#03 Lot and Abraham

[AI translation] The first part of this story was covered two weeks ago today. We saw then how a man who has strayed in faith returns to the place where he has lost his relationship with the Lord. We saw how Abraham's life was now always centred around the altar, his life became a life centred around the altar. And now the story goes on to say that even in such a life, such a life of obedience to God, there are always new disturbances, complications, tests of faith - so his life is still not without its struggles, there are still temptations, obstacles to overcome. Well, now she has to deal with her only relative, her nephew Lot. It is also typical that while they were both poor, they were few, they got along splendidly, they had nothing against each other. But now that they are getting richer and richer, their livestock and servants have become more and more numerous, there is not enough land for the two of them. A rivalry arose between them, and the result was that they had to separate. And so it is: there is nothing in the world that can separate good friends, relatives, groups of people, nations, from each other as much as when their material interests clash.But let us not talk about that now, but about the fact that we have just discovered how great the difference is between these two people. Abraham and Lot, together they set out from Haran, together they arrived in the Promised Land, together they fled to Egypt, together they returned from Egypt, together they suffered, together they rejoiced, together God blessed them, together they were strangers in a strange land and together they were enriched - and now, in the course of the contest over the pasture, it is revealed how different from head to foot one man is from one to the other. These two men are only related by blood, spiritually they are complete strangers. They are not strangers in the sense that one is a believer and the other an unbeliever, but within the category of so-called believers the two men are different from each other. From the point of view of faith, from the point of view of belonging to God, these two people are two quite different types. Which are these two types? This is what we will now try to examine more closely.
1) Let us start with Lot. Who was this man? So far, very little is said about him in Scripture. But what little there is is very typical. Twice, almost the same phrase is used concerning Lot: "And Abram went out as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went out with him." (Gen 12:4a), and "And Abram came up out of Egypt, and his wife, and Lot with him" (Gen 13:1). Abraham decides, and Lot complies. Abraham is in relationship with God, and Lot is in relationship with Abraham. He goes with Abraham, he walks with Abraham, he follows Abraham. Not the divine revelation, like Abraham, because that is not for him. He does not build an altar, he does not call on the name of the Lord, he does nothing directly in conformity to God, but he depends in everything on another believer, Abraham. He is not a man of independent faith, relying on the faith of others, feeding on the Word for others, relating to the prayers of others. He reads the Word in vain, but understands nothing of it unless someone else explains it to him. He does not receive instruction from God, he has no individual vision, but only joins with others. He is not there among the people of God by personal faith decision, but simply walks with them, mingles with them, is caught up in them. In fact, he is not following Christ, but only imitating believers. He has learnt their language and their customs, he behaves as if he were one of them, perhaps he does not even know himself, nor do others, that he is only pretending to be a believer, that he is only playing the part of a pious life which he has learnt and is pretending to live.
This is especially the case in times of revival, when the Spirit of God initiates a revival movement - as in our country recently, when many converts and many renewed in their relationship with God - and in such cases, the movement is always joined by people who have never been personally part of the force that created it. Even today, in the church, in the churches, around the Lord's Table, there are people like Lot, whose whole spiritual conduct is characterised by this statement: '...and Lot went out with him.' For such a Lot, leaving his ancestral homeland, wandering to the Promised Land, settling there, and thus turning to God, is not a faith decision, as it was for Abraham, but merely an adventure, an interest, something different, new, exotic. A man like Lot does not go to the land of Canaan to fight the beautiful battle of faith, but to try his fortune, and when he has made himself well on this journey, when he has had the blessings of God's grace in good abundance, so much so that he has "sheep, oxen, and tents," he has no more need of Abraham. Now he is doing well, he needs no help from believers. At such a time Lot is separated from Abraham, such a one who goes along with him is separated from the believers, the people of God, and returns to the world.
It is characteristic of Lot's whole spirituality how he responds to Abraham's offer. Abraham offers him to decide where he wants to go, and then we read, "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the whole Jordan was a land of plenty: for before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was as the garden of the Lord, even as the garden of Egypt, even unto Zoar. And Lot chose for himself the whole side of Jordan, and Lot went eastward, and they were separated. And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Jordan, and pitched his tent as far as Sodom." (Genesis 13:10-12) So he returned to the world. He went out with Abraham, he walked with him for a long time, and then there was an incident, a small, insignificant incident, a shepherds' feud, which could have been settled more simply, without spiritual harm, but which was a good excuse for Lot to turn from the path of faith, to go back to the world from which the Lord had called him. Now it was revealed what had been in his heart all along: the world. Now it was revealed that his whole attitude up to that point had been a sham, that he was not a true Christ-follower, just a follower of believers.
What always happens to such people who run together is that sooner or later they fall behind, they drop out of the group of believers, they can't go on, they fall back! No big event, no big obstacle, just an excuse. All it takes is to get angry at your priest or church, or to get into a fight with a so-called believer and stumble: is that what believers are like? I don't want it! Or he is offended by the behaviour of the official leaders of the church, whatever it may be, because he is actually just looking for an excuse, an opportunity to decide according to the world he has always had in his heart but has not yet made clear, and to turn away from the path of faith, which has always been alien to him. Such a phenomenon is common among so-called believers, especially after a period of revival, as is the case with us now, many people relapse, break away from the faith, return to the world. Do you know such people, are you not one yourself? There are many promising starts and few finishes. The conversion of such people was not a real conversion, just a mood, a wave of emotion. There was no conversion, just a change of heart, or, very often, a feeling of dismay. In his fright he tried to cling to the hand of God, but he did not reach the cross, the blood that wipes away sin, the grace that forgives sin. So he didn't fall back, but in fact he didn't even recover, and through some event - like the shepherds' contest in this story - he just found out what was in his heart.
God is always sifting his people, shaking the sieve, and sure enough, as a result of the shaking, the Lotteries will sooner or later fall out! But it is also so good to know that even if Lot returns to the world, God will not forget him, he will go after him, he will seek him, he will not give up on him! But that is already a lot of suffering. We will see about that later, in a few weeks on a Sunday. Let the example of Lot now lead us to introspection: are we truly the Lord's, by virtue of our acceptance of His calling, His saving grace, or have we just come all this way with the Abrahamites, the walkers in faith. Don't wait for events to find out, decide for yourself! Lot too is free to choose the way of faith!
2) Now let's look at Abraham, how does he behave in this contest? It is typical that the same events that cause the Lots to fall through the cracks, the same events cause the Abrahams, the true believers, to go even further in experiencing grace, to advance on the path of faith. That is what happened here. Abraham needed to be separated from Lot. Remember, the first call was to Abraham: "Come out of your land, and out of your kindred, and out of your father's house, into the land which I will show you." (Gen 12:1) The "kindred" from which he was to go out included Lot. Lot went with him. So Abraham did not originally carry out God's command in full, but only halfway: he went out of his land, his father's house, and other relatives, but he took Lot with him. And when a man only half-performs what God has said, conflicts arise in his life, with which God warns him of his failure. Abraham understood the divine warning in these events that he too must separate from Lot, because God had given him a very special upbringing, and therefore he must break all ties that would hinder his progress in the way of faith.
"Come out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, unto the land which I will show thee." (Genesis 12:1) Come out, tear yourself away. In the journey of faith, every person comes to a point where old ties must be broken, ties that have bound him to people, friends, objects, pastimes, lifestyles. The Word of God reveals things in the life of the believer, bonds, thoughts, desires, human relationships, which turn out to be obstacles to progress in the journey of faith, to hinder progress - and so the believer must sometimes, at God's command, break out of this situation, this restraining environment, as Abraham did from his land and his kin.
But a great many people then do what Abraham did, who cut off a lot of the ties that bound him to his old life, but not all of them: he kept one, his relationship with Lot. And now God is letting him know, through the rivalry of the shepherds, that the time has come to sever this relationship too, to cut it off, to break away from it too, because it is an obstacle. It is at this point that many believers tend to stop: they do not dare to carry out such a painful operation, they do not dare to break their bonds, they do not dare to cut the ties that still attach their mind, their heart, a part of their life to their old life, to their life before their conversion, or to the world. But "a little leaven can leaven the whole lump! Purge away therefore the old leaven, that you may become new dough." (1 Cor 5:6-7) So it is with the whole church. God warns the church, through persons, to dare to break in faith the ties that bind it to its old structures, its familiar framework, its centuries-old institutions. It is an action of God in his Church, like pruning back an old vine, so that new shoots may bear more fruit.
"Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land that you see I will give to you, and to your seed forever." (Genesis 13:14-15) So Abraham was not wrong, because after the break with Lot, God led him into the possession of all that He had promised him. He now owns the Promised Land completely, totally. Now God can give it all to him. So no one should feel sorry for themselves or the church when God cuts deeper and deeper into it with His Word or even with events. Let no one regret the bonds which he has had to cut by obedience of faith, for greater, more is what he receives from God in recompense. He who has his hands or his heart too full, who is in great distress, who is desperate to keep back for himself something of what God has already granted him: he prevents God from pouring out his true blessings upon him. That is why Jesus says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Mt 5,8) Pure in heart, literally: empty in heart. That is, those who have emptied their hearts so that the Lord God Himself may fill them with all of Himself, with His Holy Spirit.
Are you willing to empty your heart for the Lord Jesus - because that is the way of Abraham! It is on this path that he has now taken a step forward, and I wish we could continue on it, further and further, to fulfilment with the Lord. This is the way of every believer. The way of Lot takes us back to the world. The other way is the way that leads from victory to victory, from glory to glory. As the Scripture says, this way is "like the light of the dawn, which grows brighter and brighter as it goes on, until the full noon." (Pro 4:18)
Whoever wants to walk in the way of Abraham, let him pray very often, as this beautiful hymn teaches us:
Give me liberty and a pure heart,
Draw me, Jesus, to walk with thee.
Lead me in your way: be yourself the way,
By which my soul from death to life.
(Canto 469, verses 3-4)
Amen
Date: 17 August 1952.