Genesis 13

Terah was Abram's father. Lot was with Abram and Sarai because Abram's brother Haran had died at an early age. So Lot, Haran's son, went with his uncle when God called him to go to land that the Lord would show to him. It was a privilege for Lot to be with Abram, but as time went on, the herdsmen of the two men began to quarrel with each other as they all tried to make the most of life in the Negeb.

Abram went to the place where he had first made an altar to the Lord. He called upon the Name of the Lord there as one who was seeking the presence and leading of God. But the place where they lived was not enough for both men, since their animals needed land for grazing. Not only that, they were not the only people there. The Canaanites and Perizzites were in the land.

In order to address this strife amongst kinsmen, Abram suggested what seemed like a very generous solution. The time had come for Lot and his servants to be on their own. Abraham gave Lot the gift of choice. The whole land was before him. What did Lot want? Did he want to go to the right or to the left?

Lot looked, he considered, and he chose. It was obvious. Like someone who is getting ready to graduate and has two job offers, he made the decision based on his own assessment of the economic benefits. Which job pays the higher salary? That's what the soon-to-be graduate asks himself. And which land is the most fertile and prosperous? Lot made his choice.

He looked over the whole area and he saw the Jordan Valley. It was well-watered and fruitful, like the ancient stories of the Paradise of God before sin came into the world through Adam. Like his wife who later died looking back at the beautiful land under God's wrath, Lot fell in love with what his eyes could see.

Moses must remind the reader, “This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.” We know what is coming in just a few short chapters. The observer in the days of Moses would not have considered this valley a fertile place of God's blessing. By then God had brought judgment upon the land because of extreme wickedness. It was no longer fruitful. Lot judged like Eve had judged the forbidden fruit. Did Lot consider who was living in that fertile land and the kind of difficulties that might come upon him and his family from locating in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah? Do we give adequate weight to the spiritual well-being of ourselves and our children when we move from one location to another in order to take advantage of some great opportunity for potential prosperity? How often does the gold at the end of the rainbow vanish, and we end up stuck in the mud of family troubles in a place that we thought would be a paradise? How often do we show true spiritual discernment in the midst of a choice between prosperity and holiness?

But how can a person know the right thing to do? What does a good spiritual choice look like? We would do well to wait and to be suspicious of the choice that is obvious from the standpoint of the flesh, the high-paying job, the greenest field. Here is one consideration, a negative one, telling us to be suspicious of something that may look too good to be true. But there is a second factor that we can discern from this story. In order to choose Sodom, Lot had to leave Abram. Would there have been some other way to surmount what seemed to be the insurmountable problem? Could Lot have somehow stayed with Abram? It is wise for us to stay in close contact with those who are of the greatest spiritual good for our lives, particularly if we are young in the faith and insufficiently discipled in the ways of Christ. Too frequently new believers are uprooted because of some great financial opportunity before they have had adequate time to grow in the Lord. They may leave a place of good influence only to find themselves surrounded by temptations.

“So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and he journeyed east.” And what about his relationship with his uncle? “They separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.” That ended up being a very serious problem. Why? Something that Lot had not adequately considered: “The men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” More on that later.

Meanwhile God meets Abram again after Lot went his way, and God reiterates that the land will belong to Abram, all of it, and not to the descendants of Lot. God has Abram look in every direction. “All of the land is given to Abram and his offspring forever.” There is no trading away God's promises just to make things easier for a little while.

The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. Jesus tells us that the meek shall inherit the earth. God will give it to them. Christ has won a renewed earth through His perfect righteousness. He does not need to ask for anything below as if it were not His already. By virtue of His life, death, and resurrection, the Man who laid down His life and picked it up again has announced to His disciples that all power and authority belong to Him.

He is the One who says that the meek shall inherit the earth; the reunited and renewed heaven and earth. We might imagine that we could make peace for a season with those who trouble us by giving it away to them, but the Lord, has given it all to Jesus, and He has bequeathed it to His chosen people. Until the day when His purposes are fully established, we should labor to make wise spiritual decisions where we are planted, for the days are evil. Not everything that looks beautiful is safe. Not every fruitful valley is worth choosing.