Lesson 6 – October 28, 2012 Turning Points in the Life of Abraham – Why Did He Take Lot?

1. Lesson 6 – October 28, 2012Turning Points in the Life ofAbraham – Why Did He Take Lot? Biblical Foundations 2012-2013 Bible School Course

2. Why ‘Turning Points’? • Choices we make have tremendous and long-term influences on us and others • God is gracious and merciful –we do get second chances

3. Why Look At Abraham? Father of the Jews • John 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Father of those who live by faith • Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. How did Abraham get there? • Gal 3:6-9 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Were Abraham’s Decisions Always Right?

4. Abram Takes Lot Gen 11:26- Gen 12:5 • And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. • 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. • 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. • 29 And Abram and Nahor took them 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 the father of Iscah. • 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. • 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. • 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. • 1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: • 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: • 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. • 4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. • 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

5. Abram Takes Lot • Gen 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: • Why did Abraham take Lot with him? • Maybe kindred doesn’t mean nephew? • Lot was just a little kid, didn’t Abram have responsibility? • Terah had taken Lot with Abram and Sarai – what was Abram to do with him – leave him along the way? • How could Abram leave Terah his father behind when he was so old? • What is the problem? – Lot was a righteous man • 2 Peter 2:6-8 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

6. Abram Takes Lot – Two Calls? Genesis 11:32 (Second call?) • 11:32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Acts 7:2 (First Call??) • And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

7. What Does Kindred Mean? • Gen 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: • Kindred - OT:4138 - Family/relatives • Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon the kindred, a birth, the offspring, relatives • Strong’s: nativity (plural birth-place); by implication, lineage, native country; also offspring, family: Acts 7:3 Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, • Greek English Lexixon - 1. belonging to the same extended family or clan, related, 2) belonging to the same people group, compatriot, kin, Father’s house - OT:1004 – building, family, neighbors • Strong’s a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.): • Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon 1) a house, 2) a place, 3) a receptacle, 4) a home, a house as containing a family, 5) a household, a family, 6) household affairs • Vine – 1) fixed established structure, 2) place of worship, 3) rooms of a house, 4) place where someone dwells, 5) those who live in the house (This word can be used of one's extended family and even of everyone who lives in a given area)

8. Why Did Abram Go With Terah? Gen 11:31 • And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. • If Abram was to leave his father’s house (Gen 12:1) why did go with his father to Haran? Or more precisely, why did he allow his father to take him there? • Was it because Terah was very old? Gen 11:32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

9. Was Lot Family? Genesis 11:27-31 See Barnes Notes • Abram, Nahor and Haran were brothers • Haran is the father of Lot, of Milcah the wife of Nahor and of Iscah (verse 29) • Josephus says Sarai and Milkah were the daughters of Haran, taking no notice of Iskah. He seems, therefore, to identify Sarai and Iskah. Jerome, after his Jewish teachers, does the same. [If so, she would be Lot’s sister] • Abram says of Sarai, "She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother" (Gen 20:12). In Hebrew phrase the granddaughter is termed a daughter; and therefore this statement might be satisfied by her being the daughter of Haran. Lot is called the brother's son and the brother of Abram (Gen 14:12,16). If Sarai be Haran's daughter, Lot is Abram's brother-in-law. This identification would also explain the introduction of Iskah into the present passage. • The studied silence of the sacred writer in regard to the parentage of Sarai, in the present connection, tells rather in favor of her being the actual daughter of Terah by another wife, and so strictly the half-sister of Abram. …And, lastly, the text does not state of Iskah, "This is Sarai," which would accord with the manner of the sacred writer”

10. Was Lot Family? Genesis 11:27-31 – Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary • [Iscah] Josephus, Jerome, and most modern commentators consider this to be another name for Sarai, who was ten years younger than Abram (Gen 17:17). • But Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran; and it seems strange to apply this name to Sarai, when she is mentioned by her own name both in this and the following verse. Ewald thinks that Iscah is introduced here as the wife of Lot (see further the note at Gen 20:12). Genesis 20:12 – Adam Clarke’s Commentary • [The daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother] Ebn Batrick, in his annals, among other ancient traditions has preserved the following: "Terah first married Yona, by whom he had Abraham; afterward he married Tehevita, by whom he had Sarah." Thus, she was the sister of Abraham, being the daughter of the same father by a different mother.

11. How Long Was Abram In Haran? Gen 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary • Hales ('Sac. Chron.,' ii., p 123), after Abulfaragi, the Arabian historian, says, that when the tribe left Ur, Abram was sixty years old, and that he remained at Haran for fifteen years-an extraordinary delay for a man of so ready obedience to make. • But Philo ('De Migr. Abrah.,' tom. i., p. 463) states that he remained only a short time there; and Josephus ('Antiq.,' i. 7 ), that he departed from Haran in the course of the year in which he came to it.

12. Why Not Leave Lot In Harran – Too Far From Family And Friends? • Haran (now Harran), a town of Mesopotamia, was situated south of Edessa, on the Bilicus (Belik), a small tributary of the Euphrates, which empties itself into that river about fifty miles below the town. Besides its situation in the midst of a spacious plain environed by mountains, Haran formed the point whence diverged the principal roads which led to the great fords of the Tigris and Euphrates, and consequently was a great commercial emporium (cf. Ezek 27:23).

13. Why Wasn't Lot Left In Harran? Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary • This traditional site of Haran, however, has been recently disputed by Cyril Graham, Corbaux, and Dr. Beke, who, appealing to Acts 7:2 as a proof that it was not in Mesopotamia Proper, fix on a place called Harran El-Awamid (Harran of the Columns, Porter's 'Damas.,' i., p. 376), lying about fourteen miles east of Damascus (see the note at Gen 24:10, and 28:2). • If Orfah was Ur, which, according to Rennell, is only twenty-nine miles distant from Haran, the journey could have been made by a pastoral tribe in two days, or less; and it was the direct route to Canaan. But from Mugheir to Haran, which lay far north, must have been a lengthened expedition. • If Haran was close to Ur then he could easily have stayed with Nahor; if it was a long ways away and Nahor was in Ur then maybe Abram should have taken him???

14. Why Couldn't Abram Leave Lot In Haran? Barnes Notes (Gen 11:28) • Genesis 11:31-32 Terah takes the lead in this emigration, as the patriarch of the family. In the Samaritan Pentateuch Milkah [wife of Nahor] is mentioned among the emigrants; and it is not improbable that Nahor and his family accompanied Terah, as we find them afterward at Haran, or the city of Nahor (Gen 24:10). "And they went forth with them.” Adam Clarke’s Commentary • “That Nahor went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, in Mesopotamia, and settled there. so that it was afterward called Nahor's city, is sufficiently evident from the ensuing history, see Gen 25:20; 24:10,15, and that the same land was Haran, see Gen 28:2,10, and there were Abram's kindred and country here spoken of, Gen 24:4.” • Gen 28:2 Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. • Gen 28:10 And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. • If he did come, why wasn’t Nahor left in Ur; if Nahor was in Haran why not leave Lot with him there?

15. Was Lot Too Young To Be Left Behind? 1921 BC - Newberry • Gen 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 1917 BC – Newberry Gen 13:11-12 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. Question • If Lot was old enough to separate from Abraham 4 years after they came to Haran, then why wasn’t he old enough to leave in Haran!

16. Why Wasn't It Good For Abram to be with Lot?? Lot’s Choices Were Those That Made Him Feel Good -- He Wanted His Own Way And Didn't Think of Anyone Else Or Consequences • Gen 13:9-18 • 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. • 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. • 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.… • 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

17. Why Wasn't It Good For Abram to be with Lot?? Lot Wanted His Own Way Gen 19:17-22 (Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha) • 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. • 18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: • 19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: • 20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. • 21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. • 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

18. Choices of Lot Gen 19:30 • And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. • Gen 19:33-34 And they made their father drink wine that night: ……. let us make him drink wine this night also Gen 19:36-38 • 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. • 37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. • 38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

19. Children of Lot Become Israel’s Enemies Ps 83:4-8 • 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. • 5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: • 6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; • 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; • 8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

20. Moabites Become Enemies Of The Children Of God Num 22:4-6 • 4 And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor.... 6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: Rev 2:14 • But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Num 25:1-2 • And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

21. Moabites Become Enemies Of The Children Of God • Judg 3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. • 2 Kings 3:5 But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. • 2 Kings 13:20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. • 2 Kings 24:2 And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. • 2 Chron 20:1 It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. • Judg 3:12-13 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

22. Ammonites Become the Enemies of the Children of God • Judg 10:7-9 And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them ….9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. • Judg 11:4 And it came to pass in process of time, that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. • 1 Sam 11:1-2 11 Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: ….2 And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. • 2 Sam 10:6-8 6 And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians.... And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate.

23. Ammonites Become the Enemies of the Children of God • Neh 13:23 In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab: • 1 Kings 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

24. End of the Ammonites and Moabites Ezekial 25:2-11 • Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; • 3 And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;….. • 6 For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; • 7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. • 8 Thus saith the Lord God; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen; • 9 Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim, • 10 Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations. • 11 And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

25. End of the Ammonites and Moabites • Zeph 2:9-10 • 9 Therefore as I live, saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. • 10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts.

26. Why Did They Part? Gen 13:7-9 • 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. • 8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. • 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: Why? • Too many cattle • Strife • Abram called on the name of the Lord • Gen 13:1-3 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

27. Choices of Abram • Gen 13:9-18 • 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left..... God’s Blessing For Abram’s Decision (4 Years After The Left Haran – Newberry) • 14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: • 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. • 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. • 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. • 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.

28. God Blesses Those That Are Related to His People • Deut 2:9 And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. • Deut 2:19 And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. • 2 Chron 20:3 10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;