Lot’s Departure
Lot’s Departure
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Retracing His Steps
Abram was very wealthy and had livestock, silver, and gold. He continued his journey, gradually moving from the Negev to Bethel, until he arrived at the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before. At the altar he had previously built there, Abram called on Yahweh’s name.
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When Abram first entered Canaan, he traveled through the country from north to south.1 Upon his return from Egypt, he retraced his steps from the southern Negev north to Bethel and Ai in the central hill country. He returned to the second of the two altars he had previously built.
In Egypt, Abram acted out of fear instead of faith, but God saved him in spite of his foolishness.2 His return to the altar at Bethel represented a return to Yahweh and his promise. Abram recognized how Yahweh protected him. He would live within the promised land for the rest of his life.
At the altar, Abram called out to Yahweh, invoking his name just as he had before. God would answer Abram’s call and reaffirm the promise but only after another crisis that would endanger it yet again.
Internal Conflict
Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and people. They had so many animals the land couldn’t support them living together, and a conflict arose between the servants who tended Abram’s animals and the servants who tended Lot’s animals. There were also Canaanites and Perizzites living there at that time.
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Soon after Abram returned to Bethel, it became clear that the unintended consequences of the debacle in Egypt had followed him back to Canaan.3 Both he and his nephew, Lot, had grown rich and owned many animals that needed grazing land. These animals would become a source of conflict within Abram’s own household.
The famine that drove Abram to Egypt may have still affected Canaan when he returned. Certainly the native Canaanites and Perizzites would have owned the best land in the area. What land was left for foreign travelers to use was not adequate for the enlarged herds belonging to Abram and Lot. The situation deteriorated into infighting between their servants over grazing rights.
Watching his family fall apart, Abram had no choice but to separate from his adopted heir. It was time for Lot to leave.
Separation
So Abram said to Lot, “There shouldn’t be any conflict between us or between our servants. We’re family! Isn’t the whole land in front of you? You should separate yourself from me. If you choose to go left, I’ll go right. If you choose to go right, I’ll go left.”
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Abram’s response to the conflict is the epitome of generosity. As Lot’s uncle, the head of the household, and the recipient of God’s promise, he had every right to take the best part of the land for himself. Instead, he showed his affection for his nephew by voluntarily giving the choice to him. Whichever way Lot chose, Abram would go the other way.
Abram prioritized peace within the family over any claim on the land. Simply allowing his presumed heir to leave endangered the promise. This would only get worse if Lot chose part of the promised land. But none of that proved a problem for Yahweh. He could keep his promise regardless of Lot’s choice.
The Jordan Valley
So Lot looked around and saw the entire Jordan Valley was well watered all the way to Zoar. Before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was like the garden of Yahweh and like the land of Egypt. Then Lot chose for himself the entire Jordan Valley and traveled east. In this way, they separated from each other. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived among the cities of the valley and camped near Sodom. But the people of Sodom were evil and committed horrible sins against Yahweh.
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Like Eve in the garden, Lot made his choice without considering God’s will.4 He judged the situation with his eyes, choosing what looked like the best option in his own opinion. High up in the hills around Bethel, he could see down into the valley around the Jordan River.5 The valley was watered by the river and did not depend as heavily on rainfall as the hill country did. In this way, it resembled the garden that Yahweh planted in Eden (watered by an unnamed river) and Egypt (watered by the flooding of the Nile).6
Lot chose this fertile valley and moved east, the direction of separation from Yahweh.7 He renounced his status as Abram’s heir and camped near Sodom and Gomorrah on the border of Canaan.8 The people of that area were known for their extremely wicked behavior, but Lot chose to live among them for financial gain. This foolish decision would cost him everything he owned.
The Promise Renewed
After Lot departed, Yahweh said to Abram, “I would like you to look around from where you are. Look to the north, south, east, and west because I’ll give all the land you see to you and your offspring forever. I’ll make your offspring as numerous as the dust on the earth. Just as no one can count the dust, no one will be able to count your offspring. Go walk around through the length and breadth of the land because I give it to you.”
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Lot’s departure left Abram without an heir once more.9 Yahweh had not spoken since before Abram went to Egypt, leaving open the question of whether the disastrous events since then had cost him the promise. This low point in his life provided the occasion for Yahweh to speak again.
Yahweh told Abram to look around at all the land around him, just as Lot had. But Abram did not base any decision on what he saw. Instead, Yahweh promised that he and his offspring would own all of it. Not only that, but he also expanded the promise of offspring to include an uncountable multitude “as numerous as the dust on the earth.” For a childless man around the age of 80, this was quite the promise. Yet where Lot chose, Abram believed.
Finally, Yahweh sent Abram to walk through the entire land. In this way, Abram claimed it as his own.10
Hebron
Then Abram moved his camp and went to live near the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to Yahweh.
Image by Richard Wong from Creation Swap
After traversing the land of Canaan, Abram did not return to Bethel but instead settled further south in Hebron. He camped near a grove of oak trees that belonged to Mamre the Amorite, who became his friend and ally.11 While Lot had moved to the outskirts of Canaan, Abram lived right in the heart of it, and he would remain in Hebron for over fifteen years, until shortly before Isaac’s birth.12
At Hebron, Abram once again built an altar to Yahweh. As walking through the land represented him claiming it for himself, building altars represented him claiming it for Yahweh.13
- See South.
- See Abram’s Lie; Yahweh’s Intervention.
- See Riches and Regret.
- See Sin.
- Walton, “Genesis,” 75.
- Genesis 2:10; see Refuge from Famine.
- Genesis 3:24, 11:2, 13:11, 25:6, Judges 6:3, Isaiah 2:6, Jeremiah 49:28, Jonah 4:5; see Cain’s Sign.
- Genesis 10:19.
- See Barren.
- Neeley, Translator’s Notes, Gen. 13:17a; Reyburn and Fry, Handbook on Genesis, 304.
- Genesis 14:13.
- Compare Genesis 18:1 and 20:1.
- See The Promised Land.