Question

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Abraham’s Choice

Genesis 13:1-18

Key Verse: 13:14-15

1. Look at 13:1-4. When Abram came out of Egypt, what was his material situation? How did he make a new beginning? (4) What is the meaning of building an altar and why was it important to Abram? (Ex 23:25, Lk 4:8, Heb 11:6)

2. Look at v. 5-9. What problem arose because of his great wealth? Why did Abram give his first choice to Lot? (8-9) How had his attitude toward material things changed? (12:16)

3. Look at v. 10-13. What was Lot’s motive in choosing to live near Sodom? What kind of place was Sodom? (10,13; 18:20-21, 19:4-11) What was the result of Lot’s choice? (14:12, 19:24,29)

4. Look at v. 14-18. How did God comfort Abram after Lot had taken the best land and left? (14-17) Why was God’s promise more important to Abram than the visible and temporary possession? What does Abram’s choice teach us about? (Heb 11:8-10, 24-26)

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Attachment

• Ge13-01-18-q.docx

BibleNote

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Abraham’s Choice

Genesis 13:1-18

Key Verse: 13:14-15

1. Look at 13:1-4. When Abram came out of Egypt, what was his material situation? How did he make a new beginning? (4) What is the meaning of building an altar and why was it important to Abram? (Ex 23:25, Lk 4:8, Heb 11:6)

   God disciplines Abraham through his mistake in Egypt.

   God used it as an opportunity for Abraham to grow as a man of faith and as the father of many nations.

   Let’s see how God changed Abraham from a man of fear to a man of faith, from a man of earthly thing to a man of heavenly thing.

Abram and Lot Separate

13 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. ² Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

³ From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier ⁴ and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.

²⁵ Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,

⁸ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’^[a]”

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Abraham learned that material came from the Lord, not from his ability.

Abraham learned lesson from this mistake and failure. Abraham learned how to live by faith, not by sight or calculation.

He built an altar---he turned his heart to God, not to his wealth.

God taught Abraham that he keeps his promise with Abraham.

1. Look at v. 5-9. What problem arose because of his great wealth? Why did Abram give his first choice to Lot? (8-9) How had his attitude toward material things changed? (12:16)

⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ 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. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

⁸ So 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. ⁹ 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.”

¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

A problem arose because of his abundant wealth…

Abraham chose Lot rather than wealth.

Abraham valued his relationship with Lot more than his money.

Abraham was free from anxiety about his future security.

1. Look at v. 10-13. What was Lot’s motive in choosing to live near Sodom? What kind of place was Sodom? (10,13; 18:20-21, 19:4-11) What was the result of Lot’s choice? (14:12, 19:24,29)

¹⁰ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” ⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” ⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

¹² They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.

²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot chose for himself the best part of the land, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot just followed Abraham, not God’s promise.

Lot’s motivation for his choice was material blessing, comfortable life, many worldly friends, and all earthly things.

Abraham’s motivation for his choice was to obey the promise of God. Abraham did not leave from the land of promise, but stayed there.

1. Look at v. 14-18. How did God comfort Abram after Lot had taken the best land and left? (14-17) Why was God’s promise more important to Abram than the visible and temporary possession? What does Abram’s choice teach us about? (Heb 11:8-10, 24-26)

¹⁴ The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. ¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring^[a] forever. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

¹⁸ So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

God understood Abraham who became difficult after Lot left with everything.

He might have felt the sense of loss and felt empty after giving up all the best part of his land. But God comforted Abraham by reminding him of his promise.

God’s promise contains God’s blessing.

We must choose God’s blessing more than temporary material benefits.

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Attachment

• Ge13-01-18-answer.docx