Hello, welcome to Bible Wisdom Today, systematic Bible teaching for those willing to think deeply. My name is Stan Watkins

One day, about 4000 years ago, two men stood on a windswept limestone ridge in the central hill country of Canaan, about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, with Bethel on their west and Ai on their east. Toward the east, the ground dropped away into a massive, jagged canyon, which opened into a flat, circular basin just north of the Dead Sea. From up there on the ridge looking East, the plain didn’t look like a desert. It looked like paradise—vibrant green, heavily watered, and dominated by Middle Bronze Age city-states. There was Sodom. A little farther on was Gomorrah. To the human eye, this looked like the Garden of Eden.

The two men on that ridge, uncle and nephew, were billionaires by the standards of the ancient world. Their massive herds of livestock were pushing the land to its absolute breaking point. They faced a crisis decision. They had to split up in order to survive. The man who got first pick looked down at that beautiful, prosperous oasis in the valley and said, “I want that.”

He chose by sight. 

What he couldn’t see from the safety of that ridge, however, was that choosing that apparently economic paradise meant walking into a geopolitical trap—and a spiritual nightmare. He didn’t understand the importance of faith in making Godly choices. That is our thesis for today. When we make choices by faith, not sight, we discover the only sure route to experiencing God’s true blessing—and becoming a blessing to others. Today, as we examine the historical context of this ancient choice, we will learn what this story meant to the generation of Israelites wandering in the wilderness. We also will discover how we can make a better choice whenever we face a crisis decision from our own “ridge.”

Abram and Lot’s Crisis Decision

As we begin our story, today, we pick up where we left off in our last episode. Abram and his household, including his wife and Lot, are being escorted out of Egypt by the Pharaoh’s military force. Abram leaves humbled, surely, but also rich in livestock, silver and gold. This is the first mention of Abram’s financial assets, which probably came from the bride price the Pharaoh paid for Abram’s so-called “sister.”

Abram traveled as a nomad, stopping from place to place to graze his herds, through the Negev desert at the southern border of Canaan, moving northward until he came to central Canaan where he had tented before between Bethel and AI. This is where he had previously built an altar. With this detail, the narrator suggests that Abram is trying to recapture his earlier experience of God. This time, however, he did not need to build an altar; the old one was still there. The promises of God still stood as well and Abram called on the name of the LORD.

When Abram and his household had camped there before, it had been a pleasant location, with friendly neighboring peoples and plenty of grazing land for his flocks. Now, however, their operations are too big. The watering holes are drying up, the pastures are overgrazed, and the herdsmen of Abram and Lot are starting to clash. The rich blessings of God have created a problem. Listen to how the author of Genesis tells this story, beginning with Genesis 13:5.

Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
 Genesis 13:5-7

To this point, the household of Abram has been semi-nomadic, in the process of settling down. The word “dwell” occurs four times in this chapter, sometimes translated “stay” or “live.” Abram’s household needs to find pasture for their flocks in an area that is already partially settled and cultivated. The later generations of Isaac and Jacob would also confront the same problem. 

To make matters worse, the author drops a parenthetical note, partially explaining the family’s vulnerability. “The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.” The additions of “Perizzites” to the earlier description of Canaanites highlights the congestion Abram felt in the land. Abram and Lot are nomadic outsiders, surrounded by powerful, established native populations. They cannot afford a highly visible, fractured camp. They need to find a way forward that will allow their extended household to live in peace. 

Listen to the continuing story from Genesis, beginning with 13:8.

So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” 
 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. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while 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 13:8-13

From that ridge southeast of Bethel, over 3000 feet above sea level[1], Abram and Lot had a good view in all directions. It is easy to miss the significance of Abram’s suggestion they should each look to the left or right to choose a direction to move their flocks. Like many ancient peoples, Abram and his family oriented themselves toward the East. From that perspective, left and right were equivalent to North and Sout, both within the land God had promised. Lot, however, looked East toward the prime grazing land in the plain of Jordan. 

From their high vantage point they had a good view of the southern end of the Jordan valley, where it broadened out into a wide plain and before flowing into the northern end of the Dead Sea. The Hebrew description is “kikkār,” which is used to describe a piece of flatbread as well as a coin. Both are round and flat, like the oval plain of the Jordan. Lying 475 feet below sea level[2] the plain attracted immediate attention. In the Middle Bronze Age, the Jordan overflowed its banks once a year and formed an alluvial delta[3], like the Nile in Egypt. Additionally, it was watered with freshwater springs. Our narrator describes it as “well-watered, like the garden of the LORD.” This was just the place for Lot!

As Lot looks toward the plain of Jordan, he isn’t just looking at empty grass. The plain of Jordan was dotted with cities. Although the actual sites of the legendary Sodom and Gomorrah have not been determined with finality, one of the strong contenders for their location is this plain North of the Dead Sea. There is an archeological site there, named Tall el-Hamman, which is highly likely to be the site of Sodom. It was destroyed by a “high heat event” in the right period to fit this story. The location of the city of Zoar, named in this passage, is uncertain, but may have been a town near Sodom. Lot not only gazed at good grazing lands but also surveyed a fortified city which could work to his immediate, economic advantage. He moved his flocks down from the hills and began pitching his tent toward Sodom, prioritizing his economic advantage over his moral and spiritual safety.

Imagine Abram’s disappointment when Lot chose to live beyond the land God had specifically promised. Like his forbears, Adam and Eve, Cain, and those ancient tower builders, Lot chose to move East. Genesis consistently treats the Eastward move as a journey away from God. 

Next the author adds information that most readers of Genesis, and certainly his first readers, already know. God would soon destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The lush plain of Jordan would change forever. Lot, however, blissfully moved toward destruction. Genesis sums up the situation in this way, “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while 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.” The narrator hints again at Lot’s fate. Lot made his choice based on sight. The lush valley seemed perfect! A great step forward, so he thought, but ultimately it became his ruin.

Meanwhile, Abram based his choice on faith in God’s promises. He stayed in the rugged hill country of Canaan. It was a more difficult place to live, but this was the land God promised. When we make choices by faith, not sight, we discover the only sure route to experiencing God’s true blessing—and becoming a blessing to others. Let’s see this turned out for Abram. 

Beginning with Genesis 13:14:

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” 
 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the LORD.
 Genesis 13:14-18

Abram must have been heartsick at Lot’s choice. Not only was he losing the young man he had accepted into his home as a son, but Lot had chosen foolishly. God understood and encouraged his friend Abram by renewing His promises. In this way He let Abram know that He approved of his choice. Lot had looked around and seen the well-watered plain. God now invited Abram “Look around from where you are.” What his eyes saw was rugged, relatively barren land, but what his faith saw was the land promised by God. God now expands his promise of land and descendants. He promises Abram “all the land that you see. He also promises that his offspring will be “like the dust of the earth” alluding to His original creation forming mankind from the dust of the ground. While Lot moved East and camped toward Sodom, Abram moved South and camped near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron.

Consequences of that decision

As we turn from Genesis 13 to chapter 14, we discover the consequence of Lot’s poor crisis decision. We also encounter unique narrative material within the book of Genesis. Gone is the intimate, domestic drama of family conflict, grazing rights and a property split. Now we open the pages of a political thriller, with the first mention of war in the Bible, multinational alliances, conflict, rebellion, crushing retribution, and a high-stakes hostage rescue mission.

There are many explanatory additions to the text, indicating that this report is based on an older source that is updated here. The purpose of including it is not mentioned until halfway through the story, when we hear how this military campaign impacted Lot and Abram.

Palestine, in pre-Israelite times, was a collection of independent city states, rather than a unified nation. Our narrator begins by recounting two alliances, an eastern alliance including Babylonians and Elamites, and a western alliance headed by the king of Sodom. The names of the kings sound authentic[4] but we cannot use this incident to help date the life of Abram because there is not enough collaborating evidence outside this Biblical source.

 As the story begins, the western alliance has been subject to the Eastern alliance for 12 years. They would have had to pay annual tribute to their overlords. Located, as they were on a major trade route between Egypt and Damascus known as “The Kings Highway,” Sodom and its surrounding allies had the opportunity to charge tolls and taxes on goods and people passing through their territories, but as a subject people, they had to give that revenue to their subjugators. In the 13th year they rebelled, presumably by withholding tribute. 

In the following year the Eastern Alliance returned marching down The Kings Highway eliminating all potential help from the surrounding nations. The names of these nations are given in the order of march, from north to south. When the Eastern Alliance passed by the Western Alliance, including the cities of the plain, they must have thought that they had been spared. Then the Easterners turned back north; this time traveling along the western side of the Dead Sea and eliminating any additional help to the rebel cities. Even though all possible help had been eliminated, the Western Alliance still drew up in defiance against the Easterners. It seems that the battle was over before it even started. So quickly that Genesis doesn’t describe it at all. Let’s pick up the Genesis story at this point in chapter 14, verse 10.

Now the Valley of Siddim [That is, the area near Sodom] was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. The four kings [that is the Eastern Alliance] seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. 
 
 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
 Genesis 14:10-16

The “tar pits” mentioned here are somewhat of a misnomer. Tar is a man-made product, but this was naturally occurring asphalt, seeping up from an underground petroleum reservoir and thickened by the evaporating desert sun. Such pits were common in the Dead Sea area, particularly in the south, but also north of the Dead Sea, the likely location of Sodom.

Lot thought he had chosen safety and security, but he actually had walked straight onto a dangerous regional chessboard. His prosperous life vanished in a moment as the Easterners plundered Sodom and carried him away as a prisoner of war. 

Meanwhile, in the rugged highlands, operating from a position of safety secured by faith, Abram heard the terrible news. He mobilized a small force of 318 men and set out in hot pursuit. He caught up with the Eastern Alliance and their captives, at Dan, the northern borderland of Canaan. In a brilliant guerilla tactic, he divided his men and attacked at night, routing the over-confident conquerors, and pursuing them beyond Damascus. He recovered the plunder and escorted all the captives home, including his nephew Lot and his household. With only a small force Abram had conquered a superpower. The author of Genesis emphasizes that exact unlikely point. The Eastern alliance conquered all the surrounding nations, all the Western Alliance, but not Abram. God not only blessed Abram but also allowed him to be a blessing to others, just as He had promised.

As Abram neared the city of Sodom, the king of Sodom came out to meet him. He apparently had escaped capture and returned home. Another king named Melchizedek also came out to meet him, bringing bread and wine. Genesis describes him as the king of Salem, which probably is an alternative name for Jerusalem. He was a “priest of God Most High.” He blessed Abram, saying, 

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, 
 Creator of heaven and earth. 
 And praise be to God Most High, 
 who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
 Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
 Genesis 14:19-20

Who was this mysterious character? He obviously functioned as both a king and a priest, a united role that was common in the Ancient Near East. The precise significance of the bread and wine is uncertain, but it surely was a sign of goodwill. It probably was also a portrayal of generosity, since bread and water would have sufficed as a staple diet. The inclusion wine transformed the bread into royal fare.

Melchizedek is the first priest named in Scripture, the priest of God Most High. The Hebrew behind this term is El-Elyon. The chief god of the Canaanite pantheon in the second millennium BC was El. Here, however, the name El is used for the true God, the creator of heaven and earth. He acknowledges God’s blessing on Abram and blesses him by praising God Most High who had delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand. Abram receives the blessing of this priest of the true God and responds with a tithe of all the plunder that he recovered. Tithing was an old, widespread custom in the Ancient Near East, given to kings and priests. Throughout this story, every character assumes that Abram, as victor, has the right to the spoils. 

Abram met Melchizedek and the king of Sodom at the same time. After Melchzedek, the king of Sodom began to speak. The contrast with the generosity of Melchizedek is obvious. The king of Sodom does not bring any gifts to Abram, and when he speaks, he is curt, almost rude. He does not even thank Abram. Instead, he offers a transactional, worldly deal: “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” Abram fiercely rejects this arrangement.

“With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”
 Genesis 14:22-24

Raising a hand while swearing underlined its solemnity. Abram swears by Melchizedek’s God, God Most High, but also identifies him as Yahweh, the LORD. Abram renounces all personal rights to the recovered property but does not speak for his allies and offer up their share. Abram’s generous spirit toward Melchizedek parallels his generosity toward lot in allowing him the first pick of the land. Abram allows the surly king of Sodom more than he was due.

The Meaning of the Story

One of the key principles of interpreting the Bible well is to ask, what did the author intend for this to mean to his original readers? As we have mentioned several times, much of Genesis seems uniquely applicable to the generation of Israelites accompanying Moses through the wilderness to the promised land. Assuming that Moses wrote this account for his generation of Israelites, what do you think that he wanted them to learn? What did he want them to do? How did he want them to change.

The Exodus generation encamped in the wilderness were nomadic tent-dwellers like Abram and Lot. As they looked toward the land of promise, they also saw settled, highly advanced, wealthy Canaanite city states. That lifestyle must have looked incredibly tempting after a 40-year camping trip. Maybe they could take over their cities? Perhaps they should also begin worshipping the Canaanite gods, since they seemed to be caring so well for their Canaanite devotees? Moses uses Lot as a pastoral warning. Don’t be like Lot! Do not judge purely by human sight. Do not envy their wealth. If you embrace their economic systems, you also embrace their moral and spiritual rot.

As Moses read Genesis 14 to the Israelites, it must have been stunning. The Israelite wanderers understood the King’s Highway that featured in this story of Abram quite well. In fact, they had already walked along it themselves. In Numbers 21, as Israel was traveling toward the promised land from the south, Moses sent messengers to Sihon, a king in the territory of Moab asking permission to pass peacefully through his country. Numbers 21:22 says,

“Let us pass through your country. We will not turn aside into any field or vineyard, or drink water from any well. We will travel along the King’s Highway until we have passed through your territory. ”
 Numbers 21:22

When the king refused, Israel took the territory by force. Their own experience and this story of their ancient patriarch carried the same message. The size of the fighting force is not important. The promised land is God’s sovereign gift, which they could receive by faith. They didn’t need to fear the giants in the land. They didn’t need to fear their fortifications. Their strength is an illusion. If God Most High is with us, even just 318 fighters can be victorious.

It is only after our careful study of the Bible text, and our consideration of its meaning to the original audience that we can ask the final interpretive question, “What does this mean to me?” Without the preliminary work, we have no basis to answer that question. We do not live as nomadic shepherds, but we do understand what it means to want the best for ourselves and our family. We naturally reach for the highest salary, the most prestigious title, the most strategic alliance. This threatens to entangle us in the toxic, volatile systems in our society. They inevitably fracture and collapse. What if we didn’t constantly reach out for something better. What if we placed our faith in God’s promises, instead. Could we stop worrying about our finances if we really believed what Paul said in Philippians, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus?” Would we still compete for the higher status if we listened to Jesus’ words in Matthew 6, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well?” 

Abram allowed Lot to walk away with the best land, but then God reaffirmed his promises of land and descendants. Because Abram was blessed by God, he then could rescue Lot from his hostage march to captivity, blessing others as God had promised. When you and I receive the blessing of God through faith, we can bless others as well. We can offer compassion to those who are hurting, comfort to those in financial need, and hope to those seeking to know God. As we learn to walk by faith, not sight, we can make a better choice when we face our crisis decision on our own windswept ridge.

Final Comments

Today we have seen Abram renew his walk of faith in God’s promises. The Genesis author highlights Abram’s faith by contrasting it with the character of Lot. He made the most obvious choice to advance his own livelihood, but in the process, he walked away from the blessing of God

In our next episode examining Genesis 15, God reiterates his promises to Abram, this time in the form of a solemn covenant. Just like understanding geography has been key to understanding today’s episode, understanding Middle Eastern culture will be foundational in our next episode. I look forward to exploring this with you.

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[1] Lawrence, E. (2021, December 20). Searching for sodom. ready4eternity. https://ready4eternity.com/searching-for-sodom/
[2] Lawrence
[3] Lawrence
[4] Wenham