Genesis 13 Lot chooses the valley

Lot chooses the valley. There are a lot of assumptions we make about this exchange. First it goes back to whether Lot is to be here at all. I think the answer is yes. But is there a sure answer to this?

Genesis 11:31 says something very interesting. Terah, Abram's father, was on the way to Canaan with his family. He seems to have heard the call of God before Abram did. They left Ur, and all the rest of their kinfolk, but they only made it as far as Haran. The city of Haran would be at the limit of people of like culture. It was a border town, so to speak.

It seems Terah was called too but he only made it to the border of his culture and never got up the nerve to continue on into the strange land of Canaan. It would be a bit like crossing the Atlantic from Europe to America three hundred years ago. Once committed there would be no turning back. Terah made a good start but it was up to Abram to continue the journey. He stopped in Haran. He lived in Haran and later died here.

Lot was part of Terah's immediate family. Lot's father had died and Terah was his guardian. So when Terah died Abram took on the position of guardian.

But later we will find that Abram does not consider Lot his heir. So my musing here may not be totally right. How did this relationship totally work? Are we back with the idea that Lot being an interloper, a man who tags along with Abram but who is unwelcome? Perhaps Abram did not consider Lot like an adoptive son. The guardianship, however it was seen, did not involve a direct kinship obligation.

Abram felt a strong enough kinship to Lot that he did not feel he could refuse him when he wanted to come too. But it was not strong enough to feel that he was an heir.

Lot was given a choice by Abram. He chose the valley. We usually consider this a poor decision. The people he was going to live with were wholly evil. Yet it seems Lot did not take on their evil ways. He is delivered out of Sodom and Gomorrah before their judgment because of Abram's intercession. But certainly also because of Lot's own righteousness.

Abram took the highlands, a land perhaps better suited for herding livestock. It would have been an area sparsely inhabited. But is there any reason to think those who lived in the highlands were any less sinful than those in the valley? Both Abram and Lot would still face temptations to conform, worship the local gods, do as others around them did. It seems Lot and Abram did resist.

Lot took the easy way and married a local woman. This will cause him grief later when she refuses to break away from the sinful culture she was raised in. Abram already had a wife from his own people. It would have been hard, but not impossible for Lot to get a wife from the old country. We see that later Abram (now Abraham) is able to get a wife for his son from his own people. Lot takes the easy way and picks a woman from nearby.

After Lot leaves Abram God speaks to Abram and tells him he will inherit all the land, including the land just given to Lot. North south east and west from the high vantage point, all would be his. God encourages him to travel around and see the land. He encourages Abram that He would protect him, "I will be your shield."

To keep peace Abram separated from Lot. Lot was given the choice. It might even have been impolite to take the worst portion out of deference. He took the one he thought would be best for his flocks. He was probably not wrong. But it had unintended consequences. He would have been better knowing God's mind. Perhaps he would have been better to choose to stay near Abram. But it seems Lot did not have the same relationship with God that Abram did.

This is not the one I want but:
Proverbs 16:1-2 CEV We humans make plans, but the LORD has the final word. (2) We may think we know what is right, but the LORD is the judge of our motives.