13:1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had,
and Lot with him, into the south.
These are strange words indeed! He went UP out of EGYPT, and then into the
SOUTH. I can go along with the words; up out of Egypt(from the Nile) So
of course they would have to go up to cross over into Gaza or Sinai. But
that is not going South, now is it? However if he went into Palestine and
down to Bethal then he is going south again. But no matter how you see it
these places are not south of the Nile.
If however, he is coming from �Egypt" (Ur) then they would have to go up
from there, and if they then went to Palestine then they would be going
south for away.
13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
13:3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the
place were his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai;
13:4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first:
and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
13:5 And Lot also which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds,
and tents.
13:6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together:
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
(I hesitated at this last entry. Wasn�t this supposed to be the land of
milk and honey? A land of plenty presupposed good grazing and farming land?)
13:7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram�s cattle and the
herdmen of lot�s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then
in the land.
13:8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee between
me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
13:9 is not the whole land before thee? Separate theyself, I pray thee,
from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or
if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that
it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt (UR), as thou comest unto Zoar.
In order for Lot to see the plain of Jordan that it was well watered he
would have to be standing on a rise of ground like a hill or mountain. As
far as I am aware the plain of Jordan is not well watered today. And
geologists don�t claim any big changes for this area. However I have been
led to believe an amateurs picture of this plain.
At the present time the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. This is the
only River known today. That does not mean that there was not a few rivers
that were in the area before the destruction. I do not believe that the
Dead Sea was there at that time. Not to the extent that it is today. That
there was an area where bitumen was worked appears to be the case. That
would allow for the Jordan to flow into the Gulf of Aden or into a myriad
of small streams fed from its flow. There is no point to any city being
built where there is not enough water to sustain it or them. And the Dead
Sea would not be a rallying point of growth then or today. Therefore if
there were cities on that plain that he could see, then the Dead Sea was
not there at that time, or there would surely have been mention of it.
In fact there may have been a big change taken place on the entire peninsula
as a result of the drastic changes that took place during the Exodus. I
believe this is so and will try to prove it.
In the meantime there is another remark made in that paragraph about the
land looking like the garden of the Lord. Many people have claimed the
area of the Euphrates Valley as the site of the Garden of Eden.
13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east:
and they separated themselves the one from the other.
13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan. and Lot dwelled in the cities
of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
There is no mention here of whether they had a right to put their herds to
grazing in these area�s. They do not mention getting anyones permission do
they?
13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD
exceedingly.
13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him,
Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward,
and southward, and eastward, and westward:
13:15 For all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed for ever.
13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man
can number the dust of the earth, then shall they seed also be numbered.
Bragging? False promises? Irresponsibility? Or is this supposed to be
counted over the centuries? For if this implies that they would breed to
the point that at a future date the descendants of Abram would be as
plentiful as the dust, then that would be pretty hard on this poor planet.
You see all through the book I have to make the decision; was this from
the true Creator or from our alien creators? And I base it upon sensibility,
reason, truth, logic, and what I know of both from personal experience.
Our creator doesn�t get people to do things by false promises, or holding
out carrots to us. Yet, there is always this promise of goodies with the
LORD. Can this LORD see into the future? If this is so then he is seeing
a future for Abrams descendants that may well be true. Does this still
imply that it takes a God to do this?
13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadthe
of it: for I will give it unto thee.
And what have the people who already live there done to deserve this? Where
are they to go? Are they less than human that they deserve this? To what
end do these events take place?
13:18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre,
which is in Hebron, and built there an alter unto the lord.
Note that so far he has built two major alters to the Lord. The original one
when he was in Bethal, and this one on the plain of Mamre.
