THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS pany with Lot. •Is there any friend ship in your life that is holding you back? 2. Why It was Especially Kind on Abram’s Part. Abram was the older man, and especially in the East, the younger man should have deferred to the older, instead of vice versa. Abram could afford to pocket his dignity and give the younger man first choice, because he was God’s man. When Gen. O. O. Howard, at Gen. Sherman’s request, was willing to let another ride at the head of his brigade, in the great review in Washington, before the; disbanding of the Northern Army, he was rewarded by Gen. Sherman with the command to ride by his side, at the head, not of the brigade, but of the whole army, One of the most precious rights of the Christian is the right to forego his rights. Then, a'gain, Abram was especially kind in giving Lot his choice of the land because the whole land was Abram’s. God had given it to him, not to Lot. “ The Lord loveth a cheerful giver” and the man who knows that the Lord’s love is his, can cheerfully give tp the man in need, even though he may be under no obligation to do so. 3. What Lot Chose, and Why. He chose the most fruitful looking district; that situated in the valley of the Jordan. Modesty and gratitude might well have led him to choose dif ferently, but Lot seems .to have been controlled by self-interest and worldli ness. Note the steps in Lot’s career: He looked, 13:10. He dhose, 13:1J. He pitched his tent toward Sodom, 13:12. He dwelt in Sodom, 14:12. He was taken prisoner with the men of Sodom, 14:12. He nearly perished in Sodom, 19:16. He lost his wife just outside . qt, Sodom, 19:26.
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His daughters lost their innocence and virtue in Sodom, 19:30. Did Lot make a good bargain or a bad one, when he chose the plain of Sodom? 4. How' God Rewarded Abrhm, chapter 13:12-18. After God had got Abram separated from Lot, He renewed the covenant with him, and even added to his orig inal promise. For now He says He will give the land to Abram’s seed forever. After this new experience of God’s goodness, Abram takes up his perman ent residence at Hebron and built an altar there. The meaning of the name Hebron is “ fellowship.” We have^here the picture of the separated man dwell ing in the place of fellowship and wor shipping God. We shall see how these things equip Abram for the next exhibi tion of his kindness to Lot. II. By Rescuing Lot From His Cap- tors. 1. Who The Captors Were./ Until a few years ago, this 14th chapter of Genesis was the butt of the ridicule of the so-called scholars of the higher critical school. To them it was a first class “ yarn” and nothing more, but the spade of the archaeolo gist has changed all this. We know now from the monuments that Amra-phel and those associated with him, were actually thè great powers in the East at this time, and that the Western kings had been made subject unto them. The scholars of today would identify Amra-phel with Hammurabi, whose statue and laws were dug up in the opening year of this twentieth cen tury, throwing a whole flood of light not only on this chapter, but on the whole legislation of the Mosaic econ omy of a later period. ,{For a full accoùnt see Prof. Price’s book “ The Monuments and the Old Testament.” ) 2. How Abram Rescued Lot. In the battle of the four kings of the. East against the five of the West, thè. four were triumphant. Not only were
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