Genesis 13 (ESV)
8/3/25
1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
– An important lesson is that partial obedience is disobedience. Abram will learn this and Lot will learn this.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
– He “calls upon the name of the LORD”. This is the same phrased used in Chapter 12 when Abram first built the altar. Abram is getting back on track, going to God instead of his own ideas.
5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
– God has promised Abram’s family the land, and to cohabitate is causing problems. We see the consequences of sin and disobedience. Freedom to choose; not of consequence.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
– Abram gives Lot the choice of which direction he’ll go
– we are looking at an example of a man who just tried to do it on his own, and it didn’t go well for him down in Egypt. He’s trusting God
– Abram rights some wrongs. He doesn’t shrug it off and let it slide. He fixes his mistake.
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
– So far in Genesis, every movement away from God has been described as moving east.
– We don’t have any other details on why Lot choses, except it was well-watered and the men who lived there were wicked.
– So Lot makes a decision based on worldly values. He is not one of God’s people and he goes on his way. He’ll come back up in our narrative
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
– Promises of God may seem laughable. What God says might fly in the face of our predictions, logic and feelings
– God has a plan, for you and me, for our children, for our city like he did for Abram.
– Galatians 3:14 “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”
– God has given his walking a direction; Abram is on a mission to see the spoils of his future offspring.
– When God did things in his life, Abram’s response was to worship God
God is not content with our mistakes, and we shouldn’t be either. We see that He is not content with disobedience or even partial obedience. Making a mistake in the past does not give permission to keep living in that mistake.
Asking God once isn’t enough. God wants a relationship, not a one-time check in. You and I have got to keep waiting on the Lord, going to the Lord. God’s call is not one and done.
A life of repentance is marked by worship. Abram lives in fear in Egypt but then repents and calls on the name of the LORD.
The world will never understand our decisions as we place our trust in God. Look no further than Lot’s decision making. Take God out of the equation and you make the same decisions. Abram had confidence in God’s promises.
– When our minds are set above, we act differently.
God shows us the model of continued transformation. He works in Abram’s life for decades, shaping him more and more like himself.
Communion
1 John 4:10
“10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Exodus 12:13
“And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 8:3
“that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
John 7:37
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
John 6:53
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”