Title: Lot to Leave
Contents
title ; Lot must leave.
main text ; Genesis 13:1-18
“Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to a land that I will show you.” God appeared to Abraham and gave the command. So Abraham followed only the word of God, and finally he arrived in the land of Canaan. God appeared to Abraham again and promised, “I will give this very land to your descendants.”
But Abraham went down to Egypt because of a famine!
He deceived his wife as a sister for fear that he would die because of his beautiful wife Sarah, and after being humiliated by the Gentiles, he finally leaves Egypt.
Rather than relying on God's promise to give the land of Canaan to your descendants, Abraham went down to Egypt because of the imminent famine! It was evident that he was walking in a way that was contrary to the will of God. However, the grace of God's love and mercy that came to Abraham, who had deceived him to enjoy his wife and came out after being rebuked by Pharaoh, a foreigner, was surprisingly great.
In verse 2 of the text we read today, it is recorded that “they were abundant in livestock and silver and gold.” The word “abundant” here means “to be so full that it is impossible to manage it all.” In any case, God finally begins the work of refining Abraham, who received amazing grace, which does not make any sense at all. So, what did God do to refine Abraham?
1. God worked to make him give up the worldly desires in Abraham.
It was Bethel where Abraham stayed after coming out of Egypt. This Bethel is the place where Abraham heard the first voice of God, left his hometown, came into Canaan, pitched his tent, and built the first altar to God.
The fact that there were many good springs means that it is the best place for herding in the desert of Canaan. So it was a popular spot for nomads. Therefore, Abraham, a pastoral farmer, had to stay here. And, as I said before, this Bethel is like the hometown of faith, where he left his hometown and entered the faraway land of Canaan, built the first altar to God and offered sacrifices. Therefore, he may have thought that he must live here.
But God works strangely. Through the blessing that Abraham's cattle and sheep increased, and his nephew Lot's cattle and sheep increased, God began to work toward Abraham. Let's look again at verses 5 and 6.
“Lot, Abram’s companions, also had sheep and cattle and tents, and the land did not permit them to dwell, for they had too much to dwell in.
It means that the cattle of Abraham and his nephew Lot became too numerous to accommodate the land Bethel. In addition, the Canaanites and the Perizzites also dwelt there, making it impossible for Abraham and Lot to live together.
Now Abraham must give up Bethel.
In Abraham's determination, "If you are left, I will be right; if you are right, I will be left." In Abraham's determination, we can read the will of Abraham who had already given up on Bethel.
Abraham and Lot leave each other. The fact that God caused Abraham to leave Bethel can be seen from verse 18. Abraham finally left Bethel and moved his tent to Hebron.
Why did God make Abraham leave Bethel? This is something we need to think deeply about today.
The God who made us leave Bethel in order to make Abraham give up the worldly desires that arise because of Bethel. Let's become a saint who endures this process well, realizing that he is being asked and refined, and rather being thankful.
2. God trained Abraham to give up his human dependence.
At that time, society was mainly tribal. Therefore, an important criterion for the evaluation of ‘a tribe is strong or not strong’ was how large the tribe was. In other words, the standard is how many people in the tribe, especially the number of adults who can go to war.
Before Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans, his hometown, through Haran, and finally came to Canaan, he had to pass through the lands of many different tribes. His nephew Lot, his family, and all those who followed him were a great will to Abraham as his nephew Lot, his family, and all his followers had to go through the arduous journey of either turning around or passing through after winning the war if the tribe didn't allow it. The fact that Lot and his family, who had been such a great strength, had to be sent out of a foreign land, not even their hometown, was not an easy task. In a way, it's like putting the enemy in front and reducing the number of soldiers.
By sending Lot, God is training Abraham to rely only on God by filtering out his dependence on humans.
Abraham called his nephew Lot and said, “Is not the whole land before you? Leave me, if you are left, I will be right; if you are right, I will be left.” Lot then chooses all the fields along the Jordan River where there is plenty of water. The interesting word here is “from the field” or “from”. It means that he chose all fields for his uncle, Abraham, without leaving any water-rich Jordans. This attitude toward his uncle, who has taken care of and raised him up to this point, is even a little embarrassing.
However, it can be seen that God, through Lot, is giving Abraham the training to completely give up the land that is essential for livestock, even the land with plenty of water that we have no choice but to rely on humanly to sustain our livelihood.
Today, we see that God sometimes causes great difficulties for those who are good at living a religious life, and allows those who do not do well in the Christian life to prosper, even those who do not believe in Jesus.
Then we ask these questions.
Why does God bless unbelievers?
Why does God give us these difficulties?
Why do these difficulties arise for believers who are good in their faith life and those who are working hard?
This is our concern.
Consider Elijah by the brook of Gilead.
In the severe drought, Elijah had to look up at the sky twice, morning and evening. They had to wait for the bread and meat that the crows would ask for.
There was nothing Elijah himself could do for himself. Through this, God trained Elijah to rely only on God and look at Him.
Yes. He gives up everything that we can depend on as a human being and trains us to depend only on God.
He trains us to transform us from relying on money, on people, on health, on ability and experience, on knowledge, and even on the economy of our faith, to rely on God alone.
Dear saints,
Don't be discouraged. It is Satan's strategy to discourage and discourage us. Lift up tired hands and feeble knees. Those who have been refined and refined through it must bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Now Lot is gone. Lot, who had been like a son, left. It also left, taking all the watery Jordans. How did Abraham feel at this time?
Abraham's heart must have been filled with loneliness and emptiness. No, I would have felt sad. Where do you get water for many people and flocks? And there will be worries and concerns about how to live in the future.
But at that very moment, Abraham, who gave up the basis for all worldly desires and all human wills, finally hears the voice of God. It was only after Lot had left that God spoke to Abraham.
what kind of voice
It's a voice telling you to open your eyes. It's a voice telling you to look around. Abraham did not need to raise his eyes because Lot had already lifted up his eyes and looked all over the Jordan, and had chosen all the waters of the Jordan. Because the situation was already over.
Lot lifted his eyes with a worldly perspective on his own, but he looked around with greed, but now Abraham, who gave up everything, God Himself opened his eyes. And God Himself makes us look east, west, north, and south.
So he sees the promised land that Lot had not seen and that even Abraham himself had not seen.
He said, “I will give to you and to your descendants the land that is visible, and it will last forever.” What does it mean to see? Is it simply to say that the terrain is visible?
Abraham is now looking forward to the prosperous and blessed promised land. It means that we are looking at the Promised Land, where descendants are prosperous like the dust of the earth, which cannot be compared to a land where only water is abundant.
Dear saints,
Who is Lot to me?
What is Lot to me?
Please let Lot go. No, Lot must leave. Even if there is loneliness, even if there is emptiness, even if there is fear, and even if sadness and suffering remain, Lot must leave.
Even if I feel frustrated, betrayed, and regretful, Lot must leave.
Even if there is pain and pain as if my flesh is being ripped out, and even if there is a lot of damage to me, I must let my Lot go.
Only when Lot leaves can he hear the voice of God's comfort, encouragement, and mercy.
Only after Lot's departure will he receive the promised land.