Genesis 13:1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
"The patriarch had sojourned in the world’s kingdom, and had learned those solemn lessons which, as it too often happens, only a bitter experience can teach.” (The Biblical Illustrator) “Whenever Abram dared to step out in obedience, the Lord spake freshly to him. But in Egypt we find no trace of the Divine voice. If God spake there, it would be in warning and rebuke. Has the voice of God long been silent to thee - no fresh command, no deeper insight into truth? See to it that thou art not in Egypt.” (F. B. Meyer)
Journeyed to the place where his tent had been at the beginning- So "Yes! that is the only place for a man who has faltered and gone aside from the course of obedience. He must begin over again. The backsliding Christian has to resort anew to the place of the penitent, and to come to Christ, as he did at first for pardon… It is a blessed thought that, however far and long we may have wandered, we can always return to the place where we were at the beginning, and there call on the name of the Lord.” (MacLauren's Exposition)
"Between Bethel and Ai- Because of the troubles that he had among that wicked people.” (Geneva Study Bible) "His altar was gone, so that he could not offer sacrifice; but he called on the name of the Lord. You may as soon find a living man without breath as one of God's people without prayer.” (Matthew Henry)
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
"Note how we are taught here the great truth for the Old Testament, that outward prosperity follows most surely those who do not seek for it. Abram’s wealth has increased, and his companion, Lot, has shared in the prosperity. It is because he ‘went with Abram’ that he ‘had flocks, and herds, and tents.’…”(MacLaren's Expositions) But there is a downfall to financial prosperity. The wealth obtained in Egypt ended as a likely source of strife- not between Abram and Lot, but rather between their herdsmen. "There is a clear progression in this story. First, both Lot and Abram have increased wealth (13:2, 5-6). Their increased wealth leads to increased strife because there simply wasn’t enough land for each of them, plus the Canaanites and the Perizzites (13:7). They didn’t have that problem before. Where did we ever get the notion that wealth will solve our problems? Some of the most unhappy families in the world are those with the most money, where one member is set against the other, trying to make sure he gets his portion of the inheritance.” (Stephen J. Cole)
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
"How readily Abram might have insisted on his rights: he was the elder; he had come to this country at God’s behest, not Lot; to Abram’s seed the land had been promised. With utter selflessness and in true faith, which knows that God cannot fail in the keeping of His promise, Abram takes the difficulty in hand. In the wisdom of faith he acts before the peace between him and Lot has been marred. In the courtesy of faith he speaks very kindly: note the double ‘please,' (na') which softens even the kindly suggestions. With the tactfulness of faith he appeals to proper motives: 'for we are brethren' (Heb. 'we are men that are brethren'—a noun used for an adjective: ’achchîm—verbruedert, K. S. 306r). ‘Brother' is used in the wider sense in this case, as 24:27: Bethuel and Abram; and 29:12: Jacob and Laban. Meek’s rendering of the… opening sentence is admirable: 'There simply must be no quarrel between you and me.'” (H. C. Leopold)
"May we not venture to apply his words to churches and sects? They too, if they have faith strong and dominant, will not easily fall out with one another about intrusions on each other’s territory, especially in the presence, as at this day, of the common foe. When the Canaanite and the Perizzite are in the land, and unbelief in militant forms is arrayed against us, it is more than folly, it is sin, for brethren to be turning their weapons against each other..."(MacLaren's Expositions)
We can demand our rights according to the law. Yea, all things are lawful for us, but not all things are expedient in making disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us humbly wait on God to give us the promises and exalt us.
10 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. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
"Lot wasn’t just deciding for himself. His family and many servants and their families would be affected by his decision." (Stephen J. Cole) "True, the men of the plain were ‘wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly,’ as the chapter says with grim emphasis. But Lot evidently never thought about that. He knew it, though, and ought to have thought about it. It was his sin that he was guided in his choice only by considerations of temporal advantage. Put his action into words, and it says, ‘Grass for my sheep is more to me than fellowship with God, and a good conscience.’... ‘I can serve God down there as well as up here.’ Perhaps he even thought that he might be a missionary among these sinners. But at bottom he did not seek first the kingdom of God, but the other things.” (MacLaren's Expositions)
Lot pitched his tent by the city of Sodom but in the very next chapter we find him, sin drawn, in the walls of the city itself.
14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
"God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not.” (Matthew Henry)
All the land— "After Lot's departure, Jehovah repeated to Abram (by a mental, inward assurance, as we may infer from the fact that אמר ‘said’ is not accompanied by ויּרא 'he appeared') His promise that He would give the land to him and to his seed in its whole extent, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.” (Keil and Delitzsch OT Commentary)
"A careful reading of this passage shows that God promised Abraham the land for ever…. But Abraham had no children…” http://www.cbm.org.uk/cbm40lesson12.pdf yet he was to have descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. This is natural seed. "It would be as impossible now to count Abraham’s descendants as to count the dust of the earth. He was the progenitor of all the Israelites, of course, but also of all the Arab nations, as well as the peoples of many now-extinct nations–Edomites, Midianites, etc.” (New Defender's Study Bible Notes)
“… God wants Abram to explore the land of promise, to walk through it as if it were his, though he does not have 'title deed' to it yet… In the same way, God wants us to explore our 'land of promise,' His Word, where God has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4), where He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He wants us to walk through this ‘land,’ possessing it by faith.” (David Guzik)
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
"Abram built another altar. He lived life in constant awareness of the need for a sacrificial atonement and covering.” (David Guzik) "A third altar is here built by Abram… The previous visits of the Lord had completed the restoration of his inward peace, security, and liberty of access to God, which had been disturbed by his descent to Egypt, and the temptation that had overcome him there. He feels himself again at peace with God, and his fortitude is renewed. He grows in spiritual knowledge and practice under the great Teacher.” (Barnes Notes on the Bible)