Abram forever. Hebrews 11:13b-14 has something to say about people like Abram: “they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.” Christian leader, our unconsciously held assumptions should include this other-worldly component. Otherwise we will never have the endurance to work our way through the difficulties of Christin life, let alone Christian leadership. ‘Enter, walk through it, and take possession, survey the parcels, and it will appear even better than your mountaintop distant prospect.’ God is abundantly willing more to show the heirs of promise the unchangeable nature of His covenant, and the inestimable worth of His covenant blessings. Psalm 48:13-14 say, “Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels, that you may tell of them to the next generation”

God also gave Abram the promise of numerous descendants to replenish this good land so that it should never be lost for lack of heirs. The promise of land for the heirs and heirs to enjoy the land go together. “I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted (16). This is as though to say, “Abram your offspring will increase incredibly, and, take them altogether, they will become such a great multitude that no man can number them.” By Solomon’s time this appears to have been fulfilled, “The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy” (1 Kings 4:20). The same God that provides the inheritance provides the heirs. He that has prepared the holy land prepares the holy seed.

What Did Abram do? He moved to another place and built an altar (18). God told Abram to walk through the land. Could this mean that in traveling through the land Abram’s lifestyle would symbolize the temporary nature of our journey through life as though we are to walking through it to a better Canaan? And could the alter symbolize his thankfulness to God for the kind visit? When God meets us with gracious promises, He surely deserves that we would respond to Him with our humble praises.