LET LOT GO ABRAHAM HAD TO LET LOT

LET LOT GO

ABRAHAM HAD TO LET LOT GO (GEN 13) 14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your posterity forever. 16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you. 18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The first problem was the success of both men as keepers of flocks. Both Abram (13: 2) and Lot (13: 5) had prospered. Now their flocks and herds had become so large that they could no longer dwell together (13: 6). The second problem was the strife which seemed to be steadily growing between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot (13: 7). 8 So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives -> Whenever there is contention between followers, there most often will be strife between the leaders also.

A LESSON FROML OT - MATERIAL PROSPERITY SHOULD NEVER BE SOUGHT AT THE COST OF SPIRITUAL PERIL. At first, he simply set off in that general direction (verse 11). But once our direction is set, our destination is also determined for it is now only a matter of time. While Lot lived in his tents at first (13: 2), before long he has traded in his tent for a townhouse in Sodom (19: 2, 4, 6). He may have lived in the suburbs initially, but at last he lived in the city (19: 1). Some decisions may not seem very significant, but they set a particular course for our lives. The decision may not seem very important, but its final outcome can be terrifying and tragic

LOT PAID DEARLY FOR HIS CHOICE Far more than the loss of his possessions and his prosperity, Lot paid a terrible price for his short-lived pleasure. According to Peter, Lot’s soul was continually vexed by what he saw in that city (II Peter 2: 7). And more tragic than anything, Lot paid for his decision in his family. His wife was turned to salt because of her attachment to Sodom (19: 26). Lot’s daughters seduced him and caused him to commit incest, no doubt a reflection on the moral values they had learned in Sodom (19: 30. ). Moab and Ammon were born to Lot and Lot's elder and younger daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

LETTING GO Humility is the way to exaltation What you wont kill will kill you God spoke to Abraham after he let Lot go When Lot disappeared, God appeared He was told to lift his eyes up Look out from where you are! The land that I see, will be given to me My descendants will be many Arise, walk through the land, the length and breadth of it Walk through your vision… Move your tent and go to dwell there.

Blessing can not come apart from obedience to God’s revealed will, and neither would God’s reassurance Lot had ‘lifted up his eyes’ (verse 10) and beheld the land before him with the eyes of one weighing financial promise, Abram was commanded to look through the eyes of faith in God’s promise. As Abram stood, looking over the land, he could perhaps see the rich black dirt of the Jordan valley where Lot was headed. Also he could see the dust which blew about him, typifying the land where he would live. But God used that very dust as a testimony to the blessings that would come. His seed would be as plentiful as the dust which dominated the land where he lived. No longer was he to look on that dust with doubt, but with hope, for it was to be the symbol of future blessing.

GOD’S PROMISES ARE YES AND AMEN God’s promise, “For I will give it to you” (verse 17) is future. It was not until the occupation of the land by the Israelites under Joshua that this promise was fulfilled. God’s promises take time to be possessed, and this is because God has planned it that way. How gracious God is to speak words of comfort and reassurance when all appearance of blessing seems out of reach. How good to be reminded that God’s Word is reliable and that His promises are as certain as He is sovereign.

CONCLUSION Lot came closer and closer to the city of Sodom, to live among godless and wicked men, and all for the sake of financial gain. He traded his tent for an apartment in the city of wicked men. Abraham chose to dwell on those barren hills, with his hope in the promises of God. He lived in his tent and built an altar of worship. Their decisions bore heavily on the destiny of two men, but, far more, on the destiny of their offspring! Do you trust in the sovereignty of God or in your own schemes and devices? Do you invest in the ‘passing pleasures of sin’ or the future ‘reward’ which is promised by God (Hebrews 11: 25 -26).