Genesis 13: When You Need Personal Space

Journey through the Book of Genesis with me.  The plan is simple. Read ONE chapter a day. Blog or journal 5* things you learned that you previously didn't know and ask 5* questions about the chapter that you'll ponder all week. Let's go!

** You'll probably learn way more than 5 things and have more than 5 questions about each chapter. That's totally fine. The more the merrier! 

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Genesis 13:1-18

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Question 1: What was going on in Abram’s heart? Might it have to do why God keeps reiterating His covenant promise to him?

Question 2: What did Abram’s worship and prayer look like when he built altars and called upon the name of the Lord?

Question 3: Why does Lot keep coming across like a spoiled brat?  It seems appropriate that he should have humbled himself before his uncle and allowed his uncle to have the “better” piece of land [v.10 – “…the Jordan Valley [that] was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt”

Question 4: Is the narrator telling us that Lot is making a bad decision by moving away from his uncle and settling “…as far as Sodom” when it says in verse 13, “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.”

Question 5: Was Abam’s offer to Lot an act of faith? As in, he knew that ALL the land was going to be his, hence it didn’t matter where Lot picked, he (Abram) was going to inherit it all anyway?

Question 6: Why does God make Abram physically walk through “the length and the breadth of the land” God was going to give Him? Is there a correlating lesson here about how we can “step into” and receive God’s promise today?

WHAT I LEARNED

Insight 1: When verse 2 says, “[Abram]… journeyed from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai”, it’s basically saying he’s back to square one, where he should have remained in the first place.

Insight 2: By going down to Egypt, Abram tried to fend for himself, but realized he was most secure at “the place where he had made an altar [to the Lord] at the first”. Sometimes, our plans need to crash and burn for us to trust and surrender fully to God!

Insight 3: The promise of blessing in Genesis 12:2-3 is coming to pass pretty quickly because immediately after the awful experience in Egypt, verse 2 highlights his increasing wealth, “Now Abram was extremely rich in livestock and in silver and in gold.” In Egypt, “he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.” (Genesis 12:16).

Insight 4: By verse 4, it is becoming a habit for Abram to “call upon the name of the Lord.” The first time was in Genesis 12:8. Abram is learning to trust and rely on God as a friend [which is convenient because scripture later would later refer to him as “a friend of God.”] James 2:23

Insight 5: Lot’s physical and relational proximity to his uncle has resulted in him also increasing in wealth (v.5 – “flocks and herds and tents), a fulfillment of the promise of blessing in Genesis 12:2-3; so much so that verse 6 says their possessions (Abram’s and Lot’s) were so great that they had to separate so the land would hold it. Lot, however, does not appear to realize his blessing FLOWS from his closeness to Abram [he’ll realize this truth very soon in the following chapters].

Insight 5a: In spite of his increasing wealth, however, there’s still that bothersome reminder in verse 7 that the land still wasn’t his because “at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land”, and Abram STILL does not have a son. This will require a growing trust and friendship with the Lord. It may be for this reason that the Lord reiterates to him in verse 14-17 in even greater detail the promise, except this time, God actually has Abram participate in its fulfillment by making him do a thorough reconnaissance of the land (v.17 – “Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you [and your descendants]”).

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