SEPARATION

“’All the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.’”
Genesis 13:15

Avram had heard it before, a variant of it at least. In Genesis 12:2 he had been told by Adonai that he would be made into a great nation, with his name great and people blessed. Now he was hearing another version of the same prophecy. Adonai was telling him that all the land set before him in every direction, north, south, east, and west, would belong to him and his descendants. And not only would the land be his, but Adonai was also prophesying to him that his people would be as numerous as the dust, too great to even be counted. Avram was receiving confirmation to a word previously spoken to him. But it came with change. There was a weight that Avram first had to part with. The confirmation of Adonai to Avram did not come until first he parted ways with Lot (Gen 13:9). Fighting was breaking out between the two tribes as they shared land and resources and as a result the two had to part ways.
Reading this story so many times from childhood till now, it looks like just another story, another short history lesson, or another use of a page. But this piece of the account needs to be there. If it was absent we would miss the words repeated by Adonai to Avram. If it was missing we would not know how Lot eventually made his way toward Sodom and ‘Amora. And if it was gone we may not catch what I feel Adonai is saying to us right now. What has Adonai spoken to you? What has He placed in your heart just as he did in Avram’s? What prophecy has He given you that has not yet come to pass?
Do you notice that it wasn’t until Lot and Avram split that Adonai confirmed His word? I, myself, have received words of prophecy over the years. Not all of them have come to pass yet, however. Were they just nice fluffy words then that someone spoke, pretending to hear from Adonai? No. I believe they were His words. But I also am beginning to see that they may be on hold because I have not broken apart from my Lot. Avram was not free to be what Adonai called him to be until first he distanced himself from Lot. Just as true, I cannot be what Adonai has called me to be until first I distance myself from the sin that wants to entangle me (Heb 12:1). Sin will hold me down and prevent me from being used in the full measure that Adonai has for me. Honestly, I don’t want to be skipped over because of something that has no lifelong value.
I read this account and I hear it speaking directly to me. I hear it saying to me to separate myself from Lot. I hear it say this is the time to separate myself from the sin that is preventing me from moving out in what Adonai is calling me to. Do you hear it also?

Genesis 13:5-18