WHAT CHARACTERIZES YOUR LIFE?

Genesis 13:5-18
Bob Bonner
November 14, 2004

Where one lives can often, rightly or wrongly, label you for life. If it does not label you, where you were born probably has a reputation that right or wrong, will be attached to you. For instance: if you look at a Missouri license plate, it will tell you the reputation of that state. It is the “show me” state. Missourians want to pride themselves in not being easily taken in by some huckster from up north. If you are from New York City, you might be labeled a cosmopolitan person, with vast sophisticated tastes. In a word...a snob! If you are from Californian, the land of “fruits and nuts”, you might be considered a liberal.

Sometimes these labels are a joke, and sometimes they are not. But throughout history, certain places have become illustrations or characterizations of life. This morning, I’d like us to begin, by way of review, looking at four geographical places, and ask you to consider which one of the four best characterizes your life today. At the same time, we will use this as a process by which to review our study of the life of Abraham, as it is spelled out for us in Genesis.

As we have studied the movements of Abraham’s life, we have learned from Genesis 11-12 that there are four key places Abraham has settled thus far. Each of these places can represent four different spiritual conditions of one’s life. Everyone in the world lives in one of four places, spiritually speaking.

When we began with this study of Abraham, we discovered that the place of his birth, his childhood, his growth of his most formative years even up until adult hood was in the city of Ur, or more formally called, “Ur of Chaldees.” It was in Ur of Chaldees that God called Abraham to become the salt and light of the world. He was suppose to leave Ur, his distant relatives and his father’s house and head for the land God had promised him.

The literal meaning of Ur of the Chaldees is “flame of destruction.” God called Abram out of spiritual darkness, out of the flame and destruction, so that Abraham might know and walk with God. Hence, Ur has come to represent the place of lostness. As sinners, we all began our lives in the spiritually lost state of Ur.

The second dwelling place of Abraham was north in Haran. It was here that Abraham chose to stop and to live with his father rather than to obey God’s call and move on to the promised land. Abraham knew about God, but did not yet know God personally. The reason being is that Abraham had not yet fully committed his life to the Lord yet.

Hence, Haran has become know as the place of the half way, but not yet committed follower of Christ. In this situation, the person is still in a lost state of sin. Haran is where some gain the appearance of being religious, but where there is no inward reality of a walk with Christ, because there has been no genuine commitment made to Christ. It’s the place where many high school and college students end up, after having been part of a youth group. In the early days, they were excited about Jesus because it was a group deal. But when they get older, and genuine commitment to Christ challenges their worldly desires, they bail out. From my 35 years of ministry, half of which was working with youth, I would guess that up to 80% of those students I remember in college who were in Bible studies, or those students who came regularly to youth group, 80% are wandering through life, never having made a genuine commitment to follow Christ.

It is the place where many church going religious adults end up. They choose to attend church and church social events, but really submit their lives to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master? To submit to His instructions as to how to love one’s spouse, care for parents, do business or live as a kingdom citizen? No way. I would rather run my life as I see fit. The Bible calls that “lawlessness” and it reveals the truth that Jesus has never been Lord over that person’s life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to such religious people who were looking to Him for acceptance into heaven, “I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.” Jesus is either Lord of your life or not. You can’t accept Jesus as just your savior and ignore His Lordship and be saved. You may be halfway committed, but your are not saved. If that’s your situation, you are living in spiritual Haran.

Thankfully, we don’t have to stay in Haran, and neither did Abraham. He decided to obey God, leave his father’s household in Haran and move into the land of Canaan, the promised land. This land represents the place of having a permanent relationship with God —one where we walk by faith, or by what the NT calls, “walking in the Spirit.” In particular, this spiritual condition is represented by the city of Bethel, that place of living “in the presence of God.”

The fourth place that Abraham chose to live in was Egypt. Rather than turning to God for help in the midst of a famine, Abraham turns to Egypt. He takes matters into his own hands and heads to Egypt. He depends solely on his own intelligence without ever checking in with God, and moves south. Spiritual speaking, Egypt represents the place of living in dependence upon self, or what the New Testament calls “walking in the flesh.” As believers, we can choose to live dependent upon God, or we can try to run our own lives ignoring God. When we run our own lives, as we learned last time from Abraham’s example, worship stops. But like Abraham, we can always return to Bethel, the place of repentance, forgiveness, and being filled with the Spirit.

If God, who knows everything, the One who can never be fooled, were to ask you to give an honest evaluation of your life, and you had to choose one of those four places to describe where you are spiritually this morning, could you confidently tell Him where you are living? If so, where would tell Him you living right now? Better yet, where do you want to be living? If you were not here last week, then I say to you, and remind the others, if you want to live in Bethel...if you want to return to Bethel, you can. You don’t have to stay where you are. God desires that you return to him, to spiritual Bethel.

In order to do that, it requires honesty on your part, and the willingness to admit not only to yourself, but to God that you have been wrong. To seek his forgiveness, and receive his forgiveness. For those who already know Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord, God tells us, in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” In effect, that is what Abraham had done when he returned to Bethel. Remember, he went to Egypt, lived out a lie that Sarah was his sister not wife, so as to protect himself; in turn became a very wealthy person; only to be discovered by Pharaoh for his lying and kicked out of Egypt. Realizing his wrong, feeling distant from God, Abraham returned to Bethel to seek God’s forgiveness and fellowship. That same pathway back to fellowship is open to you as it was to Abraham.

Likewise, if you realize today that your life is being lived in spiritual darkness and you have never submitted your life to Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord, you too can come to Bethel and make a new start. You can admit your wrong doing, for not allowing God to have a place in your life, ask him to forgive you and ask Jesus to become your savior and the master over your life, and He will forgive you, eternally savior and become master over your life. You too may join Abraham as a friend of God and learn to walk in an intimate relationship with God.

From this point on in Genesis, we begin to learn much about Abraham’s walk of faith. We see his evolving trust and intimate relationship with the Lord. He will see that he still makes mistakes and fails; but he also begins to enjoy more successes.

As we look at this next section in Abraham’s life, we are going to focus not so much on places he dwells in as we will the choices he makes. In other words, as we work through this passage this morning, I want you to consider how your choices characterize your spiritual life. Will your choices more characterize you as an Abraham type believer or a Lot type Christian.

After Abraham returned to Bethel and fellowship with the Lord, we come to this next section of scripture, beginning at Genesis 12:5, in which we see an obvious contrast between a spirit-filled believer and one who is carnal or not walking with the Lord. It is the contrast between Abraham and his nephew Lot. On Abraham’s side, we see a man in tune with God, revealed by the mixture in his life of godliness and selflessness. On Lot’s side of the equation, we see just the opposite: selfishness and godlessness. Where as Abraham’s experience of failure in Egypt brought him to his knees and back to God, Lot’s missed the lesson and instead focused on the bright lights of the world—it’s wealth, pleasures and powers. Abraham’s choices will reveal that he a man who walks by faith and not by sight; whereas Lot’s choices reveal that he walked by sight alone.

As we begin our reading for this morning at verse 5, observe a significant change that has taken place in Lot’s life. We read, “Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.” As Abraham and Lot leave Egypt, they both leave as wealthy persons, whereas when they entered Egypt, Abraham was the only one who was described as wealthy. Lot had nothing before entering Egypt. He was living off of his uncle.

In verses 6-7, we come to the problem that uncovers the contrast in character between these two believers. They have too many animals between them for the land to support. We read, ”And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.”

Verse. 7 explains why this land was not able to support both Abraham and Lot’s flocks: the Canaanites and Perizzites (other Canaanites), the original occupants of the land had already possessed the better parts of the land for their own farming and cattle grazing purposes. Hence, there wasn’t much land left for either Abraham or Lot. What was there, Abraham and Lot had to literally scrap for it.

Having been to this area, I can tell you that during certain months of the year, this arid terrain would provide enough food for everybody. But during the drier months, only the better portions of land would provide water and grazing land. But there isn’t much of the “better” land in that area.

Verse 7 also suggests that while Abraham and Lot were squabbling with each other, they made themselves vulnerable to attacks from the Canaanite and Perzzites tribal warriors. So stopping their strife was paramount to Abraham’s and Lot’s survival.

In addition, how sad it is that Abraham and Lot’s striving had to be in front of their godless neighbors, the Canaanites. What a horribly bad testimony to those whom they should have been witnessing to about Yahweh. They now have a bad testimony with the Egyptians as well as the Canaanites.

Abraham, realizing the foolishness of the situation, calls a halt to the family feud and provides a solution to the problem. We read in verses 8-9, ^“So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”

No doubt Abraham’s time of devotion with God at the altar in Bethel gave him the proper perspective of how they should be living with each other. Realizing the tension and division that money can cause a family; noticing the conflict that wealth can arouse amongst believers and that can destroy one’s testimony to the unbelieving world, Abraham chooses the higher road. He chooses to seek after and to honor God, rather than to hold tightly to “his” wealth. Abraham graciously offers Lot the right to choose whatever Lot wants from what God had promised to Abraham, believing that God would still provide for Abraham. God did not promise Lot the promise land. God promised it to Abraham.

Lot’s response to Abraham’s offer reveals a totally different focus than Abraham’s...a different attitude about life. Lot was out for himself. Rather than honor his uncle, he grabbed for the golden ring.

Verses 10-11, “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley [or the plain] of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley [or more literally, the whole plain] of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.”

From Bethel, Lot intensely surveyed the land. From Bethel, which rests on top of a mountain ridge or spine that runs north and south, one can see the entire land. You can see west to the Mediterranean Sea. You can see north to the mountains around and north of the Sea of Galilee. To the East, you could see the entire plain of Jordan. And to the South, you can see into Saudi Arabia.

When Lot looked east toward the plain of Jordan, his eyes bugged out! For there before him was more than a hundred miles in length of a fertile valley. The most fertile property in the promised land. He could see down near the south, the two largest cities near Zoar, known as Sodom and Gomorrah. Large cities with significant structures and buildings. Homes the size of many found among the elite of Egypt, rather than tents. It was the best property in the promised land. He deliberately chose the best he could see for himself. Talk about greed!! He didn’t just want the little area down by the bottom of the dead sea, Soddom and Gomorrah, he want the whole land!!! He could never use all of it!

Lot was a person who had only learned to walk by sight. He would soon learn that walking by sight can often be misleading. Further, he would learn that dwelling in the “best of the land” may therefore not be the best choice after all. Living amongst the wealth and pleasure of the world can quickly attack and erode one’s spiritual life and character. Unfortunately, that would be Lot’s fate.

Notice what Lot has lost as a result of both his and Abraham’s acquired wealth from Egypt. Under the stress and pressure for needed grazing land, Lot lost his previously felt reverent admiration for his Uncle Abraham, who had presumably raised and cared for Lot upon Lot’s own father’s death. This love and admiration was replaced by Lot’s self seeking and greed.

Lot had been infected with the luxury of Egypt and was no longer satisfied with the simple life. Sodom was a large and luxurious city; not as large as Egypt or Haran, but the most luxurious city between Egypt and Haran. Lot’s actions were so selfish, that if 2 Peter 2:7,8 didn’t tell us that Lot was saved, we would have not believed it. Lot is the perfect picture of a prideful greedy carnal believer.

Again, in contrast to Lot who was only concerned about himself, Abraham was concerned about maintaining a good testimony for Yahweh among the Canaanites, This illustration of Lot’s pride reminds me of the warning found in Prov. 16:18, which states, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” And I really like the next two verses, verses 19-20 as the are rendered in Eugene Peterson paraphrase, The Message : it reads, “It’s better to live humbly among the poor than to live it up among the rich and famous. It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God.” Lot chose to live among the rich and famous down in Sodom.

To finish reading about Lot’s choice verse 12, “Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.” The “moving of his tents” is an expression that refers to deliberately stopping and going through his newly acquired property, claiming it all as his own, and finally coming to his desired resting place, Sodom.

But then we read, ^“Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.” Reading those words is like looking up into the sky and watching thunder heads forming, forecasting a violent storm gathering on the horizon. Lot could not anticipate the spiritual problems and disaster that his desire and pursuit of wealth, social status, pleasure and fun would bring his way. The “greener grass” syndrome was about to lead to his personal disaster.

Meanwhile, having already learned from his experiences in Egypt, what problems can come from pursuing wealth selfishly, Abraham wants nothing to do with Lot’s choices. He wants his friendship with Yahweh. Knowing that, the Lord responds to Abraham, His friend, in verses 14-17 we read, “The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”

Look at Abraham’s response to God’s message. It reveals that he understood where his true riches lie, with the Lord. Verse 18, “Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.” Abraham is so blown away by Yahweh, that God cares for him, that at his first opportunity, he builds another altar and worships His friend, the Great Provider, the Owner and Possessor of the world, Yahweh.

Hebron as a city was not in existence at that time of Abraham. It is a place that was later called Hebron. It was near an Amorite dwelling called “the oaks of Mamre” further south on the same ridge of mountains that Bethel rests on.

This site was later named by the Hebrews “Hebron” in light of its association with Abraham and the rest of the patriarchs. The name means “fellowship” “communion” or “association.” It represents the special spiritual place, the home area where God and Abraham would meet. Later, the Arabs would call it, “El Kahlil” which means in Arabic, “the friend of God” in honor of Abraham. This is the very same title the Bible later gives to Abraham in James 2:23, 2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah. 41:8.

Hebron became Abraham’s home base of operations. It is where he prays to God later to have mercy on Sodom and Gomorrah. It is the place that he eventually buys a plot of ground and buries his wife, Sarah. It became the burial place for the rest of his family and the patriarchs, as well. Isaac buried Rebekah there, Jacob buried Leah there. Joseph’s remains were buried there, by his request. Hebron would be the same place from which the twelve spies got their large cluster of grapes that they brought back to the wandering Israelites who were considering entering their promised land. It would eventually be the territory that Caleb, one of those two spies, had requested and secured. It is a very historical site. One I was able to visit, but only could spend an hour there. I wish I could have spent an entire day there!

There are so many applications that can be drawn from this text, but let’s just highlight a few.

As we look at Lot and Abraham, their lives are taking form. While Lot was getting farther from the Lord, Abraham was drawing closer! While Lot was becoming a friend of the world (James 4:4); Abraham was becoming the friend of God (James 2:23). Ultimately, that is the choice all of us have to make, isn’t? We have really only two options: We can make it our goal, to make friends with this very prosperous sophisticated country, or we can make it our goal to be like Abraham and chose friendship with God. Jesus says, in John 15:13-16, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves , for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you,...” Isn’t that amazing? Just as God chose Abraham to be and intimate friend, Jesus invites you to become an intimate friend with God, through trusting Him to be your savior and Lord.

Who do you choose to make your friend? A friend of the world, or a friend of God? You choose. This world and all of its temporal allurements, or our eternal God, who will never abandon or forsake you? The eternal God who created you and promises to provide and protect you. The eternal God, who through Jesus Christ has promised you an eternally safe haven with Him, when this world ends.

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