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Good morning!
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When we meet in person, we share our joys and concerns with each other. If you have prayer requests to share, you can add them to the comments on this post. When you are ready, use this prayer to get started.
Thank you, Lord, for calling us into your family and for grafting us into the line of Abraham through Christ. Thank you for all the blessings that we enjoy as followers of Jesus Christ. Despite our high calling, we are still human and realize many obstacles and hindrances lay ahead for us, as for all Christians. Help us to exercise wisdom and grace in dealing with others, and help us not to become a hindrance to our brothers and sisters in the faith. For we ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.
This week's lesson is on Genesis 13:8-18.
Lesson context
The story of faith begins with Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their sin and disobedience. From then on, God takes the initiative to restore humanity and creation. God’s restoration plan begins with a series of covenants God makes with 75-year-old Abram and his wife. In the fullness of time, God would send the Messiah through their descendants — the nation of ancient Israel — to inaugurate the new creation. Thus God would fulfill his cosmic design. Through Jesus, a person can become a child of Abraham by joining the family of God through faith rather than by being born into a particular nationality. God’s covenant with Abram (Abraham) included promises of a land, progeny and blessing, but it took centuries for it to become reality. The first step in the developing relationship between Abraham and God was for Abraham to respond to God’s call to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and set out for an unknown land. The text for today is about a distraction that occurred when Abram took his nephew Lot along on the journey. This resulted in problem after problem, including the one described in today’s lesson.
Abram’s offer (verses 8 and 9)
Both Abraham and Lot were prosperous nomadic herdsmen, which was a common occupation in the ancient Near East. Maintaining a large flock required abundant resources of water and fertile land, and when the men came into Canaan they found it to be suitable for their purposes. However, because their flocks were very large, even this land could not support both of them if they lived too close to each other. Abraham suggested they separate so that each had enough resources to support their flocks. To avoid conflict and quarreling, especially because of their close relationship, Abraham suggests two locations that will allow each enough room to prosper without impinging on the other’s land. Abraham further allows Lot to choose which direction he will take his flocks. Whichever way he goes, Abraham will go the opposite way. Abraham his taking a risk by making the offer, but Lot will eventually suffer the consequences of choosing his own self-interest.
Lot’s choice (verses 10-13)
Lot saw that one area was particularly appealing. The plain of the Jordan near Zoar — one of five cities in the lower Jordan Valley — is well watered “like the garden of the Lord.” Part of what this description implies is that, like the Garden of Eden, the area had abundant natural water supplies. Lot’s workmen would therefore be spared from having to dig wells by hand. It is interesting to note that, from the point where Lot makes his decision, he will now be moving east. In Genesis, traveling east has been associated with moving away from God. Adam and Eve were driven eastward from the Garden of Eden. After killing his brother and after God had pronounced his punishment, Cain moved east to the land of Nod. Before arriving at Shinar (Babylon), the people who built the Tower of Babel moved east. At this point, Lot is a nomadic herdsman, pitching his tent “near Sodom”. But the next time the Bible mentions him, he will be living “in Sodom” (14:12). Lot has transitioned from being a nomad to being a permanent foreign resident.
God’s promises (verses 14-16)
The narrative now switches back to Abraham. Lot having moved away, God expands his promise to Abraham. God promises to give all the land that Abraham can see to him and his descendants forever. Assuming Abraham is standing at the spot where he offered Lot a choice of locations, the promised includes about 13,700 square miles, an area about a third the size of Tennessee. In addition, God promises hyperbolically that Abraham’s offspring will be as numerous and uncountable as the dust of the earth. Remember that, at this point, Abraham is a childless 75-year-old man.
Abram’s tour (verses 17 and 18)
God next instructs Abraham to walk through the land that God is giving him. In the ancient world, this was the equivalent of claiming ownership of it. Then Abraham settled in Hebron, near the great trees of Mamre. He pitched his tent there, and he built an altar to the Lord. Stone altars were common in the ancient Near East. Abraham was surely familiar with them through his exposure to pagan altars in his homeland. Altars also served as monuments designed to memorialize places where important events had happened. They reminded the observer of the ongoing importance and significance of what had taken place there. This would be a significant place for Abraham throughout the rest of his life. In fact, he and his wife, Sarah, were buried in a cave near their home in Mamre. 
Conclusion
God’s first words to Abraham (as Abram) were a directive to leave home (Genesis 12:1). He left his extended family behind as he journeyed toward and within the land God had designated. God deliberately separated him from his past to create a new nation from him — a nation to usher in the Messiah. We may wonder how homesick Abraham became from time to time. We may also wonder if Abraham ever wished he hand’t taken Lot along! The importance of Abraham (who lived about 2000 BC) in salvation-history should not be overlooked. His names “Abram” and “Abraham” appear on the pages of the Old and New Testaments nearly 300 times, with about 28 percent of those occurring in the New Testament. In Hebrews 11, Abraham is enshrined in “Faith’s Hall of Fame.” His example has much to teach us yet today. In a sense, Abraham’s story is ours as well. God wants us to know the Messiah he has sent. But for that to happen, sometimes God has to separate us from relationships, events, jobs, etc., that stand in the way (Mark 10:28-31; Luke 5:27-28). Those separations may come either in order that we may know Jesus or as a result of knowing Him. Those who have experienced such severances may have an inkling of Abraham’s faith. His willingness to place faith in God before all else makes him stand apart, a hero of faith (Hebrews 11:8-10; compare Galatians 3:9). God expects similar faith even today. When we believe we are called to a different situation, God may not reveal all the details of how to do so and why. If he did, then there would be no room for faith! We should not be surprised if our journey involves taking a “Lot” along. In the Genesis narrative, that man was nothing but trouble for his uncle. More importantly, it’s vital that we not be a “Lot”!
Prayer
Father God, send us into the troubled world as your ambassadors so that we may make disciples as we remind others of what you have done for us. Give us eyes like Abraham to perceive the nature of faith. May we not be a short-sighted “Lot”! We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Questions for discussion
Benediction
Next week's lesson will be on 1 Kings 8:22-24, 37-39, 46, 48-50.
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