The Lust of the Eye

And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.

But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. – Genesis 13:10-11, 13.

THE story of the separation of two brethren because of sins which had been committed in their lives previously is a sad one. Lot, the nephew of Abram, had never learned to walk by faith, but only by sight. His actions were entirely controlled by what he saw, not by what he heard the word of the Lord say. In 2 Corinthians Paul writes:

For we walk by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7.

The Lord expects the believer to walk by faith and the promises of God alone. This is what makes Abraham the great example of faith; for the author of Hebrews tells us:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. – Hebrews 11:8 (Emphasis mine).

When God called Abram, He did not show him where he was going at all. Abram was supposed to go in faith, without sight. God speaks to us and expects us to believe Him upon the testimony of His word without any additional evidence, if need be, except the hearing of faith. How different it is with the natural man. The natural man wants to see instead of believe. God says “faith is the evidence of things not seen,” but man says sight is the evidence—“seeing is believing.” This last phrase is the slogan of the world.

The difference between these two ways is illustrated in a most striking way in the history of Abram and Lot. Abram heard God’s word, believed it and acted upon it. Lot wanted to see instead. We read of him that he “lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan . . . Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan.” God’s Word says to us, “incline thine ear and hear,” but Lot closed his ears, and opened his eyes instead. This was the great mistake in the life of Lot. He chose wicked Sodom, on the evidence of what his eyes beheld. Abram had made his choice on the basis of faith in what God had said. Lot made his choice by sight, and ended in disaster, while Abram’s choice of faith ended in victory.

We are endowed normally with five senses: feeling, smelling, tasting, hearing and seeing. Through these five senses we receive all of our physical and mental impressions, but it is through two of these particularly, seeing and hearing, that we receive by far the greatest bulk of these impressions. We are influenced in our moral and spiritual life almost entirely by what we hear and by what we see, rather than by what we feel, taste and smell. The two wide gates to the soul of man are the ear and the eye.

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.