Genesis 13:5-18

Intro: What road are you walking? A road leading to life and glory, or a road leading to death and
destruction? Jesus famously said “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is
easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the
way is hard that leads to life, and those who nd it are few.”1 Take note, Jesus speaks not only of
a gate but also a way. We become disciples of Jesus and enter the narrow gate, but then we live
as disciples, follow Jesus, walking the road which leads to life. There are many ‘ways of life’ which
lead to destruction2 but there is only one ‘way’ which leads to life. Which gate have you entered?
Which road are you walking? Today we will see these two ways in the life of Abraham and his
nephew Lot. Let’s open our Bibles to Genesis 13.

5-9 Strife and an o er of grace

Summary: Abram and Lot both had lots of possessions. The land couldn’t support both and there
was strife between their herdsmen. Abram o ers Lot to seperate from him giving him the choice
which direction he will go.
A. support …strife
A. The land could not support them both living side by side. The herdsmen were most likely
arguing about water and vegetation for the animals.
B. What leads to arguments and ghting among family members. The story makes mention of
the greatness of their possessions. Many commentators have noticed that it was their
riches and number of possessions which led to the problems. Having less possessions
may help us live in peace with others. At the same time the book of James will point to our
heart as the reason for strife and trouble with others.
A. James 4:1-3, What causes quarrels and what causes ghts among you? Is it not this,
that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder.
You covet and cannot obtain, so you ght and quarrel. You do not have, because you
do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on
your passions.
B. Strife happens normally when two brothers can’t share. My kids do this all the time.
There is only one toy and two of them or sometimes all want to play with it. The answer
isn’t simply to ask ‘who had the toy rst’ because there are two problems. One wants
to take what the other has while the other doesn’t want to share. How do you respond
without a rming both sins? This is the job of parenting.
C. Abram responds graciously. He doesn’t try to protect what he has but o ers to share the
whole land with Lot. If Lot travels left Abram will travel right. Abram is splitting his
inheritance with Lot.
A. One commetator notices that in Israelite thinking you face East when you are working
out a direction. To go left means to go North, that is, back to the place God appeared
to Abram when they arrived in Canaan. To go right means to go South, that is, the land
they just passed through when they left Egypt.3 So Abraham is letting Lot choose
which part of the land he will take.
B. This is the kind of generosity that brings peace. Abraham is willing to share and even
let Lot choose rst. Paul was saddened to hear of the ghting between Christian
brothers in the church in Corinth. He writes to them saying ‘To have lawsuits at all with
one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather su er wrong? Why not rather
be defrauded?’4 Paul is saying what Jesus said. ‘And if anyone would sue you and
take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one
mile, go with him two miles.5’ We are called to be generous in this way. To do good and
su er wrong. This is a high bar, but it is what Jesus did for us. He su ered wrong for
our good and salvation. This is the high bar of love which brings peace to brothers. For

1 Matt 7:13-14
2 See Romans 1:21-32, 1 Corinthian 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3-7.
3 John Goldingay, For Everyone Commentary on Genesis, notes on chapter 13.
4 1 Corinthians 6:7
5 Matthew 5:40-41
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 us it is part of following Jesus, the ‘way/road’ which leads to life. What will Lot do with
this gracious o er?

10-13 The journey East

Summary: Lot chose the Jordan Valley and journeyed East. He moved his tent as far as Sodom.
There are many things in these verses that help us understand Lot made a bad decision.
A. First, Lot travelled East.
A. Remember after Cain killed Abel he travelled East away from the land of Eden. Remember
that after the ood people travelled East and built the tower of Babel.6 Now Lot travels
East away from Abram and the land of Canaan.
B. He travels to the cities of the Valley.7 Abram said left or right, North or South, but Lot
chooses the East. The cities of the Valley were not part of the land of Canaan. He is
leaving the land of promise. Why?
B. Lot lifts up his eyes and saw a land more beautiful.
A. The language brings to memory the sin of the woman in Genesis 3. She ‘saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes.’8
B. The Jordan Valley looked to Lot like the garden of Eden. It was owing with water. I’m sure
it was beautiful. I love looking out at the Tama river owing through Ome. Lot sees it, he
likes it, and he chooses it.
C. What’s the problem? He is choosing something God has not given. This is always the way
temptation works. We want something that God seems to be withholding from us. Chasing
after it we stop coming to gather with God’s people. After awhile we nd ourselves in a
place we never thought we would be in.
D. For many young Christians it is a desire for relationships outside of God’s people that take
them away. Desiring to t in with them, to become one of them, to have what they have …
etc. Where will this road lead? It leads many away from the church.
E. But remember Abram was o ering Lot part of the land of Canaan, the land of promise.
Nothing was being withheld. Lot was not being kicked out. But Lot impressed by the
beauty of the land next door leaves and moves further and further away. Where does it
lead? He moves closer and closer to Sodom.
C. Sodom’s reputation.
A. The text says ‘the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD’. The text
is emphasising their wickedness. They were not sinners like everyone else, they were on
another level. This is the type that causes pain for others. ‘Against the Lord’ stresses that
they were doing things not only against other people but against God’s laws of heaven.9
B. In vs10 when Lot sees the beauty of the Jordan Valley it also mentions ‘this was before the
LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah’. Later in Genesis God destroys these people and
their cities with re from heaven.
C. Lot has chosen the city of destruction. It looks good to him. He leaves the land of promise,
and moves there as far as Sodom. He is on a road leading to destruction.
A. Ephesians 5:3-7 says “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not
even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no lthiness nor
foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be

6 Genesis 4:16, 11:2

7IVP Background Commentary 13:12. the boundaries of Canaan. The eastern boundary of
Canaan is everywhere identi ed as the Jordan River (see especially Num 34:1–12 and the
comments on it). Thus it becomes clear that by moving to the vicinity of the cities of the plain Lot
has gone outside the land of Canaan, leaving it entirely to Abram.
8 Genesis 3:6
9 NET Bible Translation notes - Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly." The
description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form
a hendiadys: "wicked and sinners" means "wicked sinners," the rst word becoming adjectival.
The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause
pain for others. Then to this phrase is added "against the Lord," stressing their violation of the
laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added ‫( מְאֹד‬mé'od, "exceedingly," translated
here as “extremely").
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 thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or
impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things
the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become
partners with them.”
B. Lot you have left the inheritance God and Abram have o ered. Moving futhur away Lot
you have pitched your tent in Sodom, you are partnering yourself with those living
against the LORD. Lot this is not good! Will you be partners with them in their
judgment as well? Will you turn back while there is time?
D. What road are you on today?
A. Jesus said ‘The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, but the gate is
narrow and the way hard that leads to life.’ Later Jesus will say ‘I am the way the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’.10
B. The wide gate and the easy way is the way outside of Jesus Christ. We are all born on it. It
is the default direction of the world outside of Jesus Christ. There is only one gate, one
way, that leads to life and that is Jesus Christ. It is a road which he opened through his
death and resurrection. The road which leads to life even in death.
C. Not all roads lead to God the Father. In this sense Christianity is an exclusive religion. Is
that a mean or hateful thing to say? No. It is just a road sign. The sign says ‘this is the
way’. ‘Take the next exit’. ‘Enter the Kirusto Kaido’. ‘Follow it until the end of the road’. We
are all called to leave our old way of life to follow the way of Christ. In this sense
Christianity is an inclusive religion. The call of repentance and invitation to come is for all.
D. When I was in Okinawa I had a conversation with a man on the street about Jesus Christ.
I’ll never forget this conversation. We spoke about sin, judgment, and forgiveness in Jesus
Christ. He asked me what he had to do. I said ‘repent of your sin and follow Christ’. He
stood there for a minute silently. Then he shook his head and said ‘no’. He walked away.
He thought about it and made a choice. I pray though that later he reconsidered.
E. Have you been saying no? Have you heard the call? Would you reconsider today? Will you
follow Christ and his way? The way of eternal life? The end of this road is greater than any
way of life this world has to o er. Let’s look at vs14-18.

14-18 The land of promise

Summary: The Lord speaks to Abram after Lot separates. He promises to give Abram all the land
he can see and make his children innumerable. Abram moves to Hebron and builds an alter to the
LORD.
A. All the land that you see… o spring as the dust of the earth.
A. God’s promise to Abram is greater than he could imagine. His brother’s son has left him
but God promises to give him more sons; so many that they cannot be counted.
B. Lot chose the garden of eden infront of him but God will give Abram all the land, north,
south, east, and west.
C. Remember at this time Abram had no sons and he lived in the land as a foreigner. All that
he has to hold on to is God’s promise. He believes it! He travels to Hebron and builds an
altar their.
D. Hebrews 11:9-10 says ‘9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign
land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he
was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.’
B. God keeps his promises.
A. A couple of hundred years later Abram’s descendents have become a great nation. They
enter the land with Joshua leading them and the land of Canaan becomes the land of
Israel. In Hebron where Abram built an alter after hearing God’s promise, David will be
annointed king to rule the land.
B. But yet this promise of land and descendents goes beyond Israel.
A. Abram’s descendents include us who now believe like he did in God’s promise.11
Through Jesus, Abram’s descendents ll all nations.
B. Abram was looking for the city whose designer and builder is God. This is the New
Jerusalem. This is where the way of life is leading us all.

10 John 14:6
11 See Galatians 3:7 and also Romans 9:8 compared with Galatians 4:28.
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 A. Revelation 21:1-4 “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the rst heaven
and the rst earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they
will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be
mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””
B. This is a destination that you don’t want to miss out on. This is a desintation that is
worth taking the next exit and changing the road you are driving on.

We began the sermon asking ‘What road are you walking? A road leading to life and glory, or a
road leading to death and destruction?’ Abraham made a generous o er to Lot, to share his
inheritance. We saw Lot choose what looked good to him. He left that land of promise and dwelt
among those headed for destruction. Abram believed God’s promise and lived looking forward to
what was coming in the future.
A. Why does this matter?
A. If you are not a Christian, today a gracious o er is being made to you. Jesus Christ will
share his inheritance with you. The gift of eternal life, the heavenly city of God. Like Abram,
it is coming to you as a promise. You may believe it, take it as your own, and walk with
patience the way of Christ.
B. If you are a Christian, remember the way of Christ is a way of life. Is your way of life taking
you away from God, from church, from His people? Perhaps you need to take an exit.
Otherwise you might nd yourself further and further away, in a place you never thought
you would go.
C. Finally if we truly believe this then we don’t need to ght and argue. We have everything
we need. We can be peacemakers sharing the inheritance of Christ.
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