Genesis chapter 13. Genesis 13, I'll begin reading
in verse one. Then Abram went up from Egypt,
he and his wife and all that he had, and lot with him to the
south. Abram was very rich in livestock
and silver and in gold. And he went on his journey from
the south as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had
been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai, to the place of
the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called
on the name of the Lord. Lot also, who went with Abram,
had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to
support them that they might dwell together, for their possessions
were so great that they could not dwell together. And there
was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the
herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites
then dwelt in the land. So Abram said to Lot, please
let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen
and your herdsmen, for we are brethren. Is not the whole land
before you? Please separate from me. If you
take the left, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to
the right, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted his
eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered
everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the
garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward
Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all
the plain of Jordan. and Lot journeyed east, and they
separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan,
and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent
even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly
wicked and sinful against the Lord. And the Lord said to Abram,
after Lot had separated from him, lift your eyes now and look
from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward,
and westward. For all the land which you see,
I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your
descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could
number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could
be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through
its length and its width, for I give it to you.' Then Abram
moved his tent and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre,
which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord. Well,
in Genesis chapter 12, at the very beginning, we see the call
of Abram. God calls Abram first out of
Ur of the Chaldeans. He then settles in Haran for
a time, and then after the death of his father, Abram is called
by God to go to the land of promise, and those promises are given
specifically in verses one to three. Notice in chapter 12,
now the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country from
your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show
you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and
make your name great. And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who
curses you. And in you, all of the families of the earth shall
be blessed. So Abram dutifully walks through the land of promise,
and then in chapter 12 and verse 10, we see that there's a famine
in the land, so he goes to Egypt. Now he returns from Egypt back
to the land of promise, or to Canaan, and he's with Sarah,
his wife, and with Lot. So we'll look at the return to
the promised land in verses 1 to 4. Secondly, the main focus of
the chapter is on the separation of Abram and Lot in verses 5
to 13. And then the chapter ends with
the word of the Lord to Abram in verses 14 to 18. But remember,
it was because of this famine that was in the land, they left
Canaan, they go down to Egypt. And then in verse 1 of chapter
13, then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that
he had, and lot with him to the south. Now the south there is
the Negev, it's the southernmost part of Israel. It's the southernmost
part of Judah. That's what it means he went
to the south. And from there, he then goes
north in the land of Israel, or the land of Canaan, when he
arrives between Bethel and Ai. But the fact that he was even
able to leave Egypt peaceably is an evidence of the blessing
of God. Remember, while he was in Egypt,
he had Sarai tell a lie concerning his relationship to her. She
said that Abram was his brother, or was her brother. And this
caused some friction and some tension with Pharaoh. Pharaoh
was obviously upset about this. According to chapter 12, verse
18, Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you have done
to me? Why did you not tell me that
she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister?
I might have taken her as my wife. Now, therefore, here is
your wife. Take her and go your way. So it is incredible and
an evidence of divine blessing that he was even able to leave
Egypt peaceably. But then notice as well, he leaves
even richer than when he had gotten there. Notice in verse
2, Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. So as he moves along his way,
even though his faith is wanting and waning to some degree there
in Egypt, the Lord nevertheless conveys these blessings upon
him. So he then journeys from the
south of Canaan, as I said, up to Bethel. And notice what he
does when he arrives there. In verse 4 it says, "...to the
place of the altar, which he had made there at first, And
there Abram called on the name of the Lord. This is a conspicuous
pattern in the life of Abram. He is a worshipper of God. Yes,
I caught it the moment that I said it for the two guys that are
smiling. They pick on me because I say conspicuous pattern a lot.
Actually, he picks on me, he just laughs at me, or laughs
about the situation. Apparently, there was a sermon
on baptism, and I had mentioned several times that it was a conspicuous
pattern in the Book of Acts, and Isaac has never let me forget
that, and so I still say it in other contexts, and then I catch
myself right when I say it. Anyways, there's a conspicuous
pattern in the life of Abram. He was a worshipper of the living
and the true God. Now, John Calvin says, it was
therefore proper that invocation or calling upon the Lord should
be conjoined with the altar. Because by the sacrifices offered,
he plainly testified what God he worshipped. This is important
because the Canaanites worshipped as well. They would have had
altars. They would have had temples. They would have had sort of competing
religious sites. And so what Calvin is emphasizing
here is that Abram is showing his commitment to the God of
Israel. He plainly testified what God
he worshipped in order that the Canaanites might know that he
was not addicted to their common idolatries. So he, along with
Sarai and Lot, returned to the land of Canaan. And that brings
us now to the separation of Abram and Lot. And the text tells us
what the problem is in verse 5. Lot also, who went with Abram,
had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to
support them that they might dwell together, for their possessions
were so great that they could not dwell together." I mean,
that's a curious problem, isn't it? Chapter 12, Abram goes from
the land of promise to Egypt because of a famine. Now there's
a bit of a difficulty because they've been so blessed by God
Almighty that the land cannot sustain both of them. The problem
in chapter 13 is due to their riches, their possessions, their
great amount of wealth. And notice the particular strife
that breaks out among the herdsmen with reference to Abram and Lot.
Verse 7, there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock
and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites
then dwelt in the land. probably indicating why there
wasn't an abundance of land in terms of the ability for the
land to sustain both Abram and Lot. They had great possessions,
plus Canaanites and Perizzites were still in the land, so they
didn't have sort of free reign at that particular time. And
so now Abram functions as the peacemaker. Remember Jesus said
in the Beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers? Well, Abram
is the peacemaker in this particular chapter. Lot shows something
about youthfulness that is not always characteristic of good
things. And the text is conspicuous.
We're not moralizing. Because the way that Moses writes
this particular chapter, he wants us to glean a negative impression
from Lot. He doesn't want us to think Lot's
the worst person on the face of the earth. He doesn't want
us to think that Lot is a miserable, hell-bound sinner. But the narrative
is shaped in such a way that Abram comes out as the hero,
and Lot comes out as the impetuous youth. Now notice the proposal
by Abram, verse 8. So Abram said to Lot, please
let there be no strife between you and me and between my herdsmen
and your herdsmen, for we are brethren. The strife between
the herdsmen could eventually find its way up the ladder into
Abram's and Lot's life. When he says that we are brethren,
he means Israelites, he means of the same family, the same
clan. Technically, Abram is his uncle and Lot is his nephew,
but brethren in that sense of familial unity. Now notice the
instruction of Abram in verse 9. He says, is not the whole
land before you? Please separate from me. If you
take the left, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to
the right, then I will go to the left. Now, this is an incredible
thing that Abram does. God has promised to give him
this land. And in essence, he is now offering
this land that God has given to him to Lot. because he wants
to be a peacemaker. He doesn't want there to be strife.
He doesn't want there to be this competitive spirit between the
two. And what he engages in here is extremely generous. Notice,
very specifically, what he says, is not the whole land before
you. Please separate from me. If you
go left, I'll go right. You go right, then I will go
to the left. Calvin said Abram, for the sake
of appeasing strife, voluntarily sacrifices his own right. This is a trait that is sadly
lacking, not just in the world, but in the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We are all too much inclined
to demand upon our own rights and upon our own sort of justice. He says, Abram, for the sake
of appeasing strife, voluntarily sacrifices his own right. He
says, for as ambition and the desire of victory is the mother
of all contentions, so when everyone meekly and moderately departs
in some degree from his just claim, the best remedy is found
for the removal of all cause of bitterness. In other words,
there are times in our lives that we ought to readily and
happily concede to others. We ought to defer to others. We ought to give to others so
as to avoid strife and contention. Bruce Waltke says, the magnanimity
of the patriarch of the clan and the uncle of the orphan is
truly remarkable. The social superior, Abram, humbles
himself before the inferior, Lot, to preserve peace, thereby
proving himself the spiritual superior. So you've got Abram
bending over backwards, offering the entirety of the land to his
nephew Lot, so that they don't embark in strife and contention
with one another. Now certainly the New Testament
repeats this theme in many, many instances. And I think it's helpful
for us to reflect upon that. Romans chapter 12. Again, it's
not moralistic. if the author in the particular
passage wants us to glean this moral lesson. And I'm certain
that Moses does want us to learn from Abram on how to conduct
ourselves, and learn from Lot on how not to conduct ourselves.
Notice in Romans 12, beginning in verse 9, Let love be without
hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly
affectionate to one another with brotherly love. Now notice, in
honor, giving preference to one another. in honor, giving preference
to one another. That's precisely what Abram does
when he says to young Lot, look at the land, take whatever it
is you want. If you go left, I'll go right.
If you go right, I'll go left. I want you to have it because
I don't want to argue and fight with you over this. Abram, in
honor, gives preference to one another. Notice 1 Corinthians
chapter 13, the great love chapter. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, beginning
in verse 4, love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy,
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave
rudely. Now note the next clause, does
not seek its own. So Abram evidences that sort
of love. He does not seek his own, rather
he seeks the benefit and the comfort and the blessing of his
nephew Lot. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
4. Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which
you were called. with all lowliness and gentleness,
with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." So the
emphasis is on this worthy walk, walk worthy of the calling with
which you were called. What ingredients are necessary
for that worthy walk? In other words, what does it
mean to look, or what does it look like when one walks worthy
of the calling with which they are called? Well, they have lowliness,
they have gentleness, they have long-suffering, they bear with
one another in love, and they endeavor to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace. Philippians 2, probably one of
the best illustrations of this sort of Abrahamic faith or Abrahamic
practice when it came to divvying up the land with his nephew.
In Philippians 2.1, therefore, if there is any consolation in
Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded.
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each
of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for
the interests of others. You see this recurring emphasis?
Why do you think the Bible tells us this so much? Because it's
not our natural inclination. It's not the way that we leave
the womb. It's not the way that we play
in the schoolyard with other children. One of the first words
a kid learns is, mine. He doesn't learn, here, or please
take this, he learns mine, and he learns it with a degree of
vehemence and earnestness. And you see, even as we experience
the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that
mine attitude doesn't naturally dissipate. And so we have this
call to humility and this call to showing deference to one another
in so many instances in Holy Scripture. Look at 1 Peter 5,
where the actual age thing is brought to pass. Because Lot
is the younger man. Abram is the older man. Abram's
showing generosity. Lot, rather, as we'll see, is
showing the exact opposite. Well, here in 1 Peter 5.5, likewise,
you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you
be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility
for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore,
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt
you in due time casting all your care upon him, for he cares for
you. God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble. That's an emphasis over and over
again in the Bible. And again, it's something that
we need to hear because at times, and I don't want to sound too
mean or vicious, but at times we're more like Lot than we are
like Abram. And if we go back to Genesis
chapter 13, we see the choice made by Lot in verses 10 to 13. And he's got the disposition
or the mindset or the ideals that are absolutely contrary
to what is manifested there by his godly uncle Abram. Notice,
he views the plain of Jordan in verse 10. Lot lifted his eyes
and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere.
And I love the way Moses does this. He continually points out
he's making a bad choice. He does this twice. He's making
a bad choice. Moses is writing from the vantage
point of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has already occurred.
But he's telling us about Lot at this particular juncture.
And he's telling us that Lot is gazing at the plain of Jordan.
He sees how well watered everywhere it is. And then parenthetically,
of course, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Because after
that, it wouldn't be that lush and beautiful and well watered.
And then at the end, verse 13, the men of Sodom were exceedingly
wicked and sinful against the Lord. This is what I mean. Moses
embeds into his writing here the particular view we ought
to have with reference to Abram and Lot. He's not giving us some
ambiguous vagaries and asking us to just suspend any moral
judgment. No, as we read the chapter, we
root for Abram, and we are a little irritated with Lot, and that's
Moses' design. That's the very thing he's trying
to instigate or provoke from us as he writes. But notice the
attractiveness of this land to the physical eye. Lot really
is exhibiting that practice of walking by sight and not by faith. Abram walked by sight when he
was in Egypt. He feared Pharaoh, he feared
the Egyptians, and he concocted the lie that Sarai was his sister
rather than his wife. He feared man. But he's back
in the promised land now. I don't think that has magic.
I don't think it has any hocus pocus. But what we're supposed
to appreciate is he's back in the promised land. He's back
with Yahweh. He's back worshiping. And he's
back walking with faith. And he's able to survey the land.
And he's able to say it a lot so that we can sacrifice or rather
prohibit this strife and contention. Go ahead and pick whatever it
is you want. But Lot is judging based on the physical lie. It
is well watered everywhere. It's like the garden of the Lord,
probably a reference to Eden. And then it's like the land of
Egypt as you go towards Zoar. Now the text doesn't specify
that Lot went with them to Egypt, but it does. He did go. And he
appreciated the luxury that he enjoyed there in Egypt. This
is kind of like the children of Israel when they leave Egypt
and they sort of reflect back and they say, but we had the
leeks and the melons and the garlic and we had all these good
things. The Nile was very sufficient
to keep Egypt very well watered. It was far more lush. It was
far more blessed in terms of agrarianism, apart from the blessing
of Yahweh. It did yield good things, and
that's what He is seeing, and that's what He appreciates. Now,
there is that reminder concerning the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. We, the reader, have an insight
that Lot doesn't have. This is divine commentary. This
is divine narration. This is foreshadowing for us
so that we can conclude, yeah, he made the wrong choice. That's
going to come to full fruition when we get to Genesis chapter
19. That's going to be absolutely manifest at that point. And so
Moses is reminding us of this proleptically. Calvin said, Lot,
when he fancied that he was dwelling in paradise, was nearly plunged
into the depths of hell. I think that's a most perceptive
statement. When he fancied that he was dwelling
in paradise, was nearly plunged into the depths of hell. He's
walking by sight. He sees the well-wateredness.
He sees that it's like Eden. He sees that it's like that land
of Egypt as you go towards Zoar. Now, inevitably, verse 11 follows. He's already made this judgment.
He's already surveyed the scene with the physical eye. He's not
thinking in terms of his soul. He's not thinking in terms of
the inhabitants of Sodom. He's not thinking in terms of
the promised land. He would certainly have heard
from Abram that God's going to give us this entire land of Canaan. No, everything is trumped now
by what he sees. Verse 11, then Lot chose for
himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they
separated from each other. Now, it's difficult to know if
the plain of Jordan, as referred to here, is actually still in
Canaan, if it's outside of Canaan, or it's just on the edge of Canaan.
And Waltke again says, it is not entirely clear whether it,
the plain of Jordan, is part of the promised land, the edge
of the promised land, or possibly just beyond it. It is, however,
contrasted with Canaan in verse 12. Notice in verse 12, Abram
dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of
the plain, and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. So, again,
Lot has been Abram's traveling companion. Abram received this
promise of land from God Almighty. Lot knew this, and Abram offers
it to him, and what does he do? He rejects the promised land,
and he chooses Sodom. just because it was well watered,
and it looked like the Garden of Eden, and it was sort of like
Egypt as you travel towards Zohar. He's walking by the physical
eye, he's not walking by faith. Now notice as well, something
intriguing in verse 11. Then Lot chose for himself all
the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated
from each other. You'll notice, not that east
is bad in scripture. You can't make that sort of deduction. But it is intriguing. When Adam
and Eve are cast out of the garden, there are a cherubim stationed
with a flaming sword on the east. When Cain departs, he goes eastward. The tower builders come or journey
in the east, with reference to Genesis chapter 11. Gordon Wenham
makes the observation. He says, though offered a share
of Canaan, Lot here is depicted as turning his back on it. Eastward
describes his direction of travel, but it may echo Adam, Eve, and
Cain, who went east after sinning, and the men of Babel who journeyed
in the east before commencing their ill-fated tower. The very
direction Lot takes suggests divine judgment, and apprehension
is reinforced by the remark, he can't toward Sodom. Note,
too, the deliberate contrast between Abram living in the land
of Canaan and Lot in the cities of the plain." In other words,
brethren, it's a very, very stark contrast between one walking
by faith and one walking by sight. You have Abram walking by sight
when he's in Egypt. Praise God, he's recovered and
he is now walking by faith. And that faith moves Abram to
a large-hearted generosity, to a desire for peacekeeping, to
an ideal of giving all of the good stuff. to allot his nephew
so that they don't have dissension and discord and contention. And
then you've got Lot, who is leaving the very presence of the Lord,
who is exiting from the land of promise, and who in many respects
is going as far from the presence of the Lord, not only geographically,
but ethically as one could go. And so the text is drawing that
contrast for us and showing us that Lot is not handling himself
in a good way at this particular point. He needs all those passages
that we just read and reflected upon in the New Testament. We
all need those sorts of passages to guard our hearts against the
sort of impetuousness, or is it impetuosity, that causes us
to reach out and grab things without having due regard for
the implications involved. We need to walk by faith. We
need to consider the Word of God, the will of God, the mind
of God, as it's revealed to us in the Scripture. Now, there
will be instances, to be sure, where it may not be as stark
a contrast. You know, sometimes people today
say, well, how do I know the will of the Lord for this particular
thing? Well, the general rule is if
something's not condemned by God as sin, you're free to choose
it. However, there are oftentimes
prudence or wisdom issues connected with various choices. And the
people of God are supposed to reflect first on explicit passages. In other words, explicit passages
are passages that tell you certain specific things, like, do not
murder. That's an explicit passage. There's
implicit or implied or good and necessary consequences that we
need to also be on the lookout for. We need to search the scriptures
to find those things so that we don't walk in a manner that
is consistent with Lot versus Abram. Again, the divine commentary
in verse 13 indicates that all that he has done is wrong. But
the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the
Lord. And that doesn't even need to be proleptic. That doesn't
even need to look forward to the incidents involved in Genesis
18 and 19. We're not sure how long the time
frame was there. But they're already wicked. It
wasn't, you know, all of a sudden they just started practicing
sodomy and perversion and all these sorts of wickednesses.
They were already engaged in such activities. And that statement
specifically there in verse 11, when it says that he chose for
himself all the plain of Jordan, Lot journeyed east, they separated
from each other. Then verse 12, Abram dwelt in
the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and
pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. I mean, that's a terrible
commentary. If we didn't have second Peter,
I think we'd have a whole lot even lesser view of lot. Not
whole lot lesser. You didn't smile. A whole lot
lesser view of lot. There it is. You say, what does
Peter tell us? Something that Moses doesn't
indicate. I mean, I think we should blame
it. I don't think Lot's an unconverted goat. He's not a wicked, God-hating
reprobate. But what does Peter tell us?
That the wickedness of Sodom vexed his righteous soul day
by day. He didn't make peace with their wickedness. He may
have thrown his tent out in their vicinity, but he didn't enjoy
or gain or engage in the sorts of perversion and the activities
that were rampant there in Sodom. His righteous soul was vexed
day by day. Peter tells us that, and we ought
to appreciate that, because we don't see it necessarily here. I mean, later on, when it's time
to get out of Dodge, what does Lot do? Lot lingers. J.C. Ryle, in his Holiness, he
has a sermon or an essay on lingering lot. He doesn't just say, OK,
I want to go. No, he lingered. And then he
says, but can I have Zoar? He's always trying to sort of
trade with God to sort of keep his stock. And that's not good. Peter tells us his righteous
soul was vexed day by day. necessarily see that in the narrative
of Genesis. I'm thankful that Peter tells
us that he had that sort of a struggle. So that's the separation between
Abram and Lot. Now notice how the chapter ends
on the word of the Lord to Abram. And I want us to see first the
goodness of God. The goodness of God. You've got
Abram giving a land grant to Lot and Lot making his claim. And then you've got Yahweh giving
a land grant to Abram and Abram making his claim. It's as if
the Lord knows specifically, well it is the case, the Lord
knows specifically what Abram needs to hear at this particular
time. And this is grace, this is kindness. Notice in verse 14, and the Lord
said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, lift your eyes now
and look from the place where you are. Meredith Klein said
after Abram's land grant and Lot's claim came Yahweh's land
grant and Abram's claim. John Calvin, I think, makes this
perceptively beautiful. He says, when it is said, therefore,
that the Lord spoke, the circumstance of time requires to be noted,
as if he had said that the medicine of God's Word was now brought
to alleviate his pain. And thus he teaches us that the
best remedy for the mitigation and the cure of sadness is placed
in the Word of God. Certainly, Abram would have been
sad on this occasion. He, in essence, had adopted Lot. I mean, Lot's father had died
and Lot had been with Abram. Abram was a faithful uncle who
loved this young man, kind of treats him like an heir, if you
will, and now there's this separation and he goes to this place that
is exceedingly wicked. So yeah, there's sadness and
there's grief in the heart of Abram, but as Calvin says, what
is it that will ultimately bolster his soul? It's the word of the
living God. That's the remedy that we stand
in need of. Now notice as well, there's some
amplification in terms of the promise. Go back to Genesis 12,
and notice verse one, now the Lord had said to Abram, get out
of your country, from your family, and from your father's house,
to a land that I will show you." Now certainly he goes to Canaan
and in chapter 12 there he does traverse the land, but now God
is showing him more of its extensiveness. Later in chapter 15, he will
name the specific geographical boundaries that mark the promised
land. But here it's beautiful. He says,
lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are, northward,
southward, eastward, and westward. for all the land which you see
I give to you and your descendants forever. So the extensiveness
of it in terms of geography and in terms of Abram's posterity,
look to the north, look to the south, look to the east, look
to the west, all of that is yours. Now some suggest he got up onto
a high point and he was able to see for many miles in every
direction. Well, the New Testament will
flesh out this promise for us. It wasn't simply the land of
Canaan that Abram saw on that day. It was the entirety of the
world. Remember that these promises
are linked specifically to the seed of Abraham. The seed of
Abraham is Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the one who has
all authority in heaven and earth over all the nations. He tells
the apostolic church to go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations. Why? Because he is the inheritor
of the world. And that north look, that south
look, that east look, that westward look included the entirety of
the world. We'll see that in more detail
when we close tonight. So we've got this promise of
land and you've got promise of seed. Go back again to Genesis
12. Verse 2, I will make you a great nation, I will bless
you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing.
Now the fact that God's going to make him a great nation indicates
seed. Now seed is not there in Genesis
12 too, but the concept is, in order to have a great nation,
A great nation is made up of a lot of individuals. So there
is that seed promise, but it's even more developed here in verse
16. Notice he says, and I will make
your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man
could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants
also could be numbered. Now, what is God saying to Abram? He is saying that there's going
to be a lot of saved people. There's going to be a lot of
sinners that come out of darkness into marvelous light. In fact,
Jesus Christ is going to conquer men from every tribe, tongue,
people, and nation. In fact, the scripture, the book
of Genesis, uses other metaphor with reference to the seed of
Abraham. Remember, there's that seed of Abraham, the individual,
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a collective nature in
terms of that seed. The descendants of Abraham are
those who believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So
we are connected to Christ by grace through faith, and according
to the Apostle Paul, that means Abraham is our father. But notice
in verse 16 in Genesis 13, dust. Dust, right? You get a bit of
dust. Well, there's dust on the tables.
When it gets real windy, I don't know, through these cracks, you
get this dust on the table. Dust is minute, it's small, but
there's a lot of it located in a small place. But also we see
in the book of Genesis, that the descendants of Abraham are
called the stars of heaven in Genesis 15, 5. The descendants,
the seed of Abraham, will be more numerous than the stars
of heaven. You've looked up into the sky before and you've seen
a lot of stars. It's an amazing thing, right? But it's not just
stars, it's not just sand, but it's dust, but it's also sand. In Genesis 32, 12, the descendants
are called the sand of the sea. In other words, what is God the
Lord saying through or to Abraham? He's saying that there's going
to be a lot of people saved by Jesus Christ. In other words,
this is the impetus for world missions. This is the impetus
for evangelism. This is the impetus for gospel
preaching. This idea that there's going
to be 10 or 11 people in heaven is not a biblical concept. There
are a great multitude that no man can number, and it all comes
back to these foundational promises made by God to Abram concerning
the seed of Abraham, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And all
those who by grace believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are considered,
in a collective sense, that seed. So the promise of the seed is
given here, and then notice his command to walk the land. This
is probably a legal activity. Arise, verse 17, walk in the
land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. This was a symbolic way for the
one to claim the land. Meredith Klein says, this was
probably a symbolic legal right by which one stake claim to real
estate. Then he says, a walk of faith
indeed, because this was in fact a walk of faith. He is inheriting
the promises of God vis-a-vis land and sea. This is going to
be duplicated or replicated through Isaac, through Jacob. It's going
to be protected throughout the old covenant peoples until the
fullness of the time comes. God sends forth his son, born
of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. And then, of course, Abram's
response in verse 18, he moved his tent, went and dwelt by the
terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar
there to the Lord. So he receives the Word of God
and he responds by worshiping the God of the Word. Well, in
terms of a couple of practical thoughts before we close. The
first, the contrast between Abram and Lot. Just to tease this out
a little bit. Abram was generous and Lot was
selfish. And it's just that simple and
it's that clear. I'm not saying every older man is generous and
every younger man is selfish, but all of us need to take heed
that we follow the example in this particular passage not of
Lot and his impetuousness, but rather of Abram and his generosity,
his peacemaking attitude, his desire to defer to others, his
desire to give preference to others, not this, oh, it's mine
and you can't have it and you need to leave and my herds and
my flocks and all of my stuff is going to get what they need
and just tough on you. He doesn't do that. And he actually
had the right to do that. That's what's even more incredible.
You see that with our Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, if ever there
was one who deserved to be praised, who deserved to be worshipped,
who deserved to be glorified, it was Christ. And yet, what
does Christ do in the upper room with his disciples? He takes
off his outer garment, wraps himself with a towel, and gets
down at the feet of the disciples and washes them. Brethren, those
aren't there just so we can say, boy, that's a good thing for
other brethren to practice. We need to look at our own hearts
and examine our own souls and see if that kind of deference
or giving preference to others is actually within us. As well,
Abram worshipped in the promised land. Lot refused the promised
land. Again, it's easy to Monday morning
quarterback, we're not there, we don't know the situation.
Hindsight is always 20-20. Lots of low-hanging fruit at
this particular time. But let's just go ahead and pick
it. Because the bottom line is, He refused the very land that
God promised to give to Abram. Just incredible, isn't it? I
mean, if God promises you a good gift, you really shouldn't say,
no, I don't want it. I'm going to go hang out by Sodom. That's not a place that you want
to hang out. And then Abram experienced the
presence of the Lord in the promised land. Lot would almost be destroyed
by the judgment of the Lord in the cities of the plain. I mean,
he's just jeopardizing his future happiness and his state. He does
become the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites. I mean, Lot's
history is a difficult one for many to get their heads wrapped
around. Now, in terms of the fulfillment
of the promises of God to Abram, the physical land, remember that
the covenant made with Abraham. Our paedo-baptist brethren like
to tell us, it's the covenant of grace. No, it's not. It displays, it manifests, and
it furthers the promise of God vis-Ã -vis the covenant of grace,
but there's a conditional element involved in the Abrahamic covenant
which is not gracious. You had to be circumcised in
order to occupy the land. That's a condition. That's something
one has to do, one has to obey in order to reap the benefits
of the particular covenant. So the Abrahamic covenant operates
on two levels, is how I would argue. The promise of the new
covenant or the promise of the covenant of grace is always going
through there to be sure, but there's a physical element. There's
a physical aspect with reference to the Abrahamic covenant. Abram
had two sons, the scripture tells us, in Galatians chapter 4. One
was the son of promise and the other wasn't. And in terms of
the other one wasn't, there's a physicality about it. There's
circumcision, there's land, there's obedience to the various ceremonies
involved in Israel's history and calendar. But in terms of
the physical land, Joshua 22 tells us God delivered. You can
turn there. Joshua chapter 22, an important
passage for sort of a contra-dispensationalism. Dispensationalists believe that
the land promise has not been fulfilled. I'm sorry, Joshua
21. For dispensationalists, the land
promises are to be fulfilled in the future in a millennial
kingdom. But if we read Joshua 21 properly,
then we see the land promises were fulfilled. Joshua 21, 43,
which by the way, this is the outline of the book of Joshua.
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn
to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and
dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around,
according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not
a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered
all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any
good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel
all came to pass. So if you look at verse 43, it
summarizes chapters 13 to 21 in the book of Joshua. Verse
44 summarizes chapters 1 to 12 in the book of Joshua. Verse
45 encompasses the whole book. What God promised, God brings
to pass. So the land promises are fulfilled
in terms of the physical nation of Israel. But that promise in
terms of the spiritual seed, that promise in terms of the
land with reference to the land of Canaan that's spiritual in
terms of salvation, Romans 4.13. Romans 4.13, I think, is a great
divine commentary on the significance of Genesis 13. Romans 4.13, for
the promise that he would be the heir of the world. Again,
not Palestine or Israel or Canaan or the promised land, but the
promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to
Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. This is precisely why in the
Old Testament you have passages like these. Now, I'm going to
give you just a couple, but there are many, many, many more. This idea that there's going
to be a comprehensive blessing of God upon a great multitude
of sinful people. In Psalm 2.8, God says to Christ,
ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession. One of the servant
songs in the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 49.6, indeed he says,
it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise
up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of
Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentile that
you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. You hear
that? What do you think they were thinking? They were thinking
of Abrahamic promise coming to fruition through Messiah, coming
to fruition through the seed of Abraham that's going to come
and be the champion of Israel. Now again, these are just a sampling
of the multitude of promises. I love this one in Isaiah 49.
It's too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise
up the tribes of Jacob. In other words, the Father says
to the Lord Jesus, that's not enough display of how glorious
you are. I'm going to give you as a light
to the Gentiles. The whole world is going to bask
in the glory of the Redeemer. And then Matthew 28, 19, make
disciples of what? Of the Jews? Of the nation of
Israel? No, of all nations. Romans 4.13,
for the promise that he would be the heir of the world was
not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. Revelation 5.9, you are worthy
to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain
and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe
and tongue and people and nation. Now, the metaphors employed in
the book of Genesis, dust, sand, stars, indicates what Revelation
7, 9 tells us, a great multitude which no one can number from
every tribe and tongue and people and nation. I'm not suggesting
every single human being will be saved. That is a heresy called
universalism. But at the same time, the Bible
doesn't envision just a handful of people that are going to make
it into heaven. There's a great multitude that
nobody can number, that no man can number. And I think at times
the church loses sight of this. We actually get it into our heads
that Islam is winning. We get it into our heads that
atheism is winning. We get it into our heads that
the Democrats are winning. They're not winning. Christ must
reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. That's
the testimony of Scripture. There is a lot to be hopeful
for with reference to being God's people in this present world. And then in terms of the seed,
you can turn to Galatians. You're close, so turn to Galatians
just to see this seed promise and how it's fleshed out. spiritually
speaking, in the New Testament. Notice in Galatians 3.26, for
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus. Now, we need to appreciate that
Paul is not obliterating the distinctions between ethnicities.
He's not obliterating the distinction between the sexes. He's talking
about redemptive benefit. In terms of redemptive benefit,
the Jew has no more of it than does the Gentile. The man has
no more of it than does the woman. All persons in Jesus Christ are
equal benefactors with reference to the every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ. So he's not suggesting that we
get rid of all those ethnicities. For Paul himself would have Timothy
circumcised so as not to offend a Jewish audience. Well, Paul,
didn't you say in Galatians 3, there's neither Jew nor Greek?
Ask Timothy about that one. No, that's not what he means
in this passage. The same with the male-female
thing. He's not obliterating the God-ordained distinctives
between men and women. He's not doing that. Why else
in Ephesians 5 would he say, husbands are the head of the
wife, wives are to be submissive to the Lord. Notice that they
didn't say, well wait a minute, Paul in Galatians, you said we're
all one in Jesus Christ. You all get that. There's a way
to have solidarity without compromising distinctiveness. Men and women
are men and women. They have different callings
under God, different equipment, different specification, different
design, and yet they enjoy the same redemptive benefit in our
Lord Jesus. That's the point in Galatians
3. But that's not my point, just wanted to bring that out. Notice
in verse 28, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither
slave nor free, there's neither male nor female, for you're all
one in Christ Jesus, and, here it is, If you are Christ's, then
you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Isn't
that a beautiful thing? All these things in Genesis,
way back in Genesis chapter 12. I mean, all the way back in Genesis
3.15 and these early chapters of Genesis. See how the Bible
coalesces. See the coherence. See the beautifulness
of it. See the consent of all the parts.
See how it works. It is that God is, in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. And we, as Gentiles, ethnically,
are Jews, spiritually, because of Jesus Christ. Go to Romans
chapter 2 to validate that. Romans chapter 2. Verse 28, I made a point when
we looked at Genesis 12, 3, that to take that out of its context,
its biblical context, and apply it to the modern state of Israel
is unfounded. It is illegitimate. It's not
applicable to ethnic Jews. It's applicable to spiritual
Jews, to the Israel of God, the church of Jesus Christ. Notice
in Romans 2, 28, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor
is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. but he
who is a Jew, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose
praise is not from men, but from God. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. What's Paul's
point in Romans 9 to 11? What do we do with this Gentile
inclusion in the covenant promises of God? What does that mean for
Jews? You got to think that when you read Romans 9 to 11. Paul
is dealing with ethnic Jews at this particular point. in terms
of what's happened. All these Gentiles have come
into the church, they are owning the promises of God, they're
yea and amen, and the Lord Jesus Christ, was God cut off the Jews? Is there no more dealings with
the Jews? Verse 6, but it is not that the
word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel who
are of Israel. What do you mean there's a distinction
in Israel? Yes, there's a distinction in Israel. Jacob and Esau were
quite different and distinct. Isaac and Ishmael are quite different
and distinct. Just because they were in this
didn't mean they were the same. And that's Paul's point. It is
not that the word of God has taken no effect, for they are
not all Israel who are of Israel. nor are they all children, because
they are the seed of Abraham. But in Isaac your seed shall
be called. That is, those who are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted as the seed." This is Jesus' point
in John chapter 8. He's combating the Jews, and
they're saying, oh, but Abraham's our father. And Jesus says, if
Abraham was your father, why are you trying to kill me? You're
not of Abraham. Not all Israel is Israel. There's
these two groups. There's the children of promise
and there's the children of the flesh. And we cannot assume that
all the children of the flesh are the children of promise.
One final text, Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. Verse
1, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write
the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, not canines,
not the vicious white devil that attacked my dog a week ago. That's
not what he's talking about. Beware of dogs is Paul's condemnation
of Judaizers. Judaizers were those who taught
that you need to believe the gospel plus get circumcised. You need to believe the gospel
plus subscribe to the ceremonies of Moses. You need to believe
the gospel plus do this particular work. So Paul calls them dogs. Don't miss the irony. Jews referred
to Gentiles as dogs. Jews would pray, thank you God,
that you didn't make me a gentile, a slave, or a woman. There was
an arrogance about them. There was a nationalistic pride.
That's Jonah's problem, was nationalism. He didn't want the redemptive
benefits of the God of Israel. spilling over to those heathen
in Nineveh. That was offensive to Jonah. He didn't want that. That's why
he's upset. He says this, but I knew that
you were good, and I knew that you would be merciful, and I
don't want those Ninevites to prosper. I mean, just a... an
unfortunate sort of display, I shouldn't say an unfortunate
specimen of a human being, probably reveals a lot more of us than
we could even imagine. But here Paul's point, beware
of dogs, these Judaizers, beware of evil workers, beware of the
mutilation. See, they're after circumcising
people. That's wherein they boast. But
Paul says what they're doing, it's not only not circumcision,
it's actually become mutilation. Because if you're doing this
particular ritual in order to commend yourself to God, it is
to mutilate a person. That's, I mean, his language
in Galatia, in the Galatian letter, is even more severe and harsh
in terms of these sorts of people. But back to the text. He says,
we are the circumcision. And I think the NAS has true
circumcision, and I think that's a good, good interpretation.
For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. You
see what he's saying? Where's Philippi? It's not in
Canaan. It's not in Judah. It's not in
Galilee. It's not in the Promised Land.
It's a Gentile city. And Paul is telling these Gentiles
that we're the true circumcision. What's that mean? It means what
he says in Galatians 6, or Galatians 3. Those who believe the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ are the seed of Christ, and hence
the seed of Abraham. So this promise does not progress
based on ethnicity, but it progresses based on the grace of God. It
comes to fruition in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the promise there in Genesis 13 means that there'll
be a great number, a great multitude, which no man can number in that
heavenly Canaan. So I think that should encourage
all of us to have a proper and a biblical eschatology. No, I'm
kidding. It should encourage all of us
in terms of prayer, and in terms of witness, and in terms of the
missionary enterprise. Christ must reign till all of
his enemies are made his footstool. Well, let's close in prayer.
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that these
foundational promises in the book of Genesis are brought to
fruition and final realization in our Lord Jesus Christ. And
we thank you for including us in this blessed lot. Thank you
for your great salvation. Thank you for the forgiveness
of sins and that righteousness that you have given to us that
avails with God. We pray that you would go with
us now, watch over us in the remainder of this week, and be
glorified in the life of this local church. And we pray through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
