Eyes of Greed (Genesis 13)

 Eyes of Greed

When Abram came out of Egypt, he was very rich. Lot, his brother, was rich too.

But the land could not hold them anymore. This caused strife between the herdmen of Abram and the herdmen of Lot. 

But Abram was a peaceful man and he wanted no strife. He proposed to separate from each other. 

He said:


[Gen 13:8-9 KJV] 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: 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.


This was noble and peaceful. 

Lot got to make the decision. But the way he made the decision without even taking the consequences into account was detrimental:


[Gen 13:10-13 KJV] 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. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched [his] tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom [were] wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.


Lot chose the beautiful and rich plain of Jordan. He chose with greed and Abram got the lesser part.

Lot didn’t even give Abram a chance and no fair partition was made.

He just made his choice and went on.

But his greed was even worse. In these plains the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were present. The people there were very wicked. Instead of avoiding these places while he still could, he chose the place because of the convenient riches. He didn’t even avoid the cities themselves, because later on it is recorded he lived in Sodom itself.

But, as described in these verses already, God would later destroy this place and the whole place would be transformed. It would not be so rich anymore.

Lot’s choice of greed became detrimental. Later on he would lose his wife because of it and his daughters were infected by Sodom's wickedness.  

Making our choice on the basis of what looks more worthy may seem convenient and desirable, but other factors should be taken into account. It is easy to forget other factors when our eyes are out for property, but this is why proper thought should be given to these real issues.


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