Same Lesson Again

IN THE case of Abram and Lot we have the same experience graphically repeated. God had said, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred”; but instead, Abram took Lot along. God must discipline Abram again for his disobedience. Lot became a source of grief and sorrow during all the life of this man of God. After Abram went down into Egypt, because he, a believer, would not trust his God for the material things of life, he only laid himself open to still more and greater sorrow. He took something back from Egypt which would bring untold trouble into his life. No believer can backslide or disobey and be the same again afterwards. He becomes a “crippled priest.” He limits his Christian growth and stunts his life of faith.

Now, we would call your attention to the cattle which Abram evidently brought with him from Egypt and which he did not have before.

In Genesis 13:2 we read:

Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

Now this is the very first mention of cattle in the life of Abram. Before Abram had gone into Egypt he was a shepherd; he returns a cattleman, and these cattle became the occasion for the sad story of the strife between Abram and his nephew Lot recorded in this chapter. Notice that the strife was not between Abram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds. Twice we are definitely reminded that it was strife among the herdsmen and the cattlemen of Abram and Lot. Now this is a very significant statement. Before Abram went to Egypt there is no mention of cattle; now after his backsliding, he has gone into the cattle business.

What bearing, you may ask, has this on the strife between Abram and Lot? It has everything to do with this battle; for sheep can graze and forage where cattle would starve to death. Sheep crop the grass; cows graze. Sheep have teeth in both the upper and the lower jaws; cattle have teeth only in the lower jaw, the front upper jaws being absolutely toothless. As a result, sheep can crop the grass right down to the ground, to the very roots, but cows can only graze where the grass is long enough for them to grasp it with their tongues and to cut it off by holding it against their lower jaw and moving the head upward. Moreover, sheep are noted for eating almost anything—weeds, twigs, branches—and browsing on trees as well as grazing on grass. Hence, land able to support an abundance of sheep may be wholly unable to support an equivalent amount of cattle. This will explain, then, the fact that while the land was able to bear both Abram and Lot’s shepherds, it could not begin to bear the cattle they had brought down from Egypt, the type and symbol of the world.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.