Sermon Tone Analysis
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This week is a journey of sorts.
It’s a journey that we can all relate too.
It’s a journey that’s very much like the human experience and especially the Christian life.
It’s a journey that we can all relate too.
Let’s go ahead and look at all of , so please open your Bibles to , and follow along with me as I read it now.
(ESV)
1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first.
And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,
6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together,
7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock.
At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.
9 Is not the whole land before you?
Separate yourself from me.
If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar.
(This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east.
Thus they separated from each other.
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
The first 4 verses of our text describe spiritual dryness.
I’m sure you’ve experienced spiritual dryness.
Your spiritual life has been rather flat.
It’s been rather ordinary.
You fondly look back on times of excitement for the Lord, and wonder where those days went.
And so you pursue something.
Perhaps you long to get away and simply be refreshed.
A couple weeks ago, when we went to the Sierras, I know that a few of us up there were longing for that.
To simply enjoy God’s creation.
Not have to hear the sounds of cars, or respond to text messages.
Simply to enjoy God’s creation, spend time in His Word and pray.
This passage begins with Abram in a period of spiritual dryness.
He’s been through some not so great times.
In fact, I’d say it was a low point in his life.
He went to Egypt, and to save his own skin, … he lied about Sarah, and said she was his sister.
And in return for the lie, thinking that Sarah was available, Pharaoh took her to be his wife.
And in return, not only spared Abraham’s life, but gave him a lot of riches as well.
Abraham was a bit of a weasel in the last chapter.
Thankfully, the Lord, faithful to His promises, restored Abraham.
God sent great plagues into Egypt, causing them to rethink the marriage.
Sarah was given back to Abraham, and Abraham was kicked out of Egypt.
He’s kicked out a wealthy man.
But he’s kicked out a humiliated man as well.
And I’m sure the marriage suffered as well.
Abraham finds himself, with his nephew Lot, back in the Promised Land.
They are in between two major cities, Bethel and Ai.
These two cities are very close, less than 2 miles apart from each other.
And it’s here, in the middle of a rough time, just humbled, that he makes an altar to the Lord, and he begins to worship God.
It says he calls on the name of the Lord.
He’s seeking some kind of religious experience.
Perhaps you’ve done this before.
You do all the right stuff.
Abraham’s doing the right thing, he’s calling on God, that’s good.
But it’s not working.
And the same thing happens for you.
You go to church - still dry.
You open up your Bible - still dry.
You’re desiring something, and yet there’s this disconnect in your spiritual.
You don’t know what it is.
You start asking for a sign.
You maybe even begin doubting if there is a God.
There’s something interesting about Abraham’s situation.
Back in the beginning of , in what is called, the Abrahamic Covenant, it begins with a command from God.
says, “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
Do you see those words?
What’s he supposed to do?
Leave his family and his father’s house.
God isn’t making this promise to Abraham’s extended family, his father, or even his uncle.
God’s making this promise only to Abraham.
He’s supposed to leave his family and go somewhere else.
Then, if you skip down to verse 4, it says, “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.
...”
Do you see a problem here?
“Leave your family.”
- Lot comes with him.
Now here we are in chapter 13, and it begins with, “So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ...”
I again think of those words - “Leave your family.”
- And yet, he’s never quite cut the ties.
He hasn’t obeyed God.
So, after being humiliated in Egypt.
After, humiliating his wife in Egypt.
After, humiliating Pharoah.
Abraham is at a low point, and he pursues God.
He goes to God, and yet he hasn’t obeyed God.
Lot’s there right next to him.
Lot’s presence is equal to sin, because he was supposed to separate from Lot.
He calls out to God, “God help me!” and yet, he’s living in sin.
This is what I’m getting at.
You ever have a low point in your spiritual life, and yet, there is sin right in front of your eyes.
You ever cry out to God and say, “God why am I so empty?
God where are you!” and then your life is filled with sin.
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