–Lou Bradshaw  (and Cain Smiled)

       “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are…  Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

                    –Genesis 13:14, 17 (NKJV)
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       One thing the Bible does is to give ample warning.  God tells us to redeem the time, to look up for our redemption is near.  He warns us against the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.  He warns us of the coming judgment and that now is the day of salvation.  By looking at the lives of those in the Bible we can see how they either obeyed God’s warnings or ignored them.  Noah obeyed and was saved; Saul was disobedient and did not heed the Word of the Lord and died in shame.  Demas left Paul, however, Paul knew that there was a crown of righteousness waiting for him.  Take a look at a man that is a conundrum–Lot.
       We can learn a lot from the lives of Abraham and Lot.  It is clear that Abraham wanted nothing more than to serve the Lord.  However, his nephew seemed to cast his eyes on the material things of life.  Abraham took Lot with him when he left Ur, but now Lot was becoming uneasy and quarrelsome.  Wiersbe states, “The heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.  Lot’s heart was centered on wealth and worldly achievement.”  We see with these two men the truth of Amos 3:3, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
       Finally, there came a break and Abraham let Lot choose which way he would go and Abraham would take the other course.  Here we see the heart of Lot, “And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar….  Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.  But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.” (Genesis 13:10, 12-13, NKJV)
       At this point in his life, at least, Lot was not devoted to the Lord.  Note that term, “he pitched his tent.”  He leaned toward Sodom and what it had to offer.  He looked at the wealth and the possibilities, not at the wickedness and evil.  He saw what he could gain, not what could happen.  Yet, Peter tells us that Lot was righteous.  There was something in Lot that must have caused him to turn his heart.  He was well entrenched in the city for he was at the gate which speaks of leadership.  The teachings of God must have taken root; the witness of Abraham’s life, must have lingered in his mind.  “[He] delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for the righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)–then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” (2 Peter 2:7-9, NKJV)
       When Lot separated from Abraham, I would ask, was he righteous?  “The eyes see what the heart loves.  Abraham had taken Lot out of Egypt, but he could not take Egypt out of Lot.  Outlook helps to determine outcome…  Lot’s eyes were on the sinful cities of men, and he went on to worldly success, spiritual failure, and a shameful end.” (Warren W. Wiersbe)  Even when the angels came, he lingered.  “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought them out and set him outside the city.” (Genesis 19:16, NKJV)  Lingering, Lot had to be “propelled from his home by physical force.” (NKJV Study Bible)  The angels actually had to seize him (“took hold”) to take him from the city.  This shows the power of evil and the hold it can have over people. 
       Notice a couple of contrasts besides what we have already seen.  Lot and Abraham both pitched their tents, the difference was when Abraham pitched his tent he also built an altar.  “Instead of lifting up his eyes to heaven, Lot lifted up his eyes to the plain of Jordan.” (Wiersbe)  Abraham looked to the “child of promise,” while Lot was willing to give his daughters to the men of the city to use for their lusts.  We do not see where Lot was ever thankful, or where he ever praised the Lord.  Then, more depravity in the life of Lot, his daughters get him drunk and seduce him. (Genesis 19:30-35)  It seems that his daughters were following the way that they had learned in Sodom.  “Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.” (Genesis 19:36, NKJV)   Lot lost a family in Sodom which carried over to the evil of his daughters and himself.  Moab and Ben-Ammi (Ammon) were born to Lot; people who became troublesome to the people of Israel.  
       Yet…Lot was righteous???  There had to be something in his heart.  We do not see him praising God or thanking God or trusting God.  Yet, he was deemed righteous.  There is great mercy and grace that flows from God, there must have been a spark of faith in Lot’s heart.  He hated the evil of the city, but could not leave it.  Can a person be so caught up in evil that he cannot break the chains?  Only God…only God can bring about a new heart, a new creation.  F.B. Meyer puts it this way, “Lot was saved from Sodom, but took Sodom with him.  He was saved so as by fire, but his life-work was burnt up.”

                         –Acts 16:31 (NKJV)
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       Is Isaac complacent, an easy-going guy, or a meek man in the proper sense of the word?  He has shown that he doesn’t care for confrontation, and that is good to an extent.  He sees with a different perspective, and has made a treaty with Abimelech.  We see also an important feature of Isaac’s life after the Lord met with him.  “So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Genesis 26:25, NKJV)
       Altars are significant, or should be.  Abraham was a man that built an altar wherever he stopped to pitch his tent.  Job would rise early in the morning to offer a sacrifice for his family, this must have been on an altar (Job 1:5) and he did this regularly.  Altars are where decisions are made.  To disregard the altar is to have little concern for eternity.  “An altar is where you worship God and offer to Him your life.  It’s a place of praise and sacrifice.” (Richard Dresselhaus)  Can you remember that day of decision at the altar?  Dresselhaus continues, “Altars celebrate the glory of God–His presence, His power, His ownership.”  We know that Isaac was a man of faith, but now he is meeting with the Lord, a new and different relationship is starting.  Throughout our lives we should make it a habit of going to the altar.  “Build an altar.  Do that at the significant intersections of your life.” (Dresselhaus)  Do not take the Lord for granted especially in regard to major decisions and/or your family.  By building altars, wherever they may be, you are showing that God is the center of your life.
       Shortly after, we see that Esau was forty years old and he took wives from the Hittites.  “And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.”  (Genesis 26:34, NKJV)  What happened?  Someone has suggested that the treaty with the Philistines caused Esau to think it was okay to take foreign wives.  “Isaac is trusting more on the oath with these unbelievers than trusting in God.” (Whitelaw).  But was that truly the case?  There has to be more.  I remember a time when I gave a student a failing grade on a major paper.  I was confronted by this boy’s father.  He ranted and raved, and when I gave him my reasons, reasons he could not accept, he took up the issue, not with the proper authority, the principal and superintendent, but went above them to the pastor of the church that sponsored the school.  Thankfully, the pastor didn’t give him any satisfaction either.  A couple of years later, the boy was in all kinds of trouble, drugs, and mischief.  The father had the audacity to come to me saying that it was my fault that his boy was the way he was.  I pointed a finger at him, “I had him for nine months of his life, you had him for eighteen years and you try to blame me.”
       The same is true here.  Had Esau seen a double standard; did he feel neglected by his mother who favored Jacob?  We don’t know, but we do see that she was grieved along with Isaac when Esau took foreign wives.  No, there was a weak spot in the soul of Esau.  Who would sell his birthright for a bowl of pea soup?  Who acted upon his emotions rather than thinking calmly and rationally?  Perhaps his marrying the Hittites helped Rebekah to formulate the plan of helping Jacob receive the blessing from Isaac.  We do not know for sure, but we know that there is coming a large family split.  One that will separate Esau from Jacob, and possibly Rebekah from Isaac, that is not explained or shown in Scripture.

                    –Emerson Hough  (54-40 or Fight!)

       “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

                    –1 Kings 18:37 (NKJV)
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       Barton Bouchier, the 19th-century theological writer, said, “There are many precious texts of Scripture that we will carry to heaven with us and will form the theme of our song.  But if there is one text that must break forth from every redeemed one as he enters heaven, it is the first verse of this psalm.”  The Psalm is 115.

          1 — Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.
          2 — Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?”
          3 — But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
          4 — Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
          5 — They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see;
          6 — They have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell;
          7 — They have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat.
          8 — Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.  (NKJV)

       Psalm 115, is a testimony to the world’s ignorance of God. (Lawson)  The answer is clear; it is the Lord alone who is God.  The Bible from the very beginning does not try to prove God; it simply states, “In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1)  God is, and that settles it.   There is only one God, the true God–He is the God revealed in creation, history and the Bible, and He is sovereign over all.
       In these verses we see a contrast of the one, true God and those devised by the imaginations of man.  It is almost comical what man throughout history has tried to devise as God.  It continues on today, perhaps not as many silver and gold idols, but the main idol today is man himself.  Verse 8 sums that up, the people who devise gods are like them.  They cannot answer the world’s problems, they have no answer to their own problems.  Neither did the gods of the day in which this psalm was written.
       What is your answer when things do not seem to be going your way?  When God does not seem to be answering your prayers and He is allowing you to suffer?  This is what was happening to Israel, others were mocking God.  The answer is clear if we take time to look for it.  Steven Lawson writes, “Life does not revolve around man but around God.”  Fact–Amen, so be it.  We get ourselves in a dilemma when we begin to think or imagine that life should revolve around us.  “The Psalmist turns the argument of his enemies against them saying, in effect, ‘So you want me to serve visible gods?  Well, why don’t you take a closer look?  My God, who is unseen, is alive.  Your gods, which you can see, are dead!'” (George O. Wood)
       Verse 3 shows the definite attribute of the sovereignty of God.  People who are ignorant of Him, or who do not believe in Him abhor this attribute as do even some Christians.  God does whatever He pleases.  He does what He wants with what is His.  His sovereignty is unequaled, unrivaled, and unopposed.  “No so-called god or idol-worshipping nation can oppose Him.” (Lawson)  Whatever man makes, idols whether by his hands or in his mind, is powerless when compared to God.  I recall the challenge of Elijah to the prophets of Baal.  Who is God?  Those gods had no power to act–and as the foolish gods today made by man they are utterly worthless.  Their senses are useless, they cannot even reach out to do anything.  Oh, man, the self-proclaimed god, tries, but in the end he fails.  Those that worship these false gods are just like them–dead.

               “Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted;
               Not I, but Christ be seen, be known, be heard;
               Not I, but Christ, in every look and action;
               Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.”
                         –A.B. Simpson