Abram (Abraham) and Lot
Genesis 12:1-9, 13:1-18
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Abram (who later was named Abraham by God,) was the son of Terah, and Lot was his nephew. Now the LORD told Abram to go to a land that the LORD would show him, and so Abram took his wife Sarai, and Lot went with him. And the LORD promised Abram that He would give the land to his children. But there was a famine in the land and so Abram went down to Egypt, instead of staying where the LORD had sent him. And Lot went with them. And after a time Abram left Egypt with his wife and all that he had, and Lot went with them, and Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and in gold.
So they traveled to a place called Bethel, where there was an altar that Abram had built before, and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. Lot also had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle and tents. But the land was not large enough for all of them to live together because Abram and Lot had so much, and so quarreling began between the herdmen of Abram's cattle, and the herdmen of Lot's cattle.
So Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no quarreling between you and me, or between your herdmen and my herdmen, for we are brothers." Abram and Lot were relatives, but they are called brothers because they were both believers in the LORD, just as Christians are brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus.
And Abram also said "Isn't there all this land before you? I ask you to separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, I will go to the right, or if you go to the right, I will go to the left." And so Lot looked and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it had lots of water everywhere. That was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And so Lot chose all the plain of Jordan, and he journeyed east, and Abram and Lot separated themselves from each other.
Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and put his tent up towards the city of Sodom. But the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinned before the LORD very much.
And the LORD said to Abram after Lot was separated from him "Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and to the west. For all this land that you see, I will give to you, and to your children forever. And I will make your children as many as the dust of the earth: So get up, and walk through the land, for I will give it to you.
Then Abram removed his tent, and went to live in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Memory Verse: Genesis 13:4 "And they traveled to a place called Bethel, where there was an altar that Abram had built before, and there Abram called on the name of the LORD."
Note to Parents: This story so stresses the difference between following the Lord as opposed to doing what is right in your own eyes. Lot chose the plain of Jordan because it looked good to him, and chose to live near a city where the men were very evil. But Abram was a peacemaker and worshipped and followed the leading of the Lord.
Questions:
1. What relation were Abram and Lot to each other?
2. Why were Abram's herdmen and Lot's herdmen quarreling with each other?
3. Why did Lot choose the plain of Jordan to live?
4. What was wrong in the city of Sodom?
5. What did the LORD promise Abram he would give him?
Answers:
1. Lot was Abram's nephew
2. Because the land wasn't large enough to hold all their cattle and sheep
3. Because he saw that it had lots of water, he liked the way it looked.
4. The men of the city were very, very wicked and sinned before the LORD.
5. All the land to the north, south, east and west to his children.
Vicki C. Gross/Mar'03