The nephew of Abraham, and the hero of
the the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Lot was a member of the family of Abraham. He was the
son of Haran (Abraham's brother), and therefore Abraham's nephew. (11:27) He had two
siblings: Milcah and Iscah. (11:29) The family lived in the city of Ur, in the kingdom
of Chaldea. (11:28) (Ur was a city located in southern part of
Chaldea. Chaldea was later renamed Babylon. Archeologists have located the ruins
of the city of Ur in southeastern Iraq, about ten miles west of the Euphrates
river. The ruins of Ur are still there, but today the site is called Tell al-Mugayyar.) At
the time, Abraham went by the name of Abram.
While the family still lived in Ur, Lot's father Haran
died. (11:28) Then four members of the family-Terah, Abram, Sarai (Abram's wife), and
Lot-left Ur to live somewhere else. They intended to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped
in the city of Haran, in the land of Mesopotamia, and settled there. (11:31)
(This
might get confusing. The city of Haran is not to be confused with the person
Haran, Lot's father. Mesopotamia is the area between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. By today's map, the area of Mesopotamia would be in southern Turkey,
northeastern Syria, and central Iraq. Archeologists have located the ruins of the
city of Haran in southeastern Turkey. The ruins of
Haran are still there, but today the site is called Sultan Tepe.)
God told Abram "Go to a land
that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation." Abram and his
family, including Sarai and Lot, left on this journey. God led them to the
land of Canaan. (Canaan was a land on the eastern shore of
the Mediterranean Sea. It was located between the Mediterranean Sea on its west
side, the Jordan river on its east side, Egypt on its south side, and Babylon on
its north side, in what would today be the country of Israel) Here, God
told Abram "Your descendants shall become a nation. I shall give them this
land." (12:1-7) At the time, the land was lived in by the Canaanites
(descendants of Canaan, the youngest son of Ham). (12:6)
There was famine in the land at the time, so Abram and
his family went to Egypt for a while. (12:10) (Egypt was located just
south of Canaan.) When they left, they went to the edge of
Canaan. By now, both Abram and Lot had a lot of livestock, and there wasn't
enough land to accommodate all the livestock from both men. So Abram and Lot
decided to separate for a while. Lot and his men settled near the city of Sodom (a
city on the southern border of Canaan). The people in Sodom were wicked.
(13:1-13)
Meanwhile, there was a battle in the
land of Canaan. There were four kings: Amraphael (king of the land of Shinar),
Arioch (king of the city of Ellasar), Chedorlaomer (king of the city of Elam),
and Tidal (king of nations). Their leader was Chedorlaomer. Five kings had
served under Chedorlaomer for years. The five were Bera (king of the city of
Sodom), Birsha (king of the city of Gomorrah), Shinab (king of the city of Admah),
Shemeber (king of the city of Zeboiim), and the unnamed king of the city of Bela.
These five kings got together and revolted against Chedorlaomer and his three
allies. All of the armies got together in the valley of Siddim, and did battle.
Chedorlaomer's side won.
Chedorlaomer's soldiers rampaged through Sodom, stole
much of Lot's goods, and kidnapped Lot. One of Lot's men goes to Abram for help. He
found Abram in the plain of Mamre, and told him what happened. Abram and some
allies took up arms and attacked Chedorlaomer's men. They chased them
into the area of Hobah, and smote them. Lot was rescued, and his goods were
returned. (chapter 14)
In Sodom, Lot was visited by two angels.
He let them stay the night. That evening, all of the men of Sodom came to Lot's
house and knocked on the door. They wanted Lot's guests to be sent out to them
so that they could have sex with them. Lot said "No, don't do this. Look, I
have two daughters who are virgins. I'll bring them out. Do whatever you want to
them. But don't do such anything to my guests." The men attacked the
house. The angels smote the men at the door and blinded them all. (19:1-11)
The angels told Lot that God had sent them to destroy Sodom. They warned
him to take his family and flee the city, but not
to look back. Lot's family consisted of Lot himself, his wife, and their two
daughters. Lot said to the angels "There is a small city nearby. Please
don't destroy that one. I shall flee to there." The angels agreed. The city
became known as Zoar. (19:12-22)
Lot, his wife, and
his daughters fled Sodom before it was destroyed. But Lot's wife looked
back, and she became a pillar of salt. (19:24-26) Lot and his two daughters went
to Zoar. (19:23,30) Afterwards, they went into the mountains. Lot was afraid to
live in Zoar. So he and his daughters lived in a cave. (19:30)
Lot's daughters feared that they were all alone and would never see civilization
again. Then they would never marry and continue the family. So they got Lot drunk, and then they both had
sex with him. The older daughter conceived, and bore Lot's son/grandson. His
name was Moab. Moab's descendants became a tribe called the Moabites. The
younger daughter conceived, and bears another son/grandson. His name was Ben-Ammi.
Ben-Ammi's descendants became a tribe called Ammon. (19:24-38)
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