Genesis 13: the parting of the ways
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| Credit: MoneyforCoffee | Pixabay |
Read: Genesis 13
Most of Genesis 13 seems at first a very practical narrative. Abraham and Lot decide to separate for purely practical reasons. We don't know why Lot accompanied Abraham in the first place, but there seems to be nothing to suggest that he was motivated by Abraham's God-given mission. Now, finding that they are stepping on each others toes, they decide to separate.
However, in this separation we see two very different worldviews. In Lot, we see opportunism. Abraham is incredibly generous in giving him first choice over the land - as head of the family it would have been seen as within his right to dictate to Lot where he should go - and Lot '...looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east.' (Genesis 13:10-11). He looked around and chose the best part for himself.
One could argue that Lot was very selfish in choosing the best part for himself, but we would be wrong to assume that we would do anything different. Isn't our natural tendency to carve out for ourselves the best life we can with the resources we have available - be it the best house we can afford or the nicest location, the best education for our children, the best job we can get, or the best food, possessions or experiences we can buy. We may have different priorities to each other - one may focus on having a nicer house, while another choses to spend their money on holidays. One may prioritise a job that pays well, another a job that gives them free time to enjoy their earnings and possessions, even if smaller. For one person, the best they can buy is a modest house, for others it's a mansion - but the motivation is the same: make the best lives for ourselves with what we have.
There was one thing that did not appear to be in Lot's priority, and that was the moral character of the places in which he settled. We learn that Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. (Genesis 13:12-13). This was no Jonah-style mission to call a wicked city to repentance - it seems that Lot was indifferent to sin in favour of the material prospects. Again, we would be foolish to consider ourselves any better. When we look at a great city, more often than not we are tempted to be awed by the structures, the lights and the riches on offer - even to the casual visitor - forgetting that so much is steeped in sin and idolatry. This is not to say that city-dwellers are more idolatrous than their rural counterparts, but that the fabric of cities that can look so impressive is in fact one of the most visible material manifestations of the attitudes of our society as whole: our greed for more stuff that fuels our economy and human pride and self-worship in the monuments we build.
For Abraham, however, the path was a very different one. It was not based on now, but on the future promise. For this is what God said to Abraham after the two men parted:
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