Genesis 13 & 14

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Genesis 13:1-18

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4 unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6 And 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. 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked sinners before the LORD exceedingly. 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then 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.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED525]

“Genesis chapter 13, how many of you read ahead? Nobody’s hands went up, the second time, what were you guys doing, just putting me on? Genesis chapter 13, we have followed Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran where he had been waylaid for a number of years, in partial disobedience, but partial obedience, tremendous faith, God being patient, finally his father dying, Abraham coming into the land, there God revealing himself to Abraham. And Abraham encountering a famine, finally in the land of Promise, convincing his family and the huge number of others that travelled with him of his ability to hear the LORD, and as they come into the Land of Promise they encounter a famine. And upon that circumstance, no doubt borne out of a drought, Abraham heads down to Egypt--not because he longed for Egypt, not because he missed Ur of the Chaldees, not because he wanted to live in a more sophisticated, luxurious place, but because his faith was tried, his heart was desperate and he didn’t know what to do--and to the natural mind it seemed the best alternative, because he’s a man whose learning to walk by faith and not by sight. He’s a man whose learning how faithful God would be to him. He’s a man that will be held up in esteem by Muslims, Jews and Christians alike, a man ultimately who gets 25 percent of the Press in the Book of Genesis, and all of that again for being the friend of God, not for being a brain surgeon, or an astronaut, not for building monuments or cities, not for being an architect or a writer or a movie producer, but for being a friend of God. And if he hadn’t been that, he’d have lived and died in obscurity and none of us would have heard of him. He gets sidetracked, he loses the leading of the LORD, he ends up in Egypt, compromises, gets his wife to tell a lie that she’s his sister. God’s gracious, rescuing Sarah and Abraham, freeing them from Egypt in a sense, geographically, letting them come back to Canaan the Land of Promise, Abraham headed back to his original place between Bethel and Ai where he again erects an altar and there he worships the LORD. It tells us here capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, we don’t know if, it doesn’t seem that Jehovah, Yahweh-God had revealed himself to Abram at this point, it seems he worships El Shaddai, the Almighty [which I still believe is Yahweh, Elohim-God, is only mentioned in Genesis 1]. Jehovah [Yahweh] is more properly revealed to Moses and the children of Israel in the Book of Exodus, but as Moses is writing he tells us that Abraham came back, built and altar and worshipped the LORD in verse 4. [I firmly believe it was Yahweh God who revealed himself to a select few he was working with from Adam and Eve, all the way through Noah and Seth and all the way to Abraham, as Moses was inspired to use the word Yahweh, which the King James translates as LORD in the first five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy.] They escaped Egypt in one sense, but in another Egypt had been planted, at least into the heart of Lot, Egypt had been planted, because it seems that Hagar now had joined the company, Egypt had been planted in them, though they had not been planted in Egypt, in that their herds, their flocks were increased, their riches were increased. So Abraham and Lot come back, Abraham builds an altar, begins to worship the LORD there again in the land of Canaan.

Two Choices Believers Can Make

Verse 5 says “And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And 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. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.” (verses 5-8) Very interesting situation, God will use strife between Paul and Barnabas to touch more of the Mediterranean world, arguing over whether they should take John Mark again with them on a missionary trip. Paul saying “No,” Barnabas saying “Yes,” Barnabas had to say yes, that was his nature, he had encouraged Paul, he was the son of consolation, but Paul was a little bit more spit and vinegar. Who was right? Paul and Barnabas, yes, they were both right. God allowed the strife, and he produced two missionary teams. Paul was right for not taking John Mark, and Barnabas was right for taking John Mark. And of course Paul would ultimately say, ‘Bring Mark to me, he’s valuable to me in ministry,’ years later after he serves with Peter and so forth, there was a time when they were joined back together. But Abraham and Lot here, strife arises. Abraham, it seems to me, has had enough of strife, of striving, he’s glad to be back in the land of Canaan, he no doubt met with God again there between Bethel and Ai as he worshipped at the alter. Now ‘I’m out of Egypt, I’m safe again, and now the people around me are arguing and banging heads at each other.’ I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced that. Isn’t it interesting, in a Christian family, when someone dies and the will is read, what can happen? [I gotta hand it to my sister, and none of my family are real Christians, so to speak. She was executor of the will when my mother died. But it also was my mother, who determined who was getting what with furniture, paintings, etc. and the financial portions were divided evenly between me and my two sisters, there was no strife or hard feelings, as best as I could determine. It was amazing. I guess sometimes people in the world can put some Christians to shame. And don’t think God doesn’t notice.] ‘I can’t believe she left the bawlingpin lamp to them,’ [laughter] You know, we’ve seen Christian families, people fight over stuff, over stuff. Abraham is growing in faith, and he’s walking slowly, more surely, not by sight but by faith. And his heart is set ‘on a city whose builder and maker is God.’ (see Hebrews 11:8-10 and Revelation 21:1-23 to view that city) And he sees this strife, and somehow he’s more content than Lot, and he’s going to say to Lot, ‘Lot, just look around, take whatever you want, you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left, but don’t let there be any strife, you know the Canaanite and the Perizzite are watching us, here we are banging heads and arguing, just take what you want, I don’t care.’ Abraham I think is learning, that no one could remove the Promise of God from him. No one could remove the promise of God, ‘I will bless them that bless thee, I will curse them that curse thee, I will make of thee a great nation, through thee shall all of the nations of the world be blessed.’ [and we saw in the last expository sermon on Genesis 12 just how far God can apply the Promise, just how specially to a Japanese ocean liner converted to a hospital ship during World War II, protecting it throughout the war, and the ship itself lives on as a floating museum.] Abraham’s got hold of something that’s intangible, and it’s caused him to have more rest in this present world. And that’s a challenge for all of us. Abraham’s learning to let go, and Lot is learning to take hold. And it determines what happens in our families, with our children, how it effects the Canaanites and the Perizzites and those that are around us. And Abraham is the older one here, Lot is his nephew, Lot owes his life to Abraham, and Abraham’s the one whose going to be gracious and magnanimous here. Look in verse 9, “Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” ‘We’re brethren, let’s not argue.’ Man, I wish I heard people walking in and out of church on Sunday saying to each other ‘We’re brethren, let’s not argue, we’re brother and sister, husband and wife,’ whatever. “Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” There’s no striving on Abraham’s part. Look at verse 10, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” Now Abraham’s not going to do that until verse 14 when God tells him to lift up his eyes, there’s going to be a difference here. “and he beheld,” he considered, he looked at, all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, everywhere. Now that’s a good thing. You have flocks and herds? It’s good to pick somewhere that’s well-watered, so that your flocks and your herds don’t die the next week. It was well-watered everywhere. Now Moses put a little note in here, “before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,” it was well-watered before that happened, it weren’t well-watered afterwards Moses says. Lot had no idea, it’s why it’s wiser to pray and choose, than to look and choose. It was well-watered everywhere, before, John tells us ‘Don’t love the world and the things that are in the world, all that’s in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,’ you know, if you love the world you don’t have room for the love of the Father, ‘and the world passeth’ “eth” ‘is in the process, tonight, of passing away.’ “before’ the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” (verse 10b) it was like Eden, so they still talk about Eden, how beautiful Eden was, and we’re going to hear about Lot, those are the things he hears. Eden was lush, Eden was beautiful. If you’d have asked Abraham he’d have said ‘Adam met face to face with God in Eden. Who cares about the trees?’ The trees weren’t the remarkable thing, the remarkable thing is Adam walked in the cool of the day, face to face with Jehovah-God his Creator. Not Lot, Lot see ‘Hey, this is like the Garden of Eden!’ only without God. Says here it was like “the garden of the LORD,” only without the LORD, it was like a garden without the LORD, and it was “like the land of Egypt,” there you go, that’s what’s in Lot’s heart, “as thou comest unto Zoar.” He looks around, good choice. “Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.” (verses 11-12) Moses interjects, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” (verse 13) Now look, we can’t be too hard on Lot, Peter will tell us ‘that his righteous soul was vexed by the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.’ It doesn’t say that Lot is a man whose lost, he believed in the God of Abraham. But he didn’t say, ‘ok, Abe, you choose, you’re older than I am, God’s promise has been given to you, this is your land by God, not mine, you take what you want and tell me where to go, just pray and ask the LORD, I don’t care, I’m just so thankful.’ There’s none of that. He looks around with the natural mind, he takes the best, the heck with Abraham, and he says ‘I’ll take that!’ And when you stand in the Jordan Valley today, I’ll tell you, it’s a remarkable scene, you look up and down, sometimes when we go to Belhore Castle which is in the area, you could see down the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea, and in those days there was no Dead Sea, it was lush, it was beautiful, the five cities of the plain. And you can look northward and you can see, on a clear day, the Sea of Galilee, and you can see Mount Herman with snow on it in the distance. I mean, it’s a remarkable panorama. And the valley, the Jordan Valley today produces more per acre than any place on the face of the earth, vegetable and produce and fruit. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the face of the earth [above the ocean, the Marianna Trench is the lowest place on the earth, but it’s underwater, 36,000 feet underwater], below sea level, so it’s like a hothouse, it’s verdant. Of course today [the Dead Sea] is potash and salt, but you can imagine what it was like then. He looks and he makes a choice. And it’s interesting to see, that what happens then, is he pitches his tent towards Sodom. We’re going to find him next, that he’s in Sodom, and then finally we find him sitting in the gate of Sodom, becomes one of the officials of the city. But the interesting thing is that compromise starts this way, he chooses this world. Abraham has somehow been able to let go, he’s realized God has been faithful to him, God has made a promise, and he’s saying ‘I’m going to receive the things of God by faith, or I’m not gonna receive them at all.’ Lot looks and takes hold of what’s he thinks is the best, and then he pitches his tent toward it, he remains in his tent so he can brag, ‘Oh ya, I’m a pilgrim, I’m just passing through, I’m a Pilgrim and Stranger in this world.’ But he pitches his tent so he can look out the door every day and see Sodom and Gomorrah, stays in his tent. Well ultimately he’s going to move into Sodom, get’s a duplex there or condominium or something, he ends up in Sodom, gives up the tent. Then he ends up involved in the local politics of Sodom [like so-called Christian-Nationalists have in the United States, see https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/America-ModernRomans6.htm]. We don’t know whether he picked up his wife along the way or got her in Sodom. He has no influence, he’s relinquished that. Abraham’s going to have to come and rescue him, he has no power, he has no authority. And God will finally say ‘If there’s ten righteous in Sodom I’ll spare it,’ Lot had led no one to the LORD, even his wife looked back, his daughter’s husbands were unbelievers, they stayed back, they were lost in Sodom. He’ll get out with his two daughters, who will get him drunk and seduce their father sexually, and Moab and Ammon would be the children born out of those unions, and there’s nothing incredible about that to the daughters, because they lived in Sodom where they saw sexual perversion of every kind every day. [Ron Wyatt went into the destroyed city of Sodom and found round golf-ball sized phosphorus embedded into all the walls of the city and it’s houses, had it chemically analyzed, and found it is the purest phosphorus ever found on earth, that flaming phosphorus instantly burned into and burned up all living beings in those cities. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are now destroying children, see Sound of Freedom: New Film Exposes the Dark Truths of Human Trafficking (Tony Robins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_KrodgVkfs] He lost his family, his marriage, his influence, and look it says ‘Though his works were burned up, wood, hay and stubble, yet the soul would be saved, yet as by fire,’ (see 1^st Corinthians 3:12-15) if he’d had read that verse he’d have understood as well. Abraham stands back, he’s still in Canaan, somewhere near Bethel. We know that when Jacob went to Bethel, he had to use a rock for a pillow, because there was no grass, nothing verdant or lush there, it’s barren, it’s rocky, and that’s where Abraham stayed. He’s content somehow. Lot chooses his course, and he’s in the midst of the world as it were, and it says “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.” (verse 13) Had Abraham passed by Sodom and Gomorrah when he went down to Egypt and came back? Something in the heart of Abraham, he didn’t even consider moving down into the plain, because he must have known of their wickedness. Lot’s willing to chance the trouble to get his hand on that which is material, of this world. Abraham is content to let God lead.

‘Get out of your country, get away from your father’s house, get away from your relatives,’

Verse 14, this is where we’ve been heading since God called Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, ‘Get out of your country, get away from your father’s house, get away from your relatives,’ now finally that’s where he is, he’s out of his country, he’s finally away from his father’s house, and finally now Lot has been separated too. Because look, Lot was a believer, but Lot didn’t have the zeal that Abraham had. How many times has there been someone in your life who is a believer, but they ride on your coattails. You know, if you’re committed, you’re sold out, and they’re there, but you know that they wouldn’t make it on their own, they’re kind of like a carbuncle of something, they get stuck on you, they kind of ride along with your zeal, but you know if they were out on their own. And sometimes God has to take that person out of our life. Because they come along, but they’re always pulling you in another direction, they come along, but they’re always messing with the steering, they come along but they’re not really where you are, not really letting go and taking ahold of heavenly things, they’re coming along as believers, but they’re holding onto things in this world. And sometimes it’s finally got to happen where he can say what he wants to say to us, he’s got to get us into a position where those people are weeded out, as it were, still certainly under his grace and love, but out of our lives. Verse 14, “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:” God using strife to do this, God’s sovereign, his providence allowing some tension. Maybe sometimes that’s what it takes in one of our lives to get somebody whom the Lord wants to walk a little bit more free of, there could be tension, there could be strife. The LORD did that, he allowed it, “after that Lot was separated from him,” that’s when the LORD spoke to him, and said this, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” (verses 14b-15) That’s relative to the news today, isn’t it. “for ever.” I love this, “Lift up now thine eyes” it’s not the typical word for “now” in the Hebrew Old Testament, it is a special word, it’s “Lift up please thine eyes,” Translators don’t know what to do with it, so they translate it as the word “now,” because you have Jehovah-God saying to a man “please.” Now we may do this with our kids, sometimes, you raise kids, ‘Don’t do that, don’t do that, you’re going to bang your head, you’re going to bang your head,’ and they bang their head, and we say ‘Now!’ It’s not that kind of a “now,” it’s God saying to Abraham ‘Lift up, please, now your eyes, and look from where you are.’ You see, we always want to look at where we are, not from where we are. Lot looked at where he was. ‘Where you at now, Lot?’ ‘Well I’m come back from Egypt, I’m with Abraham, my herdsmen are griping and complaining, if we hadn’t have followed him in the first place we wouldn’t have winded up in Egypt, I finally got out of Egypt, ya, we got our own money, herds and flocks, we have gold. I’m kind of in this weird place, there’s a little bit of tension, that’s where I’m at.’ God doesn’t say to Abraham ‘Look, see where you’re at.’ Because we’re so self-centered, that’s what we worry about all the time. “Where am I at?’ You’re sitting in church on a Wednesday night, that’s a dumb question. ‘Where am I at anyway?’ God doesn’t say ‘Look where you’re at,’ he says ‘Look from where you are, please, now, lift up your eyes and look from where you are. Don’t look at where you are, look from, look northward Abraham.’ What did he see when he looked northward? The Via Maris, the Way to the Sea, the Valley of the Kings, the trade route that came from Shinar and Ur of the Chaldees, he looked north and he saw the long journey, in some ways, into the land, that long journey. When you look from where you are today, you should be able to look and say ‘Man, it’s been a long journey, this has been a pilgrimage, man this has really been something Lord.’ He looks south, he saw the Arabah that he would love, the desert in years to come, but he saw more than that as he looked south, he saw his footprints coming back from Egypt, he looks out and thought ‘I don’t want to go back there again.’ He looks out and saw his lack of dependence upon the LORD, his own backsliding as it were. Looking east, he saw what Lot saw, Sodom, Gomorrah, the plains. The further east was Ur of the Chaldees where he’d come from, the rock from whence he was hewn, the pit from whence he was dug, where the God of glory appeared to him. Westward, Abraham at this point, where the Jerusalem mountains were, Bethel, which was not named yet, “house of God,” the future, seaward literally, the Mediterranean. If you look from where you are, from where you are tonight, what can you see. I can look, as I look northward, I just think growing up in Philly, mom and dad not saved, long journey, my dad’s with the Lord now, my mom’s a believer, that’s been a wonderful part of the journey, but growing up without any of that. Forced to go to church, finally them getting tired of fighting with me when I was 17 or 18 and I was liberated, so I could go right into bondage, drugs, alcohol, immorality, long journey. God’s faithfulness along the way. I look back to where he saved me, what he’s done in my life, a wife, children, how he’s added to me. When I look from where I’m at I’m overwhelmed. I look south, I have my Egypts, those places in my life, not because I longed for the world, but because when I get under pressure, sometimes I defer to the easiest route, the easiest option, I’m a no-hassle kind of guy. I want to teach Bible studies, sing songs and get Raptured. I don’t like pressure, when I see the famines and I see how I’ve failed so often, I’ve, instead of trusting him I’ve freaked out, been grumpy and mistrusting, and yet he’s faithful. Eastward, the world, don’t want to go there anymore, no desire. Westward, the house of God, that’s what I’m longing for, “the city whose builder and maker is God.” [cf. Revelation 21:1-23, the New Jerusalem, “the City whose builder and maker is God.”] If you look around tonight and you’re still in bondage, and you’re still in darkness, and you’re not set free, you know, who wants to play religious games? Who wants to play church? As I look around I can see God’s faithfulness in every single direction of my life, his love, his care, his concern. Can’t you? If you’d stand still, and you hear him say ‘Please, please, lift up your eyes and look from where you are, I’ve brought you to a vantage point, it’s taken years, it’s taken time. Quietly, trust me, open your eyes, spiritually. Look northward, southward, eastward, westward, look in faith, Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great king, southward as it says in the Song of Solomon, where the winds blow and the Garden of the LORD bringing forth the spices, eastward where the Son of Righteousness arises with healing in his wings, westward, the city of God.’ I mean, God allows us to see such remarkable things, and no doubt Abraham saw more than geography as he looked. “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” (verses 15-16) That was harder to see than four directions, I’ll tell you that. Please take note of this, he’s not saying to Abraham ‘You know, I would have blessed you, I would have given you, see all this land, that could have been yours, but nooo, you had to go down to Egypt, you know how this is going to look on my resume’ now, I’m trying to fix somebody to be the head of the Jewish race, you’re a backslider, we have a 2^nd-best category here you can have, but you can no longer be the head of the household of faith.’ There’s not a single shred of that. Because anyone who returns to the Lord with a genuine heart, he never makes us settle for second best. And tonight if you’ve never come to him, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, if you come to him by faith, it says we’re all children of Abraham. But please notice that, if you’re a backslider or you’ve been a backslider, you’ve been AWOL, I go AWOL once in awhile, usually for about 10 or 15 minutes, then I come back to my right mind. But some of you go AWOL for a month, two months, a year, you know, people come back and say ‘I got saved when I was a kid, and I just started to believe in God’s love again,’ and I say “Welcome home, welcome home.” But understand, when you come back with your heart to him, you don’t have to settle for second best, ‘Look in every direction and everything you see, I’ll give it to you, if you’ll walk by faith, and I’ll make your seed like the dust of the earth.’ “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” (verse 17) and it doesn’t tell us what he did now in verse 17. It just says in verse 18, it wants to tell us “Then 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.” (verse 18) “Mamre,” whose named after one of the Amorites who had been in the land, Mamre, but the word Mamre means “strength” or “vigor” or “fatness,” it’s very interesting. He comes and he dwells in the plain of Mamre, “which is in Hebron,” and Hebron, Kiriat Arba, Moses uses that word here, it means “communion,” it means “to bring two things together,” it means “fellowship,” “and built there an altar unto the LORD.” Abraham looks around at everything that could possibly be his, and what he does is he comes to the place of strength and vigor, and that place is in communion and fellowship with the LORD, and there he builds an altar. He’s built an altar in Sichem, he’s built and altar at Bethel, now he’s building an altar at Mamre, Abraham always feels a need of cleansing. He always feels a need to be right before the LORD, he understands that through the blood of an innocent substitute, because Jesus said ‘Abraham longed to see my day, and he saw it.’ (John 8:58) You see, he’s beginning to see and understand something God is revealing to him, no doubt will come to a full in chapter 22. The man of the tent and the altar, he comes, he finds that his strength is in the LORD. Now isn’t this easy to say, listen to me, strength, vigor, in communion with God. Isn’t that easy to say? And then I’ll go away and struggle all week, because I don’t pray. [I think he’s saying that hypothetically, as I believe Pastor Joe prays every day, he’s saying that for our sake.] Duh, this is true, do you know that it’s true? That if we’re in communion with the Lord, if we’re seeking him, spending time alone with him, that he strengthens us. I don’t know how the dynamic of prayer actually works, but I know that when I pray things are different. Not only that, the remarkable things is, he asks me to pray and knows what I’m going to pray for before I pray it, and still wants me to pray. He doesn’t say ‘Oh I knew you were going to say that, boring…’ isn’t it interesting? He beckons us to come, and to lift the name of Jesus before him, and to open the door of things, I believe again in the name of Jesus Christ, God will altar human government and natural law, if we are sincerely praying for Jesus’ will, not my will, but thine be done, what might change? Abraham, what a beautiful picture, he comes to Mamre, the place of strength and vigor, because it’s there at Hebron, communion and fellowship, and he builds his altar there. Now, we have plenty of time.

What Was God Actually Promising To Give To Abraham?

[Comment: When it says in verses 15-16, ““For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered” it does not give us or maybe even Abraham at this time, the full import of the Promises God was making to Abraham, then Isaac and then Jacob as far as inheritance. Abraham was being promised here that both he and his seed, his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. Now neither the Jewish race, nor the totality of the entire Israelite race, including the historically lost 10 tribes of Israel would make up that number represented by the dust of the earth. But Paul in Galatians 3 expands who is also to be included as the direct descendants of Abraham. We all know that Abraham is called “the father of the faithful,” and that is derived from what Paul stated in Galatians 3, verses 9 and 29, “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham…And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” What this means is that not only is every physical Israelite a child of Abraham, and included in the promises made to Abraham, but every single believer in Jesus Christ, every single person with the indwelling Holy Spirit in him or her, is a child of Abraham. So under the soon-returning Jesus Christ, every single person who comes to Jesus, becomes a believer, then or later in world history during the Millennial rule of Jesus will be a child of Abraham, and under his authority, under Christ. So Abraham’s inheritance, under Christ, will essentially be the whole world and everyone in it. Abraham is the one man, coming up in the 1^st resurrection to immortality, who will rule directly under Jesus Christ during and after the Millennial Kingdom of God when it comes to earth. That is quite an inheritance! It is the major part of the Promises made to Abraham, which was passed down to Isaac, and then passed down to Jacob, then to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who became two tribes who ended up being in the 10-lost tribes of Israel, who were prophecied to become one great nation and a company of nations, and then on to every single Holy Spirit indwelt believer in Jesus Christ. It is we, believers, who will end up as kings and priests (Revelation 5:9-10), under father Abraham, who will end up ruling the coming world, directly under Jesus Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords. That is Abraham’s position in all of this. Abraham essentially is promised to become second in command under Jesus Christ, of the whole world. Also, when Abraham was promised all the land he could see, east, west, north and south, the land area that the New Jerusalem will encompass when it touches down onto the land area of Jerusalem, will actually encompass the entire Middle East, going 1,500 miles in four directions, north, south, east and west. Just look at the dimensions of that city in Revelation 21:1-23. And here’s a speculation, Abram might have been given a vision of that city, where Paul said in Hebrews 11, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) If he was given a vision of that city before he went to Egypt, he may have described that to Pharaoh Mentuhotep-II, for it was shortly after that, that the Egyptians started to build the great pyramids, maybe as representative of the vision of a great city coming down from heaven whose dimensions are 1,500 miles, by 1,500 miles, by 1,500 miles, by 1,500 miles, and 1,500 miles high, from base to top. Interesting speculation, but nothing more than that.]

Genesis 14:1-18

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED525]

“And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2 that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.” (verses 1-2) with Bera and Birsha sounds like they’ve been to the bar together too much, haven’t they. This is the first war described in the Scripture. God will take the time to describe conflict to us, war, and many wars before they take place, but only as they are in relationship to his plan of redemption and the children of Israel. God doesn’t bother to tell us about the wars that went on between the Mongols and Chinese dynasties, he doesn’t tell us about the wars that took place in South America with the Incas and Mayans, he doesn’t tell us about all of these other things, ancient wars, he tells us about war, and he tells us about struggle, relative to his plan and to his people. And he takes note when you and I are in some warfare, he’s cognizant of that and could describe every moment of it and every day of it, and because it’s relative to us it’s relative to our Lord and Saviour. But we have an interesting collection of people here, we have this person Amraphel king of Shinar, the plain of Shinar is the Chaldees, Arioch, who ancient tradition tells us was of the giants [no, Arioch was a son of Asshur, father of the Assyrians, so Arioch was an Assyrian king], king of Ellasar which is east of the Dead Sea. [For a more accurate rendering of who these four kings were, and they were all Assyrian, refer back to the transcript “The Historic Abraham, Tape 2”] Chedorlaomer, he’s king of Elam, which is ancient Persia [which at this time was under Assyrian rule] before the roots there. Tidal, which seems to be a Hittite name [again, another Assyrian king, ruling up around Turkey] king of nations. These four kings with no doubt Chedorlaomer being the dominant king, come into the area of where Lot had settled in the plain of Jordan, because the trade route went there and all the way down to the southern end of what today is the Dead Sea and then crossed over and went down even to Egypt. So it was a valuable area. And evidently there had been some previous arrangement that the kings of the plain now, the five cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities are refusing to pay some kind of tribute, they’re in rebellion in some way against these kings of Shinar. “these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.” (verse 2) But whenever there’s kings, by the way, you shouldn’t be surprised if you go over and look at the news tonight. When there’s King, there will be no more wars, singular, King, that’s what we’re waiting for. As long as there’s kings, plural, there’s wars. [And as seen in “The Historic Abraham, Tape 2” these were five Assyrian kings, five kings of an expanding Assyrian Empire, kings directly descended from Asshur the father of Assyria.] “these made war with Bera” which means “son of evil,” “king of Sodom, with Birsha” which again means “a great one,” or “a tall one,” some ancient, I think Merrill Unger in his demonology book, he tells us that he was of the giants, Birsha king of Gomorrah, “Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim,” and “the king of Bela, which is Zoar.” Evidently the city was named after him, and that was his name. Most of them seem to be from Ham’s line, some of the others may possibly be. But these come and they join in battle, “All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.” (verse 3) in a battle it tells us. And Moses calling it that years later, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kirjathaim, and the Horites in the mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.” (verses 4-6) And it gives us a campaign here that’s very interesting to me, sorry. “Rephaim” were one of the tribes of the giants, we’re going to see as you study into this, there are some giants that are in league with these four kings that come, Chedorlaomer and his crowd that come, and there are evidently some giants that were in league with those in Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, again, Merrill Unger feels like the uncleanness of Sodom and Gomorrah was that of Sodom, homosexuality and that there was some other strange demonic things also going on [they kind of go together]. So they come and they first wipe out the Rephaim, which are in Ashteroth, then it says they come to Karnaim, which is Bashan, which is high, they’re going around the valley, wiping out their allies, and then they come to the Zuzims which were in Ham, that’s northeast of the Dead Sea, and then they come to the Emims which were in Shaveh Kirjathaim, which is east of the Dead Sea, and the Horites in Mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is in the wilderness. Now Elparan is the most southern part of these places identified. So it seems that when Chedorlaomer and these kings, they come into the land, they don’t go directly after Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities in the plain, what they do is they go take out their allies first all around them that they had depended on [that points to military genius, smarts, which the Assyrians are known for]. The Rephaim means “the strong ones,” the Zuzims means “the powerful ones,” the Emims mean “the terrible ones,” we’re told this in Deuteronomy chapter 2, let’s see, it says “The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.” (verses 10-11) The Anakims were the giants they saw when they came into the land in Moses and Joshua’s time. And then it’s going to tell us down further, it says “(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;” they were just called Zuzims back there in Genesis, but evidently, the Ammonites saw one of those coming and said ‘Zamzummim! Look at that!’ they named them the Zamzummims. So Deuteronomy 2 tells us more about this whole situation with the giants, but they’re involved in this battle there, just some strange things. Verse 7 says this, “And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.” Enmishpat is literally “the spring of judgment,” something God had arranged. [Also when Moses is referring to “the country of the Amalekites” Amalek had not even been born at this time, Amalek is the grandson of Esau, Isaac’s firstborn son. Moses is calling some placenames after their current names he knows them for, but backdating them to this period of time. So in reality these kings defeated the people who lived in the land that Amalek would end up settling in.] “they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh,” Moses tells us that’s the placename now, “and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; with Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal the king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.” (verses 7-9) Isn’t it interesting, four kings against five, God just wants to tell us that. It was the five kings from the cities of the plain going out to battle, so then they had numerical advantage against the four kings with Chedorlaomer and the three other kings, but the race doesn’t belong to the swift or the battle to the strong, the LORD brought them to this “spring of judgment,” and would deal with them. “And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.” (verse 10) King James says “slime pits,” it’s tar pits. “And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.” (verse 11) So they came, they took all of the goods, the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, all of the food, the stores, they went their way.

Abram Hears Lot’s Been Captured, Gathers His Armed Men, Pursues & Defeats The Assyrian Kings

“And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.” (verse 12) not pitching his tent toward Sodom anymore, “who dwelt in Sodom.” “And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.” (verse 13) This is the first time we have the word “Hebrew” in the Bible, he’s called at this point “Abram the Hebrew.” [the word “Hebrew” was derived from the word “Eber” and Eber was the grandson of Arphaxad, the son of Shem (Genesis 11:11-17).] So Eschol and Aner were brothers of Mamre, who was an Amorite, and the place is named after him. And they seemed to have been hospitable to Abraham, and he seems to have been in league with them, “and these were confederate with Abram.” They saw God’s hand on his life, we don’t know what influence Abram had, but they were confederate with him, Abraham was not confederate with them, they were confederate with him. So, Abraham the Hebrew. Some try to take the word back to Eber in chapter 10, but we find in the Accadian, even in Egyptian, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the word Haburi [and this word Haburi referred to Eber the great, great grandson of Shem, who would have been known by the early Egyptians, Eber having been known as a nomad, as seen in “The Historic Abraham,” series that preceded the Genesis 12 through 14 transcripts of Pastor Joe]. The Haburi were the nomads, those who kept flocks. The Egyptians in fact detested the Haburi. And it seems to be here where they’re calling Abram the Haburi, which becomes “Hebrew,” because he’s dwelling with his flocks and his herds, he has no city, he has no permanent place, he’s nomadic as far we’re concerned. And that’s strange to them, because there are giants living in Hebron, there are big cities, there’s Jebus where Melchizedek is, there are walled cities throughout the land, and here’s this man living out in the open whose talking about the Living God, the One True Living God, and in fact that he doesn’t settle down because he’s looking for a city that God revealed to him. And I imagine when he talked about it, you at least walked away and said ‘This guy is serious, he needs help or he really talked to God, I’ll tell you that.’ So he’s sitting in his tent, and someone comes from Sodom and Gomorrah, “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” (verse 14) Now look, here’s a man of faith whose prepared, ok, he’s a man of faith that has trained servants, born in his own house, 318, they pursued them to Dan, they were trained the idea is, in the art of war. When we read about a servant, this is not demeaning the way we might think today, in fact we’re going to read when we get to Exodus 21, it you were serving, if you had a master, and you looked at your master and said ‘I love my master, I love my place here, I’ve come into his house, I’m serving, he’s given me a wife, I have children, I never want to go anywhere else, I’ve found the right master.’ Because, look, the pursuit of life is to find the right Master, not to find freedom, you’ll never find freedom until you find the right Master. The pursuit of life is to find the right Master. And this one says ‘You know what, in this house I’ve got a family, I’ve got a wife, I love it here,’ it says [in Exodus 21] the master would take that servant to the door of the house and he would take an awl and he would bore a hole in his ear, and he would put a golden ring in the ear, and that ring in the ear signified that that person said ‘I want to serve my master for the rest of my life, I have no desire to do anything else but to serve this man.’ Jesus will say in Psalm 40, ‘Sacrifice and offering thou hast not desired, but a body thou hast prepared, open thou my ear,’ the idea is, ‘Take me to the door of your house and bore a hole in my ear, I have no desire but to serve you, Father.’ In fact, Abraham gets to the point where he doesn’t have a son, and he’s willing to take his servant Eleazar and say ‘God give him the inheritance,’ that’s how highly esteemed they were in the house, ‘Let him be my son, let him be the inheritor of all things, my servant Eleazar.’ It was an honour for these to serve alongside of Abraham. Abraham heard that his brother [actually, his nephew, but for some reason Moses called him Abraham’s brother here in this verse] was taken captive, he did something about it. You know I read that sometimes and I think ‘Lord, forgive me,’ how bothered are you when you hear about a brother or sister that is taken captive? Just a question. And I don’t think Abraham just went after them to get Lot back, I think Abraham went after them because they came into his land. [Be sure to read the account of this in the series on ‘The Historic Abraham’ that covers this subject, and the effect it had on the whole Middle East as far as rising empires, leaving the fledgling nation of Israel room to grow up as a nation without the danger of competing superpowers and empires that would have squashed it. Abraham defeating these four Assyrian kings, as you will see when reading that, drove the growing Assyrian empire into a 900 year long remission, which it didn’t start to pull out of until the mid 800s BC.] God promised this land of Canaan to him, it was his, they were squatters there, but they [the Assyrian kings] came and they touched something that was under his jurisdiction as it were. “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” (verse 14) So again, how big is his house, if he’s got 318 servants that are fighting men, most of them are married, you’re over 600 there, and you figure with others involved, Abraham’s camp must have at least 1,000 people in it. He took these men, armed servants, 318 “and pursued them unto Dan” which is interesting, “And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.” (verse 15) So Abraham pursues them as far as Dan, it’s interesting if we ever get back to Israel, we’re going to get there one way or another, but if we’re able to take a trip back, when you go to Tel Dan, the ruins of ancient Dan, there they have the oldest free-standing mudbrick gate in the world excavated, it’s over 4,000 years old. And you stand there and you look at that, and you think ‘Abraham may have come to this gate and screamed “Hey! Is Lot in there? You see general what’s his name heading past here?”’ I mean you stand there and think, unbelievable, it’s amazing, real people, real lives, real families, real marriages, real children, real struggles. He went as far as Dan heading north, men, armed servants, 318 “and pursued them unto Dan” which is interesting, “And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them,” so they’re probably drunk, flushed with victory, they’re not thinking they have any danger, and in the middle of the night this slaughter starts, and you know, they’re discomfited, they don’t know whether there’s fifteen guys or fifteen thousand guys. Abraham, the LORD is with him no doubt, he’s no weak soul, he has this plan, he’s 80 years old by this time, must be pretty fit [Charlton Heston type], he’s not falling down, he’s fit. “smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.” when the Scripture always says that you know it means facing east. So the left side of Damascus would have been north of Damascus, Hobah, which we don’t know where the remains of that city is today. “And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot,” his nephew “and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:” (verses 16-18)

In Closing

We’ll have to stop there. Take note, it’s after a great victory, David, the time of the year when the kings go forth to battle, he remained in Jerusalem, David, flush with victory, feeling like he didn’t have to enter back in, letting his guard down. Here’s Abraham, Bera, which means “son of evil,” approaches him, and Melchizedek, who is like unto Christ it tells us, and we’ll talk about that next week in the Book of Hebrews, comes offering bread and wine. Understand this, if you go through some great victory, you are as dependent on Jesus Christ the second after that victory as you were before that victory. Before that victory when you said ‘Oh, there’s only 318 of us and there’s 5,000 of them, and there’s some Zamzumins there too, this doesn’t look good, but Lord ok,’ and God does something great in your life, our tendency is to think ‘You know, it’s pretty smart the way we played that at night, wasn’t it.’ That’s right out of the textbook, because who approaches you then, in regard of them, when they’re flushed with victory, is the evil one or the one who comes with bread and wine, who with his broken body he shed his blood, is the only way anything happens in your life. I believe those two personalities will come to you tonight, I’m going to have the musicians come, if you’re here tonight and you don’t know Christ, and you’re thinking ‘What should I do, here this guy’s talking about Zamzummims, I don’t even know why I came here.’ Look, what do you see if you look from where you are, tonight? Where is your life? What advantage point do you have? Do you see any hope? You look behind you, you see anything you messed up, everything broken? You see any of God’s faithfulness there, you see his hand, you see his love? If you look east or west, north, do you have any sense that God has surrounded you. You know the Bible says that our very next breath is in his hand, and the problem is, people refuse to give glory to the God in whose hand their next breath is. Because you have two influences, the evil one, and the One who comes with bread and wine, and says ‘I shed my blood for you, gave my body to be broken for you.’ So, you can look around from where you are and decide what lens you want to look through. But I’ll tell you this, God will not jam himself down your throat. If you’re here tonight and you’re broken and you’re empty, and he’s calling you, I’ll tell you what he does. He’ll say ‘Now, you’ve heard, please, please, look from where you are, what do you see?’ He doesn’t get you in a full-nelson and make you scream Uncle. He comes graciously and gently to us, and offers his love and forgiveness. And he’s the same yesterday, today and forever, and he says ‘Please.’ Isn’t it amazing? Look at everything, the Creator of the universe, Jehovah-God, the Almighty, stooping down to clay, dust, us and saying ‘Please, would you look around and tell me what you see?’ As we sing this last song, if you don’t know that God this evening, who gave his Son to die for you on the cross so you could be forgiven, I’m going to ask you just to come, as we sing a last song we’re going to be lifting our hearts to him, but if you tonight want to make Christ your Saviour, you’re ready, you’ve got a vantage point tonight, you look around, and think ‘What is life all about? I’m tired of playing games, I don’t want to play church, I don’t want to play phony religious games, but if God is there and he loves me I want to know him, if he sent his Son to die for me I want to know him, and Lord if this is you tonight gently speaking to my heart, I’ll come.’ Then as we sing this song I encourage you to slip out of your seat, make your way down here, just stand here, we’re going to pray with you, right in front of everybody in this room, and all the angels of God. And we’ll give you a Bible, some literature to read. We don’t want your address, we don’t want your phone number, nobody’s going to chase you home, none of that’s going to go on. But we want to see you saved, as we look at the world and look at what’s going on around us, I wouldn’t cut it any closer than this if I was you. Let’s stand, let’s pray, and if he’s drawing you tonight you come…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Genesis 13:1-18 and Genesis 14:1-18, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]