Chapter 13:1-4 should go with the twelfth chapter.
Verse 1—“Abraham went up out of Egypt.” This is rebound.
Verse 3—he is back in fellowship, he has Bethel.
Verse 4—“Unto the place of the altar…and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.” He is back in fellowship. Principle: Never let your failures discourage you, use 1 John 1:9, and then forgetting those things which are behind, reaching forth to those things which are before, press toward the mark…” If Abraham had stopped and cried about his failures in Haran and Egypt he would never have moved into the great victory of chapter 14, the first if the great mountain-top experiences in his life. You never get to the mountain-top in spiritual experience by sitting down at the bottom of the hill and feeling sorry for yourself, or by sulking in the cave as Elijah did, by regretting and just thinking about your past failures and therefore eliminating yourself when the Lord hasn’t eliminated you at all. This is why Abraham was great, not because he didn’t fail. The greatest people in the Lord’s service are those people who get up and move on. They never look back and never feel sorry for themselves with regard to their failures.
Verse 5 – changes. There is going to be trouble, but Abraham is ready for the trouble now because he is in fellowship. Another test for Abraham now comes. Lot became wealthy in Egypt as well as Abraham.
Verse 6 – strife among believers, “…they could not dwell together.” The Bible never tells us to separate from unbelievers or we couldn’t witness. But the Bible tells us to separate ourselves from believers who are always out of fellowship. Abram is in fellowship and Lot is out. Believers out of fellowship can never get along with believers in fellowship. It never has worked and never will.
Verse 7 – a cattle war. “...and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt in the land.” This last phrase is no accident. These were unbelievers and they are watching believers fight back and forth and getting the wrong impression. In other words, when believers cannot resolve their difficulties by being together they should separate because the Canaanite and the Perizzite is in the land. This is always true, we are always surrounded by those who are unbelievers. Unbelievers always get the wrong impression and they make the most of it when they see believers at each others’ throats.
Verse 8 – the first thing Abram did was to get together with Lot. “… for we are brethren.” We are both saved. Abram recognises that they are both related to God forever, that they both have the same position in Christ, as it were. One thing that must be constantly remembered about believers who are offensive in any way: they are just as much in the family of God as you are and God the Father loves the next believer just as much as He loves you. When Abram broke off relationship with Lot, one whom he loved, he did it in the perfect way.
Verse 9 – “Is not the whole land before thee?” Abram is the eldest and therefore he has the final authority. He is the head of the tribe, as it were, and has the right of choice. The elder always has the right of choice, but Abram has done something. He has used the faith-rest technique and therefore he does not want to choose anything for himself, he has put his choice in the hands of God. He has put his life in God’s hands and has used the faith-rest technique. Therefore he allows Lot to make a choice, and Lot makes a human viewpoint choice because he is out of fellowship—therefore a wrong choice. Any decisions you make out of fellowship are no good. So Lot makes a human viewpoint choice, whereas Abram who is the eldest and has the right to choose first leaves his choice in God’s hands. So this is faith claiming the promises of God. Notice that Abram shows no fear that Lot will choose something and get something that is better than what Abram has. When you put your life in the hands of the Lord you also put the details in the hands of the Lord, and when you put the details in the hands of the Lord, now matter how much it appears on the surface, no one can cheat you, no one can hurt you, and you have that great virtue of never ever trying to build your happiness on someone else’s misery. Lot, in effect, by trying to grasp something that looks good is trying to build his happiness on someone else’s misery, and it can’t be done. You never ever build any happiness through selfishness. Lot is completely selfish, self-centred, humanistic, even though he is born again. And Lot who chooses and takes everything, as it were, and chooses by sight, is going to wind up miserable in a cave, and Abram is going to wind up the wealthiest man in the world. Why? Because Abram leaves everything in God’s hands.
How Lot chose, verses 10, 11.
Verse 10 – “Lot lifted up his eyes.” Human viewpoint. Lot has his eyes on things, he is out of fellowship and a carnal believer cannot make a good decision for the Lord. This is another reason for rebound: if you are going to make decisions, get in fellowship first.
Verse 11 – Lot chose what he could see with his eyes. Abram didn’t make a choice at all, he let God choose for him. The result was that Lot got a beautiful valley which was destroyed and became a desert, and God gave Abram everything. By choosing what he did Lot deprived himself of tremendous blessing and an inheritance in the land. The children of Lot never inherit the land. You never lose if you let God choose. In verse 13 we see what God’s view of the Jordan Valley was. “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” The word “exceedingly” is out of place: “they were wicked exceedingly before the Lord.” They were wicked in their mentality (mentioned in 2 Peter), in their overt activity (described in several passages of scripture). They expressed their mental attitude which reached the saturation point of wickedness by actually sacrificing their own children.
Verse 12 – “Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” Because Sodom was so wicked and so evil Lot wouldn’t go in at first, but lived in a tent outside of the city. He was self-righteous. When people get out of line they usually do it by degrees. He was too self-righteous at this point, he has to get acquainted with the people. Eventually he is going to sit in the gate—be a judge and have a high and exalted position in the city. He didn’t start out that way, he was too good for them! Self-righteousness is our own great enemy because in status quo self-righteousness we fail to evaluate our lives properly and therefore fail to utilise rebound.
Verse 14 – Abram’s great victory. “…after that,” after the separation. Not until Lot was gone did God speak to Abram, and when He did He gave him great comfort. Here is blessing from the obedience of faith. Now God makes Abram’s choice. Abram doesn’t choose for himself; God chooses for him. This is what the faith-rest technique does. It is actually the surrender of your own volition to God. Whenever great blessing comes it is always connected with promises from the Word.
“Lift up now thine eyes”—Lot had lifted up his own eyes and looked, chose; now Abram is commanded to lift up his eyes and to look, but he is looking because God tells him to look. “and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.” When he looks eastward, what is he going to see? He is going to see the plain of Jordan where Lot is moving out with all of his wealth.
Verse 15 – “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it.” While he is standing there and looking, after Lot has departed, God tells him that everything that Lot chose is yours. Lot will never have it.
“and to thy seed for ever.” God will do better for those who trust Him than for those believers who choose for themselves. God does not help those who help themselves. Lot helped himself and God didn’t help him. God helps the helpless.
Verse 16 – the promise with no strings attached. This is the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant. It doesn’t depend on who and what Abram is, it depends on who and what God is. It says, “I will, I will.” When God says, “I will,” that is grace.
Verse 17 – “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” It’s all yours.
Verse 18 – “Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.” Mamre means prosperity; Hebron means fellowship. The altar speaks of fellowship with the Lord, occupation with Christ.