“Genesis 13:14-18”

Thursday, November 21, 2019

“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.’ Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.”

---End of Scripture verses---

“The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him…” (verse 14) Perhaps the childless Abram was saddened to see the last remnant of his blood kinsmen, who had traveled with him from his homeland, depart from him. Now all his ties from his father’s house in Ur and Haran have been severed, even one who had been like a son to him. The Lord spoke words of consolation and encouragement to Abram: “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.” (verses 14-15) As Lot had “lifted up his eyes and saw the valley of the Jordan” (verse 10), so the Lord tells Abram to “lift up your eyes” to see the whole land of Canaan. Lot chose a rich and fertile plot of ground to feed and water his flocks, but to Abram and his descendants, the Lord would give the entirety of it.

“Between Bethel and Ai, on cue of the mountain peaks (cf. Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3), from which a commanding view of almost the entire country could be obtained. Northward – towards ‘the hills which divide Judaea from the rich plains of Samaria’ – and southward – as far as to the Hebron range – and eastward – in the direction of the dark mountain wall of Moab, down through the rich ravine which leads from the central hills of Palestine to the valley of the Jordan, and across that very ‘circle’ into which Lot has already departed with his flocks – and westward – literally, towards the sea… For all the land which thou seest – i.e. the entire country, a part being put for the whole – to thee will I give it.” (Pulpit Commentary) This does not contradict what Stephen said in his sermon to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:5, “But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.” Abraham had no “permanent settlement” in the Promised Land but he did live safely there wandering about as a nomad and died peacefully within its borders.

This is the first issuance of the oft repeated “Land Promise” to Abraham and his posterity. When God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, He promised, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.” (Genesis 15;18-20) The Lord promised He would give this land to Abraham’s descendants “forever” (verse 15). The question to be answered, then, is does this promise still apply to Abraham’s physical, ethnic descendants now and until the end of time, or has this land promise since been forfeited?

The simple truth of the matter is that God did make this promise to Abraham and the children of Israel on a permanent basis, but their endurance was based upon meeting certain conditions. The Lord warned Israel that if they chose the path of disobedience and idolatry that He would remove them from the Promised Land and scatter them to the four corners of the earth. “If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God,… It shall come about that as the Lord delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.” (Deuteronomy 28:58, 63-64) The word “forever” means throughout the complete duration of a certain period of time, and that period was fulfilled when Israel and Judah were carried off into captivity by Assyria and Babylon. God’s promise to restore His captives back to the Land of promise was fulfilled as well, but only a small remnant chose to remain faithful to Him and His covenant (Ezekiel 11:14-20; Romans 9:27-29). In God’s present and final covenant with mankind, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)

“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth…” (verse 16) “That is, they shall increase incredibly, and, take them all together, shall be such a multitude as no man can number. When Moses wrote this history, these predictions had been in some measure fulfilled. But the increase of Abram’s seed at that time bore no proportion to what it was in the days of Solomon, when Israel and Judah, without taking his descendants by Ishmael, Esau, and the children he had by his second wife Keturah, into the account at all, were as many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude. Now what human foresight could have perceived that this would be the case?” (Benson Commentary) Especially given the fact that Abram was old, and childless, and his wife was elderly and barren! This, my friends, is the doing of the Lord, and “it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23)!!!

"Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you." (verse 17) The Lord tells Abram to roam about the land of Canaan and inspect it up close and see that it is even more marvelous than what it appears to be from a distance! "In these journeyings Abram is now to have the tranquil pleasure of feeling that his seed will inherit each beautiful spot that he visits, and that he is taking possession of it, and hallowing it for them." (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

"Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron..." (verse 18) “Mamre was an Amorite, then living, and as he was confederate with Abram, it was apparently with the consent of the Amorites, and by virtue of the treaty entered into with them, that Abram made this oak-grove one of his permanent stations.... Hebron—That is, alliance. Hebron was perhaps so called from the confederacy formed between Abram and the Amorites, and was apparently the name not only of a city, but of a district, as the oaks of Mamre are described as being 'in Hebron.'”(Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers) “And there he built an altar to the Lord.” This is the third altar Abram is recorded as having built to this point. As he traveled around, he required multiple “holy” places to worship his glorious Provider. But make no mistake about it. Wherever Abram found himself, at least within the confines of the Promised Land, he was going to find a way and place to thank and praise and honor and sacrifice to the Lord!

Please read Genesis 14:1-12 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

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