Avram receives another DM from The Lord

(If you like the picture, you can buy the real one from here)

Lot chose that land for himself--the Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.

< = = = Wow, sounds like he didn’t even say goodbye, that's not what happened right?

Well Master Cohen, it is dangerous to speak when the good book is silent, but in their culture, just like in ours, it was important to defer to your elders. I am sure you have heard the proverb, "Your elder brother should be respected like your father." The Bible itself says, "You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old." Avram was the elder, the one that adopted Lot and didn't leave him when the LORD said leave your family. Lot chose what he thought was the better land over his elder.

<= = = Was it actually better?

Perhaps for the moment, perhaps for the moment. So while Avram stayed in the land of Canaan, Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom, among the cities of the plain. The people of the area around Sodom were unusually wicked and sinned greatly against the LORD.

After Lot was gone, the LORD said to Avram, "Look as far as you can see in every direction."

Bible commentator Chuck Smith says, "God's promise to Abraham; from the area there at between Bethel and Hai, this mountain peak, looking towards the north you see the area of Samaria. You can look clear on up and see Mount Hermon on a clear day. And he wasn't bothered with smog in those days. Looking towards the east, you see the mountains of Moab. Looking towards the south, you see the area of Jerusalem, the southern ranges of Jerusalem, mountains clear on down to the area of Beersheba. Looking towards the west you see the Sharon plains and the Mediterranean. And so God said just look to the north, the south, the east, the west. Just as far as you can see, Abraham, I'm going to give you this land to you and to your seed. And God was going to give it to him forever." The contrast between the land Avram is choosing and Lot chose could not be more stark. Hebron is about 3,000 feet above sea level and lot will be several thousand feet below. The ridge road, later named the Patriarch's Highway, went to Shechem in the north.

The LORD continues and says, "I am going to give all this land to you and your offspring or seed as a permanent possession. And I am going to give you so many descendants that, like dust, they cannot be counted! Take a walk in every direction and explore the new possessions I am giving you." Then Avram moved his camp to the oak grove owned by Mamre, an ancient cultic shrine, it appears Avram is a slow learner, which is at Hebron, formerly called Kiriath-arba. There Avram built an altar to the LORD.

< = = = Why do you say Avram all of a sudden instead of Abram and what does it mean.

I just felt like it, I know you know it either way. We will switch back. It means "high father" or "exalted father". But, of course, God is going to change his name.