Compromising a Lot: Road Trip Gone Wild [1]

We have just completed a series on standing firm by our commitments. So, I thought we’d switch gears and talk about someone who compromised everything, Lot.


Lot is one of those names, that when mention, people will say, "Who’s That?" By examining these lives, we often find some parallels between their strengths and weaknesses, their challenges and accomplishments, their fears and failures – and our own.

So, who is this guy Lot?


We first meet Lot in the latter part of Genesis 11 where we learn he is the grandson of a man named Terah. Terah is the father of Abram (who would later be known as Abraham, the father of Israel).


Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Lot is born to Haran and in the same passage we learn that Haran died fairly young.


So, Lot comes into the care of his uncle Abram. One of his first journeys is with Terah, Abram (later Abraham), Sarai (Abram’s wife, later called Sarah) from Ur of the Chaldeans (where they originally lived) to go to Canaan.


Only, they didn’t make it to Canaan and ended up staying in another place named Haran (the namesake of Lot’s father).


In Genesis 12, God “calls” Abram, who He commands to "…Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you." (Genesis 12:1). In verse 4, it says that when Abram gets ready to leave, "Lot went with him." Weird, but the next time we see Lot’s name, it is the same phrase, It is interesting to note that the next time we find his name mentioned it is found in the same phrase:


“So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him.” Genesis 13:1 (NIV)


We can assume from all this travelling together, that Lot had a good relationship with his uncle and wasn’t about to give that up.


In chapter 13, we can see that up to this point, Abram and Lot appear inseparable but then we find that a little strife begins to arise between them.


There is strife starts over the fact that each man’s herdsmen sought water and the best pasture for the animals of their respective master. This competition inevitably leads to conflict between the herdsmen. The Bible says that both Abram and Lot had been blessed with many possessions, "…But the land could not support them while they stayed together." (Genesis 13:6a).


Abram notices this strife and calls Lot to him in order to resolve the issue.


So far, so good…

[continued…]