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Abraham and Lot represent two categories of people who answer God’s calling, and the two ways that they take with the two kinds of results. Those who answer God’s calling may take the way of faith by following God, or they may take the way of turning back to the world by themselves. Those who take the former way are under a blessing, and those who take the latter suffer loss and receive a curse.
After no more than ten generations and through a period of approximately three hundred years (Gen. 11:10-26), the descendants of Noah’s family, which was separated from the corrupted world by the judgment of the flood, departed from God’s way and fell into Babel, an evil realm that was filled with idols. As a result, they could no longer be used by God to carry out His economy on earth. Thus, in the land of idolatry God called Abraham out from the idolatrous people (Josh. 24:2), telling him to go out of the land of idolatry and out from his idolatrous kindred and his father’s house, and to come into the land that God would show him (Acts 7:2-3), the land of Canaan. This was God’s new beginning with fallen man, and it was also a new beginning for the one who was fallen and was called. God gave up the created Adamic race and called Abraham with his descendants that they might be a new race; thus, with the called race God was able to continue His eternal purpose. In this way, Abraham became the father of the new, called race.
Abraham was in a place and environment that were far from God, fallen, and idolatrous. However, because the God of glory appeared to him (Acts 7:2), he was able by faith to accept God’s calling and obey God to go out from his country, his kindred, and his father’s house. He went out from Chaldea without knowing where he was going (Heb. 11:8). Thus, he had to trust in God for His instant leading, taking God’s presence as the map by which he traveled. When he arrived at the place that God had promised to show him, he could not immediately possess the land. So, by faith he dwelt in tents as a foreigner in that land, as in a land not his own (Heb. 11:9), and believed God’s word of promise: that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Because of such faith he was justified by God (Gen. 15:4-6; Rom. 4:3) and became the father of all who are justified by faith (Rom. 4:11-12).
Abraham, the father of faith, believed the God who gives life to the dead and calls the things not being as being (Rom. 4:17). Being about a hundred years of age, he considered himself and his wife old and unable to beget children; yet he was not weakened in faith, but was fully persuaded that God could give him a seed (Rom. 4:19, 21). Wherefore also there was born of him, as of one who had become dead, even as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand by the seashore innumerable (Heb. 11:12). This was Abraham’s believing that God is able to call the things not being as being.
After Abraham received a son, Isaac, from the God who calls things not being as being, he was tested by God, who told Him to offer up his only begotten son to Him as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:2). He obeyed and offered up Isaac (Gen. 22:9-10), believing that God was able to raise him from among the dead, whence he also received him back in a figure (Heb. 11:19). This was Abraham’s believing that God is able to give life to the dead. Thus, he, as the father of faith, took the way of faith, and the life he lived was the life of faith. By faith he lived as a sojourner in the land, always pitching a tent and building an altar and calling on the name of Jehovah (Gen. 12:7-8; 13:3-4, 18). His building an altar meant that he offered everything to God that he might have fellowship with God, worship God, and serve God. His pitching a tent indicated that he did not belong to this world; rather, he testified to the people who had built a city and a tower to declare their own name that his living was for God and that he was only a stranger and a sojourner on the earth. He waited for the city which has the foundations (Heb. 11:10), that is, the New Jerusalem. Hence, his tent was a miniature of the New Jerusalem. As he lived in that tent, he was living in a miniature of the New Jerusalem. His tent became the place where he had fellowship with God (cf. Gen. 18). Thus, by faith he built an altar and pitched a tent, and walked and lived before God.
As a person who walked and lived before God, Abraham lived in fellowship with God (Gen. 18) as one who called on the name of Jehovah, the living God (Gen. 21:33). The third altar that he built for Jehovah was at the oaks of Mamre, which were in Hebron (Gen. 13:18). Hebron means “fellowship.” Abraham’s building an altar and staying in Hebron shows that he not only worshipped and served God but also lived in constant fellowship with God. Hence, it was at the oaks of Mamre that God appeared to him in a human form (Gen. 18:1-21). God considered Abraham His intimate friend (Isa. 41:8; James 2:23), and Abraham welcomed God as a friend, inviting God to rest under the tree in front of his tent, preparing water that God might wash His feet for His refreshment, and feeding God with a rich meal for His satisfaction. Furthermore, he received revelation from God regarding the birth of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom. The birth of Isaac is related to Christ, and the destruction of Sodom is related to God’s judgment on sin. God showed Abraham that, in order to accomplish His plan for the fulfillment of His purpose, Christ had to come and sin had to go. This is the important revelation that Abraham received as he lived in fellowship with God.
As a person who lived by faith in fellowship with God, Abraham was able to overcome the striving of his brother and to give in to his brother (Gen. 13:7-11). He knew that he was in the hand of God and under the care of God. Therefore, when his herdsmen strove with Lot’s herdsmen, he trusted in God’s care, not striving for himself or choosing for himself. He even fought for his brother (Gen. 14:12-16). After Lot separated himself from Abraham, pitched his tent toward Sodom, and was taken captive, Abraham took three hundred and eighteen men from his house to fight against the four kings and their armies. With a small number he defeated a much larger number of men and thereby rescued Lot. Then God supplied Abraham’s need in a timely manner, sending His priest, Melchisedec, to minister bread and wine to him and to bless him (Gen. 14:17-20). Abraham’s victory adjusted and restored the entire situation, and testified to the fact that God is the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. Abraham also went one step further, overcoming the temptation of earthly possessions (Gen. 14:22-23).
Although Lot went back to Sodom after he was rescued, Abraham never lost his concern for him. Hence, in his fellowship with God, when he heard that God would destroy Sodom, he repeatedly interceded before God for Lot (Gen. 18:22-32). As a result, when God overthrew Sodom, He remembered Abraham’s intercession and delivered Lot from destruction (Gen. 19:29).
As a person who walked and lived by faith and in fellowship with God, Abraham was favored by God with the promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed in his seed and that he also would become one who would be blessed and not be cursed (Gen. 22:18; 12:2-3). This is the covenant of promise that God made with Abraham. It was the precursor of the covenant of grace in the New Testament, and it was also connected with that covenant. Hence, the New Testament says that by giving Abraham the covenant of promise, God preached the gospel to him, saying that all those from among the nations who would believe into his seed, Christ, would be blessed with him (Gal. 3:8-9); that is, they would receive the all-inclusive Spirit as the ultimate consummation of the Triune God, who reaches us (Gal. 3:14).
Abraham was one who had faith in God, walked and lived by faith, lived in fellowship with God, and called on the name of Jehovah. Yet, even such a one, when he encountered temptation, left the place appointed by God and went downhill, going down to Egypt, where he even lied by telling the truth, caring not for his wife but for himself (Gen. 12:10-20). In that failure he was kept by God (Gen. 12:17-19) and learned the lesson that God took care of him in every situation. After that failure Abraham lived in intimate fellowship with God (Gen. 18). However, a short time later he repeated the same failure by journeying toward the south, toward Egypt. Moreover, he again used his old tactic and thereby exposed his hidden weakness, which was to sacrifice his wife for his own preservation. However, God still cared for him. He delivered Abraham and his wife from evil and considered him His prophet who would pray for the barren one, though he and his wife also were barren at that time (Gen. 20). His experience tells us that even such a great man of faith still needed God’s mercy and care. Abraham’s story was a model. Throughout the ages, many who have fully believed in God and have lived in God’s presence by faith have had the same defect and weakness that Abraham had, yet they have still received God’s mercy and care and have even been used by God to minister God’s blessing to others.
The foregoing weakness manifested by Abraham shows us further that, although he was a great man who had faith in God, he had not matured in the spiritual life. That he was immature can be proved also by the fact that he remarried and begot children after Sarah’s death (Gen. 25:1-2). This also is a negative model, showing that a person may be called, have faith, live in fellowship with God, and be led by God in his living and actions, yet he may not be fully transformed and may not be a complete pattern.
As one of the historical figures in the Bible, Abraham cannot signify a complete, spiritually mature person; he can signify only the initial stage of the experience and life of a spiritually mature person, a stage that includes such experiences as God’s calling, justification by faith, living the life of faith, and the living that is in fellowship with God. Isaac and Jacob with Joseph were still needed to complete the latter stage in the experience and life of a complete, spiritually mature person. This latter stage includes the inheriting of grace, not using self-effort, and the restful enjoyment of the riches of Christ, signified by Isaac; being dealt with by God, transformation, and maturity, signified by Jacob; and reigning for God, signified by Joseph. Hence, although the Triune God is one, He became the God of those three persons—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exo. 3:15). In spiritual significance, those three represent the three aspects of a spiritually mature person, just as the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are the three aspects of the one unique God. The God of Abraham denotes mainly God the Father, the God of Isaac denotes mainly God the Son, and the God of Jacob denotes mainly God the Spirit. The three aspects of the Triune God are for, and they also correspond to, the three parts of the experience and life of a complete, spiritually mature person.
Lot was Abraham’s nephew (Gen. 11:31; 12:5); he received God’s grace with Abraham, and they became brothers before God (Gen. 13:8; 14:14). Although Lot was never clearly called by God as Abraham was, he participated in God’s calling simply because he was willing to follow his uncle, who was called. According to the record in Genesis, Abraham took care of Lot as a brother before the Lord. Of course, in taking by faith the way of God’s redemption and life, Lot must have received help from Abraham.
Although Lot followed Abraham to take the way of faith in God, because the two had many flocks and herds and great substance, Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen strove with one another and were not in accord. Abraham gave in to Lot, seeing him as a brother; yet Lot, tempted by material substance, chose, based on his sight, the land that was rich and well watered and thus separated himself from Abraham (Gen. 13:6, 8-11), taking the way of going back to the world. Although he did not return to Chaldea, a place of idols, or go down to Egypt, a place of worldly riches and pleasure, he was attracted by Sodom, a city of sin. Perhaps he knew that Sodom was exceedingly wicked and sinful before God, yet he still moved there gradually (Gen. 13:12-13). Although he was warned and disciplined after Abraham rescued him from his captivity, into which he had been taken because of his staying in Sodom (Gen. 14:12-16), he did not go back to Abraham. Rather, he still missed Sodom and went back to the wicked city that was condemned by God. He even lived there and was a local leader, as indicated by his sitting in the gate of the city (Gen. 19:1), until Sodom was judged by God and destroyed by the burning fire (Gen. 19:1-25).
When God overthrew Sodom, He remembered Abraham and heard his intercession. Hence, Lot was saved from the destruction of the burning fire (Gen. 19:27-29). His wife, however, became a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26), which is a sign of shame, and his two sons-in-law also were destroyed in the burning fire (Gen. 19:14-15).
Although God rescued Lot because He remembered Abraham’s intercession (Gen. 19:29), Lot, after being rescued, did not go back to Abraham to be helped again to follow God by faith. He acted on his own and, still exercising his own choice, he begged the angels to allow him to flee to a small, nearby city named Zoar. Eventually, he took his two daughters with him and dwelt in a cave in a desolate mountain. There, in a cave, where he was separated from his brother and was alienated from God, he became drunk under the manipulating of his two daughters, who had been influenced and corrupted by the wickedness of Sodom and thereby had lost their sense of shame. Hence, he committed incest and brought forth two sons, who were cursed by God to such an extent that even to their tenth generation they were not allowed to enter into the congregation of Jehovah forever (Gen. 19:30-38; Deut. 23:3). This was the issue of his taking the way of alienation from God, after having been warned twice and still not coming back to Abraham.
Lot was a righteous man who believed in God, and he was also oppressed by the licentious manner of life of the Sodomites (2 Pet. 2:7-8). However, he could not do anything about it; moreover, he had lost his position to help them. This is proved by the fact that his sons-in-law considered his word as mockery (Gen. 19:14). Even so, he still was not willing to depart from the evil place of fornication and come back to the place where he could have fellowship with Abraham, bear God’s testimony with him, and be kept and blessed by God. These various aspects of his life, on both the positive side and the negative side, all have become a model, serving as a warning to those who would later take God’s way of life by faith.
Abraham and Lot represent two categories of people who answer God’s calling, and the two ways that they take with the two kinds of results. Abraham was the father of the new, called race. Because God appeared to him, by faith Abraham accepted God’s calling and obeyed God to go out from his country, his kindred, and his father’s house. When he arrived at the place that God had promised to show him, he could not immediately possess the land. So, by faith he dwelt in the land as a foreigner, and he believed God’s word of promise: that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Thus he was justified by God and became the father of all who are justified by faith. Abraham took the way of faith and lived the life of faith. The way he took was the way of faith, and the life he lived was the life of faith. Furthermore, he lived in fellowship with God, and God considered him His intimate friend and supplied his need in a timely manner. Abraham overcame the striving of his brother and gave in to his brother, and he fought and interceded for his brother and was heard by God. As a person who lived by faith and in fellowship with God, he was favored by God with the promise that all the families of the earth would be blessed in his seed and that he also would become one who would be blessed and not be cursed. Although he was a great man who had faith in God, he still had defects and weaknesses and was not fully mature in the spiritual life. Hence, he cannot signify a complete, spiritually mature person; he can signify only the initial stage of the experience and life of a spiritually mature person. Isaac and Jacob with Joseph were still needed to complete the latter stage in the experience and life of a complete, spiritually mature person. In spiritual significance, these three represent the three aspects of a spiritually mature person.
Lot was never clearly called by God, but he participated in God’s calling simply because he was willing to follow Abraham. However, he took the way of going back to the world, and he entered into Sodom, a city that was extremely wicked and sinful. Later, although he was rescued twice through Abraham, he did not go back to him to be helped again to follow God by faith. Instead, he took his two daughters with him and dwelt in a cave, where he was separated from his brother and was alienated from God. There he became drunk under the manipulating of his two daughters, who had been influenced and corrupted by sin and thereby had lost their sense of shame. Hence, he committed incest and brought forth two sons, who were cursed by God. These aspects of his life became a model, serving as a warning to those who would later take God’s way of life by faith.
