Genesis 13 (2011) One day a father brught hme a new stuffed animal fr his infant sn. He has received the gift frm a cwrker, but since he had three ther yung children at hme, he was cncerned abut giving the baby a present while having nthing fr the ther children. Finally, he had a bright idea. He wuld teach his children a lessn abut bedience by bringing them t understand that their baby brther baby deserved the gift. S as the father held his infant sn in his arms, he called his ther children t his side. As they gathered arund him, he shwed them the stuffed ty while their eyes lit up and six little hands rse skyward begging fr the ty. Then the father prceeded t ask: "Wh is the mst bedient?" Since the ther three children were frequently guilty f giving their mther grief, the father assumed his lder children wuld have n truble identifying their baby brther as the mst bedient in the grup. Instead, the three children stared back at their father in silence, nne wishing t lse a chance at the ty. The father decided he needed t be mre specific in his questin. He then asked, "Wh never talks back t mther?" Certainly the children culd acknwledge that the baby had never said a wrd t his mther, he reckned. T his dismay, the kids std stne faced again, unwilling t give the father what he wanted and each hlding ut hpe fr the ty. Finally, the exasperated father asked, "Wh here des everything mther says, never talks back, and can t d anything fr himself?" Finally, the three small vices answered in unisn, "Okay, dad, yu get the ty." Obedience is the call placed upn every persn f faith We ve been watching this man Abram begin his walk f bedience with the Lrd Wh called Abram int faith And Abram is such a fascinating and prfitable study fr believers because we can s identify with this man s walk 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 2 Of hw he was called ut f bscurity int faith, sent in a new directin, challenged alng the way, and ultimately made t grw in bedience and hliness The stry f hw Abram became Abraham, s t speak And the key t understanding this stry is t recgnize hw Gd marries tgether His wn faithfulness t His prmises with Abram s bedience t Gd s call Gd will shw His children His kindness by blessing us in many ways as a result f His lve fr us and His prmises t us And Gd is faithful t remain with us and even t bless us thugh we are faithless at times (2Tim 2:13) But Gd will als withhld His blessing t sme degree when we d nt demnstrate bedience t His wrd Gd calls Himself the perfect Father (Matt 5:48) S as a perfect Father, He must at times withhld the full measure f His blessing fr us as a matter f discipline S that by that discipline, He might reprve us and cause us t grw in ur walk f hliness, s that we might t please Him mre Heb. 12:7 It is fr discipline that yu endure; Gd deals with yu as with sns; fr what sn is there whm his father des nt discipline? Heb. 12:8 But if yu are withut discipline, f which all have becme partakers, then yu are illegitimate children and nt sns. Heb. 12:9 Furthermre, we had earthly fathers t discipline us, and we respected them; shall we nt much rather be subject t the Father f spirits, and live? Heb. 12:10 Fr they disciplined us fr a shrt time as seemed best t them, but He disciplines us fr ur gd, s that we may share His hliness. Heb. 12:11 All discipline fr the mment seems nt t be jyful, but srrwful; yet t thse wh have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit f righteusness. Last week we finished chapter 12 watching Abram leaving Egypt with a measure f Gd s blessing despite Abram s disbedience in leaving the land Abram was nt the bedient man Gd called him t be Yet Gd was faithful t His prmises t Abram and He blessed Abram despite Abram s mistakes 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 3 I wnder hw much Gd will be prepared t bless Abram nce he returns t the Land and is fully bedient Let s find ut Gen. 13:1 S Abram went up frm Egypt t the Negev, he and his wife and all that belnged t him, and Lt with him. Chapter 13 picks up where chapter 12 left ff...abram and family leaving Egypt t return t Canaan Mses describes Abram s rute back int the Negev And he describes Abram s traveling party And fr the first time in a while, we are reminded that Lt is still traveling with Abram Apparently, Lt has never left Abram s side thrughut his time in Canaan and int Egypt Mses mentins Lt again t remind us that even as Abram beys the Lrd and returns t Canaan, there is still ne mre step f bedience Abram must take Back in chapter 12, Gd spke t Abram and instructed him cncerning his travels t the Prmised Land Abram was t leave his cuntry and his relatives Abram was called by Gd t separate frm his past wrld, his past assciatins, his past dependencies, even his past identity Everything Abram had and and everything he knew and everything he was must cme t an end And in their place, Gd wuld give Abram smething new and better A new cuntry, a new family, a new inheritance, a new name, a new Father s Huse That call t separate didn t mean leaving behind his wife, since she has literally becme ne flesh with Abram 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 4 He culd n mre leave Sarai then he culd leave behind his wn arm But every ne else was suppsed t stay in Ur Yet here in chapter 13 we still find Abram bringing alng a member f his family, Lt We asked the questin in chapter 12 whether Abram was right t include Lt in his trip, and here we seem t find ur answer Mses calls ur attentin t the presence f Lt and tells us hw they finally came t separate Gen. 13:2 Nw Abram was very rich in livestck, in silver and in gld. Gen. 13:3 He went n his jurneys frm the Negev as far as Bethel, t the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, Gen. 13:4 t the place f the altar which he had made there frmerly; and there Abram called n the name f the LORD. Abram departs Egypt a rich man We dn t knw hw much wealth Abram had when he left Haran But we knw he leaves Egypt a very wealthy man This is the first mentin f wealth in the Bible And interestingly, his wealth has mved frm merely cattle and servants t include precius cmmdities Abram is nw receiving wealth frm the peple arund him Gd prmised Abram that he wuld be blessed and the material aspect f that blessing is clearly taken hld Still, wealth brings it s wn kind f challenges and burdens And thse burdens becme evident sn enugh Next we re tld Abram ventures away frm the Negev, away frm the brder f Egypt, back t the heart f the land Why des Abram g back int the land? Mses hasn t tld us that the famine is ver 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 5 And we knw Abram left when the Pharah kicked him ut f Egypt, nt because the famine ended S Abram left due t famine, but he s ging back despite the cntinuing famine His step f bedience t return under pressure frm the Pharah means that he is prepared t live by faith He isn t less wrried abut finding fd But he must have reasned that if GOd was able t make him rich in anther cuntry, sure Gd culd sustain him in his wn cuntry His behavir supprts this view Mses says Abram ges as far as Bethel, which is rughly gegraphical center in the land f Canaan The place where Abram had been at the beginning This is the place Abram arrived when he entered the land, when he was still depending n Gd Abram returned physically t the land, but he als returned spiritually t Gd, walking in bedience again Lk at the v.4...abram seeks ut the altar set up previusly We can sense his repentance, his recgnitin that he had walked away frm the Lrd and needed t return And s he walks t Bethel and calls upn the Lrd Here s what bedience lks like It means fllwing the Lrd But it als means having the humility t return t Him and t call upn His name when we knw we ve strayed Obedience is nt perfectin; it s persistence Gd has shwn His faithfulness even in the midst f Abram s disbedience And nw Abram has returned t the altar at Bethel t renew his walk f faith 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 6 And yet Abram isn t dne with his test and trials Gd had set frth the expectatin that Abram leave behind his family if he is t receive what GOd has prmised And as lng as Lt is with Abram, he stands in the way f Gd blessing Abram t the fullest extent Gen. 13:5 Nw Lt, wh went with Abram, als had flcks and herds and tents. Gen. 13:6 And the land culd nt sustain them while dwelling tgether, fr their pssessins were s great that they were nt able t remain tgether. Gen. 13:7 And there was strife between the herdsmen f Abram s livestck and the herdsmen f Lt s livestck. Nw the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land. We begin this next sectin with cnfirmatin that Lt was an adult with his wn husehld He has flcks and herds and tents We dn t hear abut his family, but we culd easily assume that Lt brught family with him, prbably frm Haran And nw his wealth is cmpeting with Abram Since the famine is still likely nging, it makes sense that the tw herds wuld be in cmpetitin fr limited resurces In fact, taking the tw facts tgether, we begin t see why Gd may have brught the famine in the first place Gd brught a famine t put pressure n Lt and Abram t separate After all, since Abram wuldn t separate vluntarily, Gd wuld bring it abut anther way But since Abram fled t Egypt, he simply delayed the inevitable, and brught misery upn himself S they decide that they must separate In fact, their herdsman were fighting ver available land And Mses adds that the cmpetitin wasn t merely between Abram and Lt, since Canaan was a large place 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 7 It was als the Canaanite herds cmpeting fr land S it made sense fr Abram and Lt t separate and live in different places Isn t interesting that Abram s decisin t include his nephew Lt against Gd s instructins has nw led t this cnflict And this is just the beginning f the cnflict Lt will cntinue t be a thrn in Abram s side even after they separate A gd reminder f hw ur failures t fllw Gd have lasting cnsequences Gen. 13:8 S Abram said t Lt, Please let there be n strife between yu and me, nr between my herdsmen and yur herdsmen, fr we are brthers. Gen. 13:9 Is nt the whle land befre yu? Please separate frm me; if t the left, then I will g t the right; r if t the right, then I will g t the left. Gen. 13:10 Lt lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley f the Jrdan, that it was well watered everywhere this was befre the LORD destryed Sdm and Gmrrah like the garden f the LORD, like the land f Egypt as yu g t Zar. Gen. 13:11 S Lt chse fr himself all the valley f the Jrdan, and Lt jurneyed eastward. Thus they separated frm each ther. Gen. 13:12 Abram settled in the land f Canaan, while Lt settled in the cities f the valley, and mved his tents as far as Sdm. Gen. 13:13 Nw the men f Sdm were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD. Abram is generus in allwing Lt t chse first As the patriarch, he culd have chsen first But Abram willingly turns it ver t Lt, allwing Lt t chse whatever he wanted Can we see ur wealth in that way? Smething temprary...smething we can let g f when necessary? It s been said that it s sheer madness t live in want in rder t be wealthy when we die 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 8 Jesus taught that we must see what we have as smething temprary we use t further Gd s purpses and ur wn psitin in the Kingdm That wuld have been Abram s attitude here Clearly, Abram didn t believe he needed t cling t the land Gd prmised He invited his nephew t take any f it What allwed Abram t respnd that way? Wuldn t we expect him t hld n tightly t that land? Abram knew that his inheritance wasn t this land, but a future land yet t be revealed S he culd freely allw Lt t take whatever he wanted, caring little fr whatever he might lse because it was n real lss Because Abram knew he wuld lse it all when he died anyway And then receive it all in his resurrected life anyway What freedm cmes when we understand the eternal nature f ur life in Christ! N mre wrry abut mney r wealth Gd will prvide, we dn t need t keep up with the Jneses and we win when we die S Abram and Lt separate when Lt chses the land he will ccupy In v.10 Lt lifts up his eyes and sees the valley f Jrdan He ntices that it is well-watered, like the garden f Gd, like Egypt Did Mses include enugh warning signs fr yu?? First, which directin in Lt headed? East...a clear warning sign since east is assciated with sin Secndly, ntice the similarity between the language in this verse with Gen 3:6 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 9 In Gen 3, the wman saw that the tree was gd fr fd and a delight t the eyes Here Lt lifted his eyes and saw the delight f the valley As we learned in Gen 3, the eye is ften the chief ffender f ur flesh in drawing us away frm bedience The eye draws us t lust rather than t trust and here we see Lt fllwing Wman s pattern Thirdly, Lt likes this valley because Mses writes that it reminds him f Egypt And we remember frm last week that Egypt is a picture in Scripture f the sinful, unbelieving wrld And s the reference t Egypt draws ur attentin t Lt s state f heart, a man lnging fr the wrld he left in Egypt Nt a man intent n fllwing Gd Finally, Mses adds a parenthetical reference t Sdm and Gmrrah The stry f these evil cities has yet t be tld in Genesis, f curse, but they were infamus in Mses day Just as they are tday, yet Lt is attracted t them S Lt is clearly a plar ppsite f Abram While Abram has returned t the land and rededicated himself t fllwing Gd, Lt is running headlng int sin Is it any wnder that Gd called Abram t separate himself frm his family? And why Gd has brught the famine t pressure them men t separate? Only nw can we understand the gd and wise decisin Gd was making in prducing a famine Remember that when yu face a trial and wnder hw Gd culd lve us and bring calamity 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 10 S Lt mves eastward and settles in his tent utside the city f Sdm And Abram is nw finally separated frm his family Fr the first time since Gd called him, Abram stands fulling in bedience t the calling Gd gave And s what des Gd d in respnse? Gen. 13:14 The LORD said t Abram, after Lt had separated frm him, Nw lift up yur eyes and lk frm the place where yu are, nrthward and suthward and eastward and westward; Gen. 13:15 fr all the land which yu see, I will give it t yu and t yur descendants frever. Gen. 13:16 I will make yur descendants as the dust f the earth, s that if anyne can number the dust f the earth, then yur descendants can als be numbered. Gen. 13:17 Arise, walk abut the land thrugh its length and breadth; fr I will give it t yu. Gen. 13:18 Then Abram mved his tent and came and dwelt by the aks f Mamre, which are in Hebrn, and there he built an altar t the LORD. Fr third time, the Lrd speaks t Abram cncerning His prmises But the timing f this mment is imprtant Mses recrds that Gd s appearing happened after Lt separated Gd draws a clear cnnectin t the events f the parting In fact, Lt had lifted his eyes t see a sinful Sdm and fund it pleasing But nw Abram s bedience step f separating frm Lt pleases Gd and causes Gd t instruct Abram t raise his eyes as well And t lk nt just eastward, but in all directins All this land as far as he culd see and beynd wuld be his and his decendants Cnsider the cntrast Lt used his eyes t find smething that pleased himself, and it led him int sin 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Genesis 13 11 Abram allwed Gd t direct his eyes, and it led t bedience and a far greater inheritance This is a cnsistent testimny f Scripture We have a chice f fllwing Gd r fllwing ur wn desires Our wn desires may lead us int very satisfying and cmfrtable living But it will bring sin and cnsequences Or we can allw the Lrd t set ur eyes n the better things and receive an eternal inheritance I mentined that each time Gd appears t Abram, He reveals a little mre cncerning His prmises And in this revelatin, Gd explains that all this land wuld be bth Abram s and his descendants In v.15 my English translatin says they will wn the land frever That wrd in Hebrew is ad lam, which literally means fr an age This reflects that the Messianic Kingdm is nly 1,000 years, which is the time Israel will have this land And then the age will give way t a new age in which the wrld is replaced and smething entirely new arrives (Rev 21-22) Finally, Gd elabrates that Abram s descendants wuld be t numerus t cunt Abram has heard he will have descendants already, but nw Gd tells him that these descendants wuld be t numerus t cunt Having heard this prmise multiple times, we imagine Abram is getting anxius t see kids cme alng Then nce mre, Gd instructs Abram t walk the entire land he has received, t cme t knw the magnificence f Gd s generusity Yet all the while, Abram understands that this inheritance wn t be his until after he returns with the Lrd 2011 Verse By Verse Ministry f San Antni (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.