“Wealth Management: Lot or Abram?” (Genesis 13 - 14) | 5/31/20
Genesis 13 - 14 | 5/31/20 | Will DuVal
This morning, we pick back up in Genesis. Last week we met one of the most important figures in the book, in all of the BIBLE, Abram, and we unpacked perhaps the most significant moment in his life: his calling by God in ch.12 to leave his homeland and family, and trust in God’s promise of a NEW land, family, and blessing... by faith. And Next week, God will confirm that calling in another crucial chapter - ch.15 - by formally establishing his COVENANT with Abram. But this morning, in chs.13-14, we find a bridge story, connecting those 2 pivotal events. There are actually 3 stories here; your Bibles might demarcate them with section headers like “Abram and Lot Separate”, “Abram Rescues Lot”, and “Abram Blessed by Melchizedek”, respectively. And if we didn’t know any better, we might be tempted to treat them as mere filler stories, whose sole purpose is to provide us a historical link between chapters 12 and 15.
But I see a unifying theme here, and when we recognize it, the real-life application of these chapters becomes clear, personal, and indispensable for us. I think chapters 13 and 14 of Genesis are about WEALTH, and specifically, what to DO with it. Now, before you conclude that this sermon isn’t for YOU, because you’re not wealth-Y, let me remind you that just by virtue of the fact that you are watching this sermon right now on a computer, or listening to it on a smart phone, you automatically qualify as more materially blessed than the VAST majority of people who have ever existed or currently exist on this planet. And before you assume that I’m just another pastor looking for any excuse I can get to ask for your money - “West Hills must be falling behind on the budget during this recession” - let me assure you that I’m not and we’re not; we’re actually in great shape as a church, and I can PROMISE you I didn’t go into ministry for the paycheck. Frankly, if it was up to me, I’d never preach another sermon on money again.
But unfortunately, God’s word won’t allow that. Because how we use the resources that God entrusts to us - whether you’re convinced you’ve got far too little, or you acknowledge that you’ve got LOTS - is a crucial, recurring topic all throughout Scripture. As Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, [WHAT?] there your heart will be also.” How we view and what we DO with our wealth, and more importantly, what IT does to US, to our HEARTS - is vitally important to God.
And in Genesis 13 and 14 we find 2 characters - Abram and Lot - who serve as examples to us, of how we OUGHT to treat our finances on the one hand, Abram, and what we must AVOID, in the character of Lot. And the text presents their examples in alternating fashion - Abram, Lot, Abram, Lot... So if you’re following along in your bulletin outline, just keep in mind we’ll be bouncing back and forth between the 2.
But let’s begin, as always, by reading the passage together: Genesis chs 13 - 14
So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 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, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. 5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 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.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.[a] 9 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.” 10 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.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
14 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, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 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. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks[b] of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Ch.14 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks[a] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor[b] of heaven and earth;
20
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand[c] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
This is the word of the Lord (LET’S PRAY...)
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We begin in ch13, v1 - with Abram and his family headed back to Canaan from Egypt. You’ll remember when we left off last week, Abram, this EXEMPLAR of faith, cracked under pressure, and gave in to faithlessness during a famine and sojourned to Egypt, where, fearing for his life, he handed over his own wife Sarai to become Pharaoh’s concubine. But rather than abandon Abram, God faithfully leads him back into the Promised Land here, and not only that, God sends him back with his pockets FULL! God is SO gracious and redemptive, He even turns Abram’s failure into an opportunity to BLESS him, materially; remember ch12, v16: “ for her [Sarai’s] sake he [Pharaoh] dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.”
Kent Hughes, whose commentary I love, notes: “Female donkeys were… the ride of choice of the rich (the Lexuses and BMWs of the Nile). The camels (note the plural) had just been introduced as domesticated animals and were a rarity. They were prestige symbols, for show by the very rich, not for utility (maybe a Bugatti or McClaren?). And Abram now had several in his stable.” (191)
So Abram is “very rich”, v2 tells us, and v5 clarifies that “Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents”. Two men, both blessed, financially. The question is, how will their wealth AFFECT them? For ALL of us, money will do one of two things to us. It will EITHER turn us into an Abram or into a Lot. We will EITHER, like Abram, become more
#1 - Worshipful (13:1-4)
That’s the very FIRST thing Abram does upon returning to Canaan; he heads back “to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.” He doesn’t begin by scouting out the best piece of land to support his bounty of new livestock. He doesn’t search out new trade and investment opportunities to increase his wealth. He doesn’t let his newfound material blessings distract him from what is MOST important in life. He repents of his failure and faithlessness in Egypt, and turns back to the Lord in humble worship.
-Prov 11:28 says “Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” Abram is rich alright. But he knows where his riches CAME from. So he turns his eyes heavenward.
-1 Tim 6:17-19 says “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Abram knows the difference between liveli-hood and LIFE. Your liveli-hood is just how you financially support your life. It’s not your life. It better not be, or you’re in trouble, if you put your hope in the “uncertainty of riches”; anyone check your investments since COVID-19 hit? Your retirement account?
Friends - the stock market rises and falls, but there is a “future” we can confidently invest in - “that which is TRULY life”, eternal life, and it never takes a hit. “Store up treasure” there, Jesus says, where moth and rust cannot destroy. Set your hope NOT on riches, but on God, in worship.
OR, you can be like LOT, whose riches make him: Contentious (13:5-7)
We hear in v7 that “there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock”. It’s clear from the context, vv8 and 9, that the problem here isn’t with Abram; it’s with Lot: “Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me”... take your pick of the land, Lot, you get first pick. Abram wasn’t acting antagonistic; the hostility was coming from LOT.
And that’s many people’s response to wealth, isn’t it? Wanna guess what married couples fight over, more than ANYTHING else? Money. But the really interesting part is that on average, the more OF it you have, the more you fight! You’d think the arguing would come from being stretched too thin, but in reality, wealthy couples fight even MORE than poor ones. Because now there’s just more money to FIGHT over! The Notorious B.I.G. said it best: “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems”.
Hughes notes: “Abram’s and Lot’s prosperity, rather than pulling them together, divided them. We imagine that need and want will divide us. But it is not true. Believers who sense their need will naturally draw close to God and each other. Need produces a poverty of spirit that reaches up for help and out to one another. But assailed by prosperity, Abram and Lot drew apart. We must consider ourselves forewarned as we prosper.” (197)
Proverbs 28:25 says “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.”
Luke 12:15 - “Jesus said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
I can just speak for myself, personally: the most thoroughly unhappy, cantankerous people that I know in the WORLD, are the wealthiest. And I’ve never met a group of happier kids than the orphans I used to visit on missions trips to Guatemala in high school. Money can spoil you absolutely ROTTEN, if you’re not careful.
But not if, like ABRAM, you let it make you more GENEROUS (13:8-9)
Consider his response in vv8-9: “Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. Take whichever half you want, and I’ll take the other. You pick.”
Hughes explains: “Abram, as the older man and the leader of the faith expedition, the one to whom the promises were made, could have appealed to his position… But he did not. Confident and unthreatened, he was selfless and generous.” (198) Abram could have pulled rank. “Listen, NEPHEW, youngster, has God revealed himself to YOU lately? No, alright, then let me tell YOU how this is gonna go down…”
No; instead, he was generous. Why? Because “He believed God’s word… God had said, “To your offspring I will give this land” (12:7)—and therefore Abram knew that even if he gave the land away a thousand times, it would go to his descendants…” (198)
Proverbs 21:26 says “All day long [the wicked] craves and craves,
but the righteous gives and does not hold back.”
2 Cor 9:6, 11 “whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully… You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which… will produce thanksgiving to God.”
Proverbs 11:24 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.”
Once again, the real-life statistics bear this out. Not only do we find a connection over time between GENEROSITY and financial success - paradoxically, hoarding all your money isn’t even the most effective way to BUILD wealth - but there is an even STRONGER connection between generosity and gratitude. “Thanksgiving to God”. God loves a cheerful giver, and the 2 in fact go hand-in-hand. Those who give are on average, happier people.
LOT, on the other hand, is the very opposite: he’s GREEDY (13:10-13)
We hear in vv10-13: “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered… So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east... he moved his tent as far as Sodom.”
Hughes exposits: “Dazzled by the ostensible prosperity of Sodom, Lot pitched his tent “as far as Sodom… Whereas Abram was living by faith, Lot was living by sight, much as Abram had lived in Egypt… Here is the tragedy: Though Lot was offered a share in the land of Canaan, he rejected it and moved to its very edge - “the end of its border… His journey “east” was a dark echo of the way Cain had departed (cf. 3:24; 4:16). Genesis 19 will reveal that Lot would eventually dwell outside the border of Canaan” (199) Outside the Promised Land; paradise LOST. Why? Because he was chasing riches. And they would lead him as far as SODOM, where he will trade his tent, his life of humble nomadic reliance on the Lord, following God’s lead, for the temptations of the big city. God just isn’t enough for Lot.
Hebrews 13:5 warns “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””
Ecclesiastes 5:10 - “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”
We preachers use the quote every time greed comes up in a sermon, but it’s too good not to: John D Rockefeller, the richest man in the world, a century ago, when he was asked by a reporter, “How much money is enough?” famously responded, “Just a little more”. And that’s true of EVERYONE who chases riches: you will never be satisfied with money; it’s VANITY; it’ll always be “just a little more”.
But, if like Abram, your hope lies not in the things of THIS world, but in the world to come, you will be truly BLESSED. (13:14-18)
After Lot leaves, God instructs Abram in vv14-15 to ““Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” And then in vv16 & 17, God reaffirms his blessed promise over Abram from last week: of Land - “I will give the land to you” - and Family - “I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth” - and once again, Abram responds in v18 with more WORSHIP. Building yet ANOTHER altar, in Hebron.
Proverbs 22:9 promises “Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed”
Malachi 3:10 “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
Now, that verse has been ripped out of context and abused by preachers of the false “prosperity gospel” as a proof text for the idea that God is LIKE the stock market: “If you sow your seed of faith and mail in $50 today, you can expect an extra $500 in your bank account next month.” How we got from God promising “there will be no more NEED” to pastors flying around in their own private jets, I’m not sure. But they are right about one thing: God does promise to bless those who entrust their riches - the money He BLESSED them with in the FIRST place! - back to GOD; you will be doubly blessed, in your giving. Doesn’t say $500. In fact, God doesn’t even promise in Malachi 3 to refill their barns. You may end up with less in the bank than you had before you gave; a BAD investment, financially, from a worldly standpoint. But there will be no need, He promises, and you will store up treasures in heaven.
Jesus said “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt 6:33)
But for Lot: Money made him Irresponsible (14:1-12)
We turn to ch14 now, where we get this long story of this battle between the 4 kings from the northeast, versus the 5 kings of much smaller territories around Canaan, and I’m not gonna try and pronounce all their names again, but I will show you a map here and let Hughes explain for us: “Sodom was part of a group of five cities... located at the southern end of the Dead Sea, [you see those 5 tiny green DOTS on the map…] which had been paying tribute for twelve years to a coalition of four kings from the east [see those 4 GIANT red-shaded regions...]. The five Dead Sea kings rebelled, provoking invasion by the eastern coalition… ” (203) Now as you see, these are MASSIVE kingdoms. And by the time they make their way to Sodom, we hear they’ve already defeated the Rephaim, the Zuzim, and the Emim, tribes comprised of giants, according to biblical lore, possibly descended from the Nephilim of Genesis ch.6; not to mention the Horites, the Amalekites, and the Amorites… they basically conquered the entire Fertile Crescent - everything between their kingdoms and EGYPT. And the last line of defense against them was this tiny coalition of 5 small, godless cities. And THAT’s who Lot throws his lot in with. In fact, the timeline suggests that Lot probably knew before he even MOVED to Sodom, that the city was late on its rent payments and was in for some serious trouble soon. But the desire for riches makes him irrational and irresponsible.
-Prov 23:4-5 says “Do not toil to acquire wealth…
When your eyes light on it, it is gone,” And that’s exactly what happened to Lot; almost as soon as he arrived in Sodom, he is carried off in poverty, in exile.
-1 Tim 6:9-10 warns “those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
And that’s the REAL danger, friends. Money can lead you into much worse “exile” than Lot’s; how about spiritual exile, estrangement from GOD, wandering away from the FAITH! See, Money isn’t the root of evil; this is another verse that gets misquoted; the LOVE of money is the problem. Do you LOVE money, do you CHASE after it and CLING to it, or do you view it...
Like Abram does, as a resource that can EMPOWER[ed] you to serve others (14:13-16)
What does Abram do, after he hears the news in v13 of Lot’s capture? Does he say, “Told ya so; I tried to WARN you about that godless Sodom…” No, Abram puts his small fortune to work, and equips and mobilizes his “trained men” - 318 of them - to mount an attack on these evil Axis powers. We read he “went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.” (vv14-15) Abram led a tiny militia of 318 men, one hundred twenty miles so he could pick a fight with the 4 global superpowers of the ancient world, all to rescue his contentious, greedy, irresponsible nephew Lot.
Why? Because “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) For his nephew. Because “‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35) Do you and I view the resources GOD has given us - remember, we aren’t the owners, we are merely stewards… temporary tenants… - do we treat them as “MINE”, I use them however I want, or as GOD’S, to be used through me for accomplishing HIS purposes? Does money enable us to be selfish, or empower us to be selfless? Paul’s words in Philippians 2 apply to our finances as much as anything else: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (vv3-4)
But for LOT, his wealth became BLINDING. (19:1)
If we skip ahead to chapter 19, we discover that after ALL this, losing it ALL, exile, slavery… Lot doesn’t even learn his lesson, because 5 chapters later, we hear “Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.” Whereas Abram learned from his failure in Egypt, and repented, and turned back to worship the Lord, as soon as Abram liberates him, Lot crawls right back to Sodom. And we’ll find out in a few weeks how that works out for him… and his salty wife.
Friends, the love of money will BLIND you. To what’s REALLY important in life. To just how FLEETING material things are:
James 5:1-5 says “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded… You have laid up treasure in the last days… You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ...”
Lot is like the church in Laodicea - “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev 3:17)
-Why? Because “ what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36)
Chasing material wealth is a TERRIBLE eternal investment. You can’t take it with you.
Instead, we ought to be like Abram, who allows his riches to paradoxically make him even MORE dependent on the Lord. (14:17-24)
This exchange between Abram and Melchizedek in vv17-24 is SO fascinating. And we don’t have time to mine it for all of ITS riches; I preached a sermon on Hebrews 7 a couple years ago here that you might check out, but all I want you to see this morning, is Abram’s SUBMISSION to the Lord. He recognizes Melchizedek as not ONLY the “king of Salem”, but as a “priest of God Most High”, and really, he’s a PROPHET too, because he prophetically proclaims a blessing here FROM God - “Blessed be Abram by God Most High” - so you’ve got all 3 OT roles - prophet, priest, king - coming together here in Melchizedek, some commentators even interpret this enigmatic encounter as a Christophany, a rare OT appearance of the preincarnate Christ himself. But Abram’s response is to offer Melchizedek the first ever TITHE in history. V20: “Abram gave him a tenth of everything”. Tithing, returning to God one-tenth of what he’s given you, is a way of practically acknowledging that what you have is not your own; it ALL belongs to God, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, Ps 50:10, the world and its fullness are mine,” says the Lord. So we are called, Proverbs 3:9 to “Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce”
But it’s ALSO a way of making sure you are blessing others through your resources. Remember, God blesses us to BE a blessing to OTHERS. Genesis 12, Matthew 28. God wants to bless All NATIONS through us.
If I said, “Hey - I want to BLESS you; here’s a check for $1,000. And all I ask is that you use just a fraction of that to pay it forward and bless someone else,” it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect you to give 100 of it away, right?
But whether or not we DO it, whether you make $1,000 a year or $100,000 - because once again, the statistics show that if you don’t trust God with a little, you won’t trust him with a lot - the highest percentage givers across churches, I don’t see who gives what here at West Hills, but in general, those who make more give less.
Because friends, earthly riches are dangerous. If you’re not careful, they will leave you contentious, greedy, irresponsible, and blind. And EMPTY. But it’s possible to let money make you more worshipful, generous, blessed, servant-hearted, and dependent on the Lord, but here’s the thing: you will NEVER do it on your own. Left to our own sinful devices, money will corrupt us 100% of the time. We need a better Abram, who traded all the treasures of heaven for a filthy manger and a life of suffering. Who generously gave up his own body, his precious blood, poured out for US, to take our sin and grant us HIS righteousness so that we could inherit all the riches of eternal life. We need a Savior who wouldn’t just march 120 miles to fight off 4 massive armies for us, but who would go to the CROSS to take on DEATH ITSELF for us!
Friends, if you are not dependent on HIM, if you are not trusting in Jesus, you will NEVER manage your money; it will ALWAYS manage you.
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt 6:24)
Which will you serve today? Let’s pray.