If you have your Bible with you, please open it up to Genesis chapter 13.
Genesis chapter 13.
I want to begin this morning with a question to you.
As you make big decisions or plans, what's your starting place?
How do you typically begin that process of making decisions?
Whether it's the decision to have a change of job or to move or a large purchase.
Do you sit down and write out a list of pros and cons?
Do you stop and pray and ask that God would show you what to do?
Do you talk to some of the other people that are your friends or family about what they would do if they were in the same situation?
What's your process as you think about making bigger decisions in life?
And what happens when there's a little bit of a roadblock?
You've kind of made your plan or your decision and something comes up.
How do you wrestle through those kinds of things?
Do you stick with your original decision?
Or is that kind of indication that that's not the right decision and we're going to go this way?
These are the kinds of questions that are stirred up and answered for us in the story that we're going to look at this morning.
We're tracking through the story of Abraham.
Last Sunday we saw how there was a severe famine in the land and he packed up the whole household and everybody went down to Egypt.
We saw how down there he really blew it with regards to his wife and Pharaoh.
He kind of, he failed.
And yet God blessed him.
God was gracious to him.
In a sense he ended up plundering Pharaoh and carrying back all of these animals and wealth and servants back to Canaan.
And that's really where we pick up the story this morning.
Chapter 13, verse 1.
And there, and where he had first built an altar.
There, Abram called on the name of the Lord.
So here's Abraham.
You've got to wonder what the people living in the land would have been thinking.
They saw him going away because things were scarce.
And now they see him coming back with even more than he left with.
And here he is coming into the land.
And he goes to the place that he had been before where he had built an altar.
And he calls on the name of the Lord.
He worships the Lord.
Moses lets us know that he had become very wealthy.
And the sense here is that most of this, or a lot of this, came from Pharaoh and his trip down to Egypt.
His herds are growing.
His flocks are getting bigger.
There's silver and gold in the money pouch.
Things seem to be going pretty well.
But then something unexpected happens.
Verse 5.
Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
But the land could not support them while they stayed together,
for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.
And quarreling arose between Abram's herders and lots.
The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
So everything seems to be going well for Abraham until he realizes that it's not.
He starts hearing complaints, reports from his herders who are in conflict with the herders of his nephew.
In one sense, it's a good problem to have.
We've got so many animals and the herds of flocks are so large
that we don't have enough space for both of our herds, both of our flocks.
And of course, animals need places to graze.
They need pasture.
They need places where they can have water to drink.
And Moses reminds us, in case we've forgotten, that the Canaanites and Perizzites,
they're already living in the land.
And so Abraham and Lot, they're kind of, they're living off of the scraps that are left over in this land.
The best parts of the land, they're already occupied.
There's already people there with their animals and their farms.
And so they're doing what they can to kind of grow their herds and make out their existence there in this land.
And there starts to become some fighting, some quarreling, some arguments.
What are we going to do about this?
Verse 8.
Abram said to Lot,
Let's not have any quarreling between you and me,
or between your herders and mine,
for we are close relatives.
Is not the whole land before you?
Let's part company.
If you go to the left,
I'll go to the right.
If you go to the right,
I'll go to the left.
At this moment,
they are between Bethel and Ai.
It's in the hill country,
where probably from where they are,
they can look around and see the land all around them.
And Abram kind of comes up with this solution.
Our herds are growing.
They need food.
They need water.
So let's part company.
But notice the reason that Abraham gives for why.
We might expect that it's because my flocks are not getting the water that they need,
or because your herders have been doing this and that,
or because there's not enough grass here for my animals.
But there's no indication of that from Abraham.
What are his reasons for wanting to go separate ways?
He cares most about the relationship between him and his nephew.
He says,
let's not have any quarreling between you and me,
because we're close relatives.
We're kin.
We're family.
So let's,
let there not be any fighting or disputing between us.
Let's go our separate ways.
And then Abraham does something beautiful.
He takes him up,
we assume,
onto a hill or to a vantage point from where they can see the land all around them.
And he says,
is not the whole land before you?
Lot,
where would you like to live?
Where would you like to,
to graze your animals?
Where,
where do you want to go and settle?
Take your pick.
If you go over here,
I'll go over there.
If you want to stay here,
I'll pack up and move,
move along.
But you can have the first choice.
This is a beautiful moment.
It's,
it's,
uh,
for two reasons.
First,
it's a beautiful picture of love.
For Abraham to,
to treat his nephew this way.
To,
to desire that his nephew do well and have that opportunity to choose the best,
to,
to pick where he's going to go.
So it's kind of reminiscent of what Paul says,
do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility,
consider others as more important than yourselves.
Looking not only to your own interests,
but also to the interests of others,
which is the same attitude that,
that Jesus himself had.
As he came down from heaven into our world,
to see that our need was met and at great cost to himself.
This is God's kind of love.
And this is a moment where Abraham really shines.
I mean,
down in Egypt,
not so much with how he treated his wife there,
but here he really does shine as someone who is,
who is living God's kind of love in the way that he treats lot.
But this is also a moment in which Abraham's faith is seen as well,
because God has made them the promise.
I'm going to give this land to you and to your offspring.
Lot,
he's,
he's the nephew.
He's not quite in that family.
He's kind of been tagging along all the way since Ur.
He's got his own dreams and aspirations and plans.
He's,
he's kind of,
he's been there,
but the Abraham doesn't say,
well,
the promise was made to me.
So this is my land.
I'm going to live here and you need to go over there.
We see a glimpse of his faith here in this moment in his willingness to kind of
just surrender and say,
say to lot,
you can take the pick anywhere you want.
You choose,
you go there in his heart.
We can kind of see that he's trusting that the Lord will sort this out,
how he will keep his promise.
So what does lot choose?
Verse 10,
Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zoar was well
watered like the garden of the Lord,
like the land of Egypt.
This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
So lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the
east.
The two men parted company.
Abraham lived in the land of Canaan while lot lived among the cities of the
plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.
Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
So what does Abraham do?
It's not the whole land before you.
Take your pick.
Lot looks up.
He looks around and his eyes settle on that well watered land to the east where it's
especially green compared to all the other land.
It's green like the stories of Eden.
It's green like the land of Egypt where we just came from.
He looks at it and desire rises in his heart.
That's where I want to go.
That's the kind of place that I want to settle.
No more of this scrounging for places for our flocks to graze.
I mean, look at that over there.
There's plenty of that over there.
I want to go there.
And he makes his choice.
And he sets out and he goes.
But there's a couple ominous notes in Moses' description of this choice.
First is that statement in parentheses there.
This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
This land to the east was kind of, it was near the Jordan.
It was rich, fertile land.
It was also near the Dead Sea.
It was, it says the plain, but it was kind of the Jordan Valley.
It's kind of on the edge of the land of Canaan.
But there's two cities there, Sodom and Gomorrah.
And Moses lets us know that they're going to be destroyed.
They were destroyed.
As he looks back on this, this moment.
And then again in verse 13.
Now the people of Sodom were wicked.
And were sinning greatly against the Lord.
The emphasis here is very strong.
They were wicked.
They were evil.
And they were sinning.
And not just sinning.
They were sinning greatly against the Lord.
And those of us who have read the story, we know how things turn out for Lot.
We're not actually going to cover that in this series.
But if you want to, you can read it in Genesis 18 and 19.
Things don't go well for Lot.
For Lot.
He pitches his tent near Sodom.
And he goes there hoping to get this good and prosperous life.
And he ends up losing almost everything and barely escaping with his life.
He and his two daughters.
God later destroys those cities because of the outcry against them and the wickedness that's going on there.
And so Lot, he looks around and he sees.
He sees the rich, fertile land.
He desires it.
Yes.
That's the place where I can thrive.
That's the place where my animals, my herds will increase.
The more they increase, the more money, the better things will go.
It reminds him of back in Egypt.
And yes, this is my chance to live the dream.
That's what he sees as he looks out and makes his choice.
But he overlooks this deep, disturbing reality of what's going on in that region.
And we kind of got to wonder what his thought process is here.
I mean, he's been journeying with Abraham all this time.
And so he's no stranger to this idea of the Lord, of Yahweh, Abraham's God.
Abraham has been building altars here and there to him.
He's been worshiping him very visibly, very publicly.
Lot has seen how things have gone for Abraham.
Just down in Egypt, how things went really well for him.
And we have to know that Lot would have known what was going on in this region.
These cities, their reputation was well known.
They're not living the way that Abraham's God would want.
In fact, they're known for doing some pretty terrible things to the people around them.
And so Lot looks out and he sees, he desires, but he misses, he overlooks this deep and dark, unseen reality of what's going on.
And at the end, it almost costs him everything.
It's kind of a living parable of those words that Jesus spoke thousands of years later.
It reminds me of them anyway.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?
And so as we think about making decisions, making plans, what is it that we are looking to make our decision on?
What are we basing our decision on?
Lot makes his choice and he goes his way.
And then with him gone, verse 14,
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot parted from him,
Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.
All the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
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.
Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land for I am giving it to you.
Abram's just been up on the hilltop and looking around.
This moment kind of just happened.
He was up there with Lot.
He said, Look around.
Take your pick.
And then after he's gone, in a sense, the Lord takes Abraham up to the hilltop and says,
Look around.
Look north.
Look south.
Look east.
Look west.
Look all around.
But he doesn't say, Take your pick.
He says, All the land that you see.
In every direction, all around you, as far as your eyes can see, all the land that you see,
I will give to you and your offspring.
Wow.
What a promise.
What a moment.
I mean, this is not a new promise.
We already heard that as Abraham first came into the land, the Lord said to him,
To your offspring, I will give this land.
But it must have been wonderful to hear it again from the Lord in that moment.
To have him reaffirm it, especially after having left the land, gone down to Egypt, blowing it there,
and then coming back to have the Lord say it again.
And this time, the Lord adds to the promise.
The first time it was to your offspring, I will give this land.
Now the Lord adds, not just to your offspring, to you and your offspring.
I will give this land.
And not just for a time.
He adds forever.
Wow.
What a promise.
He goes on.
He says,
I will make your offspring innumerable, beyond numbering.
That if, just like the dust of the earth can't be counted by people,
because it's just too many.
The day that it can be counted is the day that someone will be able to number your descendants,
your offspring.
And then he tells Abraham to go on a little tour.
Go.
Walk through the land.
Walk through the length and the breadth of the land.
Prepare your heart to receive this.
For I am giving it to you.
What a promise.
Abraham's response.
How I wish we had more details here about what he's thinking as he hears this from the Lord.
All we get is what's in verse 18.
So Abraham, presumably after he went on his tour,
went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron,
where he pitched his tents.
There he built an altar to the Lord.
Sounds pretty informational, but I think that there is something there.
I mean, these are big promises.
If Abraham thought that the Lord was lying to him or that these were empty,
would he be building an altar and calling on the name of the Lord and continuing this relationship?
I don't think so.
So the sense that we get here, the picture we get here,
is that he accepted the Lord's word.
He believed it.
He trusted him.
He was going to continue to worship him and call on his name.
But the question that we're kind of left with at the end of all of this is,
is now what?
I mean, Abraham has been given these amazing promises.
Let's remember for a moment just what they are.
Back in Ur, I will bless you.
I will make you into a great nation.
I will make your name great.
I will protect you.
And I will bless all the families of the earth through you.
When he first enters the land,
I will give this land to your offspring.
And now he's heard something new
that the Lord has added to his promises.
I will not just give this land to your offspring.
I will give it to you.
To you, Abraham.
Now, of course, this morning here,
we know how the rest of the story goes,
but I want us to get into Abraham's head for a moment.
He doesn't know how the story goes.
How is he processing this?
How is he thinking about this?
To me?
All this land that I can see,
the Lord's going to give this to me?
I mean, what would he have to do to make that happen
before I die?
That's what it means to you, right?
Not just to your offspring, but to you.
Somehow, the title deed of this entire region
is going to be given to me.
What about that word forever?
To you and your offspring,
I will give this land forever.
What does that mean?
What is he thinking of?
As he hears that,
from the moment God gives this to me
and I receive it,
it will be in my possession,
it will be in my control
from that point on forever.
From then on,
there will always be my descendants
in this land,
living here,
in control of this land,
possessing this land.
And
descendants
that are beyond number.
What kind of picture
is this stirring up in Abraham's mind?
He looks out at this land
and he imagines it's full of people,
full of families
with children working and playing.
And they're all
his descendants.
And not just for one moment in time,
but generation
after generation
of his descendants
in this land.
This is their home.
How is this going to happen?
These are great promises.
This is what Abraham
has been given
to go on.
And this is kind of what I,
my imagination of,
of,
of how he's processing this
and taking this in.
And yet,
what does he see
when he looks around?
He looks at his wife,
Sarai,
beautiful,
and yet beginning
to show signs of age,
already 70-ish.
For decades,
they've been unable
to conceive.
He looks in his mirror himself
and sees the signs of age.
He's in his 80s-ish.
How is this going to happen?
This would take a miracle.
I mean,
statistically,
this is,
this is borderline impossible.
He looks at this good land
as he walks through it,
as the Lord told him to do.
And what does he see?
He sees a lot of other people.
The Canaanites,
the Perizzites.
He sees other people
who have laid claim
to this land,
who have built homes,
who are running farms,
who have their flocks
and animals
here and there
scattered throughout the land.
He sees cities
that they've built
and are living in
with walls.
He sees kings
and powerful men
who have been getting their way.
How is this going to happen?
How is the Lord
going to take
all of this land
and give it to me?
You've got to know
that's the question
that's rolling on
in his mind.
And the answer
for this moment,
I don't know.
I can't even imagine
how this would come to be.
But what am I going to do?
I'm going to pitch my tent
right here
in this land
because this is the land
that the Lord
has promised to give me.
I'm going to build
an altar to the Lord
and call on his name
and worship
and wait
and see.
What a picture
of faith,
of trust.
At this point
we're probably wondering,
I mean,
what does Abraham
really know
about the Lord?
In the next chapter
we get a little bit
of a clue
and I'm not going to
read the whole story.
It's the story
of how Abraham
goes on a rescue mission
to get Lot
after Lot is captured.
And at the end
of this rescue mission
Abraham has
a conversation
face to face
with the king
of Sodom.
And what does he
say to the king
of Sodom?
verse 22
of chapter 14
he says,
With raised hand
I have sworn
an oath
to the Lord
Yahweh
God most high
creator
of heaven
and earth.
What a thing
to say.
These are big promises
that the Lord
has made
to Abraham.
Yes,
but little by little
Abraham is learning
to trust
Yahweh
the Lord.
Little by little
as he has made
his way
all the way
from Ur
to Canaan
little by little
as he went
down to Egypt
and saw how the Lord
turned that situation
in his favor
Abraham is learning
that the Lord
does keep
his promises.
He is protecting
him.
He is blessing
him.
And now
it's come to the
point we've seen
how he's kind
of grown.
I mean he
he cowered in fear
before Pharaoh
and now
just a chapter
later
this is not long
that much longer
after
he's
telling the king
of Sodom
my allegiance
is to Yahweh.
And he's not
just one
of the many
gods
like Nana
the moon
god
that we
serve
back in Ur
he is
God
most high
the most
high god
not only that
but he is
the creator
of the heaven
of heaven
and earth.
Abraham's
understanding
of who God
is
is growing
and yes
these are
big promises
but this is
a big god
that Abraham
has believed
in.
The Lord
the creator
himself.
It would have
been easy
for Abraham
to laugh
about these
promises.
How is that
how is that
going to happen?
Yeah right.
I mean look
at this place.
Look at my
wife and me.
But he
doesn't.
He chooses
to pitch
his tent
here
and to
trust
and wait
and see.
There's a
lesson to be
learned here
and I don't
think it's
a coincidence
that Lot
and his
story is
sandwiched
right up
against Abraham
and his
story.
Lot
he looked
at the
land all
around him
and he
made his
decision
his plan
his way
by what
he could
see
right here
and now.
And he
missed
the unseen
danger
and
consequences
of making
his home
among
the wicked
and it
almost
cost him
everything.
Abraham
is the
exact
opposite.
He
is now
pitching
his tent
building
an altar
based on
what he
can't
see
what is
unseen
the
reality
of these
promises
which God
has given
to him.
If that's
how it's
going to be
if you're
going to
give me
this land
then I'm
going to
pitch my
tent
right here.
Complete
contrast.
And so
we kind
of are
moved to
this
question
of who
or what
are we
making our
decisions
by,
our plans.
How are
we making
our way
here in
this world?
are we
doing it
like
Lot?
And so
often
that's kind
of the
tendency
we have
isn't it?
We just
look around
well that
looks really
good.
I'm going
to go
after that.
I need
that.
Look at
that nice
house over
there.
It's nicer
than the one
that I've
got.
I want
that.
This
new car,
this
gadget,
this
vacation
package,
this
whatever.
Like Lot,
we so
easily just
look around
and our
eyes come
to rest
and we
desire,
but at
what cost?
What are
the deeper
unseen
realities
at work
in this
situation?
Abraham
teaches us
that we
should make
our decision
first and
foremost
on the
basis of
those
unseen
realities?
That we
should listen
to the
Lord
and to
his
word
and do
our life
according
to it.
Pitch our
tent according
to the
promise that
we've been
given.
Even if
everything
around looks
like how
is that even
going to
work?
How is
that going
to be
possible?
people?
As I
think of
Abraham,
here he
is in
a foreign
land,
he stands
out like
a sore
thumb,
and I
don't think
it was
just because
of the
tone of
his skin
or because
of his
accent
being from
far away.
Those
probably
factored
in too,
but he
stuck out
like a
sore thumb
because here's
a guy who
actually believes
in and
worships
Yahweh.
Look at
him,
he's building
an altar
to him.
That's not
who we
worship around
here,
we worship
Baal.
Can you
believe that?
That guy
would actually
subscribe to
him?
But that's
not all
unlike how
things are
for us
today,
is it?
We live
in a world
that basically
says the
same thing.
look at
those guys.
They
actually
believe in
the God
of the
Bible,
that God
who
condemns
homosexuality
and talks
about sin
and how
we're all
guilty of
it and
how we're
going to
be punished
for it
and hell
and all
that stuff.
I mean,
who believes
that anymore?
Abraham
gives us
this incredible
example
of faith.
If he
really is
the Lord,
then absolutely
I'm going to
live in
allegiance to
him.
I'm going to
build altars
to him and
worship him.
I'm going to
let other
people see.
I'm going to
stick out like
a sore thumb.
Isn't that
what God
has brought
Abraham here
for?
To be a
witness,
a testimony
to his
grace,
a blessing
to all the
families of
the earth,
starting with
the people
around him?
there's so
much we
can learn
from Abraham
about how
we make
our decisions
and our
plans.
We too
have received
promises
from God,
the word
of God.
It looks a
little different.
We have it
here in a
book.
We have
not just
what Abraham
heard,
but we
have more.
We have
the son
of God
himself
described
in these
pages
in his
words
here.
Abraham
had some
pretty big
promises made
to him,
but we
have some
even bigger
ones,
which came
through Christ.
An
inheritance
in the
kingdom of
God that
is coming
when Jesus
returns.
We have a
forever promise
too,
eternal life
in that
kingdom.
God promised
to bless
him,
to be
gracious
to him,
and we
have received
the greatest
of graces
and blessing
through Christ.
And the
question is,
will we make
our way
by this,
by this
good news,
as we
consider what
we'll do
in our lives,
or will we
do like
Lot,
and just
go after
what on the
surface looks
like it
will fulfill
us,
it will
make us
happy.
Let's
pray.
Father,
we thank
you for
your word,
and we
proclaim
you are
the great
and glorious
Lord of the
universe,
as we talked
about in
Sunday school
this morning.
Your son
is supreme
over all,
we worship
you.
Help us
to live
by faith
as if all
of this
is true
as it
is.
No matter
what anybody
else thinks,
we want
to bring
glory to
your name,
and we
thank you
for the
grace
that you
have given
to us
and promised
us.
Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.
Here we go.