God’s Purposes Do Not Change

Good evening, and hello from the Panhandle. What a great day it has been. We have come to the half way mark of our Vacation Bible School. We have had a good number of kids and lots of help. Although we did miss one of our fearless leaders today.

Humm, it has been a day or two since we looked at our study in Genesis. Last time we saw that there was a great famine in Canaan so Abram took his wife and family and servants and flocks, all they owned and went to Egypt. While there Abram told the Pharaoh that his wife Sari was his sister, not a total lie, but still a lie. The Pharaoh takes Sari as one of his wives and things go bad for him. When he figures out what Abram has done he kicks him and his out of Egypt. And that brings us up to chapter 13.

Abram, Sari and Lot take all their possessions and leave Egypt. They get to the Canaan and they separate. Abram and Lots separate, Lot goes to the Jordan, and the city of Sodom. God appears to Abram a third time.

Chapter 13 At A Glance 

In this chapter we have a further account concerning Abram.

I. In general, of his condition and behaviour in the land of promise, which was now the land of his pilgrimage.

1. His removes v. 1,3-4,18.

2. His riches v. 2.

3. His devotion v. 4,18.

II. A particular account of a quarrel that happened between him and Lot.

1. The unhappy occasion of their strife v. 5-6.

2. The parties concerned in the strife, with the aggravation of it v. 7.

III. The making up of the quarrel, by the prudence of Abram v. 8-9.

IV. Lot's departure from Abram to the plain of Sodom v. 10-13.

V. God's appearance to Abram, to confirm the promise of the land of Canaan to him v. 14, etc.. - (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Genesis 13

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 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. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 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."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 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. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

You’ve heard the expression, “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” but have you ever been to a family gathering after a funeral and wondered if it would not be better to say, “Where there’s a will there’s a problem”? Wherever people live in close proximity to each other there will inevitably be friction whether it is in the family, the business, or the church.

1. The Separation Of Abram (vs. 1-13)

Abram was a man of faith. That does not mean he was a man who lived in a fantasy world. He was very much in touch with reality, as are all men and women of faith, despite the popular misconceptions of some people. When faith fails, men and women of faith face up to that reality and act accordingly.

When the renewal of his fellowship with God had been achieved, Abraham was ready for a new life. He was immensely rich. Cattle, gold, and silver were his in great abundance. His company of followers had increased until a serious problem confronted him. With so many cattle and sheep, he must be able to move quickly to secure sufficient water and grass. 5-8. Soon Lot's company had difficulty with Abram's band. Strife, indicates disputing, striving, and contentions. The righteous uncle could not allow such unbecoming conduct to continue. He said: We are brethren (v. 8). Behavior like that was unnecessary.

Men and women of faith should never be afraid of facing facts! It would have been difficult for Abram to avoid some of the more obvious ones. He had to come to terms with the fact that some situations will not work out. From a purely practical point of view there was no way that Abram and Lot, with all their resources, could live in the same area. The land just could not handle both of them, and no amount of spiritualizing or wishful thinking would change that fact.

In the interest of peace and harmony, Abram made the generous suggestion that Lot choose any section of the land he preferred and move in that direction, leaving the rest of the territory to Abram. The selfish and grasping nature of Lot manifested itself immediately; he chose the well-watered valley of the Jordan. There, tropical vegetation abounded under the life-giving waters of the river. The valley (kiker) of the Jordan was large enough and sufficiently fertile to guarantee prosperity and plenty for all the days ahead. However, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were included in the area Lot chose, and they were extremely corrupt. How could spiritual religion grow among the thorns of selfishness and corruption in that place? Lot's choice proved to be a disastrous one. He pitched his tent toward Sodom (v. 12). At first he (looked toward) Sodom. Then he (pitched his tent toward) Sodom. Later he (dwelt) in Sodom. These are the steps by which the man and his family moved toward certain degeneration and destruction.

Abram, the senior member of the party, the one to whom the promise had been made, the one who received the call to leave Ur and proceed to the place of God’s appointing, could have told his younger relative either to shape up or ship out! He refrained from such an action, and humbly made a concession which he trusted would resolve the issue. Abram has much to teach us!

It is an unpleasant fact some people will disappoint you and almost everyone you know will disappoint you at least once. Abram had invested a lot of time in Lot and had given him a great chance to improve his lot. You could say Lot’s lot had improved a whole lot! But there is no evidence that Lot reciprocated Abram’s generosity or even protested that Abram was the one who had the right to choose first and that he, Lot, would take what was left. But Lot looked long and hard at what was offered, “saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere … like the garden of the Lord” (v. 10), and chose what he figured was to his own best advantage, even though we read somewhat ominously that the region he chose was populated by men who were “exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord” (v. 13). - D. Stuart Briscoe

2. God’s Reaffirmation (vs. 14-17)

In this remarkable communication, Lot and Abram are set in direct contrast. The weak, selfish, grasping sinner chose for himself that which he considered the more valuable possession. Jehovah chose for Abram. As a reward for his rare unselfishness, the patriarch received the land of Canaan. God gave him the title deed to the land and invited him to open wide his eyes and feast upon the treasures that stretched out before him in every direction. From the hill near Bethel, he could look upon wonderful panoramas of breath-taking beauty. They were all his! To make the gift more attractive, the Lord promised Abram many descendants, more numerous than the sands of the sea. This prophecy must have amazed the patriarch, who had no son. But he accepted it by faith.

Hebron. An ancient city in southern Judah, nineteen miles southwest of Jerusalem, at the junction of all the principal highways of the region. It stood out prominently on the landscape, 3,040 feet above sea level. Josephus speaks of it as being more ancient than the city of Memphis in Egypt. He also says that an old oak tree had been there since the creation of the world. Surrounding the city were olive trees, grapes, springs, and wells, and grazing ground. The cave of Machpelah, later bought by Abraham for a tomb for Sarah, was very near. It became the burial place not only of Sarah, but of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah.

(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press)

But through this possible conflict Abram remembered an important fact—that God’s call was irrevocable, that God’s purposes do not change, and that the Lord was totally committed to completing what He had started in Abram’s life. Abram faced up to this, and in characteristic fashion, “moved his tent … and built an altar” (v. 18). His faith was intact and though he was a little sadder he was undoubtedly a whole lot wiser. Reality is not always pleasant but it is always present. Reality is not an enemy of faith but it can be a great opportunity for faith to show its true colors.