Right or Left?

                                                   

     by Joshua R. Walter of Versailles, Kentucky 

        Left or Right? You choose. I just wanted to warn you. 

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, into the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; into the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle:  and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 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. 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. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comedy unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

Genesis 13:1–13 

Let’s get a little backstory to what is going on here. In chapter twelve of Genesis, there is a famine in the land of Canaan. God has called Abram, who later becomes Abraham, to live in Canaan. But this famine causes Abram to flee to Egypt. As a quick side note, I don’t think Abram needed to do this. If you are in God’s will, you will never need to flee to the world because God failed you. God will never fail you. But Abram goes to Egypt because of the famine. Just before he gets there, he tells his wife, Sarai, that if asked by any of the Egyptians if she is his wife, she should reply that they are siblings. See, Sarai according to the Bible was fair to look upon. Abram thought that if any of the men of Egypt found out that they were married, they might kill Abram so they could have Sarai. Well, sure enough the men see Sarai and ask if she is married. She says no. She is taken to Pharaoh’s house. God plagues the house because of this and Pharaoh figures out the deception. Once he does, he kicks Abram, Sarai, and Abram’s nephew Lot out of the country. They then head back to Canaan. This is where the above Scripture picks up. 

When they get back to Canaan, the Bible makes an interesting statement: “unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning.” Side note: Whenever you get out of the will of God, when you get back where He wants you, you will find that He puts you right about where you were when you left. Abram left where he was supposed to be in Canaan and when he came back God put him back in the same place. 

Well, at this point both Abram and Lot are both wealthy, and in fact they have so much stuff, that they cannot live in the same area together. The Bible says that there was strife between their herdmen.  Maybe one herdsman stole a lamb from the other or something like that. However, it happened, it came about that they just had to separate. 

Here’s how I see it: Abram calls Lot up to a hill in the middle of the land. “Lot, we have to move away from each other. This just isn’t working, and we need to do this. So this is what I’m going to do. You see the land around us. Stake your claim on what land you want. You can go to your right and if you do then I’ll just go to our left. Or if you want the left then I can take the right. You choose.” I imagine Lot was silent for a minute looking over the land, thinking of the pros and cons of the two choices. Looking over on his left maybe he saw some trees for good shade. A couple of watering areas. Sufficient grass. But 

there was also a few more rocks than he preferred. Over on the right though it was well watered. A lot of green grass. Nice shaded places. But there was also something familiar. 

You see, God never puts anything in the Bible by accident. Every word, every phrase, has a purpose. And in Genesis 13:10 it says of Lot’s choice area, “like the land of Egypt.” I read that and I thought, “Now why would God put that in the Bible?” I think I know why. The way the Bible reads, it seems that Lot never wanted to leave Egypt. It was the middle of a famine and Egypt had food. Egypt had wealth and prosperity. It had everything Lot could want. He never intended to leave. But then when Pharaoh ordered Abram to leave Lot was forced to go with him. And the entire way home, Lot was looking over his shoulder, wishing he could have stayed. Now, looking over this plain, Lot is thinking that something about it looks familiar. It takes a moment, but then he realizes what it is: this land looks just like Egypt did. Lot’s eyes maybe glazed over a little bit. Then he turns to Uncle Abram. “I’m going over there. You can go over that way to the left. I’ll go right.” And they split up. Here is a warning: if you are making a decision where you are not going to be around your spiritual leader, don’t go closer to the world than you already are. Abram was Lot’s spiritual leader. And when they split up Lot went closer to the world than farther. He set himself up for failure. In the Bible, Egypt represents the world. This land looked like Egypt. It was in the Promised Land, but it looked like Egypt. If it looks like the world, acts like the world, sings like the world, dresses like the world, curses like the world, drinks like the world, is even similar to the world, then it probably is the world! It may have the word Baptist on the sign out front, but I hesitate at a church with dim lighting, fog and smoke machines, rock ‘n roll bands with the name ‘praise and worship team’, laser lights and all that goes with that. You know what that looks like? A rock ‘n roll concert! It looks like the world, so how can it be a church. God called us to be separate from the world, not to look, act, sound, and dress like it. 

So Lot pitches his tent toward Sodom. Now I am not sure if this means that he faced the door of his tent toward Sodom, or if he just moved in that direction. In the end it does not matter. Either option is equally destructive. 

Here’s where I start saying what I have been setting up. When Lot chose to go right, in the direction of Sodom, it took very little time to actually go into Sodom. In the end, this one decision had unforeseen consequences. 

(1. Sodom stole Lot’s wealth. 

In chapter fourteen, we see Lot living in Sodom. The city is attacked and captured. Lot, his family, and also that he had was taken. Abram rescues them, but I doubt Lot ever regained that same level of wealth. His decision to move toward Sodom, toward the world and away from God and his good influences caused him to fully embrace the world. And it cost him his wealth. Lot entered Sodom as a wealthy man and died in a cave penniless. Abram entered Canaan wealthy and died surrounded by his family and his wealth. Not consumed by wealth, but surrounded by it.

(2. Sodom stole Lot’s self-respect. 

Just before God destroyed Sodom, He sent two angels to rescue Lot. Lot accepted these men into his home. But while they were there the men of the city came to the door. They say that Lot must bring the two strangers out “that we may know them.” To those of you who don’t know, this does not mean a casual conversation around a table with coffee and donuts talking about family history. In the Bible this word “know” is referring to an intimacy only proper for a man and his wife. These men could be equated to our modern day LGBTQI+ agenda, perverted people that “do those things which are not convenient” as the apostle Paul says.

Lot knew what these men wanted. It had a bit of a reputation, and it still does in fact. Is it possible that he knew this from personal experience? Had he been in these immoral relationships? It is possible. The world steals your self-respect. 

(3. Sodom stole Lot’s family. 

Running from the destruction of Sodom, Lot’s wife looked back, much as Lot looked back at Egypt.  Instantly, she was turned to salt. Imagine being Lot. Everything you have is being destroyed. You have no real idea of what to do next. All you know is that you have to get yourself and your family to safety. And then you feel your wife’s hand turn into salt in yours. 

When Lot and his daughters were in the cave, his daughters conceived by their father. Their sons became Moab and Ammon. Ever since that day these two nations have warred with Israel. Throughout the Bible you see this. When Lot decided to go to the right toward Sodom, Sodom stole his family. Looking at Sodom from the hillside, standing next to his uncle, Lot never guessed what could happen. I’m sure he saw many seemingly happy people going into the city. There was laughing. When he pitched his tent toward Sodom, he heard what he thought was music. Going into Sodom, Lot saw what appeared to be finery and riches. But going out of Sodom as his wife dies beside him, he sees Sodom for what it really is. All that finery, the music, the laughter, it was all merely a superficial wrapping over the pain, misery, addiction, and heartache that was the true Sodom. 

Maybe you are at a place where you are about to make that same decision: toward God or toward Sodom. Sodom looks inviting. Sometimes God’s will look rocky. Sodom will pull you, entice you, coerce you. God will speak in a still, small voice. A quiet knocking. 

Left or right? You choose. I just wanted to warn you. 

-Joshua R. Walter