Abram and Lot are opposite in many ways. Abram walked by faith; Lot walked by sight. Abram was magnanimous; Lot was greedy. Abram looked for city whose builder and maker wasGod; Lot made his home in cities built by wicked men which were later destroyed by God. Abram becomes the father of all them that believe; Lot becomes the father (through incest) of 2 different pagan nations—the Moabites and Ammonites.Concerning Abraham, Romans 4:13 says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to hisseed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Gen. 19:30 tells us that Lot lived in a cave. Thus, Abram inherits the world through righteousness of faith, Lot is not heard from again. So, it should not be a surprise to us that eventually, they part ways.

Faith is always tested, and now we learn that there was a famine in the land. Abram steps out in faith, and now comes face to face with famine. In fact, Abram now heads downto Egypt as if to be driven into a famine enforced exile from the very land God promised. I’m glad that God’s Word not only records the great victories of our great God, but it also records the humanity—the shortcomings and sins of thosewhom God calls. God did not call Abram because of Abram’s perfection. No, God called Abram that God Himself would be glorified. Today, we’re going to see that Abram does not do everything perfectly, yet God’s promises remain. God’smercy is everlasting. God’s grace is even upon the vile sinner, and His plan plan will not fail.

There is a lot to study in chapter 11, and I encourage you to read it on your own time. It will lead us to the text for today. As a summary of the things you will find there, there is a genealogy that takes us from Shem, the son of Noah to Abram who will soon experience a name change to Abraham. The setting is a time of warriors, shepherds, and builders all leaving the tower of Babel and the plain of Mesopotamia. I made mention of the Babylonian heart last week, and that iscertainly what traveled with the idolatrous pagans as they ventured out. Not only are the humans estranged from each other, but they are also estranged from the one true and living God. If we were to go through the remainder of chapter11, we would find that man’s years of life are shortened, fulfilling God’s promise from Genesis 6:3. Historicalevidence shows us that the predominate religion at this time in the land of Ur was the worship of a moon-god named Nanna. Joshua 24:2 lets us know that even Terah, Abraham’s father did not serve the one true and living God. It says, “Yourfathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.” This is significant because it is in thisenvironment that Abram not only hears God’s word, but by faith he obeys.