Genesis 13 - Return, Rift, Results, Revelation — Gordon Armstrong

Reading Genesis 13: Return, Rift, Results, and Revelation

I'd like to read in Genesis chapter number 13. And Joey went to great lengths to try and tie his message in with what had gone before. So, I'm going to pick up where Joey left off, which is strife between brethren.

So, Genesis chapter 13, and we'll read the chapter together. And Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had and brought 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 Ai, unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first.

And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 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 herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee and between my herdmen and thy herdmen.

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.

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld on the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest into Zoar.

Then Lot chose him, o 'er the plain of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves from the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, but pitched his tent towards Sodom.

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot had separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place 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. 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.

And we look to God to help us as we try and consider this section. There's a lot in it. We're not going to cover all of it. I remember our brother Jack Hay, when he was given 30 minutes, on an occasion he said, you know, there's some brethren that I know back home, and it takes them that long to clear their throat.

So I'm going to try and just highlight some of the key points that are before us in the chapter. In the first four verses, we have the return from Egypt, and we touched on that yesterday. And then from five to nine, we have the rift among brethren.

And from verses 10 to 13, we have the results from the strife. And then in verses 14 to 18, we have a revelation of confirmation. In verse number one, we see that Abraham was in difficulty. He went down to Egypt in the previous chapter.

Returning from Egypt to the Altar

But we give thanks, as we highlighted yesterday, that there was a return. And we see that Abraham, although he went down, Abraham went up out of Egypt. He went down into Egypt, which we know speaks of the world, and we see the attraction of the world, but he came up out of it.

So when we think of our spiritual life this afternoon, are we attracted to, do we need to, as it were, be pulled up out of Egypt? Will it be said of us as we leave the conference this weekend that we are going up out of Egypt?

But the good thing is that when we are feeling the attraction and the pull and the tug of the world upon our life, there is a way out of it. It doesn't have to be the conditions that we settle for. Because we see, although God was gracious in bringing Abraham out of Egypt, the time that he spent there was time that was wasted.

It was time that was fruitless. Because in the time of the crisis, it looked appealing, it looked convenient, it looked like a pragmatic step. But when he comes back, he goes right to the place that he had left to go south.

He never made progress as a result of going to Egypt. He never made spiritual steps forward as a result of journeying into the south. But he did return, and verse number four says he returned to the altar, to a place of worship, the place of the house of God and fellowship with God.

And Moses, when writing in verse number two, he adds in the detail of the accumulation of wealth and how that was going to become a prominent feature further down as the land was unable to bear them, as they were unable to dwell together.

And we see really two different approaches, and we see two different ways of life. But I suggest even in Abraham and Lot, we have two different approaches and attitudes in connection with material things.

Because in the case of Abraham, he had possessions, but in the case of Lot, the possessions had him, and they were his master. They were the thing that were most important. But Abraham, he was going to get back to the beginning.

Returning to First Love and Fellowship with God

He was going to get back to the place where things had gone wrong. You know, can I suggest that when we feel our weakness and our worldliness, it would be good to get back just to the beginning. Do you remember when you were saved, the love that filled your soul for the person of Christ, the appreciation of the work of Christ, the hatred for your sin, the desire for others to be saved?

And Abraham, he had to get back to the beginning. And it takes me to Revelation chapter 3, or chapter 2 rather, we think of that local church at Ephesus. What does the Lord say to them? I have somewhat against thee, because you have left your first love.

How is your love for Christ? Maybe you have, as it were, made a journey and you have grown in age and wisdom and knowledge and in possessions and in accumulations. But when it comes to your love for Christ and for souls, you would love just to get back to the beginning.

And that's what Abraham did. He was taken back to the place where he had left. And it says there that he called upon the name of the Lord. This was fellowship with God. It was dependence upon God. And when he was living, as it were, in the world, we don't ever read of him calling upon the name of the Lord.

But here he was, back where it went wrong, back calling upon the name of the Lord in fellowship with him. You know, I can look back to many conferences that I attended, and you know, that was really my desire, having left a conference weekend, was that there would be, as it were, a fresh start in my spiritual experience.

And perhaps that will be the case for someone or someones this weekend. A desire, not just to go along with the status quo and to kind of rate the preachers and, you know, give a detailed breakdown of where it could have all went better and the order and who spoke and all of these things.

We all have the conference weekend debriefs, but are we prepared to let the sword of the Word of God impact our lives? Because that is the purpose of being here. There was a rift that came in between Abraham and Lot.

Addressing Strife Among Believers

It was really between the herdsmen and, you know, it's possible that it hadn't spilled over to Abraham and Lot, but we see there was issues. And Abraham was going to handle this conflict extremely well.

It started with material issues, it was witnessed by unbelievers, and it resulted in a separation. You know, Abraham, he went to Lot about the issue. So, first of all, he names the problem, he identifies the problem, and then secondly, he shows humility in dealing with the problem.

You know, when it comes to strife and issues in our lives with other believers or perhaps in the assembly, are we prepared, like Abraham, to go to our brother or sister and identify the problem and with humility seek a resolution?

Or is it a case of week by week we get further apart from them until it's almost awkward to talk to one another? Abraham goes and he identifies the problem and he wants to call it out and show how there can be a resolution that strife is not the case.

You know, we see from the commencement of the New Testament, through the New Testament, the commencement of a New Testament assembly, there has been issues connected with division. In 1 Corinthians, they were gathering around preferred men and they were saying, I am of Paul, I am of Paulus, I am of Cephas.

And we see in Philippians chapter 4, those two ladies who are in conflict with one another and Paul's encouraging them to be of the same mind, to have a united mind and to have those issues resolved. You know, the challenging thing when it comes to conflict is that whether we are the one that's being offended or whether we are the one that is the one that's being offensive, the Lord Jesus gives us the responsibility to go and to put it right.

Matthew chapter 5, we read of the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and he says, Reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 18, it's not if you remember you've offended your brother, but it's if your brother's offended you.

It says if your brother sins against you, you go to him. Someone has commented on this topic before that we'll always be able to meet together if the offender and the offended are both seeking one another.

So when it comes to strife, when it comes to rifts among one another, we all have a responsibility to go, but for the purpose of reconciliation. Because Abraham, he says, we be brethren. This isn't what was expected.

This is what shouldn't have been the case among them. And he says, let's resolve this. You know, the Bible says that we are in the family of God. You know, when there's issues among family, there's more at stake.

You know, if I have an argument with someone, most recent example, at the service station because they told me or they show up, you know, it's going to be ready on this day. And I talked to the technician and, you know, he said he's working on it.

But you know, weeks go by and all of this type of thing. And you're like, well, who is it? Someone's not being upfront. You know, I did on a different occasion, it was the same guy, went back and apologized to him.

The unfortunate thing is, a total aside is, it was after that it was done within two days. But you know, there's not as much at stake in those interactions. But when it comes to family, if there's a conflict with me and my brother or sister, there's more at stake.

There's a relationship that is valuable, that's important. And there's a desire for it to be resolved and to be put right. And so it should be in the local assembly that we have a desire to be in harmony with our brothers and sisters.

Christlike Humility in Resolving Conflict

And Abraham, he shows tremendous humility because he says to what you choose. You know, Abraham could have said, listen, I'm the older one. The Lord spoke to me. You get in your box and I'm going here and you're staying here or whatever it may be.

But that's not what Abraham did. Abraham exhibited the attitude that Paul encouraged the Philippians to show, which was in Philippians 2, verse 5. He says, let this man be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And then he goes on to unfold that tremendous doctrinal section about the person of Christ and how, although he had authority and he had rights and he had position, he was willing to let it all go in order to go to the cross.

And the Lord Jesus is held up as a supreme example of humility. And it's used in the context of a local assembly where there is disunity and the Lord Jesus as a supreme solution and the mind and the character of the Lord Jesus is the example that we're given.

You know, whilst Abraham was in Egypt, he was number one. When Abraham was in Egypt, he was trying to make it look like he was protecting his wife and trying to make sure that she was OK. But really, he was trying to save his own skin.

But here in chapter 13, it's no longer like Egypt. He's prepared to let law choose. He's prepared to trust in the God that spoke to him and not take the matter into his own hands. And in verse number seven, it's also noted to us that there was Canaanites and Perizzites that were in the land.

You know, have you ever been involved in gospel work in a place that it's maybe a place you don't know as well? And there's men here that have decades of experience in the gospel and can tell you, I'm sure, many stories, if I've seen it in a very small way.

But when you maybe go visiting and there's people in the community that know about division and the assembly and they know about people in the assembly and fallouts in the assembly, and it was Canaanites and Perizzites in the land and they were witnessing Abraham and Lot and the strife and Abraham was ensuring that there was a resolution because the things that take place among the people of God are things that are not only detrimental to the relationship between us, but they're actually detrimental to the testimony and the perception of us in a locality.

There was strife that was creeping in. You know, are you prepared to give up your rights and your preferences? We've heard today of the importance of standing for truth. Jude speaks about contending for the faith.

And that is important. But this is not so much in terms of truth that I'm thinking of this, but in terms of the things that I like and prefer, in terms of how I would prefer something to be done or a way for something to be carried out.

Am I prepared to give up my rights in order that there is harmony and unity among the assembly? Because that's what Abraham, the man of faith, did. That's what Abraham, the friend of God, did. He was able to see above his own herd, his own cattle, his own desire and trust the Lord for it.

Lot’s Choice: Walking by Sight

And we see the results of that in verses 10 to 14. Lot, he lifts up his eyes. You know, he made his decision based on the things that looked good, the natural, the physical. And, you know, that is where a lot of sin begins.

We read that all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. But in contrast, in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, we read these words, we walk by faith, not by sight.

You know, if you were to take that verse and think of Abraham walking by faith, Lot walking by sight, his decision making was based on the natural, the things that he could see. And we don't read of Lot calling on the name of the Lord or praying about the decision or the direction.

And it says that Lot journeyed eastward. He was moving away from God. You know, Adam and Eve, they were cast out of the garden eastward. Cain, he went out from the presence of the Lord and he dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.

When we read of eastward, it is that direction moving away from God. And he begins by looking. And then he's journeying. And in chapter 14, it says that he's a man of, we read of Lot that says, who dwelt in Sodom.

He started looking, he started journeying and he settled down. And by chapter 19, everything that his tent was facing, everything that he had moved towards was a heap of ashes. You know, that searching is searching in my life as I think of the things that I set my heart toward.

First Corinthians chapter three, I know the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah is different than the different judgments, but just applying it, it says that every man's work will be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

And everything that we do in this life will be assessed by the Lord himself. And we will never, ever lose our salvation. But it's possible that we can stand at the end of life and almost like Lot, we can stand at the judgment seat as Lot looked over Sodom and Gomorrah, as it were.

A heap of ashes. How did it start? By looking, by journeying, by dwelling. You know, the other thing that is important is the strife was a big part of it. You know, there's many believers, I can think of some that were in the assembly where I come from when I first got there.

And as a result of strife, they've separated from a local assembly. Lot departed from the influence of Abraham. Abraham was not a perfect man, but Abraham was a man of faith. He was a godly man. And every single one of us are being influenced in one way or another.

I remember an elder in the assembly that I came from in Scotland, and he would often have different sayings and one he would often say is this, we are not on a solo run to heaven. We're not on a solo run to heaven.

Separation from the World and the Influence of Godliness

We need one another. We need influences upon our lives that are godly, that are helpful. And what started as a separation for Lot from Abraham started on a journey that went down and down and down. Someone said that it wasn't Lot's choice that led his heart astray, his heart was already astray and it was demonstrated in his choice.

You know, we know what it is to feel the pull and the coldness of our hearts, but there is a preservative of being around people that are godly, that will encourage us, that will help us, that will correct us.

And that is why God wants us, as we thought of yesterday, to be separate. Frank made mention of the many times that Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, but what was the original command? It was to be a three days journey.

That's where God wanted them. Enough separation, a complete separation. And Pharaoh, as a picture of Satan, what does he say? He says, go, but don't go too far. Go, but leave something behind. And there's always something that Pharaoh, as a picture of Satan, is wanting us to hold on to in the world.

And Lot began by bordering the world. And before he knew it, he was all in. Finally, after Lot is gone, God confirms his promises to Abraham and that revelation. And I'll just say a couple of verses in closing.

God’s Promises and Fellowship in Hebron

2 Peter, thereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. The word of God is full of promises that are for us. And God wants us, by the spirit of God, to enjoy every aspect of them, to mine them out and to live in the good of them.

And as it were with Abraham, he went and he dwelt in Mamre, which is in Hebron. Mamre, some say strength, vigor, vision. Hebron, the idea of fellowship. Here was a man that was moving with strength in the things of God, with vigor, with vision.

And he was doing it in fellowship with God. May we be people that are marked by an appreciation of the revelation of God and be marked by the altar and the people that are seeking to live as it were in Hebron.

May the Lord bless his word.