“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 herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. [You see the point of that? The Canaanites and Perizzites were potential enemies and it was very, very dangerous for God’s servants to be quarreling between themselves when there were enemies in the land.] So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.’”

And let me remark incidentally, we Christians have got to learn to say the same to one another, “Let’s not have any quarreling between us for we are brothers.” Abraham’s a marvelous example in that respect. So Abraham goes on to say to Lot:

“‘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 up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (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.” (NIV)

Now let me pause and comment on that. Abraham was the older man. Lot was his nephew, younger, and in some sense in a junior position. Abraham was the spiritual man; Abraham was the man whom God had called; Abraham was the man to whom the whole inheritance was promised. It would have been easy for him to say, “Well, I’m the senior. I’m the one God has called. The promise is mine. This is what I’m going to take. And then you can look after yourself.” But what a different Abraham had. He humbled himself. He was meek. In one word, he “yielded.” He said to Lot, “You make the first choice. You take what you want and I’ll take what’s left over.” Isn’t that a beautiful example of yielding?

What was the result? Lot went where his soul urged him to go and it was a bad place. He wend toward Sodom. Lot hadn’t learned to say no to that soul-life in him as Abraham had.

Then what happened to Abraham? Let me read—this is beautiful—going on in Genesis 13:14–17:

“The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him...”

Let me mention something. In Hebrew the name “Lot” has a meaning, it means a veil, something that covers the eyes. To me that’s typical. It describes Lot. He never got rid of the veil of the carnal, self-seeking mind. Although he was a righteous man, he was carnally a righteous man. He didn’t really have the law of the spirit in him. But after Lot had parted from Abraham, then the veil was taken away from Abraham’s eyes. Can you see?

“And the Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.’”

See, as long as Lot was with Abraham he couldn’t see his inheritance. He was in it, but he couldn’t see it. He had to yield. Yielding brought the revelation. Then

Strength Through Weakness

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