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Genesis 13: 1 – 18

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13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. 14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

As a kid growing up we use to play a lot of pickup games. In order to choose sides the person going first of course received first pick. However, in most cases, especially the way we choose our teams, the second person to decide received two picks. So, if you are going first you will probably pick the best player while the other coach started building his team with the 2nd and 3rd best players. So, knowing this which pick would you prefer?

Today’s study in a way involves also picking. As I am sure you know it does not involve picking teams for a basketball game. It involves picking a spot to go and dwell at. The two individuals in making the picks are Abram and Lot. Let’s see how their choices turned out.

13 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.

In our past studies the scripture had revealed that Lot’s father had died. So, a few things resulted in this event. Lot inherited his father’s estate. Then he looked to Abram as his father figure and wound up accompanying him to the Promised Land. We have learned in our prior studies that our Holy God blessed Abram with emotional, spiritual, and physical blessings. Lot therefore also reaped blessing due to his association with Abram In fact the blessings had grown so immense that they were overflowing. The livestock was too plentiful when you took into consideration both Abram’s and Lot’s servants and animals.

2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

This is said rather triumphantly. The contest with Pharaoh has been to his benefit. We are surely to see that this great wealth is at least partly due to his visit to Egypt. Rather than destroying him it has enriched him, and this can only have been because our Holy God was with him. The mention of silver and gold suggests that Abram engaged in trading as well as having possession of flocks and herds.