Lot
 Some people simply drift through life. Their choices, when they can muster the will to choose, tend to follow the course of least resistance. Lot, Abram’s nephew, was such a person.

While still young, Lot lost his father. Although this must have been hard on him, he was not left without strong role models in his grandfather Terah and his uncle Abram, who raised him. Still, Lot did not develop their sense of purpose. Throughout his life he was so caught up in the present moment that he seemed incapable of seeing the consequences of his actions. It is hard to imagine what his life would have been like without Abram’s careful attention and God’s intervention.

By the time Lot drifted out of the picture, his life had taken an ugly turn. He had so blended into the sinful culture of his day that he did not want to leave it. His drifting finally took him in a very specific direction—destruction. Then his daughters committed incest with him.

Lot, however, is called "righteous" in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:7, 8). Ruth, a descendant of Moab, was an ancestor of Jesus, even though Moab was born as a result of Lot’s incestuous relationship with one of his daughters. Lot’s story gives hope to us that God forgives and often brings about positive circumstances from evil.

What is the direction of your life? Are you headed toward God or away from him? If you’re a drifter, the choice for God may seem difficult, but it is the one choice that puts all other choices in a different light.

1- Strengths and accomplishments

- He was a successful businessman
- Peter calls him a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7, 8)

2- Weaknesses and mistakes

- When faced with decisions, he tended to put off deciding, then chose the easiest course of action
- When given a choice, his first reaction was to think of himself

3- Lesson from his life

- God wants us to do more than drift through life; he wants us to be an influence for him

4- Vital statistics

- Where: Lived first in Ur of the Chaldeans, then moved to Canaan with Abram. Eventually he moved to the wicked city of Sodom
- Occupation: Wealthy sheep and cattle rancher; also a city official
- Relatives: Father: Haran. Adopted by Abram when his father died. The name of his wife, who turned into a pillar of salt, is not mentioned

5- Key verse

"When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful" (Genesis 19:16).

Lot’s story is told in Genesis 11—14; 19. He is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:9; Luke 17:28–32; 2 Peter 2:7, 8.

 

Lot

1. Son of Haran the brother of Abraham. He seems to have accompanied Abraham without having a like faith in Abraham’s God. When their flocks and herds had so increased that they could no longer dwell together, Abraham bade his nephew choose whither he would turn. Lot looked on the well-watered plain of the Jordan, and went toward Sodom, notwithstanding that the men of that city were exceedingly wicked. The next record of Lot is that he dwelt in Sodom, and from thence was carried away by the four kings who made war against that city.

Though rescued by Abraham he did not profit by the discipline, but returned to dwell in the guilty city; whereas Abraham would not accept so much as a shoe latchet from its king. Lot is next seen sitting in the gate of Sodom, the place of power and judgment, when the two angels arrived to destroy the city. He acted hospitably towards them, but had to be rescued by them from the enmity of the inhabitants.

Lot and his family were loth to leave the city, but the angels hastened them out, and bade them flee to the mountains. Lot begged to be allowed to go to Zoar, and was permitted; but, fearing to stay there, he left with his two daughters and abode in a cave, where, alas, he became the father of Moab and Ben-ammi, the ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who are afterwards alluded to as the children of Lot.

From his history in the O. T. it could not have been discovered that he was a righteous man; but this testimony is given of him in #2Pe 2:7,8, where he is called ‘just Lot,’ who, as a righteous man, was daily vexed in his soul by the unlawful deeds of those among whom he dwelt. Though God delivered him, he is a solemn instance of a righteous man dwelling needlessly amid gross wickedness; his course being the strongest contrast to that of Abraham. #Ge 11$ 12$ 13$ 14$ 19$ Ps 83:8 Lu 17:28,29.

LOT’S WIFE, on leaving Sodom, looked back and became a pillar of salt! and is held up as a warning not to linger but to flee from coming judgments. #Lu 17:29,30.


2. Lot, (Heb. lot), a covering; veil, the son of Haran, and nephew of Abraham #Ge 11:27 On the death of his father, he was left in charge of his grandfather Terah #Ge 11:31 after whose death he accompanied his uncle Abraham into Canaan #Ge 12:5 thence into Egypt #Ge 12:10 and back again to Canaan #Ge 13:1 After this he separated from him and settled in Sodom #Ge 13:5-13 There his righteous soul was "vexed" from day to day #2Pe 2:7 and he had great cause to regret this act. Not many years after the separation he was taken captive by Chedorlaomer, and was rescued by Abraham #Ge 14:1ff. At length, when the judgment of God descended on the guilty cities of the plain #Ge 19:1-20 Lot was miraculously delivered. When fleeing from the doomed city his wife "looked back from behind him, and became a pillar of salt." There is to this day a peculiar crag at the south end of the Dead Sea, near Kumran, which the Arabs call Bint Sheik Lot, i.e., Lot’s wife. It is "a tall, isolated needle of rock, which really does bear a curious resemblance to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder." See Easton on SALT 3196 Lot and his daughters sought refuge first in Zoar, and then, fearing to remain there longer, retired to a cave in the neighbouring mountains #Ge 19:30 Lot has recently been connected with the people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu or Lotanu, who is supposed to have been the hero of the Edomite tribe Lotan.