Read Genesis 13:1-18. What does this story teach us about the importance of character?
Abram returns to where he was before, as if his trip to Egypt were a mere unfortunate detour. God’s history with Abram starts again, where it had stopped since his first trip to the Promised Land. Abram’s first station is Bethel (Genesis 13:3), just as in his first trip to the land (Genesis 12:3-6). Abram has repented and is back to “himself”: Abram, the man of faith.
Image © Suzana Tomovska from GoodSalt.com
Abram’s reconnection with God shows already in his relationship with people, in the way that he handles the problem with Lot, his nephew, concerning the use of the land. However, it is Abram himself who proposes a peaceful agreement and allows Lot to choose first (Genesis 13:9-10), an act of generosity and kindness, indicative of the kind of man Abram was.
The fact that Lot chose the easiest and best part for himself, the well-watered plain (Genesis 13:10-11), without any concern about the wickedness of his future neighbors (Genesis 13:13) reveals something about his greediness and character. The phrase “for himself” reminds us of the antediluvians, who also chose “for themselves” (see Genesis 6:2).
In contrast, Abram’s move was an act of faith. Abram did not choose the land; it was given to him by God’s grace. Unlike Lot, Abram looked at the land only at God’s injunction (Genesis 13:14-15). It is only when Abram separates from Lot that God speaks to him again (). In fact, this is the first recorded time in the Bible that God speaks to Abram since his call at Ur. “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Genesis 13:14-15, , NKJV). God, then, invites Abram to “walk” on this land as an act of appropriation. “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you” (Genesis 13:17, NKJV).
The Lord, though, makes it very clear that He, God, is giving it to Abram. It is a gift, a gift of grace, which Abram must appropriate by faith, a faith that leads to obedience. It is the work of God alone that will bring about all that He has promised to Abram here (see Genesis 13:14-17).
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