As obedient as Abraham was, he did not strictly obey God in every instance, and was punished for it. In Genesis 12:1 we find the Lord saying to him: (You, Abraham) “Get out of your country, and from (all) your kindred and from your father’s house (from all his relatives) and (you, Abraham) go to a land that I will show (only) you.” Notice that God’s instructions were directed to Abraham and no one else. However, in Genesis 12:4 where we find the words, “So Abraham departed” we also find that “Lot went with him.” We find no Scriptural evidence that God told Lot to go with Abraham. Lot was one of his kindred/household that Abraham was commanded to leave behind. There is no evidence that God told Abraham to take Lot with him. We do not know why he disobeyed God. But we do know that it turned out to be a huge mistake.

It was not long before Lot began to cause problems for his uncle. In 13:5-8 we find Abraham and Lot living in Bethel with their large herds of livestock. They soon determined that the land could not support both of them. The need for grass soon created “strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle.” They would need to part ways in order for both to survive. Being focused on doing what God wanted him to do, Abraham did not need to deal with this problem. In order to keep peace in the family, Abraham allowed Lot to have the area’s most fertile land. However, the people of the land Lot chose were known for their vile sexual practices. One of the cities in the area, Sodom, was populated by the most vile of the homosexuals. For this reason God characterized them as “wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” To have his nephew living in the midst of such perversion had to have cause Abraham much heartache.

Lot had not lived in Sodom long when he once again caused trouble for his uncle. Genesis 14 tells of the capture of the residents of Sodom and their possessions. Included among the captives were Lot and his family, along with their possessions. Once again it befell Abraham to act on his behalf. To do so he also had to operate on behalf of the wicked people of Sodom. This time Abraham had to resort to warfare and soon found himself having to risk his life on behalf of those evil people. Abraham and his men defeated Lot’s and Sodom’s enemies and recaptured all of their possessions. In spite of this, Lot refused to leave Sodom.

Then came the city’s angelic visitation and destruction. Once again Abraham had to come to Lot’s rescue by having the angels take him, his wife and their two daughters literally by the hand and lead them out of the condemned city just before it was destroyed by fire. This episode resulted in the death of Lot’s wife and the impregnation of their daughters by their father. Fortunately, we hear no more about Lot from the Scriptures. In Luke 17:32 we find Jesus warning against disobedience toward the Father by telling us to “Remember Lot’s wife.” She died because she disobeyed God’s command not to look back toward Sodom as it went up in flames.

Abraham’s problems relative to Lot should teach us a valuable lesson: When God tells us to do something, we, and we alone, must do it. If He wants anyone else involved in the activity He will arrange it. We must practice exactness relative to God’s Word, otherwise we might find ourselves in a LOT of trouble. L.J.