Beyond The Basics

Transcript:

Welcome to the Beyond the Basics Bible Study Podcast. My name is Dan Snyder and I am your host. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Beyond the Basics where we are exploring the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, one chapter at a time.

Well this week we’re going to continue our story. We’re talking about Abram. We were introduced to Abram briefly two weeks ago. And then last week we find out God makes a promise to Abram that God is going to give him land. He’s going to give him offspring. And that this offspring is going to bless the entire earth. And at the end of the episode there was a famine and so Abram went south to Egypt and trusted Egypt more than he trusted God. And he encountered some trouble there in Egypt and basically he was kicked out. The king kicked him out of the country and so he had to go.

And that’s where we pick up the story, now here in Genesis 13. So Abram and his nephew Lot are still together and they’re leaving Egypt now to go into the Negev, which is outside Egypt, south of the land of Canaan. And then after the Negev, he goes to where he had his tent before he had left for Egypt between Bethel and Ai. There, in between those two cities, Abram and Lot both have herds and flocks, and they find out that the land cannot support both of them. Their herdsmen can’t get along. There’s also Canaanite and Perizzite tribes there. And so the land just is not big enough for the two men.

So Lot moves east to Sodom and Abram stays there in Canaan. After Lot leaves, God affirms his promise to Abram. He tells Abram that his offspring will be as the dust of the earth. And then Abram moves to the oaks of Mamre at Hebron. And there he builds an altar.

So let’s get into the chapter a little bit deeper.

In verse one, again, we find that Lot is still with him. Chapter 12 wasn’t explicit about this, that Lot had gone to Egypt with Abram. But now here in verse 1 in chapter 13, we find out that in fact he did. So he’s still with Abram despite God’s instructions. If you remember, God had told Abram to leave his family, but instead Abram brought Lot his nephew with him.

In verse 2, it tells us that Abram was very rich and he had livestock, silver and gold. And then later in verse 5, we find out that Lot had flocks, herds and tents. So it’s almost like there’s two tiers of wealth going on here. And I think the chapter is intentionally making the point, the author is intentionally making the point that Lot is not only inferior in age, we already know that because Lot is Abram’s nephew, but he’s also inferior in wealth. Abram was the wealthier man. And I think that’s going to be important here in a little bit.

Verse three says that Abram journeyed on. He went to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. Essentially, Abraham had to start over. He had left the place where he had built an altar. He had disobeyed God and left the land that God had showed him. He had been dishonest while he was in Egypt. He tried to essentially deliver himself rather than trusting in God for his deliverance. And then when the king in Egypt had finally had enough of him, he just kicked him out. And Abram had nowhere to go except to the place where he had been before, where he had built an altar.

So he is returning to his first love and to his first works. I think Revelation chapter two is reminiscent of this in verses four and five. It says, “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place, unless you repent.”

Now in the book of Revelation, Jesus is talking to a specific church in that particular paragraph, but it’s reminiscent of what Abram did. He left his first love, he abandoned the works that he had done at first, and now he had to return. And thankfully, he did repent.

This is what repentance is. Repentance is turning around, going the opposite direction. He had been going south towards Egypt, and now he’s turning around and going back north to where he had done the first works, to where he had displayed devotion to his first love, which was God. This is what we should do when we repent. Anytime that we sin, anytime that we find ourselves going a direction that is contrary to the way that the Lord has directed us and commanded us, this is what we must do. We must repent, turn around, go the opposite direction, and return to our first love and do the things that we had done at first.

And in Abram’s case, that was build an altar. So he built an altar there. And he called on the name of the Lord, just like he had before, and just like the sons of Seth had done.

So in verse six, we find out that the land could not support both Abram and Lot dwelling together. This indicates that the famine that had driven Abram out of the land in the first place is probably still going on. Later in the Bible, we find out that the land of Canaan is a land flowing with milk and honey, which is a metaphor for a land that has abundance. A land that is lacking nothing, land that can support many, many people. So there shouldn’t be an issue with the land supporting two rich men and their flocks. This is not enough use of the land to be overusing it in any way unless, of course, the famine was still going on.

Again, remember that Abram didn’t leave Egypt because the famine was over. He was actually kicked out. So we have all these herdsmen working for Abram and Lot. They’re competing for limited resources. They are arguing and fighting with each other, having all sorts of issues. And so they have to separate.

And this is a possible reason for the famine in the first place. Because again, as I mentioned, Abram and Lot were not supposed to be together. God told Abram to leave his family, but he didn’t. He took Lot with him. And so God could be using this famine to put pressure on Abram to bring about obedience.

This is a challenging view of God, but I don’t think that it’s inconsistent with scripture. God will do whatever is required to bring about obedience. Sometimes that includes putting us into very difficult and uncomfortable situations. Did God cause the famine? I don’t know. The Bible doesn’t say. Is that even the reason for the famine? The Bible doesn’t say. We don’t know. But it could be a reason. And we shouldn’t be offended at God if it turns out to be the case.

So in verse 9, Abram says, “Lot, is not the whole land before you?”

This is a way of Abram saying to Lot, “You have your first choice. You can choose first where you want to go, since we have to separate. You choose first where you want to go, and then I will go the opposite direction.”

And this is why I think it’s important that the author mentioned earlier that Abram was a much richer man, because Abram both had the age, so he had seniority, had authority based on his age. He also had significantly more wealth. He was the patriarch of the family, essentially. He had every right to choose first if he wanted to, but he doesn’t. Abram allows Lot to choose first. This shows the humility that Abram is already learning.

So Lot, in verse 10, he lifted up his eyes and saw the Jordan Valley. This is language should remind us of the Garden of Eden. Just like Eve saw that the fruit was good, Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was good. It was well watered everywhere. And then the author even gives us a really blatant hint. He says it was like the Garden of the Lord. It was like Eden. So this is very clearly drawing us back to the temptation of Eve. This is Lot’s temptation. He sees that the Jordan Valley is good, that it’s well watered, like the Garden of the Lord, like Eden.

And then it says it’s like the land of Egypt, which from a biblical perspective is not a good thing. Once again, Egypt is a picture of slavery. It’s a picture of death. So even though this valley looks well watered, even though it looks good, like Eden, author tells us it’s not good. It’s going to end up enslaving Lot. But that’s what Lot chooses.

And in verse 11, it says that he journeyed east. He chose all the Jordan Valley and he journeyed east. It seems like Lot made this choice, but once again, the author gives us a hint and says he goes east. So Lot is actually choosing exile. East is always indicative of exile, if you remember from past chapters. So Lot failed the test. Just like Eve saw that the fruit was good, and so she ate Lot saw that the Jordan Valley was good, and he ate. He journeyed east and settled in the Jordan Valley.

And we’re gonna find out why this is a bad choice in coming chapters. If you’ve read the book of Genesis, you probably already know. If you’ve never read the book of Genesis, we’re gonna find out in coming chapters. But for now, we’re gonna leave Lot behind. We’re gonna move to Abram.

So in verse 14, the Lord says to Abram, “Lift up your eyes.”

This is in contrast to what Lot did. If you remember in verse 10, Lot lifted up his own eyes. He lifted up his own eyes to the east and he saw what was pleasing to him. He saw what looked good to him. In verse 14, Abram only lifted up his eyes at God’s command. And instead of only looking east, Abram allowed God to show him all directions and he saw what was pleasing to God. Lot saw what was pleasing to him. Abram saw what was pleasing to God.

I think that this provides a good model for us when we are making significant decisions. Not to make a decision like Lot or like Eve, where we lift up our own eyes to what is pleasing to us, see that it’s good, and then take. Instead, we need to allow God to lift our eyes to see what is pleasing to Him. We need to allow God to direct us. We need to wait, be patient, be humble, defer to others, and allow God to show us what He wants us to see.

So after Abram looks north and south and east and west, then God gives him some new information. Before Abram had gone to Egypt, God told Abram that the land of Canaan would belong to him and his offspring. Now God is telling Abram that the land belongs to him and his offspring forever. That’s new. He’s saying that his offspring will inherit and inhabit this land forever.

Secondly, God tells Abram that his offspring will be as the dust of the earth. Before God had just told Abram that he would have offspring. He didn’t say how many. It could have been one for all Abram knew. But now God is saying his offspring is going to be as the dust of the earth. You can’t count the dust. That’s what his offspring is going to be like.

And then third, God tells Abram to walk through and explore the whole land. So now Abram is going to get to see the entire land that God is going to give him rather than just one area. And after that, that’s when Abram felt the freedom to move his tent over to the Oaks of Mamre near Hebron.

So how does this point to Jesus?

This is a short chapter, not a whole lot going on, at least not as much as some of the other chapters that we’ve been through so far in Genesis, but there’s still important points here that we see that point to Jesus, and the main, most important point is that his offspring will inhabit the land forever.

In Psalm 2:8 God the Father is speaking to God the Son, and he says, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

God is going to make the entire earth Jesus’ inheritance one day. And that inheritance is going to be ruled from Jerusalem, from the land of Israel, from this land that God had promised. And in fact, in the next chapter, we’re going to discover the city that Jesus will rule from and the means by which he will rule. We’re going to find that out in the next chapter.

But in this chapter, it foreshadows that offspring, that seed that will inherit the land forever. Jesus is going to rule forever. There is no end to his rule. And he doesn’t just rule from some spiritual throne up in heaven in some alternate dimension or in the sky or wherever we might think of heaven as being. He’s going to rule from the earth. He’s going to come back. He’s going to rule from the earth in Jerusalem in the land of Israel forever.

So here’s some questions for reflection.

First, what is our response to God when he applies pressure to our lives? Do we use our authority to make decisions that benefit ourselves? Or do we yield to others by giving them preference? Even when we’re in the right to make decisions that benefit us, do we give others preference?

What was Lot’s mistake and how do we avoid making the same mistake? I touched on this a bit already, but put that into your own words. What was Lot’s mistake? And then write down how you can avoid making the same mistake that Lot made.

How tightly do we hold on to our wealth, especially those of us who are in the West? Even the poorest among us are wealthy compared to the rest of the world. How tightly do we hold on to that?

Last, Jesus is going to come one day to claim his inheritance in Israel. So how does that influence how we think of and pray for Israel?

Well, thank you once again for listening this week. I look forward to going through Genesis chapter 14 next week with you. Would love your support. As I always say at the end of the podcast, you know how you can support the podcast. Always appreciate it if you can click that follow button, subscribe button. Go ahead and rate the show on whatever app you’re using. That’s a huge, huge help to the show.

You can also subscribe on the webpage for only $6 a month. Go ahead and subscribe and get the study guides and get the question and answer episodes sent to you as soon as I get some questions. I’m taking questions for Genesis chapters one through eight. If you have any questions, go ahead and send them in. I’d love to work through some of questions that you guys have, but as a reminder, you do need to be a subscriber in order to get that episode. So go ahead and send in question on the contact page on the website http://www.beyondthebasics.blog. I’ll do my best to answer it and make sure you subscribe so you can hear the answer.

Until next episode, thanks for listening.