Slices
Prepare
Spend a few moments looking back and thanking God for significant moments in your spiritual life.
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
‘Take her and go!’ (Genesis 12:19). With these words of Pharaoh ringing in his ears, Abram leaves Egypt and moves into an unknown future. What now? He returns to a place that holds huge spiritual significance for him, Bethel, and again he ‘calls on the name of the Lord’ (13:4; 12:8). This is always a good thing to do in times of change and uncertainty. In order to move on with our Lord, we have to return to him. God, however, is not calling Abram backwards, but forwards into a deeper trust.
How will God’s promise to Abram be fulfilled? Perhaps it will be through Lot, his nephew. Since the death of his father Haran (11:28), Abraham has been his guardian and, in some Jewish traditions, his adopted father.
This episode in Abram’s life is often read as an example of unselfishness and faith, as he allows Lot to choose the best pasture, trusting that God will provide. It is a generous gesture. However, the challenge to Abram comes in verse 15: will he trust God that the land he surveys will be given to his ‘seed’, his natural offspring?
Respond
Having returned to Bethel, Abram moves on and builds an altar at Mamre. This would become a place of even greater significance (Genesis 18). Is God calling you to move beyond the spiritual landmarks in your past and to trust him in a new way?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Esther 6,7; Luke 12
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Mandy Hagon, PA to Director of Mission, as she works with the wider Mission Development team supporting them in the implementation of the various new computer systems being introduced during the year.
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