Wealth Divides. Genesis 13:1-9

May the mumbling commence!

Success and wealth have problems of its own.  They drive us apart.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

            So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him.  By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold.

            He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar.  Abram prayed there to God.

            Lot, who was traveling with Aram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents.  But the land couldn’t support both of them; they had too many possessions.  They couldn’t both live there – quarrels broke out between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds.  The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at the time.

            Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds.  After all, we’re family.  Look around.  Isn’t there plenty of land out there?  Let’s separate.  If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.”  (Genesis 13:1-9)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

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

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 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. 

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

So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.  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."  (Genesis 13:1-9) 

Again I would say that the differences between the NIV and Peterson’s work are surface only.  The essence of the story is identical.

There’s a return to praying and worshiping the Lord.  There’s division between Abram and Lot.  Peterson’s wordings highlight this conflict.  Separation was inevitable.  It’s the hard truth of what wealth can do to us – if we’re not careful.

And, it’s often pointed out – and rightly so – that Abram gives Lot first choice out of grace… a grace that parallels the grace he had received from God in Egypt.

So, let’s not chase after too much wealth.  It divides… even in the family.  It divides.  Perhaps especially in the family wealth divides.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out