INTRODUCTION:

1. We saw last week that there was a grievous famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt.
2. Abraham was tested, but sadly, Abraham failed this test. Abraham didn't look to God, but looked for help in Egypt.
3. Abraham backslided. In fact, Abraham was so backslidden he lied to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and when Pharaoh discovered Abraham's deceitfulness he rebuked Abraham and told him to go away.
4. In his travels, from Ur of the Chaldees to the promised land, and then down into Egypt and back, Abraham was accompanied by his worldly nephew Lot (11:31; 12:4, 5; 13:1, 5).
5. We see in Scripture a great contrast between Abraham and Lot. Abraham walked by faith, but Lot walked by sight. Abraham was generous and magnanimous; but Lot was greedy and worldly.
6. Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God; but Lot made his home in a city that was built by man and destroyed by God.
7. Abraham was the father of all who believe; but Lot was the father of the Ammonites and the Moabites, hostile enemies of Israel, and the God of Israel; whose name is a perpetual infamy.
8. Romans 4:13 says that Abraham was made "heir of the world," but when the curtain fell upon Lot he was dwelling in a cave with his two immoral daughters (Gen. 19:30). That is his legacy.
9. Lot's home in Sodom was destroyed by fire and brimstone from the LORD out of heaven. And Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt (19:26). (This contrast adapted from A.W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis).

1. ABRAHAM RETURNED TO THE PROMISED LAND
2. ABRAHAM SEPARATED FROM LOT
3. ABRAHAM BUILT ANOTHER ALTAR

I. ABRAHAM RETURNED TO THE PROMISED LAND

1. "And Abram was very rich..." (13:2). Last week we saw the first reference to famine, and to Egypt in the Bible (12:10).
2. This is the first reference to riches in the Bible (13:2). According to the Bible, there is no sin in being wealthy as long as the riches were obtained honestly. Not by stealing or by cheating or by gambling, etc.
3. Our riches are regarded as belonging to God, not to us.
4. The Bible teaches that everything rightly belongs to God. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."
5. The LORD owns the cattle upon a thousand hills, and He owns the hills too! (Psalm 50:10)
6. The LORD told Job, "Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine" (Job 41:11).
7. Therefore, we should look at our wealth with a sense of stewardship, not ownership. Our Lord said in Luke 16:2, "Give an account of thy stewardship." We will all have to give an account some day.
8. Wealth increases the responsibility of a believer. If our money is not spent properly, and our possessions are not used properly, then we are in trouble with the Lord.
9. Our Lord gave many warnings about this (cf. Luke 12:16-31).
10. Notice our Lord gave His parable of the rich fool in response to a dispute between brothers over a family inheritance (Luke 12:13-16).
11. Many family quarrels begin with these kind of disputes (cf. Genesis 13:7). These type of quarrels go back all the way to Abraham's day and probably even further, though this is the first one recorded.
12. According to Scripture, it is not a sin to gain wealth; it is a sin to hoard wealth (cf. Luke 12:16-18).
13. The rich man in our Lord's parable (probably a true story) was wondering what to do with all his goods (12:17).
14. He would not have to wonder if he had taken the time to pray! He wondered what to do but he never asked the Lord about it.
15. Apparently Lot didn't pray about his situation either (Genesis 13:5-11). At least there is no indication he prayed about it.
16. On the other hand, Abraham was a man of prayer. After backsliding in Egypt, Abraham learned his lesson, returned to the promised land, "unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD" (13:3, 4). Abraham got back on track.
17. Abraham returned from Egypt and pitched his tent in Bethel (13:3, 4).
18. By the altars of Abraham we learn that Abraham was a worshipper, and by Abraham's tent we learn that he was a pilgrim.
19. Hebrews 11:9 refers to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob dwelling in tents in promised land.
20. Then Hebrews 11:13 says, they "confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
21. First Peter 2:11 says, "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

II. ABRAHAM SEPARATED FROM LOT

1. Their separation was inevitable. It is referred to three times in this chapter (13:9, 11, 14).
2. We must separate from unsaved people, and sometimes we must even separate from carnal believers, even family members. Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
3. Second Thessalonians 3:6 says, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." "Withdraw" means to separate, to avoid.
4. Abraham and Lot each had great flocks and herds, "And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together" (13:6).
5. "And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle..." (13:7).
6. Verse 7 adds, "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land." This indicates that the heathen around must have seen and overheard this quarrel between Abraham's herdmen and Lot's herdmen. To be seen quarrelling over land was a poor testimony.
7. It is not good when the unsaved see God's people quarrelling.
8. Warren Wiersbe wrote this: "When Christians have disputes, it hurts the testimony of the Lord. In my pastoral ministry, I frequently visited the unsaved relatives and friends of church members, seeking to interest them in spiritual things, only to discover that they knew about every 'church fight' in town" (The Bible Exposition Commentary).
9. In Genesis 13 we see a stark contrast between Abraham the spiritual man, and Lot the carnal man. Being a spiritual man, Abraham graciously took the initiative and offered Lot his choice of the land (13:8, 9).
10. Abraham wanted to be a peacemaker, not a trouble-maker.
11. Here we see that Abraham had truly recovered from his backsliding in Egypt. Although Abraham was older than Lot, and although the land had been promised to him by God, Abraham allowed his nephew Lot the first choice.
12. Second Timothy 2:24 says, "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient."
13. In contrast to his uncle Abraham, Lot was carnal and worldly. John Phillips said, "Lot was weak in his devotions (unlike Abraham, Lot never built an altar), worldly in his desires (it was "like the land of Egypt" -- verse 10), and wrong in his decisions" (Exploring Genesis).
14. Sodom was a good place to raise cattle, but a terrible place to raise children.
15. One hundred years ago, W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "The material blessing was accompanied by moral blight. There are many modern counterparts to Lot's action; even professedly Christian people often choose their home in a locality simply for its scenery, or its society, or its other material advantages without once inquiring what church privileges are there. The souls of their children may starve amid worldliness and polite indifference. The same disastrous choice is often made in connection with public schools, to which boys are sent simply for the position and reputation of the school, regardless of the moral and spiritual atmosphere of the institution. This was the great mistake of Lot's life, from which he ever afterwards suffered" (Genesis).
16. Genesis 13:10 is the first reference to the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Verse 13 is the first reference to the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah.
17. In Genesis 18:20, the LORD said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous," but the LORD does not identify the sin.
18. It is not until we get to Genesis 19 that we see that this wicked sin, this "very grievous" sin, is homosexuality.
19. Lot's backsliding was gradual. First he "lifted up his eyes" toward Sodom (13:10). Then he "pitched his tent toward Sodom" (13:12). In Genesis 14:12 we see Lot was living in Sodom.
20. And in Genesis 19:1 we see that "Lot sat in the gate of Sodom," indicating he was a prominent citizen of Sodom.

III. ABRAHAM BUILT ANOTHER ALTAR (13:18)

1. As Abraham traveled he built altars along the way and he worshipped God (13:18; cf. 13:4; 12:7, 8).
2. There is no mention of Abraham building an altar in Egypt because Abraham was backslidden in Egypt. Backsliders avoid altars, and altar calls, and prayer meetings and revival meetings, etc.
3. This revelation of the divine promises (13;15-17) and purposes was fuller than those that preceded it in Genesis 12:1 and 7.
4. Abraham's seed would be "as the dust of the earth" (13:16).
5. Later on, in Genesis 15:5, the LORD said to Abraham, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to number them...So shall thy seed be."
6. Abraham was to "walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it" (13:17). Abraham was to appropriate and claim it for himself and for his descendants.
7. The Bible teaches that the promises of God are to be appropriated by faith. In Joshua 1:2 and 3, the LORD said to Joshua, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses."
8. After walking through the land, Abraham removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD (13:18).

CONCLUSION:

1. Genesis 13 ends with Abraham packing up his tent and building another altar for the LORD.
2. Abraham lived 4,000 years ago -- before most of the Bible was written.
3. Abraham may not have known all of the theology that we now know, but Abraham knew that he was not to come to God except through the sacrifice that was offered up on the altar.
4. And it was there that he called on the name of the LORD (13:18; cf. 13:4; 12:8).
5. These altars all pointed toward the cross.
6. The altar represents sacrifice and atonement and reconciliation.
7. If you are not saved, then come to the altar and call upon the Lord. The Bible says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
8. Or maybe you are saved, but like Abraham you have blundered. You have gone down into Egypt and got away from the Lord.
9. The altar also represents repentance.