Genesis 13
Genesis 13
Yesterday we read God’s words Abram,a pagan man in a pagan land, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make 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 1-12 are prologue. The threefold promise of Land, Seed, and Blessing begins the story of the Bible.
Chapter 13 begins Abram’s journey north from Egypt. Abram and his nephew Lot were so prosperous that their herds and shepherds couldn’t stay in the same place. We’ll see more on this later, but Lot chose first and traveled close to the most famously wicked city in history.
After Lot left, the Lord spoke again to Abram, “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.” No longer is God promising a land, He’s promising this land.
With few exceptions, almost everything we read in the pages of Scripture happens in the land that Abram walked. Two exceptions that come to mind are the Babylonian Exile when Israel was punished for disobedience. They were forcefully carried back to the land from which Abram originally traveled—a symbolic undoing of the Land promise. As Deutoronomy 30 said, it was when they humbled themselves and cried out to God that they were returned to the Land of Promise. The second exception occurs after the stoning of Stephen in the book of Acts. That moment was a catalyst for the Gospel going out to the whole world. It started in the land Abram walked, but through Christ, every family of the earth has been blessed.
What stood out to you in today’s passage?
Yesterday we read God’s words Abram,a pagan man in a pagan land, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make 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 1-12 are prologue. The threefold promise of Land, Seed, and Blessing begins the story of the Bible.
Chapter 13 begins Abram’s journey north from Egypt. Abram and his nephew Lot were so prosperous that their herds and shepherds couldn’t stay in the same place. We’ll see more on this later, but Lot chose first and traveled close to the most famously wicked city in history.
After Lot left, the Lord spoke again to Abram, “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.” No longer is God promising a land, He’s promising this land.
With few exceptions, almost everything we read in the pages of Scripture happens in the land that Abram walked. Two exceptions that come to mind are the Babylonian Exile when Israel was punished for disobedience. They were forcefully carried back to the land from which Abram originally traveled—a symbolic undoing of the Land promise. As Deutoronomy 30 said, it was when they humbled themselves and cried out to God that they were returned to the Land of Promise. The second exception occurs after the stoning of Stephen in the book of Acts. That moment was a catalyst for the Gospel going out to the whole world. It started in the land Abram walked, but through Christ, every family of the earth has been blessed.
What stood out to you in today’s passage?
(https://mlgahbuenlkv.i.optimole.com/4dIftL4-EgDnWq4J/w:auto/h:auto/q:90/https://biblestudydaily.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Abrahams-Journey-in-Canaan-Gen-12.png)
By: Tyler Short
By: Tyler Short
2 Comments
My study Bible said, "At the heart of every problem is a problem of the heart." Lot had an obvious problem of the heart.
Good insights Tyler! Returning to the land of Promise......
Thanks Lindsay, good quote.