GOD APPEARS TO ABRAHAM AND REAFFIRMS HIS PROMISE

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“And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him” —here is the third appearance of God to this man.

“Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.” This is the land God is going to give him.

As God continued to appear to Abram and later on to the other patriarchs, God put sideboards around that land.

In other words, He put a border to it and told them exactly what the land was. He was very specific about it.

Genesis 13:14-18 KJV

[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.

Genesis 13:14

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:

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Directly Lot departs, God draws near to Abraham. The Lord tells Abraham that the Promises are given to him, and not to Lot.

In the prior passage, Abram and Lot have separated in order to avoid conflict between their growing families (Genesis 13:1–9).

Lot chose to live in the rich, but spiritually depraved region near Sodom, while Abram settled further out into the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:10–13). Lot’s decision will not only involve him in a war (Genesis 14:1–16), it will eventually lead to his complete ruin (Genesis 19).

The wording of this passage is interesting for its parallel to Lot’s decision. There, Lot is said to have lifted his eyes, by his own will (Genesis 13:10), here, however, Abram only “lifts his eyes” to view land at the command of God.

After Lot moved himself and all his possessions away from Abram, the LORD—Yahweh—visits Abram once more. This echoes verse 10, where Lot lifted his eyes to survey and then claim the land along the Jordan river.

Lot did so at Abram’s invitation. Now God instructs Abram to lift his own eyes and look in every direction, north, south, east, and west. In the following verse, God will again promise to give to Abram and his descendants all the land Abram can see.

Genesis 13:15

For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever.

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The modern Palestinians should look at the statement, “And to your seed forever.”

In the previous verse, the Lord instructed Abram to lift up his eyes and to look in every direction. Abram may have been standing at an elevated spot north of Bethel, which would have given a good view of the territories all around him.

There, the Lord reiterates His promise to Abram. God will give to Abram and his descendants all the land that he can see, and it will be theirs forever.

In fact, this adds to the promise God had given to Abram earlier, both in the scope of the land and in the eternal possession of it.

Earlier verses described Lot “lifting his eyes” by his own will (Genesis 13:10) to look at the region of Sodom. This might be a spiritual parallel to Eve’s assessment of the fruit in Eden (Genesis 3:6).

Here, however, Abram has only “lifted his eyes” at the request of God. This, if nothing else, demonstrates Abram’s growing trust and submission to God.

Genesis 13:16

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.

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Sarah is barren, and yet God promises a number beyond comprehension. This includes not only the Jews who serve the Lord, but also every Gentile Believer who has ever lived.

God continues to reaffirm His promises to Abram and to expand on them. Not only will the Lord give Abram children and make of his offspring a great nation, God will make them so numerous as to be uncountable.

Such a promise must have been both comforting and confusing to a childless man in his 70s.

Using a potent analogy, God describes the number of Abram’s descendants as like the dust of the earth. This echoes the concept of man being formed from the dust of the earth, when God originally created Adam (Genesis 2:7).

Here, however, the point is about how numerous these descendants will be. Interestingly, the comparison does not involve something like sand, which typically is “counted” by grains (Isaiah 48:19).

Here, even the idea of how to “count” dust is mind-boggling. From both a physical and spiritual perspective, Abraham’s children will number beyond the ability of the human mind to comprehend (Romans 9:7–9; Galatians 3:7).

Genesis 13:17

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

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This is a walk of Faith.

In the previous verses, the Lord reaffirmed and expanded on his promises to Abram. Abram and his descendants would possess all the land he could see forever, and those descendants would be so numerous as to be uncountable.

The analogy of “dust” speaks to man’s creation by God (Genesis 2:7), as well as the immense number of descendants. Unlike sand, which could possibly can be counted by grains, “dust” is baffling to attempt to “count.”

In both a spiritual and physical sense, Abram’s descendants will be unimaginably numerous (Romans 9:7–9; Galatians 3:7).

Now God instructs Abram to walk throughout both the length and the breadth of the land. Apparently, this was so that Abram could take possession of the land God had given to him, even if his descendants would not fully occupy or possess the land for many years to come.

This process would have been the equivalent of measuring the land; in ancient times, taking the measure of something was a sign of ownership.

Genesis 13:18

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.

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There was no Altar in Sodom, which Lot chose. All who travel in that direction are in quest of something quite different from that. It is never the worship of God, but the love of the world that leads them thither.

Abraham builds an Altar unto the Lord, which means that his Faith is reestablished in Christ, and what Christ will do to redeem humanity by dying on the Cross. Hebron was about 22 miles south of Jerusalem, on the way to Beer-sheba.

In the previous verses, the Lord reaffirmed and expanded on His promises to Abram to give him and his descendants the land and to make of his descendants a great nation.

Finally, the Lord told Abram to walk the length and width of the land. This process suggests measuring the territory, which in ancient times was often used as a symbolic gesture of ownership.

Abram then moves south of Bethel near the town of Hebron. He settles there by the oaks or great trees belonging to Mamre, an Amorite man who will be revealed as an ally of Abram in chapter 14.

Abram built an altar to the Lord, Yahweh, in this place. He would continue his worship of God there. This area will become important to Israel, as Abram and the other patriarchs (Isaac and Jacob) will all be buried east of Mamre in the cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:17-19).

I hope that you have really enjoyed this post,

 

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