As Far As Your Eyes Can See

If you have your Bible with you, please open it up to Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

I want to begin this morning with a question to you.

As you make big decisions or plans, what's your starting place?

How do you typically begin that process of making decisions?

Whether it's the decision to have a change of job or to move or a large purchase.

Do you sit down and write out a list of pros and cons?

Do you stop and pray and ask that God would show you what to do?

Do you talk to some of the other people that are your friends or family about what they would do if they were in the same situation?

What's your process as you think about making bigger decisions in life?

And what happens when there's a little bit of a roadblock?

You've kind of made your plan or your decision and something comes up.

How do you wrestle through those kinds of things?

Do you stick with your original decision?

Or is that kind of indication that that's not the right decision and we're going to go this way?

These are the kinds of questions that are stirred up and answered for us in the story that we're going to look at this morning.

We're tracking through the story of Abraham.

Last Sunday we saw how there was a severe famine in the land and he packed up the whole household and everybody went down to Egypt.

We saw how down there he really blew it with regards to his wife and Pharaoh.

He kind of, he failed.

And yet God blessed him.

God was gracious to him.

In a sense he ended up plundering Pharaoh and carrying back all of these animals and wealth and servants back to Canaan.

And that's really where we pick up the story this morning.

Chapter 13, verse 1.

And there, and where he had first built an altar.

There, Abram called on the name of the Lord.

So here's Abraham.

You've got to wonder what the people living in the land would have been thinking.

They saw him going away because things were scarce.

And now they see him coming back with even more than he left with.

And here he is coming into the land.

And he goes to the place that he had been before where he had built an altar.

And he calls on the name of the Lord.

He worships the Lord.

Moses lets us know that he had become very wealthy.

And the sense here is that most of this, or a lot of this, came from Pharaoh and his trip down to Egypt.

His herds are growing.

His flocks are getting bigger.

There's silver and gold in the money pouch.

Things seem to be going pretty well.

But then something unexpected happens.

Verse 5.

Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

But the land could not support them while they stayed together,

for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.

And quarreling arose between Abram's herders and lots.

The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

So everything seems to be going well for Abraham until he realizes that it's not.

He starts hearing complaints, reports from his herders who are in conflict with the herders of his nephew.

In one sense, it's a good problem to have.

We've got so many animals and the herds of flocks are so large

that we don't have enough space for both of our herds, both of our flocks.

And of course, animals need places to graze.

They need pasture.

They need places where they can have water to drink.

And Moses reminds us, in case we've forgotten, that the Canaanites and Perizzites,

they're already living in the land.

And so Abraham and Lot, they're kind of, they're living off of the scraps that are left over in this land.

The best parts of the land, they're already occupied.

There's already people there with their animals and their farms.

And so they're doing what they can to kind of grow their herds and make out their existence there in this land.

And there starts to become some fighting, some quarreling, some arguments.

What are we going to do about this?

Verse 8.

Abram said to Lot,

Let's not have any quarreling between you and me,

or between your herders and mine,

for we are close relatives.

Is not the whole land before you?

Let's part company.

If you go to the left,

I'll go to the right.

If you go to the right,

I'll go to the left.

At this moment,

they are between Bethel and Ai.

It's in the hill country,

where probably from where they are,

they can look around and see the land all around them.

And Abram kind of comes up with this solution.

Our herds are growing.

They need food.

They need water.

So let's part company.

But notice the reason that Abraham gives for why.

We might expect that it's because my flocks are not getting the water that they need,

or because your herders have been doing this and that,

or because there's not enough grass here for my animals.

But there's no indication of that from Abraham.

What are his reasons for wanting to go separate ways?

He cares most about the relationship between him and his nephew.

He says,

let's not have any quarreling between you and me,

because we're close relatives.

We're kin.

We're family.

So let's,

let there not be any fighting or disputing between us.

Let's go our separate ways.

And then Abraham does something beautiful.

He takes him up,

we assume,

onto a hill or to a vantage point from where they can see the land all around them.

And he says,

is not the whole land before you?

Lot,

where would you like to live?

Where would you like to,

to graze your animals?

Where,

where do you want to go and settle?

Take your pick.

If you go over here,

I'll go over there.

If you want to stay here,

I'll pack up and move,

move along.

But you can have the first choice.

This is a beautiful moment.

It's,

it's,

uh,

for two reasons.

First,

it's a beautiful picture of love.

For Abraham to,

to treat his nephew this way.

To,

to desire that his nephew do well and have that opportunity to choose the best,

to,

to pick where he's going to go.

So it's kind of reminiscent of what Paul says,

do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,

but in humility,

consider others as more important than yourselves.

Looking not only to your own interests,

but also to the interests of others,

which is the same attitude that,

that Jesus himself had.

As he came down from heaven into our world,

to see that our need was met and at great cost to himself.

This is God's kind of love.

And this is a moment where Abraham really shines.

I mean,

down in Egypt,

not so much with how he treated his wife there,

but here he really does shine as someone who is,

who is living God's kind of love in the way that he treats lot.

But this is also a moment in which Abraham's faith is seen as well,

because God has made them the promise.

I'm going to give this land to you and to your offspring.

Lot,

he's,

he's the nephew.

He's not quite in that family.

He's kind of been tagging along all the way since Ur.

He's got his own dreams and aspirations and plans.

He's,

he's kind of,

he's been there,

but the Abraham doesn't say,

well,

the promise was made to me.

So this is my land.

I'm going to live here and you need to go over there.

We see a glimpse of his faith here in this moment in his willingness to kind of

just surrender and say,

say to lot,

you can take the pick anywhere you want.

You choose,

you go there in his heart.

We can kind of see that he's trusting that the Lord will sort this out,

how he will keep his promise.

So what does lot choose?

Verse 10,

Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zoar was well

watered like the garden of the Lord,

like the land of Egypt.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

So lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the

east.

The two men parted company.

Abraham lived in the land of Canaan while lot lived among the cities of the

plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.

Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

So what does Abraham do?

It's not the whole land before you.

Take your pick.

Lot looks up.

He looks around and his eyes settle on that well watered land to the east where it's

especially green compared to all the other land.

It's green like the stories of Eden.

It's green like the land of Egypt where we just came from.

He looks at it and desire rises in his heart.

That's where I want to go.

That's the kind of place that I want to settle.

No more of this scrounging for places for our flocks to graze.

I mean, look at that over there.

There's plenty of that over there.

I want to go there.

And he makes his choice.

And he sets out and he goes.

But there's a couple ominous notes in Moses' description of this choice.

First is that statement in parentheses there.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

This land to the east was kind of, it was near the Jordan.

It was rich, fertile land.

It was also near the Dead Sea.

It was, it says the plain, but it was kind of the Jordan Valley.

It's kind of on the edge of the land of Canaan.

But there's two cities there, Sodom and Gomorrah.

And Moses lets us know that they're going to be destroyed.

They were destroyed.

As he looks back on this, this moment.

And then again in verse 13.

Now the people of Sodom were wicked.

And were sinning greatly against the Lord.

The emphasis here is very strong.

They were wicked.

They were evil.

And they were sinning.

And not just sinning.

They were sinning greatly against the Lord.

And those of us who have read the story, we know how things turn out for Lot.

We're not actually going to cover that in this series.

But if you want to, you can read it in Genesis 18 and 19.

Things don't go well for Lot.

For Lot.

He pitches his tent near Sodom.

And he goes there hoping to get this good and prosperous life.

And he ends up losing almost everything and barely escaping with his life.

He and his two daughters.

God later destroys those cities because of the outcry against them and the wickedness that's going on there.

And so Lot, he looks around and he sees.

He sees the rich, fertile land.

He desires it.

Yes.

That's the place where I can thrive.

That's the place where my animals, my herds will increase.

The more they increase, the more money, the better things will go.

It reminds him of back in Egypt.

And yes, this is my chance to live the dream.

That's what he sees as he looks out and makes his choice.

But he overlooks this deep, disturbing reality of what's going on in that region.

And we kind of got to wonder what his thought process is here.

I mean, he's been journeying with Abraham all this time.

And so he's no stranger to this idea of the Lord, of Yahweh, Abraham's God.

Abraham has been building altars here and there to him.

He's been worshiping him very visibly, very publicly.

Lot has seen how things have gone for Abraham.

Just down in Egypt, how things went really well for him.

And we have to know that Lot would have known what was going on in this region.

These cities, their reputation was well known.

They're not living the way that Abraham's God would want.

In fact, they're known for doing some pretty terrible things to the people around them.

And so Lot looks out and he sees, he desires, but he misses, he overlooks this deep and dark, unseen reality of what's going on.

And at the end, it almost costs him everything.

It's kind of a living parable of those words that Jesus spoke thousands of years later.

It reminds me of them anyway.

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?

And so as we think about making decisions, making plans, what is it that we are looking to make our decision on?

What are we basing our decision on?

Lot makes his choice and he goes his way.

And then with him gone, verse 14,

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot parted from him,

Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.

All the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if anyone could count the dust,

then your offspring could be counted.

Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land for I am giving it to you.

Abram's just been up on the hilltop and looking around.

This moment kind of just happened.

He was up there with Lot.

He said, Look around.

Take your pick.

And then after he's gone, in a sense, the Lord takes Abraham up to the hilltop and says,

Look around.

Look north.

Look south.

Look east.

Look west.

Look all around.

But he doesn't say, Take your pick.

He says, All the land that you see.

In every direction, all around you, as far as your eyes can see, all the land that you see,

I will give to you and your offspring.

Wow.

What a promise.

What a moment.

I mean, this is not a new promise.

We already heard that as Abraham first came into the land, the Lord said to him,

To your offspring, I will give this land.

But it must have been wonderful to hear it again from the Lord in that moment.

To have him reaffirm it, especially after having left the land, gone down to Egypt, blowing it there,

and then coming back to have the Lord say it again.

And this time, the Lord adds to the promise.

The first time it was to your offspring, I will give this land.

Now the Lord adds, not just to your offspring, to you and your offspring.

I will give this land.

And not just for a time.

He adds forever.

Wow.

Wow.

What a promise.

He goes on.

He says,

I will make your offspring innumerable, beyond numbering.

That if, just like the dust of the earth can't be counted by people,

because it's just too many.

The day that it can be counted is the day that someone will be able to number your descendants,

your offspring.

And then he tells Abraham to go on a little tour.

Go.

Walk through the land.

Walk through the length and the breadth of the land.

Prepare your heart to receive this.

For I am giving it to you.

What a promise.

Abraham's response.

How I wish we had more details here about what he's thinking as he hears this from the Lord.

All we get is what's in verse 18.

So Abraham, presumably after he went on his tour,

went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron,

where he pitched his tents.

There he built an altar to the Lord.

Sounds pretty informational, but I think that there is something there.

I mean, these are big promises.

If Abraham thought that the Lord was lying to him or that these were empty,

would he be building an altar and calling on the name of the Lord and continuing this relationship?

I don't think so.

So the sense that we get here, the picture we get here,

is that he accepted the Lord's word.

He believed it.

He trusted him.

He was going to continue to worship him and call on his name.

But the question that we're kind of left with at the end of all of this is,

is now what?

I mean, Abraham has been given these amazing promises.

Let's remember for a moment just what they are.

Back in Ur, I will bless you.

I will make you into a great nation.

I will make your name great.

I will protect you.

And I will bless all the families of the earth through you.

When he first enters the land,

I will give this land to your offspring.

And now he's heard something new

that the Lord has added to his promises.

I will not just give this land to your offspring.

I will give it to you.

To you, Abraham.

Now, of course, this morning here,

we know how the rest of the story goes,

but I want us to get into Abraham's head for a moment.

He doesn't know how the story goes.

How is he processing this?

How is he thinking about this?

To me?

All this land that I can see,

the Lord's going to give this to me?

I mean, what would he have to do to make that happen

before I die?

That's what it means to you, right?

Not just to your offspring, but to you.

Somehow, the title deed of this entire region

is going to be given to me.

What about that word forever?

To you and your offspring,

I will give this land forever.

What does that mean?

What is he thinking of?

As he hears that,

from the moment God gives this to me

and I receive it,

it will be in my possession,

it will be in my control

from that point on forever.

From then on,

there will always be my descendants

in this land,

living here,

in control of this land,

possessing this land.

And

descendants

that are beyond number.

What kind of picture

is this stirring up in Abraham's mind?

He looks out at this land

and he imagines it's full of people,

full of families

with children working and playing.

And they're all

his descendants.

And not just for one moment in time,

but generation

after generation

after generation

after generation

of his descendants

in this land.

This is their home.

How is this going to happen?

These are great promises.

This is what Abraham

has been given

to go on.

And this is kind of what I,

my imagination of,

of,

of how he's processing this

and taking this in.

And yet,

what does he see

when he looks around?

He looks at his wife,

Sarai,

beautiful,

and yet beginning

to show signs of age,

already 70-ish.

For decades,

they've been unable

to conceive.

He looks in his mirror himself

and sees the signs of age.

He's in his 80s-ish.

How is this going to happen?

This would take a miracle.

I mean,

statistically,

this is,

this is borderline impossible.

He looks at this good land

as he walks through it,

as the Lord told him to do.

And what does he see?

He sees a lot of other people.

The Canaanites,

the Perizzites.

He sees other people

who have laid claim

to this land,

who have built homes,

who are running farms,

who have their flocks

and animals

here and there

scattered throughout the land.

He sees cities

that they've built

and are living in

with walls.

He sees kings

and powerful men

who have been getting their way.

How is this going to happen?

How is the Lord

going to take

all of this land

and give it to me?

You've got to know

that's the question

that's rolling on

in his mind.

And the answer

for this moment,

I don't know.

I can't even imagine

how this would come to be.

But what am I going to do?

I'm going to pitch my tent

right here

in this land

because this is the land

that the Lord

has promised to give me.

I'm going to build

an altar to the Lord

and call on his name

and worship

and wait

and see.

What a picture

of faith,

of trust.

At this point

we're probably wondering,

I mean,

what does Abraham

really know

about the Lord?

In the next chapter

we get a little bit

of a clue

and I'm not going to

read the whole story.

It's the story

of how Abraham

goes on a rescue mission

to get Lot

after Lot is captured.

And at the end

of this rescue mission

Abraham has

a conversation

face to face

with the king

of Sodom.

And what does he

say to the king

of Sodom?

verse 22

of chapter 14

he says,

With raised hand

I have sworn

an oath

to the Lord

Yahweh

God most high

creator

of heaven

and earth.

What a thing

to say.

These are big promises

that the Lord

has made

to Abraham.

Yes,

but little by little

Abraham is learning

to trust

Yahweh

the Lord.

Little by little

as he has made

his way

all the way

from Ur

to Canaan

little by little

as he went

down to Egypt

and saw how the Lord

turned that situation

in his favor

Abraham is learning

that the Lord

does keep

his promises.

He is protecting

him.

He is blessing

him.

And now

it's come to the

point we've seen

how he's kind

of grown.

I mean he

he cowered in fear

before Pharaoh

and now

just a chapter

later

this is not long

that much longer

after

he's

telling the king

of Sodom

my allegiance

is to Yahweh.

And he's not

just one

of the many

gods

like Nana

the moon

god

that we

serve

back in Ur

he is

God

most high

the most

high god

not only that

but he is

the creator

of the heaven

of heaven

and earth.

Abraham's

understanding

of who God

is

is growing

and yes

these are

big promises

but this is

a big god

that Abraham

has believed

in.

The Lord

the creator

himself.

It would have

been easy

for Abraham

to laugh

about these

promises.

How is that

how is that

going to happen?

Yeah right.

I mean look

at this place.

Look at my

wife and me.

But he

doesn't.

He chooses

to pitch

his tent

here

and to

trust

and wait

and see.

There's a

lesson to be

learned here

and I don't

think it's

a coincidence

that Lot

and his

story is

sandwiched

right up

against Abraham

and his

story.

Lot

he looked

at the

land all

around him

and he

made his

decision

his plan

his way

by what

he could

see

right here

and now.

And he

missed

the unseen

danger

and

consequences

of making

his home

among

the wicked

and it

almost

cost him

everything.

Abraham

is the

exact

opposite.

He

is now

pitching

his tent

building

an altar

based on

what he

can't

see

what is

unseen

the

reality

of these

promises

which God

has given

to him.

If that's

how it's

going to be

if you're

going to

give me

this land

then I'm

going to

pitch my

tent

right here.

Complete

contrast.

And so

we kind

of are

moved to

this

question

of who

or what

are we

making our

decisions

by,

our plans.

How are

we making

our way

here in

this world?

are we

doing it

like

Lot?

And so

often

that's kind

of the

tendency

we have

isn't it?

We just

look around

well that

looks really

good.

I'm going

to go

after that.

I need

that.

Look at

that nice

house over

there.

It's nicer

than the one

that I've

got.

I want

that.

This

new car,

this

gadget,

this

vacation

package,

this

whatever.

Like Lot,

we so

easily just

look around

and our

eyes come

to rest

and we

desire,

but at

what cost?

What are

the deeper

unseen

realities

at work

in this

situation?

Abraham

teaches us

that we

should make

our decision

first and

foremost

on the

basis of

those

unseen

realities?

That we

should listen

to the

Lord

and to

his

word

and do

our life

according

to it.

Pitch our

tent according

to the

promise that

we've been

given.

Even if

everything

around looks

like how

is that even

going to

work?

How is

that going

to be

possible?

people?

As I

think of

Abraham,

here he

is in

a foreign

land,

he stands

out like

a sore

thumb,

and I

don't think

it was

just because

of the

tone of

his skin

or because

of his

accent

being from

far away.

Those

probably

factored

in too,

but he

stuck out

like a

sore thumb

because here's

a guy who

actually believes

in and

worships

Yahweh.

Look at

him,

he's building

an altar

to him.

That's not

who we

worship around

here,

we worship

Baal.

Can you

believe that?

That guy

would actually

subscribe to

him?

But that's

not all

unlike how

things are

for us

today,

is it?

We live

in a world

that basically

says the

same thing.

look at

those guys.

They

actually

believe in

the God

of the

Bible,

that God

who

condemns

homosexuality

and talks

about sin

and how

we're all

guilty of

it and

how we're

going to

be punished

for it

and hell

and all

that stuff.

I mean,

who believes

that anymore?

Abraham

gives us

this incredible

example

of faith.

If he

really is

the Lord,

then absolutely

I'm going to

live in

allegiance to

him.

I'm going to

build altars

to him and

worship him.

I'm going to

let other

people see.

I'm going to

stick out like

a sore thumb.

Isn't that

what God

has brought

Abraham here

for?

To be a

witness,

a testimony

to his

grace,

a blessing

to all the

families of

the earth,

starting with

the people

around him?

there's so

much we

can learn

from Abraham

about how

we make

our decisions

and our

plans.

We too

have received

promises

from God,

the word

of God.

It looks a

little different.

We have it

here in a

book.

We have

not just

what Abraham

heard,

but we

have more.

We have

the son

of God

himself

described

in these

pages

in his

words

here.

Abraham

had some

pretty big

promises made

to him,

but we

have some

even bigger

ones,

which came

through Christ.

An

inheritance

in the

kingdom of

God that

is coming

when Jesus

returns.

We have a

forever promise

too,

eternal life

in that

kingdom.

God promised

to bless

him,

to be

gracious

to him,

and we

have received

the greatest

of graces

and blessing

through Christ.

And the

question is,

will we make

our way

by this,

by this

good news,

as we

consider what

we'll do

in our lives,

or will we

do like

Lot,

and just

go after

what on the

surface looks

like it

will fulfill

us,

it will

make us

happy.

Let's

pray.

Father,

we thank

you for

your word,

and we

proclaim

you are

the great

and glorious

Lord of the

universe,

as we talked

about in

Sunday school

this morning.

Your son

is supreme

over all,

we worship

you.

Help us

to live

by faith

as if all

of this

is true

as it

is.

No matter

what anybody

else thinks,

we want

to bring

glory to

your name,

and we

thank you

for the

grace

that you

have given

to us

and promised

us.

Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Here we go.