A Lot in There

A Lot in There 

My husband and I have adopted a new saying, “There is a Lot in there.”  It came about after a Bible study on Genesis 13. In Genesis 13 we read that Abram returned from Egypt with Lot and all their stuff to the place between Bethel and Ai—to the place where Abram had built an alter to the Lord and called on His name. Egypt seems to have been out of the perfect plan of God for Abram. And it seems he returned to the place he knew God had met with him before. Conjecture, of course, as to why Abram returned to that place in particular. 

Due to strife between Lot’s and Abram’s herdsmen the two decided to part company. Abram, though God had promised him Canaan, offered Lot first choice. Verse 10 and 11 reveal a great deal about Lot: 

10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere-- [this was] before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-- like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. 11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Genesis 13:10-11 

Hadn’t Lot heard about the wickedness of Sodom? Yet he moved so close to Sodom that he eventually ended up inside the city. Why? Because Lot looked with his eyes and chose for himself. He didn’t ask God. I find verse 10 quite telling. The name Zoar means “insignificance.” As Lot looked at this beautiful land, God was saying that it really was like passing through Egypt into insignificance (like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar). Egypt often typifies worldliness. Choosing by what we see instead of by the Holy Spirit’s leading is worldly and leads to insignificance—spiritual insignificance, that is. Yes, it may look like the Garden of Eden, but if God isn’t leading you there then don’t go. You too may end up first pitching your tent close to Sodom and then ending up inside. The end of this story for Lot is very sad. He lost his wife and everything he had. His moral compass seems lost as well. Chapter 19 says that Lot ended up in Zoar, then from there he moved into a cave. The story further deteriorated from there. 

Both Abram and Lot ended up with beautiful land, though through different means. God gave Abram the land of Canaan. Canaan was so lush that Numbers 13 says the spies brought back clusters of grapes so large they had to carry them on poles. Quite a land. The difference was that Abram asked God while Lot saw and chose.

Abram, when he returned from Egypt, returned to the place he knew God had spoken to him. Lot really never returned. His feet were there but his heart was not. Revelation 2 states that the remedy for the Church of Ephesus was to repent and do the things they did at first. They too had to return or become insignificant, meaning their candlestick would be removed. Maybe you’re at a point where you too need to return.  

Make that choice today. 

Don’t end up like Lot.