Promises of Never-ending Blessing

Genesis 13 

1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell 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. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
    8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
    10 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. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
    14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”   18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.

After Abram’s fearful deception with Pharaoh in Egypt, he returned to the promised land with all the riches he gained.  He came back to Bethel and to the altar to the Lord he made there; he again called on God’s name in worship, likely thankful for the deliverance from his situation as well as the famine’s end.  The problem now was his prosperity; both Lot and himself had so much riches in animals that they needed to separate from each other to feed them with different grazing grounds.  Abram gave Lot the first choice of land from what God gave him, and his nephew chose the fertile plain of the Jordan, leaving the land of Canaan to Abram.  Ah, but the plain contained sinful Sodom (so sinful that their perversion is now named after that place).  Abram, however, was reassured by God of the covenant of land and descendants to be given to him forever.  God reminded him that his future offspring would be as innumerable as the dust of the earth which God made man from, and so commanded him to take a walk through this promised land and consider the promise’s ramifications.  Abram did so, and then set up His tent in a new place with another altar to worship from.  We see how God’s promises are covenanted and that we are ourselves the recipients of them through Christ; we have a heavenly land promised as children of faith as Abram who trusted God and was given the new name of Abraham.  As children of promise we look forward to a far greater and eternal inheritance by the God of Abraham who is more than able to fulfill every word.