Choose Wisely. Genesis 13:10-18

May the mumbling commence!

Abram had made a choice – one based not on his own welfare.  Now it was Lot’s turn.  Let’s see how Lot would do.  Read from Peterson’s The Message:

            Lot looked.  He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God’s garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar.  Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan.  Lot set out to the east.

            That’s how they came to part company, uncle and nephew, Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

            The people of Sodom were evil – flagrant sinners against God.

            After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, “Open your eyes, look around.  Look north, south, east, and west.  Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever.  I’ll make your descendants like dust – counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth.  So – on your feet, get moving!  Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I’m giving it all to you.”

            Abram moved his tent.  He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron.  There he built an altar to God.  (Genesis 13:10-18)

Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:

Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (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:  Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.  Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. 

The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, 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." 

So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord. (Genesis 13:10-18)

Of all the differences between the NIV and Peterson’s work, the biggest issue I take with this passage is the idea of living versus settling.  Though Lot may have settled, I think that action is not descriptive of what Abram did… unless we are talking of settling his life into the Lord.

In this passage, we once again see the symbolic importance of going east.  Spiritually going east is going away from God.  I like the NIV translation of Lot choosing for himself. 

Lot was looking at the immediate rewards and ignoring the lasting repercussions that would come of his decision.  He took what he saw as the best of the land.  He took all of it.  He was short-sighted, as many of us are.  The people of Sodom, who Lot lived or settled by, are known for sinning greatly against the Lord.  Indeed, they were flagrant in their misdeeds.

Abram chose the Lord.  Abram prayed to the Lord.  That relationship was strong.  Kind of like the song that says “You can have the whole world.  Give me Jesus.”

That is the choice before us.  Will we choose as Lot did?  Or will we choose as Abram did?  Let’s choose the Lord Jesus.  Everything else that we need will be given to us abundantly if we choose Jesus.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out