THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Genesis 14:1-12; Psalm 1
Bob Bonner
November 21, 2004

“The Road Not Taken” is probably one of Robert Frost’s best known poems. In it, we find a major truth. If you have not read it before, here it is:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that made all the difference.

There is a way, a path, a road that is well worn and many have taken it. There is another, that is not as worn, but few have chosen to travel it. But, just because the majority have traveled one road more than the other does not make the road most traveled necessarily the best or the right road.

In real life, there are two roads, two pathways that typically are set before every person. Each of us is given the choice of traveling one or the other. One road leads to success, productivity, prosperity, purpose and fulfillment. The other leads to failure, loss, destruction, poverty, emptiness and dissatisfaction. One, the one most traveled that leads to dissatisfaction is the way of the world, the way of failure. The other, which leads to success, is the way of God.

But each roadway is not necessarily clearly marked, as to which is the way of the world, which leads to dissatisfaction, or the way of God, that leads to success.

Instead, at the entrance of each road there is a guide, barking out what one can achieve by taking his road. Each one claims that it will lead to a successful life. However each guide defines success differently. At the entrance to one, the guide declares, “Take my road and you will get to be number 1. My way leads to wealth, power and position. If you take my road, you are sure to be a winner, finding your greatest desires satisfied. After all, he who dies with the most toys wins.”

The guide at the entrance to the second roadway has a different message as to it’s destination and definition of success. This guide declares “True success if found in being faithful. True success is measured in finishing well and leaving your eternal mark on the lives of others. Along my road there is a life lived with a sense hope and a sense of purpose. In the end, my way leads to deeper satisfaction.”

One guide makes his offer sound so pragmatic or practical. The other guide’s offer appears more abstract, hard to grasp. It takes more faith to hear what he is truly offering. But still, you are left with only one choice. You can’t travel both roads.

This morning, we are going to look at a Biblical character who will illustrate for us the challenge of choosing correctly, and what happens if you don’t. He is Abraham’s nephew, Lot. We can learn much about living a life of success, from studying Lot’s life.

To begin, let’s read Genesis 14:1-12. “And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that they 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 (that is, Zoar). All these came as allies to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar. And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the valley of Siddim, against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived [meaning those that were not killed or taken captive] fled to the hill country. Then they [the four kings of the East and their armies] took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.

What makes reading and understand these twelve verses so difficult, are the many strange names and places that are foreign to most of us. So allow me to help you get a handle on the who, where and what we have just read.

A historical backdrop is necessary to understand this passage. Years before Abraham and his nephew Lot entered Canaan as peaceful emigrants, four very powerful kings from the East, around the Persian Gulf area, that entire area known today as Kuwait, Iran and Iraq. This coalition of four kings swept up the Mesopotamia Valley, around the fertile crescent into the land of Canaan, like a giant vacuum cleaner. They plundered, pillaged, conquered and sucked up everything of any value in their path, and then, they returned home with the spoils of war.

The purpose of this coalition’s attack on the area was to gain control of the two main highways of trade, the Great Trunk Road in the west that hugged the Mediterranean Sea and the King’s Highway on the east side of the Jordan River, that paralleled that river.

These two roads were the only trade routes from Asia to Egypt and the rest of the north African continent; and the only trade route from Europe to Egypt and the north African continent. To put the significance of this in modern terms, it would be similar to having the sole rights or control over who can do any buying or selling over the internet. You control that and you are one wealthy, powerful person or business conglomerate.

In Biblical history, the key to holding control over these two trade routes and becoming wealthy for it, lay in holding control of the city of Damascus. Both the Great Trunk Road, and the King’s Highway come together and pass through Damascus. No land trade could go north to Europe or south to Egypt except if it went through Damascus. If you controlled Damascus, you controlled the ability for all the cities along those trade routes to do business. Since the coalition of the four eastern kings controlled Damascus, they demanded that Damascus and all the cities along these routes that profited from doing business with those traveling these routes, pay taxes to the coalition.

The predominant king of this coalition of four kings was a man named Chedorlaomer. I’m going to call him “Ched” for short. For 12 years, King Ched and the rest of the coalition forced the tribal kings of Canaan to pay tribute to these four eastern kings. This was all well known to Abraham and Lot. But what was not known by Lot, when he decided to take up residence in Sodom, was that the King of Sodom was planning to rebel against this coalition of eastern kings by refusing to pay taxes. The King of Sodom and four other kings in the area were getting fed up with having to pay this extortion money. Hence, in the 13th year in which they were to pay tribute to these kings of the east, the five kings of the west revolted and said, “Enough is enough!” and they quit paying tribute.

Because news travels rather slowly, it took about a year for Ched and the rest of the coalition of kings in the east to recognize their subjects revolt. Realizing what cost this revolt could have on their purse strings, as well as how it could encourage other such revolts in the lands they controlled, Ched and the rest of the coalition of kings were compelled to return to the lands they had conquered, chastise these people for revolting against them, regain their power and return home.

According to Genesis 14:1-12, Ched came down the east side of the Jordan River attacking and plundering all the cities along the King’s Highway, who had been required to pay tribute, striking fear throughout the land. Understand, if you were not living in a city, where tribute was collected, you were probably left alone.

This coalition of four eastern kings continued their conquering and pillaging down past the east side of the Dead Sea, and through the area of what would be later called the “wilderness” or “el-paran”, at the top of this portion of the Red Sea. Then they traveled up to Kadesh-Barnea, and around to a valley at the foot of the Dead Sea. Like a surgeon going after an unwanted cancer, King Ched wanted to cut out not just the “tumor” of rebellious kings, but any other upstart nations that had the thought of rebelling against them.

Finally, at the Valley of Siddim, just below the Dead Sea, Ched and the three other kings met these five rebellious kings who were the primary instigators that brought about this military “operation.” The leader of these five rebellious kings was the King of Sodom. Ched easily routed them, took all of their food, took more captives and all of their wealth and began the trek back home, up the west side of the river. One of those captives was Lot, who, up til then, was living the peaceful life of a wealthy emigrant leader in Sodom.

At this point, let’s pause to consider Abraham’s nephew Lot, in his relationship to the city of Sodom, and this subject of walking down the road to success. We will come back to what happens next in Genesis in the weeks ahead.

In order to consider Lot’s life as it relates to his relationship with Sodom, we need to look back a little and ahead a little. Observe with me, three things about Lot and Sodom that are recorded in Scripture. The first is found in 13:12, where we are told that Lot “moved his tents as far as Sodom.” In other words, Lot was walking toward Sodom, but at this point, he had not yet moved into the city. Although wealthy, he was living just outside the city, in a tent like a typical inconsequential desert nomad of the area.

Then, in 14:12, the text records that Lot was “living in Sodom.” The implication being that had made a home inside Sodom. He was no longer living in a tent, but in a permanent dwelling in the city. Furthermore, this indicates that Lot had embraced the city as his own and become part of its community.

However, there is an additional point made by including this detail of Lot living in Sodom. If Lot had not been living inside Sodom, he might not have been captured or taken away as captive. He would have been left alone like most of the nomadic tribes in the area who were not living in the city. But, by living inside the city as a wealthy man, he was consider to be one with the rebels against the coalition, who refused to pay tribute, and thus, was hauled away with the rest.

Finally, looking ahead to 19:1. We will look at this more closely in the weeks ahead. For now, just note that it mentions that Lot was “sitting in the gate of Sodom” which is a reference to him being an honored politician or civic leader of Sodom. Some believe that this was an indication that Lot had become the mayor of the city. Whether mayor or not, it is clear that by now, Lot was no longer considered a new comer or just another private citizen, but he had become an entrenched favored citizen of Sodom.

I point out these three descriptions of Lot’s life, because they are a perfect Biblical illustration of what Psalm 1 teaches and warns every believer, as it concerns our relationship with God and finding true success in our world. To show you what I mean, step off the main highway of Genesis with me, and let’s take the rest of the morning to wander down a lesson-of-life pathway found in Psalm 1. When finished with this Psalm, we will return to Lot and lessons learned from him.

When one reads this psalm, it is very apparent as to the theme or major focus of this psalm. Throughout the psalm, the psalmist compares and contrasts the successful person versus the failure; those who truly prosper in life, versus those who perish, wasting away their lives. Half of the Psalm is dedicated to the Road to success, righteousness and prosperity, and the other half is dedicated to the Road to failure, wickedness and emptiness. Let’s make a quick dash through this psalm and just touch the highlights.

Psalm 1-3, we see the journey down the road to success. Verses 1-2, speak to what is required if we want to walk as a winner, as one who is truly successful. We read, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

In these two verses, the psalmist gives us two clues to walking down the road to success. First, in verse 1, he clearly warns us to ignore the counsel of the wicked.

There is a very interesting downward spiral-type progression in this verse. It’s course proceeds from movement, to non-movement to becoming set or stationary in our thinking. Did you catch it? Notice the three verbs, “walk...stand...sit.”

These verbs describe three progressive steps. The first step, "walking in the counsel of the wicked" refers to the tendency of being open minded toward the schemes and thought patterns of the wicked as legitimate ways to live. Such thought patterns as, “Do unto others before they can stick it to you.” Or, “Don't get mad, just get even.”

"Standing in the pathway" refers to moving from being just open minded to the ways of the wicked to actually following or unconsciously imitating the ways of those who rebel against God or ignore His directives.

To “sit in the seat of the scoffers” refers to joining the club or becoming one with those who counsels others in wickedness. This is a person who actively supports the spreading of their evil ideas.

Keep in mind, the “wicked,” the “sinner,” and the “scoffer” all describe the same person. These terms describe a person who has an aversion to God or one who refuses to surrender his or her life to the will of God. In Psalm 10:4, the psalmist clarifies for us: “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.”

So, instead of accepting the counsel of the wicked, the blessed or successful person, the one who will be an ultimate winner, according to verse 2, chooses to pay close attention to the counsel from the word of God.

And according to verse 2, he does two things: First, he “delights in the Law.” To "delight in the Law" means to desire to make God’s word the cornerstone of your life. It means that God’s word takes priority over the counsel of the wicked.

And the blessed person who delights in the Law, reveals that he/she delights in God’s law by “meditating on it day and night.” The person doesn’t just read the Bible as some form of spiritual discipline, (“chapter a day keeps the devil away), but thinks about it deeply, memorizes it and causes it to take root in one’s heart so that it, in turn, God’s word affects the everyday practices of one’s life.

In verse 3 we see what a winner, what a blessed person who walks with God, committed to holding to His God looks like. We read, “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” In other words, like this tree, as the person seeks after God in God’s word, and applies God’s word to his/her life, two basic things happen to this person’s life. First, this blessed person becomes more stable. There is a sense of permanence to this person’s life. His/her roots grow deep such that the storms of life are not going to shake it. The successful have lasting power.

Secondly, this tree is productive and prosperous. When life’s storms and droughts come, and others around you are crumbling emotionally, have no sense of purpose or direction, their lives are empty and less than satisfactory, those who walk with the Lord, through developing a relationship with Him through studying the word and applying it to their lives, their roots grow deep, producing contentment, satisfaction, hope, purpose and a sense of fulfillment.

Verse 4 describes what the journey down the road to failure looks like. We read, “The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away.” In stark contrast to the stable and productive tree, the psalmist says that the person who holds on to the counsel of the wicked, and becomes a scoffer, his life journey reveals the emptiness and futility of “chaff.” Furthermore, because it is blown away by the wind, that life has no lasting productivity or stability. Everything he has ever done, will one day add up to nothing. It’s the picture of a wasted life.

in verses 5-6, we read about the final destination for the godly and for the one who ignores God and His word. It says, “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

This was the picture of Lot’s life. Because he was a believer, that didn’t prevent him from wasting his life. Like the psalmist wrote, Lot “walked”, “stood” and “sat” in the seat of the scoffer. As a believer, starting out worshiping Yahweh, Lot got sidetracked by the counsel of the wicked. He was infected of the ideas of “more means better”. He was infected with the desire for luxury rather than with close communion with his Lord. He first “walked” toward Sodom, entertaining that may be the ideas of the world were right. Then, he stopped, and began to live with the sinners, and became like them. Then, he sat in the gate, as a counselor, having bought in to much of their lives, and counseling others likewise. And where did it lead him?

The last picture we have of Lot is a man who has lost everything. He is living in a cave, a widower, drunk, having committed incest with his two daughters which produced two more sons, who would eventually turn into the Moabites and the Ammonites, who would grow up to be perpetual enemies of Israel. He has lost his home and all his wealth. He is worse off at the end, than when he left Haran with Abraham. Back then, he had nothing, but he was walking with God carrying few responsibilities. At the end, he has nothing, is estranged from God, and has the responsibility of caring for two daughter who have now become mothers of his two sons. Lot ended up just as the psalmist says anyone will end up, if they walk in the counsel of the wicked.

According to Psalm 1, we learned that Lot’s problem was not seeking after the Lord, but the “wise” counsel of this world, which proved not only to be unwise, but disastrous. It didn’t happen all at once, but slowly over time. He got caught up in the ways of the world because he did not take seriously seeking out the Lord. We find no evidence that after Lot left Abraham that he continued to seek after God. He was saved, but a carnal believer.

Likewise, you may be living off of your parents, or spouses, or child’s spirituality. If you don’t commit to seeking after the Lord or growing in the Lord yourself, your fellowship with the Lord will grow slowly cold. Like a tire with a slow leak, one day you will wake up, and your life will be spiritually flat. Or to put it in the form of a principle, There are no blow outs in the Christian life, just slow leaks.

Right now, as a result of making a series of wrong decision, or as a result of floating along with God, and taking in the counsel of the wicked, your life might feel like the disaster of Lot’s life or the life of failure depicted in Psalm 1.

If what I am saying is speaking to your heart today, then understand, the Psalmist’s point to you, is that you don't have to stay on the path of the foolish and continue to ignore God. You can change your path. The hope and the encouragement of this Psalm, is that you submit your life to the Lord and seek to know him, so that He can dig you up from where ever you are and transplant you by streams of fresh water, that you will live a productive life as your roots grow deep. But the choice must be yours. God includes Lot’s story in His word that we would learn from Lot, rather than from first hand failure. God wants you to live a deeply satisfying life. No matter how old you are, no matter what your past has been, right now, you can begin again and make your life count.

Secondly, it should be obvious to us all, that Psalm 1 teaches us that to successfully avoid a fate like Lot’s, the way of out of heading to a tragic ending of our lives begins with your mind. With our minds focused on the truth of God’s word, we can leave the path headed to failure and step back on to the road of success. But to do so, you need to fill your mind with God’s word, so that it can reach deeply into your hearts that He might change you. If you are not in the word, either by yourself or with others, or both you will not grow or be transformed. If you are not ready to submit to God’s wise counsel, then at life’s end, you will die one dissatisfied person. You will have wasted the life for which God created and saved you.

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