Genesis 13:1-13
Where Are You Pitching Your Tent?
Introduction
In the Bible record, we find the familiar story of Abraham. That story began in a place called Ur of the Chaldees, a place that was located in what we know today as southern Iraq. It began with a man by the name of Terah, who had three sons, named Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot. As the story unfolds, we find that Lot’s dad died in Ur of the Chaldees, then he and his grandfather and uncle Abraham moved from Ur at the Lord’s command. They stopped at a place called Haran, where Terah, the grandfather died. Then, with their families and possessions, Lot and his uncle Abraham moved once again to the land of Canaan, which would later come to be known as Israel. When Abraham arrived in Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and told him that all his descendants would inherit the land he was surveying, a great tract of land that would belong to all his descendants. Abram was so moved that he built an altar to God and worshipped Him there.
If you remember, they stayed for a short while, then journeyed farther south into Egypt, where out of fear for his life Abraham made his wife Sarah lie about her identity to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh thought Sarah was Abraham’s sister, and thus took her as his own wife. The Lord plagued Pharaoh until the truth came out about her true relationship to Abraham, after which they all packed up and returned to Canaan.
All the while that Abraham and Lot were traveling together, they amassed these great herds of cattle and sheep and ranch hands, so that by the time they returned to Canaan, they had accumulated far too much to be able to ranch together. This is the situation in which we find them in Genesis 13, which we’ll now read.
"And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot 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 Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ha-i; 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 in the land. And Abram 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 all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly."
Now as you continue reading in the following verses and next several chapters, Abraham grows and matures into the wonderful man of God that we study and admire. Sure he makes some mistakes, some bad choices, but he learns from his sin and draws nearer to the Lord in the end.
Lot on the other hand lives a life of grief and heartache. He pitched his tent toward Sodom, later moved into town, became one of the town’s leading citizens, enjoyed his wealth and influence, but in the end he lost his wife, committed incest with his own daughters, and fathered a nation of people who would be a thorn in the side of Israel for years to come. Time and time again Abraham would have to get Lot out of trouble, for his was a wasted and sorry life. It wasn’t his upbringing. It wasn’t poverty or bad circumstances, but instead, it was the choices Lot made that led to a life of regret and shame.
One writer has said that we are the sum of our decisions. Even not making a decision is a decision in itself. If your daughter’s school play starts at 11:30 a.m. and at 11:35 a.m. you are still on the phone, a decision has been made about the importance of that play. We are branded by the decisions we make; we are the sum of our decisions.
Lot made a decision one day – he was presented with an opportunity – he surveyed his options, and from his point of view, perhaps he made what appeared to be a sound decision. Abraham said, "Lot, look all around. You’ve got first choice of land." He looked, and chose a prime piece of property. It was well watered, had plenty of grass, lots of opportunity. Sure Sodom and Gomorrah were there, but no big deal. "They won’t bother me." Most likely though, it wasn’t a matter of whether he thought they would bother him or not, those two sin filled cities probably never entered the equation concerning his relationship with God.
But they did bother him. In Genesis 13 Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, somewhere out in the Jordan valley. He made camp away from those sin filled cities and quietly continued to make a living, but as time passed he let his guard down until in Genesis 14:12 we read…
"And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed."
You see, no matter how noble his intentions or how strong he thought he might have been, Lot moved into town and put himself right in the middle of trouble. Five wicked kings had marched in with their armies and kidnapped Lot and his family and all he possessed, and Abraham had to rescue him. Did he learn? No, because after the rescue he moved right back into town. You remember what happened next – three men appeared to Abraham, two of them angels and the other was the Lord. The Lord told Abraham He was going to destroy those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham pleaded with the Him over them. Lord, if there are 50 righteous people there would you spare it? What about 40? 30? All the way down to 10 righteous people in those wicked places, and the Lord told Abraham that if He could find just 10 righteous people He would spare the cities.
God sent the two men, or angels down to Sodom, where they found Lot sitting in the city gates, a place of prominence in the city. In Genesis 19, we read…
"And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways."
At first the angels refused, but then gave in to Lot’s insisting and went to his home for the night. Verse 4 says,
"But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them."
Now I want you to see just how far Lot had come since he pitched his tent toward the city several years before. Verse 6 says,
"And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing…"
Just how far had Lot gone? Far enough that he was willing to prostitute his own daughters to a group of wicked and abominable men just to maintain his honor and self-respect. The next day the angels got Lot, his daughters and wife outside of the city before they destroyed it, where Lot’s wife looked back and turned into the pillar of salt, and after which his own daughters got him drunk and committed a gross act of incest with him so they might perpetuate the family name.
How could a man who had everything going for him end up in such a mess? I’ll tell you how – it started with what seemed like a simple and innocent decision to prosper and get ahead – but it cost him more than you or I will ever know.
So What’s The Point?
Great history lesson right? Maybe so, but it is so much more than that! You see, whether you’re just a teenager still in school or an adult wading your way through life, you are faced with your future and the decisions you make today will have lasting effects on how that future is spent. This is true for husbands and wives, for mothers and fathers, for sons and daughters, for couples, for families, and for churches, so the point is this: Where are you pitching your tent today?
THINK ABOUT IT!
· How did one of the strongest men in the Bible, who had more natural ability and potential for leadership, end up with his eyes plucked out only to die beneath a ruined palace? He chose to pitch his tent toward sin and self-satisfaction, spending his life chasing women instead of his God.
· How did Israel’s greatest king, who enjoyed victory after victory and was known in the Bible as a great lover of God and a man of integrity end up having an affair and killing a man? He ruined his family and spent the rest of his life regretting that decision because he pitched his tent toward trouble when he should have been out with his army.
· How did a husband and wife in the book of Acts, who were doing well in the church there, who had just sold a piece of land for a nice price end up dead at the apostles feet? They pitched their tent toward prosperity and deceit instead of just telling the truth.
You see, most people never just pack up and move into Sodom and Gomorrah. Samson didn’t. David didn’t. Lot didn’t. They just pitched their tent that way and assumed they were men enough to maintain integrity and character, thinking that flirting with sin was not so dangerous, yet they all fell to its wicked grasp like the weak men they really were. The Apostle Paul said, "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." You and I don’t have any strength apart from the Lord! We are nothing without Him. Proverbs 10:29 tells us, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity." A man’s real strength is found in God.
Today, every man in this room is searching for significance, and searching for significance is a good thing, but where are you pitching your tent to find it? Some of you, like Abraham, have pitched your tent with the Lord. You are enjoying lives of worship and satisfaction and you are finding significance in Him. But far too many men are like Lot, pitching their tents according to what appeals to the senses instead of bringing God into the equation. John wrote about how we men seek to satisfy the flesh when he wrote, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." These are powerful tools in the hands of a powerful enemy, and he has used them time and time again to cause a man or woman to pitch their tent where it doesn’t belong.
Some of you men have been pitching your tents toward work, trying to find significance there through a title or a salary or hourly wage. Sure it satisfies for a while, but it is never lasting, and before you know it you’ve moved right into town, spending more and more time there, selling out on your family, neglecting your duties at home, making your wife pull your load too, always giving excuses to your kids and your church and your God, and you never saw how that decision has led you so far away from where you began. Now your wife seems so cold and distant, your kids don’t respond to you like they used to, other women begin to appeal to you, or any number of things can occur, so let me just say this – you’d better think through what you’re doing and look farther down the road than where you’re looking, because it’s not going to take you where you thought it would.
Every woman there is wants to be noticed, and that’s a natural, normal desire. Listen to any wife, and she’ll tell you that she wants her husband to notice her. Every mother has complained, at least to herself at some time or another that she feels like she’s being taken for granted – she wants to be noticed. Where does she pitch her tent to get seen though? And where will it lead?
As a pastor, I get to watch a lot of "tent pitching." A mom and dad put their kid in some kind of program that makes them miss mid-week or Sunday services, never thinking about where it might lead. A husband visits a racy website on the Internet and it gets his blood pumping. Oh, he may feel a little guilty, but he visits it again, never thinking about where he is headed. A teenage girl allows herself to enjoy the pleasures of sexual foreplay, not realizing that the excitement will soon wear off, so that she will have to go farther to get the same pleasure. A mother moves in with a man, never thinking about the values that she is passing along. A father likes to enjoy a drink or two after work, "After all," he says, "There’s nothing wrong with drinking a beer or two in the privacy of my own home." But he never thinks down the road about where he has pitched his tent. A family takes a sporadic, hit and miss attitude toward church attendance, toward family devotions, toward corporate worship, and where will that lead? It’ll lead to raising children who do what they want when they want and when they are adults they’ll not take the Lord or church seriously.
This could go on and on. Where are you pitching your tent in your search for fun? In your search for contentment? I am today the sum of the decisions I made yesterday, both good and bad. My family today is the result of decisions Kathy and I made over the last 13 years, and what my family will be tomorrow will be the direct result of where we pitch our tent today. This church is the sum of what it chose to do in years past, it has been molded by years of decisions and attitudes, and you and your families are too.
Listen, if you are a child of God, then you have a wonderful future ahead of you. I’m not just talking about heaven, I’m talking about the rest of your life. God has a future prepared for you that is greater than you’ll ever know so long as you’re content with making camp according to what you can see and figure out. Do you want what God has prepared for you? Do you want to enjoy the blessings of the abundant life God has in store for you? If so, then you need to learn to pitch your tents in the right place and settle down with the Lord. Now there are many choices you and I have to make that are obvious, but I know as well as you do that some choices and decisions are not so clear. Even Lot’s decision to settle in the Jordan valley appears from the outside to have been a sound decision, so how can you know if you are making the right decisions? How can you know if you are pitching your tent in the right direction? I think there are three questions that you need to ask yourself.
Where does God fit into the equation?
You might call this the God-factor. It is asking the question, "What would Jesus do?", or in every situation you ask yourself, "Is this what God wants for me at this point in my life?" Have you prayed about it? Have you sought God’s counsel? Proverbs 3 reminds us to…
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Abraham was a good example of this. When did he approach Lot? After he had spent time at the altar! Only when he was settled in his mind that God was directing this and he was in the hands of the all knowing and all seeing God!
Now there are some decisions that you won’t have to pray about. The Bible is clear on them. You don’t have to seek God’s counsel on a lot of matters because His Will will never be contrary to His Word. They will always be in harmony, but in the matters where the Bible seems to be silent, you need to be on your knees pleading for wisdom and direction from the Lord.
When you pray, He’ll always answer in one of three ways. God will always answer by saying yes, no, or wait a while. When He says no or wait, don’t run out there and pitch your tent in that place! You honor the Lord in that decision and wait on Him. And when a decision has to be made and the Lord seems to be silent, you make the decision that you believe will be most honoring and pleasing to Him. Sometimes you won’t know whether you acted in God’s will until many years later, but at least you’ll be able to say that you made your decision trying to please God in the process.
Where will this decision lead me?
Now the first question is not so difficult to ask, but this question is one we fail to consider or don’t want to think about. Where is this going to lead me? In other words, stop and think about it! Somebody said that an unexamined life really isn’t worth living. You see, most people, Christians included, just take out on some course of life and don’t give much thought to where they’re headed, then when they get there, they wonder how they got there and in some quiet desperation wonder if it was worth it all. In our mad rush from task to task, from job to job, from this thing to that, we fail to call enough time-outs to reflect on the direction our lives are taking and see where we have been pitching our tents.
How will this affect the other people in my life?
You’re not the only one involved in your decision-making. If you’re married, then you’ve got a husband or wife to think about. You may have kids you need to consider. You’ve got friends, and at the very least you got a multitude of people all around you watching your life seeing if you measure up to the Christian life you claim to live.
Some of you won’t come to church. You use work for an excuse. You use some other thing. People are watching you, and no matter how much you say you love the Lord, they’re not listening to what you say nearly so much as they’re watching what you chose to do. I know a lady who is a fine woman. She can’t come to church because of her health. She can’t sit in a pew that long. It hurts too much to get out to church, but I see her all over town. She can ride in a car for great lengths of time. She can go to the carnival. She can shop till she drops.
Now suppose that woman tried to lead someone to Christ – how far would she get? Suppose she tried to tell her children that they ought to go to church and love the Lord – would her words have meaning?
There are countless decisions you make every day that have great effects on the people in your life, and our failure to consider them only shows how selfish we really are. Dads, today we honor our fathers. Listen, you want to be a great father to those kids? A great husband to that wife? Then make your decisions according to how they affect the ones closest to you.
Conclusion
Where have you pitched your tent? You and I are surveying the fields today, much as Abraham and Lot did so long ago, and I ask you, where are you going to go? What are you going to pursue? Whose agenda will you follow? Look around you, and as you do you’re going to see well-watered fields and fertile lands, you know, potential for success, bigger and better incomes, more personal pleasure, but at what cost? What will be the outcome? Surely those things are not bad in and of themselves, but are they in God’s will for you?
A.W. Tozer said, "A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to accept Christ without forsaking the world." I think he’s right. Listen, Christ has called us out of darkness to walk in the light. He’s called you to something great, and you’ll not find it by pitching your tent toward Sodom. I look at some of you today, and I can guess from where you are where you pitched your tent in years past. Some of you chose to make camp with the Lord, and I praise and thank God for you and your testimony. But to be very honest, I am deeply concerned about others here today who are living in the moment, who cannot see past Friday, who cannot see past the polished wax on the hood of the car, and I fear for you. It is time for a change in your life; it is time to roll up and move your tent. If you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior, then its time for you to forsake the world and pitch your tent with the Lord!
If you’ve never been saved, you’ve pitched your tent toward certain destruction. In fact, the Bible teaches that you stand condemned already, and if this moment were to be your last then you would spend eternity in a devil’s hell. Just as God brought judgment on those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah he’ll bring it on you. You need to recognize the danger you’re in and admit it to yourself and to God. You need to repent, move your tent, relocate and find the life you’ve been looking for with the Lord Jesus Christ. The hardest thing about being saved is being willing to admit that you were wrong and God is right; then you need to act on what you know to be true and come to the Lord humbly, seeking His love and mercy, and you’ll find it there as you will in no other!
Others of you are believers who simply need to examine your lives and the choices you’ve been making. Have you just been playing church? Has your relationship with God just been something you try to fit in when it is convenient? Have you been out there on your own, longing spiritually for that return to intimacy with Christ? You can enjoy God’s richest blessings for your life today, but it begins with this simple question that you must answer for yourself – where will I pitch my tent?
