The following is taken from an article titled Come and See. If you wish to read the entire article, then click on THIS LINK.
  . . . . This is a good place to rest, to take some time to muse on that first appearance of the God of glory in Ur of Chaldees. We need to muse with Abraham on the journey to Haran, the death of Terah, and the onward journey to the land of promise. Now, nothing can be fulfilled outside of the land. Going DOWN into Egypt did not fulfill the promise, however, when Abraham returned to the land, and at the place of the altar that he built unto the Lord, he was refreshed for the next conflict which would come IN the land, and between family. This is one of those spiritual scars that Egypt left in the spiritual and physical walk of Abraham. Trouble came between the herdsmen of Lot and Abraham. Strife came from without, yet, it affected the relationship of Abraham to his nephew Lot. This strife that came out of Egypt would tear them apart for the remainder of their lives, and they would not be united at the altar of God ever again. This was a tragedy, yet, it continues to happen in the world of Christendom crying to us all the time to change our path with God in order to maintain a form of unity (as Christendom defines unity). Their unity is to go in the direction of unbelief, to drag us DOWN into the dregs of Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (Genesis 13:13) Christendom presents a choice between two pathways: stand at the altar of God, or go DOWN to the land of Sodom.
  The difference between these two men is that it was Abraham who built the altar, it was Abraham who called on the name of the Lord. Where was Lot in all of this? I am sure, according to Scripture, that Abraham did not want this division between his nephew Lot, however, what Lot SAW in Egypt changed his desires, and division was in his heart, and could not be reconciled. How do I know this? It was Abraham who gave Lot the choice. What was the real choice? It was the difference between unity and fellowship with Abraham, or division and separation from not only Abraham, but also from the God of glory. It was separation from the altar, and the intimidation from the world of Sodom. Lot surely never called on the name of the Lord while in the city of Sodom. What betrayed Lot? The well-watered plains of Jordan? No . . . Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature [shall be] hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. (Isaiah 10:33)
  The grace of Abraham was to remove the strife between himself and Lot, and to remove the strife between their herdsmen. This also was, undoubtedly, a product of Egypt. Abraham (being heir of the promise) turned to Lot and told him that the entire land was before him. Gracefully giving Lot the choice, but Abraham still knew that there was a need to separate. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, 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. (Genesis 13:9)
  Abraham removed himself from the decision. It would be the decision of Lot, but how would Lot decide? Would he make a humble decision, or one of arrogance and pride? We see that he chose pride and arrogance. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (Genesis 13:10) Lot lifted up his eyes. Wouldn’t it be nice that the next two words were ‘to heaven,’ but instead it was to behold the well-watered plains of Jordan. What Lot saw before him was a plain of green grass so marvelous that the Spirit of God compared it with the garden of God, but then the Spirit of God also reminds us of Egypt, and what Lot learned in Egypt influenced him as he looked down on the well-watered plains of Jordan. There is a reason that the Lord speaks about the lust of the eyes. For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1st John 2:16) The Spirit of God reminds us of Egypt, and also gives a warning to the reader that these well-watered plains of Jordan disappeared when the Lord judged Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19:28, 29) When you desire the things of the world, you must also acknowledge the world’s proverb, Here today, gone tomorrow.
  Abraham had returned to the point of his departure, however, Lot could not return because he was still under the influence of Egypt. In this strife between Lot and Abraham, Abraham was the man of grace, Lot was a man of the world and self. In grace Abraham gave Lot the choice. Although they were parting, Abraham wanted to maintain peace with Lot. Lot could not see what Abraham still felt, that he was still his brother’s keeper. This break with Lot severed the last family tie to Ur of Chaldees. Abraham’s faith had grown for in giving Lot the choice, Abraham relied on the God of glory for what would remain for him of the land. The well-watered plains of Jordan would one day turn into a fiery scorching desert. What is visible to man in his immediate circumstances is not always the end result. In the service of God, a worldly calling to a worldly church will one day end with broken faith. Faith sees things from the side of God, however, in this day, men accept the Laodicean syndrome and error that being rich and increased with goods is synonymous with God’s blessing and approval. However, on God’s side, He sees them as being wretched and miserable and without faith. Abraham understood this. Although Abraham could not see Lot’s future, he knew that Lot was headed in the wrong direction.
  Sometimes it is good to separate oneself from someone whom you are attached to, especially family, although they are flesh and blood they are not always like minded in the things of faith. I am sure that this separation that Abraham endured with Lot grieved Abraham more than it grieved Lot. Lot was probably enjoying his choice, and it was his choice that grieved Abraham. For Lot could not see Him who is invisible, but Abraham still had the vision of the God of glory within him, and he responded accordingly. Lot would go DOWN to the well-watered plains, and they would become a pit of muck and mire to his soul. The well-watered plains led to his corruption in Sodom. And in Sodom Lot took a wife, a wife of corruption, a wife of wickedness, a wife of Sodom. (The fact that Lot had a wife was never mentioned before Sodom, in all the travels of Lot, at no time was a wife mentioned. Lot’s wife is only recorded in connection to Sodom.) But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. (Genesis 13:13)
Side Not: Thirteen:Â What is so amazing with MY Bible is the numbering system. When you think that we have just read Genesis 13:13, what comes to mind? Evil personified. Not only in the duplication of the number 13, but what the number 13 represents. If we wanted to compare it to the evil world, and the evil world to come, we could compare it with Revelation Chapter 13, where the man of sin is revealed, and where he receives the number of his name: 6 – 6 – 6.
  In Lot’s choice, he was still a tent dweller, his herds were so vast that he had to separate himself from Abraham, however, being in the proximity of Sodom his wealth was drained, and instead of the plain, his next choice was the city, and whatever influenced him to give up the well-watered plains. Sodom became his home, and it was in Sodom that the things that he saw and heard vexed his righteous soul.
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;Â (2nd Peter 2:6)
And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:Â (2nd Peter 2:7)
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)Â (2nd Peter 2:8)
  Lot’s decision did not add to his spiritual life, but drained him with the evil that was all around him. Both his eyes and his ears betrayed him, and he relished in the presence of evil. It took divine intervention to separate him from this evil. There is no unification with Abraham after Lot’s departure into the well-watered plains of Jordan. While Lot was chasing the daughters of men, and drowning himself in the wickedness of Sodom, Abraham moved his tent to Hebron, here again, we see communion with God for Hebron means ‘a place of fellowship.’ Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD. (Genesis 13:18) Out of Genesis 13:13, which is a place of darkness, we are immediately ushered into God’s light in verse 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:Â (Genesis 13:14)
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:15)
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 thy seed also be numbered. (Genesis 13:16)
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (Genesis 13:17)
  God reassured this man of faith. This is important because during our walk of faith there are times when we need to be reassured. Abraham had just made a critical decision, and separated himself from Lot who was his brother’s son. Abraham had taken the burden of responsibility for Lot, and because of strife, that responsibility was broken, but not in Abraham’s heart. For later Abraham rescued Lot because that burden was still on his heart. When we separate from a friend who has walked by faith with us, when we separate from a family member, we are still burdened in our hearts for them regardless of their circumstances. Yet, we cannot go DOWN with them in our own walk of faith. In Abraham, God is showing us that faith is not a collective thing, faith is the work of God to open and reveal the unseen things of God Himself, and to understand the unseen things as we walk with the faith, the tangible faith, that God gives us.
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