Genesis 13: Abram and Lot Separate

After being sent away from Egypt, Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. He journeyed from Egypt back to his original tent, on the land that the Lord had called him to. When Abram left his tent to go to Egypt, he left his place of worship, which essentially led to sin. When Abram got back to his tent and the alter he had built, he did what he should have been doing instead of committing sin in Egypt; Verse 4 "Abram worshiped the Lord there".


Abram's nephew, Lot, who was also traveling with Abram, and according to verse 5, he also "had flocks, herds, and tents". Verse 6-7 says "⁶But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together, ⁷and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock." The land the Lord had called Abram to was not big enough support both Abram and Lot. In Genesis 12:1, the Lord told Abram to leave his relatives behind. But, Abram had disobeyed the Lord and had taken his nephew, Lot, with him. Now, they have too many things and the land can only support so much stuff. Also, verse 7 "there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock". I believe this was Abram's punishment for disobeying. Verse 7 also says that "at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land". Seeing Abram and Lot arguing over this land will only give a bad image to the Canaanites and Perizzites of how Christians are. 


Now, this land was given to Abram by the Lord, but Abram made a very generous offer to Lot. Abram doesn't want to fight with Lot over a piece of land, so he says to Lot in verse 8, "Please, let's not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives". Abram trusted the Lord and knew that wherever he went, the Lord would be with him and protect him. Before, Abram tried to take his fate into his own hands, which was evident during the famine. Abram goes to Egypt to get enough things for his family, but has learned his lesson, that he must let fate fall into the hands of God. So Abram lets Lot choose which part of the land he wants to occupy.


Verse 10-13 tells us of the land that Lot had chosen. In verse 10, Lot see that the entire Jordan Valley "was well-watered everywhere like the LORD's garden and the land of Egypt". And so Lot sets his tent near Sodom. But, verse 13, "the men of Sodom were evil, sinning greatly against the LORD". So Lot chose the land that was physically great, but spiritually evil. 

¹⁴After Lot had separated from him, the LORD said to Abram, "Look from the place where you are. Look north and south, east and west, ¹⁵for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see.¹⁶I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷Get up and walk from one end of the land to the other, for I will give it to you."

As seen in verse 14-17, God reaffirms his promise to Abram. Also, God wanted Abram to know that even though Abram let Lot chose which land he wanted to live on, the land still ultimately belongs to Abram, because the God had given it to him. At this point, Abram still hadn't fathered a son, because his wife Sarai was barren. But, the Lord tells him that he will have many descendants. In verse 17, the Lord tells Abram to walk all over his land, explore it, because it will be his.


Then after exploring his land, Abram in verse 18, "Abram moved his tent and went to live beside the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord". Abram worshiped the Lord and knew it was important for him to build alters to the Lord.