July 8, 2001 Genesis 13
“Looking out for #1- the story of Lot” part 1
I want to tell you a story this morning. It’s a true story. It’s a story about a man who made bad choices. Every choice that he made was on the basis what he thought was in his best interest. This man had a lot going for him. He had a rich uncle who helped him establish his own modest estate. He didn’t have to worry too much about being attacked by an enemy. Uncle had a well-trained group of fighting men who would quickly go into action if any threat happened to come along. He was part of a family that was blessed by God and enjoyed an intimate relationship with God. He was single [basis for asserting that he was single is that it in vs. 1 of Gn. 13, it mentions that Abram’s wife was present in this entourage, but it doesn’t say anything about Lot’s wife] and rich. He had servants who did all the work for him. Life was good. Or so it would seem to us. But he was not satisfied. There was always something over the hill that he thought could make life a little bit better. In order to get that life-satisfying thing over the hill, our hero made some bad choices that laid the foundation for his eventual destruction and the destruction of his family. His name is Lot. His story begins in Genesis 13.
We’re going to be examining Lot’s story over the next several weeks. We’ll see where the decisions that he made here in Gn 13 eventually take him and his family. As we look at Lot, I want each of you to examine yourself and ask yourself, “How am I making the decisions that will govern the rest of my life? Am I basing them on what I think will be best for me – what’s in my best self-interest, or am I basing them on what God says is right?” Let’s take a look at Lot.
Vs. 1 – Lot had just spent some time in Egypt along with Abram and their whole group. Life had been good in Egypt. The food was plentiful. The entertainment was spectacular. The opportunities for advancement and growth were more than he could have ever hoped for. But because of a lie that uncle Abram told, they got kicked out of Egypt. They had to leave the good life behind. They had to go out into the hill country – the Negev. It was boring out there. Any of you parents had to struggle with kids that are bored with summer vacation yet? Lot had gotten used to the city life. And now, here he was back out in the boring country side. It’s the Green Acres scenario. “New York is where I’d rather stay; I gather ‘llergic smelling hay; I just adore a penthouse view; darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue.” That was Lot, and he lost it because of uncle Abe.
Vs. 5 – While in Egypt and as a result of his relationship with Abram, Lot started to accumulate some level of wealth for himself. But the level which he had reached did not compare with that of his uncle’s. In verse 2, it describes Abram as being “very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.” Lot looked at all that uncle had, and it made him mad. He could have had all that and more if they had been able to stay in Egypt. It made him jealous too. What right did Abram have to possess more than he did? And then, to top it all off, they had to keep moving around in order to find food for the large group of livestock that they had accumulated. Look at vs. 3 – “From the Negev he went from place to place…” Lot hated moving around. He had loved being able to sleep in the same place every night in a nice comfortable bed while they had been in Egypt. But as sparse as the vegetation was out in this wilderness, they had to keep on the move constantly. When they finally did settle down in one place for a while, it wasn’t because there was plenty of vegetation there; it was because Abram wanted to spend time communing with God. Look at vs. 3-4. The place had sentimental value for Abram. It brought back good memories for him. But it did nothing for Lot. When the good fields had been used up there, and even Lot was ready to move on, Abram wouldn’t go because he wanted to spend more time talking with God! What a waste of time! He needed to be more concerned about his livestock and moving the group on to better pastures.
Vs. 6-7 – Since they stayed so long in that area, a problem arose among Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen. Good grazing ground was getting scarce. Whenever one group would find some grass that hadn’t been eaten up yet, they would make sure that no one else got to benefit from it. There were only limited resources to go around. They couldn’t afford to share those resources.
Sounds like family life sometimes. What are the resources in your household that are in the shortest supply and that create the greatest amount of conflict among you? If you are like my family, you probably fought over it this morning. It’s the bathroom. When you’ve got a family of four all trying to get ready at the same time, it creates some interesting situations. I get accused of hogging the mirror all the time. In our family, we have three bathrooms, but it seems that everyone wants to use the one on the top floor. So you have people waiting outside the door saying things like, “Will you please hurry up?!” and “Are you going to be in there all day?!” Sound familiar. In Lot and Abram’s case, added to the stress of both their groups needing the land was the fact that there were other outside people groups who were also trying to make use of the same resources. So they not only had to share with one another but with strangers. It would be like having some other children spend the night in your home on Saturday night only to have extra people needing to brush their teeth and use the bathroom and take a shower and all those things that tie up resources that are already in tight supply.
Vs. 8-9 – Abram didn’t like the fact that there was stress between him and Lot, so he came up with a solution. His solution was that they separate. We can’t get along, so let’s just go our separate ways. The solution that he came up with was practical – it took care of the immediate problem – but there was a better way. The right thing for Lot to have done at that moment would have been for him to evaluate what he had where he was, what God had given him, and the wrongness of the attitude which he and his men had been showing. Based on all that, he should have repented of that attitude and begged Abram for the privilege of remaining with him and continuing to enjoy his blessings. They could have found a way to peacefully co-exist, but Lot didn’t see that.
Let’s stop here for just a moment if we could. I want to talk about this. We live in a society that says when things aren’t going the way that you want them to, you separate – you leave. It doesn’t matter if it’s a marriage, a job or a church, our first reaction to problems is to walk out the door. If my needs aren’t being met, if I’m not being allowed to be everything that I want to be, then I’ll find someone or somewhere where I can reach my greatest potential. Lately, Benjamin has been in a “running away” attitude. Every time that he doesn’t get his way, he says something like “I’m going to run away.” One afternoon, I came home from work to discover that Ben had run away. He was going around to different homes in the neighborhood asking if they would let him come and live with them. He figured that by separating from us, he would find a better life someplace else. In your family, there are going to be problems. At your job, there are going to be conflicts. At this church, you will get your feelings hurt, and things will not run the way that you want them to. How are you going to respond? Are you going to separate, or are you going to stay and work at finding a solution that benefits everyone? Lot unfortunately liked Abram’s suggestion.
Vs. 9-11 – When Abram suggested that they part, he opened up the door for Lot. He told Lot that he could have first pick of what piece of land he wanted. Abram, being the older and more powerful of the two would normally have had the right to first choice. But he gave up that right for the benefit of his nephew. He knew that the blessings of God were not determined by the piece of land that he held but by the obedience that he gave. He was controlled by faith. Lot on the other hand was controlled by sight.
It says in vs.10 that Lot looked up. In the KJV, it says that he “lifted up his eyes”. He looked all around him, and then his eyes rested on the area around the Jordan River. He saw that it was good land, and watered by the river. There was plenty of vegetation – just what a struggling rancher needed to feed his livestock so that he could become rich like uncle Abram. When he looked at that land, it looked to him like the descriptions that he had heard of the Garden of Eden. It reminded him of how things had looked when he had lived back in Egypt. He looked all the way to Zoar which was way on the south end of what is now the Dead Sea. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but lush growth and plenty of opportunity.
Living in a land like that would mean several things for Lot. It would mean no more moving around. There was enough land there that it could support his livestock indefinitely. It would mean no more having to fight with others for limited resources. It would mean no more having to hear the constant complaining and bickering of those who tended to his own livestock. It would mean no longer having to live in uncle Abram’s shadow and having to live by his rules. It meant the easy life. As far as the eye could see, and as far as the mind could imagine, this was the way to go.
But there was one thing that the eye couldn’t see and that the mind couldn’t know. Look at the end of vs. 10. [read it] It looked really good to Lot, but what he didn’t know was that God was getting ready to destroy that whole region. (Prov 14:12 NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Prov 12:15a NIV) The way of a fool seems right to him… The problem with living by sight instead of living by faith is that our sight cannot see into tomorrow.
Lot chose for himself all the best, and he headed off away from Abram. He thought he was leaving his problems behind. But the choice that he made based on what he thought was in his own best interest established the foundation for the eventual destruction of all that he possessed and his entire household.
Vs. 12-13 – Life continued on for Abram and Lot. Abram stayed right where he was for a while longer, and Lot started enjoying the easy life near the river. Things were good for a while, but then Lot noticed something. The group of men that he had around him for protection was a lot smaller than it had been while he lived with uncle Abram. Uncle Abram had a much larger workforce in his company, and those guys were totally loyal to him. They were trained how to fight, and if any enemy came against them, they were more than capable of defending themselves. As boring and limiting as things were while living with uncle Abram, Lot had never worried for his safety. He had never lost a night’s sleep wondering if they would be able to ward off an enemy’s attack during the night. But now, his group of men was tiny compared to what he was used to. There were still those pesky Canaanites and Perizzites in the land. What if they came and attacked? Abram had a relationship with God for protection. Lot, though he had placed his faith in God for salvation a long time ago, had done nothing to further that relationship. There was no intimate communion between he and God. He couldn’t trust God to take care of him. So Lot, in fear for his life and his possessions, headed south toward Sodom. He figured that if he got close to Sodom and the other cities that were there in the area, he would have some level of protection.
There were at least two problems with the decision that Lot made to get close to Sodom. The first is people. Why did Lot decided that it was time to separate from uncle Abram? Because they were fighting over resources. The closer that Lot got to Sodom and the surrounding cities, the closer that he got to people. By locating himself so close to a populated area, Lot would have run into the same problem of competition for land and resources that had caused him to move to the Jordan in the first place. The second problem with Lot’s move toward Sodom was that not only were there people there, but they were wickedly sinful people. Lot moved to Sodom for physical protection, but in turn he was opening himself up for tremendous spiritual attack. Lot swapped one set of small problems for a much larger set of problems that were going to be much more difficult to deal with. The easy life had a lot of unwanted baggage that came along with it. When Lot looked up and saw, he didn’t see God’s judgment that was getting ready to fall, he didn’t see that he was removing himself from God’s hand of protection, and he didn’t see – or maybe he just didn’t care about the sinfulness of the people. All that he could see, and all that he cared about was the well-watered plain – the good life.
Vs. 14-17 – As Abram watched Lot taking all of his possessions and his people and heading off for the good part of the land, I wonder what he was thinking. Maybe he was thinking that he had made a mistake in allowing Lot to have first choice. Maybe he was second-guessing himself. “Did I do the right thing?” And almost in answer to his unspoken question, God comes to him and makes him a promise. [read vs. 14-17] God promised Abram all the land that he could see in any direction. That would have included the land that Lot had chosen. But God promised more than just land. He promised inumerable descendants. God’s promise to Abram was far more than what Lot had taken for himself. The life of Abram is a testimony to the fact that God will bless us when we choose to live a life in which we put others before ourselves. (Mat 16:25 NIV) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
What lessons can we learn from this first chapter in the story of Lot?
1. Self-interest will not allow me to applaud the success of other people.
“I can’t see what God has given me.” God had given Lot stuff (flock and herds and tents). He had given him a great relationship in his uncle Abram. When Lot’s dad had died, Abram had taken him in like a son. Lot enjoyed the protection which being associated with Abram provided for him. But he couldn’t see all that. He only saw what he didn’t have, and that was more appealing to him than what he did have.
“I can’t see what sacrifices they had to make in order to get where they are.” Abram had left behind his whole family back in Mesopotamia many years before. He had come to a strange land, not knowing what he would find or how he would survive. All that he knew was that God had commanded him to go, and so he went. Lot didn’t keep this in mind when he thought about the differences between the level of Abram’s success and the level of his own. Everything that he had achieved had been as a result of his relationship with Abram not because of work that he had accomplished on his own.
2. Self-interest comes out of a feeling that there aren’t enough resources to go around. Lot’s herdsmen fought with Abraham’s herdsmen because they thought that there weren’t enough resources to feed the livestock of both groups.
Self-interest says…
- “There’s not enough love to go around” If someone else is getting attention, get jealous and fight for attention for yourself
- “There’s not enough time to go around” I don’t have time to minister to you and help you. I’ve got to use all my time on myself.
- “There’s not enough jobs to go around” You’ve got to fight your ground, stand up for yourself. And if you have to step on someone else, steal from someone else, take advantage of someone else to get where you need to go, then do it.
- “There’s not enough, there’s not enough, there’s not enough…” Stake your ground, defend it at all costs, because if you don’t, someone else is going to steal it from you. And then where will you be?
In contrast to that, God says:
- “I’ll supply your needs” My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19) There’s more than enough to go around!
- “I’ll take care of you” The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not be in want…(Ps. 23)
- “I love you, and I have enough love and enough time to where my love for someone else will in no way lessen the love that I give to you.” For God so loved the world… (Jn 3:16) God is love. (1 Jn. 4:16)
3. Self-interest forces me into opposition with other people in my life – people that care about me and people that I care for. Abram cared a great deal for Lot. He treated him like a son. He wouldn’t have given him first choice on land options if there wasn’t a very strong relationship between them. Abram was concerned about maintaining a relationship. Lot was concerned about furthering his fortune. Lot’s self-interest put him at odds with Abram.
4. Self-interest teaches me that it is up to me to see to my own protection. Lot thought that he was protecting his own self-interests by removing himself from his uncle to better pastures. But once he realized that in doing so, he had also removed himself from his uncle’s protection, he decided that he needed a new source of protection. He moved close to Sodom. He hadn’t yet learned the lesson that Abram had learned. The one who trusts in God and rests in God for protection has a greater protector than any human force could ever be.
“My father, who gave them to me is greater than all. No one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand…” (Jn 10:29) (Rom 8:35, 38 KJV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,” (Psa 3:3-6 NIV) But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.
5. Self-interest removes me from the promise of God’s blessing and places me in danger of God’s judgment.
While Lot was with Abram, he got to enjoy water from the same spring God refreshed Abram with. God blessed Abram, and since Lot was a part of Abram’s group, he got to enjoy the benefits of those same blessings. It’s the equivalent of trickle-down economics. But when Lot left Abram, he also left the place of God’s blessing. What he thought was in his best interest was his greatest mistake. He left the place of God’s blessing to go to the place of God’s judgment. Why? Because he was looking out for himself rather than doing what was right.
CONCLUSION
Lot lived the good life for a long time – at least 13 years, probably longer. It looked like things were working out just as he planned and that living life with the attitude of looking out for himself was the right way to go. But we know what happened to Sodom, and we’ll see in the days ahead what happened to Lot and his family. Living for yourself and living apart from God may be fun for a while. It may even be prosperous. But you only swap one set of problems for a new set. And the way that seems good to you today will lead to your destruction and the destruction of those that you love.
I want to finish today’s service in the same that we started. [read Philippians 2:1-11]
