(vv. 1-18) So Abram went up out of Egypt with his wife, and with all that he had, and Lot also with him, toward the south. Abram was loaded with cattle, silver and gold. And he went on his way from the south even unto Bethel, unto the place where his tabernacle was first, between Bethel and Ai, even unto the place where he had made the altar before: and there he called upon the name of the LORD. And Lot, which went with Abram, had also flocks, and herds, and tents; and the land could not bear that they should dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together. And there was always strife between the shepherds over Abram's cattle and the shepherds over Lot's cattle. And the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt in the land at that time. Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between me and you, or between my herdsmen and yours.
teu, because we are brothers. Isn't all land open to you? Dear, part from me. If thou wilt go to the left, I will go to the right; or if thou wilt go to the right, I will go to the left. Then Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the region of Jordan: for before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was full of water, even unto Zoar, as the garden of God, even as the land of Egypt. Then Lot bought him the whole region of Jordan, and went toward the east. So one brother separated himself from another, and Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot in the cities of the same region, and pitched his tent in Sodom. But the people of Sodom were wicked, and sinned greatly against the Lord. And it came to pass, when Lot was departed from Abram, that the LORD said unto Abram, Lift up thine eyes, and behold from the place where thou dwellest, toward the north, toward the midst.
day^ toward the morning, and toward the evening; for all the land which thou seest I will give thee, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. If a man can number the dust of the earth, he shall number thy seed also. Arise therefore, and go through the land, into the length and breadth thereof; for unto thee will I give it. So Abram raised his tents, and came and dwelt in the grove of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
This is a short, easy chapter, and actually written for the sake of God's promise. For here you see the very first promise that he makes to Abram about this land. For in the previous chapter we heard that God told him to go out, but did not point to any other land, leaving him hovering between heaven and earth, moving from time to time, so that he did not yet know what the actual land was until he came out of Egypt again and parted from his brother. Then he said, "This is the land I promised to give you," confirming and explaining the promise he made in the previous chapter.
(2) This is first of all the cause why it is written; there it stands in the bottom. For the promise that the Jews should take the land and possess it is therefore taken, and 1) is always afterwards continued. [But it is also written, that it may be seen how God does not desist from those who believe, as long as they do not desist; but as he sends one affliction after another, so also one comfort follows another; so that it is finely mixed, that now the sun shines, now it rains, and now it is dark, that they may be tempted in good and evil at the same time. He let Abram go a good while after the comfort in Egypt, but it lasted a year or two until the shepherds quarreled with each other that he should separate from his brother. Now another comfort comes, but it gives him room to wander, and he is a sojourner and a stranger here and there until Hebron, where he remains. Thus this chapter also indicates the pilgrimage of the holy father.
1) "and" is missing in the Erlanger.
This is now also part of his faith, that he has walked with his brother's son until now, but now he must also separate from him; it is also an example of love. Since his and his cousin's shepherds could not get along, which he undoubtedly tried many times, he does what he can, stakes his good and friendship on it with Lot, before he breaks the love, and lets anger and strife become. We are so skilled that we may quarrel and rumble over a drink of beer. He is in a foreign country with his wife and servants, yet he holds so firmly to love and peace that he puts everything he has into it, thus remaining in harmony with his brother and allowing him to choose his own advantage. Another would not have divorced him so easily. Thus one sees how they have been righteous children of God.
In the last also here is described the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. To understand this, one must know the occasion. The Promised Land is situated so that it has Egypt toward the evening and the Jordan toward the morning. At the end of the Jordan is the sea called the Dead Sea, in which the five cities were drowned, as we shall hear. The same land, before it was turned back and sunk (says the text), was full of water as a garden of God, like Egypt land. There he praises it highly, and especially indicates that Egypt is more delicious than the promised land, which is as pleasant as if God Himself had planted and prepared it; however, it was a lard pit, the right core and soil of the land, since everything was enough; after that Bethlehem is not far from it, even deliciously situated.
(5) This is why, in addition to the story of Abram, he shows that worldly good and faith are hardly together. For because the land was so delicious, rich and full, they became bad boys who asked nothing of God and his word. If they had been more pious, they might have suffered sorrow and hardship. That is why abundance and full sufficiency lead them into such sin and vice that God had to destroy them. This was also indicated by the prophet Ezekiel j^Cap. 16, 49. 50.]: "This was the sin of your sister Sodoma," he says to Jerusalem, "hope, abundance of bread, and plenty, and her idleness, and her daughters," the
The people of the land, the villages and the countryside around, "and that she gave no hand to the poor, no one could come up to her; therefore she became proud, and did such abominations, that I destroyed her.
6 Therefore, I say, where it is full, there is not much grace; but where it is narrow, there is skill. As we see: When one is full and has no lack, there is no one who looks to God; again, when one suffers hunger for one day, everyone cries out. So the world does nothing, except that it is
God is angry with good and riches; if he does not give them, they are angry. Thus, Scripture indicates that God likes to deal with the poor, and how dangerous it is to live in abundance; when He gives much, we cannot moderate ourselves, we must abuse it. Therefore it is a great mercy that he lets the common rabble have little, otherwise he becomes 1) so naughty that fes] no one can suffer, as Solomon says in Proverbs.
1) In the issues: wills.