Genesis 11, 12, 13: Abram’s Story – A New Beginning
So after attending a church in Bellingham this weekend [I wrote this quite a while ago], and hearing a sermon on the life of Abraham, such a pivotal figure in the history of world, I thought I might go a bit in this direction for my next bit of writing. I had a couple of thoughts I had written as reflections on the Sermon on the Mount, but they weren’t that good, so I’m not going to post them. I guess I should stay closer to the text itself.
We’re now going to dive into a much different form than the Sermon – that of the narrative. While Jesus uses a number of parables and metaphors and delicious hyperbole to punctuate his great pronouncements on morality and anxiety and love, the narrative doesn’t necessarily have a clear application. It isn’t written for the sake of a lesson on morality. Certainly this can be derived from sufficient analysis, but that is not the main point of the section, and to try to reduce it to a law or rule of thumb would miss the entire point of having a narrative.
A narrative is about the characters involved, and this particular narrative is about God. Well, actually the entire narrative of Genesis is about God – well, the Bible actually, as far as it is a narrative, but I digress. When we’re reading such narratives, we should be asking “what does this teach us about the characters?”, “why was this written down at all?” (in other words, why would this matter to the original audience), or a more basic question: “who are the characters?” “Why are these characters compelling?” is a great question, but prone to error, unless we first understand the others. But jumping directly to how this applies to our own conduct is exactly that – a far leap, with a large gap in between to fall into.
Here we begin in the book of Genesis, chapter 11:
“When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. [Genesis 11:26-32]
So we’re introduced to some of the major players here – Abram (who would be later called Abraham), Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew. We don’t know too much about their roots, except that they come from Ur in Chaldea, where one of the principle seats of the Sumerian moon god Sin was. The story would indicate that Terah and his descendants here were all followers of that moon god, as he was the principle god of that area. In that time, gods were thought to rule over geographical areas, with greater gods having further influence. So in Egypt, there were many gods, but Ra, the god of the sun, would have held a similar place as Sin, the moon god.
Now they left Ur in the South (modern-day Iraq) and came to Haran in the North (near the Southern border of modern-day Turkey) on the way to Canaan (modern-day Israel), which is actually more West of Ur than North. A couple of questions naturally arise. Why were they heading out to Canaan in the first place? And why did they go North instead of going West? For the first question, we really don’t have a good explanation, but we can make some justifiable guesses. One guess will have to wait for a little bit later. But for the other…
Ur was quite a city in their day. They probably weren’t rich, or they wouldn’t have had much of a reason to set out into the countryside (Canaan was significantly more wild). If they were looking for fortune through land, it would have been because they were looking for farmland or pasture for flocks. Now the best choice for farmland would probably have been close to the river and not too far from the city, so that they could both have a constant water supply for their crops, and be able to sell their goods to the local populace. If they were going afar into more open country, they were probably looking at flocks and herds, as they would not have to continually sell off their goods, but could continue to amass wealth through breeding and roaming across the countryside; additionally, they could more easily sell their livestock in large quantities to traders for more durable goods, such as silver or gold. So let’s go with that. There wasn’t many other jobs that would pay out in the country – you certainly couldn’t telecommute.
But why were they going North? Ur is on the Persian Gulf, seated on the banks of the river Euphrates, and Haran is located in a fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. If you’re traveling with flocks, then you’re going to want a good water supply, either through a river, or through springs and rainfall. Flocks can eat as you go, but they’ll die quickly without water, to say nothing of the servants and family with them (at least animals can do pretty well eating grass with dew). Much better than a land route through the desert, which probably had few roads through. Canaan actually held a pretty good locational advantage for trade, as people going to Mesopotamia from Egypt (and vice versa) would of necessity travel through there instead of through the Arabian desert, unless you were traveling by water. So you travel along the river until you get to Haran, and then you turn South across the coast of the Mediterranean, which got higher rainfall and had better springs and rivers than the desert.
But Terah didn’t quite make it Canaan. It isn’t clear why. Maybe he found a profitable business venture there. Tired of being a vagabond? Was scared of going forward? Of note is that Haran was the second seat of the moon god Sin (the other being Ur). He was considered a powerful god, ruling over this vast area, but they had come to the limit of that realm. Moving on would not only mean venturing into a new land, it would mean meeting new gods, new languages and cultures, and maybe was just a bit much. So Terah and Abram and Sarai and Lot were in Haran, feeding their flocks and worshipping their god Sin.
There was a problem, though. A big problem – Sarai, Abram’s wife, was barren. In the ancient near-East, this was considered one of the greatest curses to have. And this means that Abram would not have his own son as an heir – a curse to him. Lot may have been traveling along as a possible inheritor of Abram’s possessions.
Then the story continues:
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:1-3]
The LORD enters into the story of Abram. This must have been quite an event for him. He had probably only interacted with stone statues of Sin, or perhaps more directly worshipped with the moon was full. The LORD doesn’t even given Abram a name – He just gives him a promise. But when he asks Abram to leave his home country and his father’s house, he is setting himself apart from Sin – the god of his country and his father’s house. the LORD was a God powerful enough to enter into the domain of Sin, and give visions. So perhaps He was powerful enough to be god of “the land” he promises to show Abram, and even to fulfill His promise.
Sidenote on “LORD”: It is fully capitalized to indicate that the Hebrew says YHWH, which is the name the Hebrews used for God. The Jews were fearful of pronouncing the name of God incorrectly, so would pronounce “Lord” instead. But the writing itself is YHWH, which is spoken by trendy preachers as “Yahweh”, though we don’t actually know the vowels used (as the vowels written were those from the Hebrew for lord – “adonai”)
On the surface, this seems like a pretty good deal. If the LORD can do this, then this is really good news! His name will become great, while he is now a nobody, and he will have a son – in fact, numerous descendants. In addition, he would be protected by the blesses and curses of this god. And if it so happens that everyone else benefits, then so be it. That would be awesome, too. But will the LORD really come through? And where is this land that he will show? And who is He, really? Let’s continue:
“So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.” [Genesis 12:4-9]
Now while according to a modern reading, we would interpret Terah dying in Haran as happening before Abram received the visitation, this happened while Terah was still alive. If Terah was dead, then Abram would have inherited his father’s house, being the firstborn, and the statement to “leave your father’s house” wouldn’t have made much sense. It is simply the way that genealogies were presented then – it wraps up the children and final age of Terah
as parenthetical aside from the story. Terah died around when Abram was 135, but Abram was only 75.
It’s interesting that Abram set off to the land of Canaan, as that was were his father Terah had started going toward, before settling in Haran. Had the LORD revealed himself to Terah, but Terah had failed to leave? The text doesn’t say. But neither does the LORD tell Abram where to go. He tells him to leave his father’s house and his country and his kindred. And being toward the Western border of his country, and having already had some idea of his father going to Canaan, perhaps he set on that as a decent destination. The LORD would show him – he just had to go.
I think when it comes to prayer, the hardest response to receive is “wait”. Wait for me to tell you at the proper time. Because almost assuredly, God doesn’t want you to sit on your laurels, waiting until He answers you, He wants you to go do other things instead. The idea of setting out without knowing the ultimate destination is a really hard one to accept, especially for those of us [read: "me"] who try to plan out everything. He simply had to trust in the promise. But how much trust did he have at this point?
An interesting point here is that the LORD tells him to leave his kindred – that would presumably mean to leave his nephew Lot as well. But Lot went with him. Was this fear that the LORD wouldn’t be able to follow through, or unintentional?
Now a little bit of geography here. Canaan refers to a large geographical area inhabited by the Canaanites, which includes parts of modern day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. The Biblical reference to Canaan probably refers to a more constrained area, forming what is today Israel and Palestine. Shechem is in the northern part of Israel (modern West Bank), and Bethel is further south, close to Jerusalem. The location of Ai (meaning ruins – probably a later name) is debated, but is probably close to Jericho, not too far to the East of Bethel. The Negev (meaning dry) is the Southern part of Israel, and “towards the Negev” is another way of saying “South” in Hebrew. So, through this journey, Abram is traveling South through the flatter, more fertile regions, to the hill country, and finally to the desert in the South.
So Abram is traveling through Canaan, finishing the journey his father Terah started, but still unsure of “the land” that the LORD has promised him. but then he came to the oak at Moreh in Shechem. Now Moreh, which means “oracle” or “teacher”, was probably a location of Canaanite worship – possibly where their oracles would go to divine. Large trees and hills were seen as optimal points for divination and worship, as it is closer to the stars or life or antiquity. It must have been a large oak in a prominent hill (in a region mostly filled with plains) to be able to be used as a place marker. So he comes to a place of Canaanite worship, and without performing any rituals, the LORD appears to him.
The LORD appeared to him! Previously the LORD had only spoken to him, which was enough to get him to leave his country. The LORD had spoken to him at the seat of the moon god Sim’s power, and now He had appeared to him at the Canaanite Oak of Oracles. Not only was He a god who could traverse a large geographical distance, he was not in the least intimidated by the gods of the peoples of those lands. Who is this LORD?
The LORD shows him the land that He was talking about – which happened to be the land of the Canaanites, who were still living there – and promised that He would give it to Abram’s offspring, his seed, his son. So now he had an idea of the land that the great nation would be set upon, but he still had two major problems: the Canaanites were in the land, and strongly planted there, and Sarai was still barren. The LORD was more explicit this time about giving Abram a son, but did Abram trust the LORD to fulfill it?
Regardless of whether a son was coming, the Canaanites were still around, and so Abram continued moving toward the Negev – toward the hills and toward the desert, the drier regions less fitting for flocks; but they probably wouldn’t have tons of Canaanites in them either. Still, he remained in the promised land.
On coming to Bethel, Abram pitches his tent (builds a house for himself) and builds an altar to the LORD (probably seen as a house for a god) and calls upon His name – YHWH. So, somewhere in the appearance or the first promise, he ascertains the name of the LORD. To use the name of one’s god in that time would be an invocation – used as a spell by the pagans. The name was also seen as representative of the character and power of the God. Now it is unclear whether Abram understands the meaning of the LORD’s name, which is related to the verb “to be”, and could be translated “I AM”. But he begins to call on that name.
But the LORD doesn’t respond. He invokes the name of the LORD, but there is silence. This isn’t at all how gods were supposed to react! They were supposed to respond when you asked, not speak in places they weren’t called and appear in places they weren’t expected. But the LORD wasn’t anything like those gods. He wasn’t like anything Abram had experienced.
And so, even though Abram had built an altar and pitched his tents (meaning that he was looking to stay a while), he didn’t hear any direction from the LORD, so he kept on going. Perhaps he was scared that the LORD had abandoned him, or maybe he thought that the LORD couldn’t be relied on, since he didn’t respond when called. So he jumped ship. He continued moving toward the desert. Isn’t that what we do? The hardest response to prayer is silence. Even the answer of “wait” is reassuring; silence is deafening. Complete isolation is a terrible thing, and so is isolation from one’s god. And so instead of believing the promise of the LORD, doubt creeps in through the cracks opened by that silence, and Abram fears the Canaanites, moving to the more desolate areas (which are really not good for flocks).
Now I could be reading into this quite a bit. Abram could just be traveling South to get a view of the reaches of the promised land, or bored waiting for his son to be conceived. But it seems to me that if he fully trusted in the promise of blessings and curses, he wouldn’t fear for his life, and would stay in the fertile plains of the North, where the LORD first appeared to him, and where his flocks would prosper. But Abram continued South, and the story continues.
“Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” [Genesis 12:10-16]
Okay, now this is all sorts of weird.
But first, there was a famine in the “land”. It is unclear whether the famine is the whole land of Canaan, or just where Abram was at the time – in the Negev desert. Now Canaan was very dependent on rain for crops, but especially in the hill country and desert. If the rains didn’t come, then famine would inevitably come. This is why many of the poor desert regions of Africa (e.g. Somalia) have so many famines.
Now regardless of if the famine is in the entire land of Canaan, the area of the Negev would be hit particularly hard; possibly hard enough that there wouldn’t be grasses to feed his flocks. So what could have been a survivable famine around Shechem became unbearable in the desert of the Negev. So Abram, by journeying along, had put himself (and the promise) into jeopardy. But there was an apparent light – Egypt – which would have been less hit by famines, due to the abundance of water from the Nile river.
So he went down to Egypt to “sojourn” there. Now the word “sojourn” is the same kind of word as when we say “I’m moving”. It isn’t necessarily permanent, but more than a visit, and significant enough that we would bring all of our things with us. So went down to Egypt for an indeterminate amount of time – but certainly for long enough to wait out the famine. He couldn’t believe that the LORD would make him great through the famine, so he took matters into his own hands.
Now the weirdness hits. So apparently Sarai was hot. That’s not weird. But Abram is at least 75 at this point, and while they haven’t yet given an age for Sarai, she’s either old and hot, or married to someone WAY older than her (complete violation of N/2 + 7)! Her age isn’t mentioned yet in the story, so let’s not peek ahead – it’s not that important for this part. And so we’ll ignore the weirdness for now.
Abram is afraid that the LORD won’t fulfill his promise – he’s afraid that he’s going to be killed by the Egyptians, and that Sarai would be taken by them. So he devises a plan – the plan is to dangle a carrot in front of a herd of horses (it’s Biblical to compare Egypt to horses; Ezekiel compares Judah’s lovers to horses…) and then run off with the carrot – the very tasty-looking carrot, his wife, Sarai.
His logic is (somewhat) sound. If a beautiful woman was married in that time, the only way you could get her was offing her husband. Maidens, on the other hand, would be under the authority of their father (or oldest brother); but to kill all of her male relatives wasn’t seen as very sporting. Instead, it was usual practice to try to woo the maidens (and their guardians) by giving them gifts, leading up to the dower (bride price) given to the bride’s family in exchange for marrying her. The prior gifts would get a suitor into the good graces of Father and Daughter, and the dower would seal the deal. The bride price was not a bad thing, though it could be misused, as most things. While it may seem to be selling off the daughter for profit, the goal was for financial security. This was paid to her family so that her husband couldn’t spend it. This way, if her husband died or divorced her, she would still be able to support herself through the dower. Anyhow, back to the story…
Abram’s idea is to get a bunch of Egyptians to compete over Sarai, making him wealthy through gifts, and then possibly run off back to Canaan before a wedding is necessary (preferably after the famine in Canaan is done). Not a bad plan, though a bold-faced lie, as it hinges on the assumption that they’re not married. Even if you are married to your sister, which is gross, though (as a guy I heard preach on this said) “it’s bound to happen at some point if you start with two people”. Even if you are married to your sister, she is firstly your wife, and then your sister. It’s like referring to your wife as “my dance partner”, which I have heard done at times. It conjures up the idea that they just dance with each other, but are married (I see the rings on their fingers) to other people. Wait, are they kissing? What? And I digress again. So Abram lied about Sarai, and probably didn’t think this one completely through. He certainly wasn’t trusting in the LORD to rescue him from the Egyptians and keep himself alive. So he hatched this plan. Unfortunately for him, there was something he didn’t plan for – something so obvious he missed.
The fact was that Sarai was really hot. So hot that the Egyptian princes bragged about her to Pharaoh. And this is where Abram’s plan succeeded in making him rich – Pharaoh gave him all sorts of animals, servants, and even camels (camels were not a common domesticated animal then – unlike our conceptions of Egypt, they were a bit exotic). Abram’s plan succeeded with flying colors – so well that he lost Sarai in the process. There were no elongated discussions and successions of gifts flowing to Abram. Pharaoh decided that he wanted Sarai, and took her. “It’s good to be the king.” He probably made Abram rich beyond dreams of avarice, and Abram kept his life, but at what cost?
Sarai being “taken into Pharaoh’s house” has some serious implications to it. The ancient kings had large harems, and when they brought a new girl in, the king would have sex with her. If he liked her, she might get to see him again (in the same context), and if he didn’t, then she would be taken in and cared for by the king’s house, but as a mere concubine out of favor with the king. While the Hebrew doesn’t say “Pharaoh knew her”, the ambiguity in “taken into his house” is about the same as when we might say about a couple nowadays – “they’re sleeping together.” True, they might just be sleeping, but they’re probably having sex. And that’s what we mean by the statement.
So by trying to save himself and preserve the remote possibility of an heir, he instead loses Sarai to Pharaoh, and he puts the LORD’s promise into jeopardy. What is he to do now? Should he tell Pharaoh that he lied – that Sarai is his wife? Would he return all of the goods and repent – would he regain his wife? Would Pharaoh just kill him, or simply ignore him?
The story continues,
“But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. [Genesis 12:17-20]
The LORD afflicted Pharaoh with plagues? Why not Abram? He was the one who told Sarai to lie about her marital status, and he confirmed it saying, “she is my sister.” He is the only deserving of the LORD’s punishment. Abram was the one who doubted the LORD, ran away to Egypt, and lied. He was the one who put the LORD’s promise into jeopardy. And Sarai followed suit, deceiving Pharaoh to the point of having sex with him. “I took her for my wife” is quite clear – he consummated the marriage (none of the slight ambiguity of being “taken into Pharaoh’s house). Abram and Sarai are the ones who caused Pharaoh to commit adultery (which was often punishable by dead in the ancient near-east, not just by the nation of Israel). Why weren’t they struck?
The LORD sent plagues because of Sarai; what are we to make of this?
We need to get out of our head the thought of this being a lesson in morality. It isn’t one of our sanitized Western moral stories. This isn’t a fable, nor a fairy tale – it has a completely different objective in mind. Those would have ended with Sarai and Abram getting plagued by the LORD – with the lesson being that your dishonesty will be punished by the divine, and quickly, so don’t lie, or let someone else have your spouse. Or it could have ended with Pharaoh finding out, asking Abram why he didn’t tell him, and then skewering him. “She’s my wife now, Abram.” Or Abram could have just lived a tortured existent, banished from Egypt without getting to even say goodbye to Sarai. But that isn’t the ending.
The LORD is apparently not too interested in dealing instant retribution to offenders. We may say that “God is just”, but that doesn’t mean that we’ll get to see his justice worked out, even in our lifetimes. The LORD has deeper interests at heart. Let’s back up a bit (almost to the beginning of the story):
“Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:1-3]
The LORD’s promise. It is conditional – on Abram leaving his country [done], his father’s house [done], and his kindred [ooo, what about Lot?]. So Abram hasn’t quite fulfilled his conditions, but that doesn’t stop the LORD. The LORD so greatly desires to bless “all the families of the earth” and see his promise fulfilled on both ends. He’s seeking to uphold his word and his plan.
The LORD sent plagues to rescue Sarai.
What could Abram have done? Just go there and tell Pharaoh, “dude, sorry about that, but she’s actually my wife?” Would he be met with laughter, scorn, or death? What was his response when Pharaoh rebuked him: “Why did you say, “She is my sister”, so that I took her for my wife?”? Abram’s response: ______ Yes, it seems he was speechless. He was out beyond his rope – ain’t nobody gonna save him now. Except the LORD.
So the LORD comes in such zeal and ferocity after Sarai came to Pharaoh’s house; Pharaoh had to be quickly retracing his steps. “Let’s see, I did all my usual oblations to the gods, what could it possibly be? Why is all this happening to me? Well, I did just marry some hot foreigner – maybe one of her gods is taking vengeance because I didn’t give them sacrifices. Or maybe there’s something deeper… Send for Sarai!” – and being convinced that it has to do with her or her gods, the story just falls out. Maybe he puts the whole thing together without even asking. Either way, he comes to the correct conclusion: he just had sex with Sarai, and her god is pissed!
So Pharaoh calls in Abram, screams at him (in a dignified fashion), and gives Sarai back to him. He doesn’t ask for his bride price back (the camels and servants, etc.) – he gets them out as quickly as possible. And then he ensures that Abram doesn’t come back again. He sends out men to escort him out of Egypt, and presumably to make sure he doesn’t come back. And we hear nothing more of plagues – the promise is no longer in jeopardy.
So Abram makes off quite well. Servants and livestock and even camels! He just had to sell his wife’s body!
So if we were to make this into a moral lesson, or a proverb, what could we take away?
If you want to make a lot of money and have a beautiful wife…
Or how about, if your husband is trying to get you to sell yourself for money, don’t!
Or…
The wise man trusts in the LORD, for He fulfills His promises.
The foolish man doubts the LORD, and plagues a lot people in the process.
We’re starting to get an idea of what this LORD is like; Abram and Sarai are likewise. Is he the kind of god that they would want to worship? They certainly like the promise made, but do they trust him?
“So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD.” [Genesis 13:1-4]
So now we see the pilgrim’s regress. He has travelled as far as Egypt and now is on his way back, through the Negeb, back to the place he made the altar. Back to where he had first called upon the name of the LORD, where he had first made the altar. And he did the same again – he settled into the land in the hills (he was wise enough to not spend much more time in the arid Negeb), and once again called upon the name of the LORD.
What is the LORD’s response? Silence. Again, silence! What sort of a god is this, that comes in furious plagues, and then doesn’t answer when we call on him? Who is this LORD?
Perhaps he hadn’t traced back his steps far enough? Perhaps he hasn’t remembered fully the promise? The story moves on:
“And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.” [Genesis 13:5-7]
So apparently they had made it out of Egypt quite rich; perhaps they had made quick deals with the Egyptians while they were still in vogue. Or this could just be that they prospered over time, quickly multiplied their flocks, and so forth. But this seems to be quickly after the flight from Egypt – so this was likely what they had gained there. Apparently Pharaoh must have treated Lot well in addition to just Abram. And Abram had silver and gold as well – quite precious in that time, especially for a keeper of flocks – he could then buy food and water when he needed it, and would not be gouged when in need. He was not completely reliant on flocks anymore. So the LORD had begun to fulfill his promise, “I will bless you”. And apparently Abram noticed, and called on the name of the LORD.
Now the comment about Canaanites and Perizzites (another tribe of people in that area, though not as prosperous as the Canaanites) was very similar to the one before about the Canaanites, right before Abram left Shechem for Bethel. The implication is that they couldn’t support them both dwelling around Bethel, and they couldn’t go into the more fertile areas (like Shechem) because there were opposing peoples there. But this was a big problem – there simply wasn’t enough food or water to support them both, and that means that conflict wasn’t far off.
“Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.” [Gensis 13:8-12]
So now, with the Canaanites and the Perizzites in the land, to the North and West, and the Negeb to the South, being too dry for such herds, there was two choices remaining (the right and the left). There was the place that they were currently, in the hills near Bethel, and there was space further East, toward the Jordan river valley. Now there is considerable debate as the location of Sodom and Gomorrah; the only real consensus is that they don’t exist anymore. There are speculations about them being under the Dead Sea, or on the East shore of it (either the North or South side). Zoar is on the West side of the Dead Sea, which would have been East or Southeast of where Abram and Lot were. So, that would have been the “direction of Zoar”. However, Lot journeyed East, which from Bethel would bring him to the current location of the Jordan river. Now there are more tributaries on the East side, making it the likely spot for a “well watered” valley. Now it may certainly be added that the “cities of the valley” were spread out quite a ways North and South, so that Sodom and/or Gomorrah could have certainly been on the Dead Sea. And as Sodom is described as being far away, it is almost likely that it is far to the South. But all of this isn’t overly important to the story.
The primary piece of importance is that Abram has settled in the land of Canaan, which the LORD had previously promised to give his offspring, and that Lot had left Canaan for the Jordan Valley.
There is some interesting contrasts set up, though, between the land of Canaan and the Jordan Valley. While there appears to be a fear of the people of Canaan, they are not afraid of people of Sodom, even though they were wicked (Lot and Abram may not have known this). Additionally, Canaan appears to be an arid, hilly land, while the Jordan Valley is well watered like Egypt and like the garden of the LORD. So it had this great appearance – a peaceable people in a fertile valley. But Abram stayed in the land of the promise; not because he expected to receive the LORD’s promise (since for him the Jordan Valley would have been just as fine), but because he wanted to avoid conflict – the same reason he avoided the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the same reason he lied in Egypt.
We may wonder what would have happened had Lot chosen the land of Canaan. What would have happened to the LORD’s initial conditional promise to Abram? Certainly the promise to give Canaan to Abram’s offspring would happen – but at what cost? More plagues, as in Egypt, or something worse? Luckily, we do not have to dwell on this, for Lot chose what appeared best to him, and Abram was left in the land of promise.
But Lot was left in the hand of those who were “great sinners against the LORD”. This was not those who were unaware of the LORD – they were great sinners “against” the LORD. They strove with him, cast down his laws, purposefully rebelled against him. And had Abram left Canaan for Sodom, he also would sinned greatly (as he did in Egypt) against the LORD – by mistrusting the promise given.
“The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.” [Genesis 13:14-18]
So finally Abram has fulfilled the terms of the initial promise: he has left his father, left his homeland, and now he has finally left all his kindred. (Or rather, they have left him.) So he now has fulfilled his end of the deal, allowing the LORD to do as he said, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.
And in addition to those things, the LORD once again speaks to Abram – and not only repeats the promise, but piles on the blessings. And this time it is without condition. Previously, he had promised to give this land to Abram’s offspring. Now he has promised to give this land to Abram, and to give it to his offspring forever. He previously promised to make him a great nation – now he will make his offspring far greater than any nation then known – he would make them like the dust of the earth.
And then the LORD encouraged Abram to walk through the length and breadth of the land – as a step of faith in His promise. “Arise, walk … for I will give it to you.” And once again finding faith in the LORD, he obeys. And after seeing the land, he settles by the oaks of Mamre, at Hebron. And he built an altar to the LORD. This was where the LORD first appeared to him! This was the place he started from, where the LORD promised to give the land to his offspring. The irony is that he ended where he began.
What could have he avoided, had he simply followed the command at the beginning? If Abram had set off without Lot (without his kin), and not feared the Canaanites and left Hebron? He would have avoided famine, he would have avoided plaguing the house of Pharaoh, he would have avoided whoring out his wife, he would have avoided having his nephew settle in the land of the wicked.
So Abram blunders along, hurting everyone he comes into contact with, but the LORD will not let his promise fall to the ground. He is truthful, and will take drastic measures to fulfill his word. And that is a bit unnerving; that is more than a bit scary.
Now the conditions Abram needed to fulfill were both easy and terrifying. He had to leave his home and his kindred, and travel to a land far away. He had to trust in the promise of the LORD, since that’s all he had to rely on. The hard parts – blessing and cursing others, giving offspring to Abram, parceling out the land, and making his descendants numerous were all left to the LORD. Abram just needed to trust that the LORD would fulfill it.
And that is why righteousness (meaning to fulfill or be in just standing in a covenant contract) with respect to the LORD has a basis in faith. Whenever Abram trusted the LORD, the necessary actions flowed effortlessly, and the LORD fulfilled his end of the bargain. But doubting the promises of God was to doubt the LORD’s very nature – his name – “I AM”. It is to doubt His constancy. And whenever Abram doubted, he was unable to fulfill his end of the contract – he blundered along, relying on his own strength and insight, scared stiff.
One final note. The LORD decided to give these things to Abram, though he was completely undeserving, and often showed his lack of faith in the LORD. And if an honest god is scary, then one that gives according to His own plans is terrifying. This “gift equity” is so unlike our ideas of what “people deserve”, that it is quite unnerving, even unnatural. How can we learn to trust a god who gives gifts at will? How can we ever be sure of being “in the right” or “deserving the next gift”? Well, we can’t “be sure”. Rather, we are to be “of faith”. Once we learn that the LORD keeps his promises, we only need to reflect and see that his promises are good. So why not trust Him?
