Treasures New and Old

Genesis: Chapter Thirteen: Abram and Lot Separate

The significant event in this chapter seems to me to be when Lot separates from Abram’s clan and moves off to the plains of Sodom. Not that Lot is looking to enter into sin (he may not have known at this time how bad things were in Sodom), but he is allured there by what appears to be rich grazing land for his animals.

I believe the separation is significant because now God has Abram alone (in the sense of leadership – Lot has his servants and family and animals), and now God will visit Abram and renew with him alone His covenant.

Here is the outline of Chapter 13 . . . 

Outline:

1. Abram and Lot leave Egypt and return to the first place Abram went to in Canaan (vs. 1-4)
2. Abram and Lot agree to separate (vs. 5-9)
3. Lot turns towards the south and to Sodom and Gomorrah (vs. 10-13)
4. God renews His promise/covenant with Abram as he is finally without his kindred (vs. 14-18)

Genesis 13:1-4:

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.”

• Hebron (mentioned at end of the chapter) means “seat of association” (Strong’s H2275). The cave of Machpelah was in this field, and the patriarchs and their wives were buried in the cave. It was given to Caleb and was designated as a city of refuge and a Levitical city (Joshua 20:7; 21:11). The spies visited the area (Numbers 13:22-33). David was anointed king in Hebron and ruled from there for seven and a half years (2 Samuel 5:1-13). Absalom’s rebellion and conspiracy began in Hebron (2 Samuel 15:1-10).

• Abram and family continue their trek north from Hebron back to Bethel –  Beth is Hebrew for house and El is Hebrew for God, so Bethel is literally “The House of God”. It is a prominent city throughout the Old Testament period.

• Abram travels are like a return back to God – a return back to the land God promised him.

• Note the emphasis on his great wealth – added to by Pharaoh. This sets the stage for the strife that will lead to Lot sand Abram splitting up soon. They would have passed the Sodom plain so that Lot would be enticed to go there with his wealth.

• Abram now begins again to call on the name of the Lord. Which name is he using?

Genesis 13:5-9:

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

• Cattle (vs. 7) (Strong’s H4735) migneh: meaning livestock, cattle, property. It refers to livestock, a major source of wealth, most often: cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys.

• Herdsmen (vs. 7) were cattle herders or breeders (Genesis 46:32); there were herdsmen (raah (Strong’s H7462)) of cattle (Genesis 13:7); foremen or guardians of cattle and livestock (Genesis 47:6).

• Strife (Strong’s H7379) riyb rib: meaning a strife, a controversy, a contention. The primary idea of this noun is that of a quarrel or dispute. It appears in reference to an argument over land-use rights (Genesis 13:7). Such disputes were unavoidable in the circumstances. Neither party had a title to the land in a legal deed sense, not withstanding God’s promise to Abram. Landed property was not yet clearly defined or secured by law. The land, therefore, was in common – wherever anybody availed himself of the best spot for grazing that he could find unoccupied.

• God has used the great wealth of Abram and Lot to force the separation that He asked of Abram back when he was first to go to Canaan (Genesis 12:1).

• Abram and Lot are mere strangers among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the settled occupants of the country. Custom had no doubt already given the possessor a prior claim. Evidence seems to suggest that there were few cities and most of those were Canaanites.

• Note the reference to the Canaanites and the Perizzites in the land by Moses. I believe that God wanted to establish that these people and their sinfulness go all the way back to Abram’s time which is not all that long after the flood (something less than four hundred years). Sin does not take long to corrupt man and society when we walk away from God. It is said we are only one generation from apostasy.

• The Perizzite is generally associated with, and invariably distinguished from, the Canaanite (Genesis 15:20; 34:30; Exodus 3:8, 17). This tribe is not found among the descendants of Canaan in the table of nations. They stand side by side with them, and seem, therefore, not to be a subset, but an independent people. They may have been a Shemite clan that have, by name and custom, been wanderers or nomads rather than dwellers in the plain or in the villages. They dwelt in the mountains of Judah and Ephraim (Judges 1:4; Joshua 17:15). They are noticed as late as in the time of Ezra (Ezra 9:1).

• Canaanite gods: They had over thirty-six gods in a four-tier hierarchy including El and Asherah (god father and mother). Most notable in Scripture are the gods, Moloch, Ba’al, and Dagon, who demanded various sacrifices to include children and babies and a wide variety of carnal rites.

• Abram decides to be gracious and let Lot chose where he will go. He did not have to do this as the elder and considered tribal leader.

Genesis 13:10-13: “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tend toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

• Lot remembers the Sodom plain to the southeast they undoubtedly passed and the cities of that plain and chooses to go there. This would leave Abram to remain in the Bethel area to the north.

• Zoar: the biblical Zoar, previously called Bela (Genesis 14:8), was one of the five cities of the plain – a pentapolis apparently located along the south side of the Dead Sea. It is also a verb meaning to be brought low, to be insignificant (Strong’s H6820). It means for a person to be or become insignificant, trifling, small (Job 14:21; Jeremiah 30:19). It refers to insignificant persons or little ones without great worth or influence (Zechariah 13:7).

• “Garden of the Lord” refers to what Lot believed the land to look like, well-watered, lots of grasses and possibly trees – like what he thought the Garden of Eden was like.

• Sodom and Gomorrah: According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim, and Bela (also called Zoar). Besides their worship of false and wicked gods, their practices of sodomy, homosexuality, and sacrifices caused God to label these peoples as (vs. 13) “the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” Worse even (implied) than the Canaanites. Beware internet information – political correctness has changed what is meant about Sodom and Gomorrah that it was not homosexuality that caused God to judge them (but it was a big part of why) and have tried to explain it as a natural disaster that Moses seized upon. But Genesis 19:4-5 makes it very clear what was the major sin of Sodom.

• What motivated Lot to choose this area? Why not live in the modern “Garden of Eden”?

Genesis 13:14-18:

And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the places where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the  length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 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.

Observations:

• Now that Lot and company are gone, God speaks to Abram again and renews His promise and reveals a little more of His covenant to him.

• The land was promised as forever land to all of the descendants of Abram. Today, the biggest political issue in the Middle East is about the land (and of course the hatred of Jews). Note the size promised. Israel has never occupied all the promised land yet, but it will in the Millennial Reign.

• Abram is some seventy-five years old by this time (most likely past eighty) see Genesis 12:4. I suspect that Abram is having to exercise quite a bit of faith to believe God by this time in his life.

• It should be noted how faithful Abram has been to Sarai all this time, for there is no indication that he even considered talking a concubine to solve his desendant promblem as yet. He rules over a very large troop of men, women, and children, and customs back then did not prohibit multiple wives or concubines as other means to have children.

• Also remember that the law has not been codified as yet (but will be some four hundred plus years later with Moses). So how did Abram know the one man – one wife principle?

• Abram, after again receiving the promise, moves his people, tents, and herds to Mamre near Hebron and builds an altar there (once again establishing ownership of a sort). Note that he has moved closer to where Lot has gone by moving from Bethel in the north to Hebron, further south.

• Whenever God appears or speaks to Abram – he seems to build an altar – interesting . . .

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1890)