CHAPTER 13

(1918 B.C.)

RETURN TO CANAAN

¹And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into (from) the south (if Abraham went down into Egypt in 12:10, Grace brings him up out of Egypt, as recorded in this Verse; they left the south to go north, back to Canaan).

²And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold (these were the Blessings of God, but it did not make up for his lapse of Faith).

³And 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 Hai;

⁴Unto the place of the Altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the Name of the LORD. (He went back to the mountaintop where his tent had been at the beginning, and there, doubtless with tears and shame, he called by Sacrifice on the Name of the Lord. His backslidings were forgiven, his soul was restored, and he resumes his true life as a pilgrim and a worshipper with his tent and his Altar, neither of which he had in Egypt. Until the Believer comes back to the Cross, of which the Altar is a Type, true Restoration cannot be found.)

ABRAM AND LOT

⁵And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents (Lot didnt seem to realize that his blessings were strictly because of Abraham).

⁶And 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. (Worldly substance generally causes problems, even as it did here. There was strife in the Church. In fact, the Church of that day consisted of the families of Abraham and Lot, at least as far as we know.)

⁷And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abrams cattle and the herdmen of Lots cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. (The strife no more produced the worldliness in Lot than it produced the faith in Abraham; it only manifested, in the case of each, what was really there. The Canaanite and the Perizzite observed this strife, as they always observe such. What did they see?)

⁸And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdmen and your herdmen; for we be Brethren. (The bent toward Sodom is now beginning to exert itself in the heart of Lot. This bent demands its rights, which demands to be able to choose for itself, which, at the same time, means that it does not trust God to make the choice.)

⁹Is not the whole land before you? separate yourself, I pray you, from me: if you will take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. (This was a test for both Abraham and Lot.)

¹⁰And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the Garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you come unto Zoar (the lust of the eyes).

¹¹Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. (Lot didnt seem to realize, as most dont realize, that he was blessed by God because of Abraham. He should have said to Abraham, that whatever the Patriarch desired, thats what he desired. But instead, he chose for himself, and as the future will prove, chose very unwisely. When he separated himself from Abraham, he separated himself from the Blessing.)

¹²Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. (Slowly but surely, the self-will of Lot takes him toward destruction, even as self-will always does.)

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly (the Holy Spirit through Moses, as he wrote the text, is very quick to characterize Sodom and its inhabitants).

THE COVENANT

¹⁴And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him (directly Lot departs, God draws near to Abraham), Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward (the Lord tells Abraham that the Promises are given to him, and not to Lot):

¹⁵For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever. (The modern Palestinians should look at the statement, And to your seed forever.)

¹⁶And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth (Sarah is barren, and yet God promises a number beyond comprehension): so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall your seed also be numbered. (This includes not only the Jews who serve the Lord, but also every Gentile Believer who has ever lived.)

¹⁷Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto you (this is a walk of Faith).

¹⁸Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an Altar unto the LORD. (There was no Altar in Sodom, which Lot chose. All who travel in that direction are in quest of something quite different from that. It is never the worship of God, but the love of the world that leads them thither. Abraham builds an Altar unto the Lord, which means that his Faith is reestablished in Christ, and what Christ will do to redeem humanity by dying on the Cross. Hebron was about 22 miles south of Jerusalem, on the way to Beer-sheba.)