Slices
Prepare
‘All that glitters is not gold’ (proverb). What really matters to you?
Bible passage
Abram and Lot separate
13 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 quarrelling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are close relatives. 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 around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out towards 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 people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever. 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 went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
Explore
When Abram, Sarai and Lot return from their disastrous time in Egypt, Abram at least appears to have learned a lesson he will not easily forget. He had become wealthy (v 2) but his money did not make him independent (v 5). His nephew Lot, on the other hand, evidently has a different approach to wealth. To avoid disputes between their herders, Abram suggests Lot chooses some land to live on himself (vs 8,9). Lot chooses his land on the basis of what he can see (v 10), but with scant regard for the godless way in which life was lived in that area (v 13). At first sight – and from an economic perspective – it looks as if he chose well. But we will return to the story of Lot’s land in chapter 19.
Abram then receives a repeat of the previous promise from God – but this time the land is not merely given to his offspring (12:7) but also to him (v 15). Abram’s response to God’s promise is to calmly accept God’s will, and worship (v 18).
Our daily choices may not be as momentous as Abram’s and Lot’s, but they matter nonetheless. At the very least, we might ask these questions: What will this choice mean for my walk with God? What will it mean for my relationships with my family?
Respond
‘Lord, help me to honour you in the choices I make today. Amen.’
Deeper Bible study
Show us, Lord, the importance of making crucial choices in life on the basis of the values of the kingdom of God.
Here we see two striking contrasts. First, notice the contrast with yesterday’s story. In the previous chapter, Abram failed a test of faith and was publicly rebuked; here he appears a different man – gracious, generous and acting in a manner consistent with God’s promise to him. Between these two incidents stands the return to Bethel, ‘where he had first built an altar’ (vs 3,4). Was this a place of penitence and renewal? Our failures and stumbles along the pilgrim way need not prove fatal but may reveal to us our weakness and need of grace.
Second, there is an obvious contrast between Abram and Lot. Tension arises between the two groups of nomadic cattle herders, whose way of life required access to significant tracts of land so that their animals could move to wherever pasture and water were available. This picture resonates very powerfully today – traditional nomadic peoples find themselves under great pressure as access to land is increasingly limited by urbanisation and the extension of the market principle to land. In other words, this text, which at first may appear antiquated, could not be more relevant to a world in which disputes over land and resources so often result in terrible violence and social divisions. Notice that Abram does not pull rank in this dispute but displays a generosity of spirit which reflects the way in which his hope in God’s promise shapes even personal economic decisions. Lot, by contrast, is driven by different motives and begins to move beyond Abram’s orbit. What Lot ‘viewed as a great step forward was to be to his ruin, for these cities [of the plain] were destined for destruction’.1
Can you think of any nomadic peoples today whose way of life is similar to that of Abram? Pray for these people, under such great pressure in these times.
1 Gordon J Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary: Genesis 1–15, Word UK, 1991, p299
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Numbers 12–14; Psalms 28,29
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray that God will guide Chip K and Scripture Union on how the Soul Children concept could be taken forward in England and Wales, and help them to make wise decisions.
