ABOUT LOT

0. About Lot

a) 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, Abraham's nephew, was such a person.

b) 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.

c) 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. Then his daughters committed incest with him. His drifting finally took him in a very specific direction - destruction.

d) Lot, however, is called "righteous" in the New Testament (see 2 Peter 2:7-8).

@1. 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) (2 Peter 2:7-8 NIV)

e) 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.

f) 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. What were his strengths and accomplishments?

a) He was a successful businessman.

b) Peter calls him a righteous man (see 2 Peter 2:7-8).

2. What were his weaknesses and mistakes?

a) When faced with decisions, he tended to put off deciding, then choose the easiest course of action.

b) When given a choice, his first reaction was to think of himself.

3. What can we learn from his life?

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

4. What are the key verses?

a) 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. (Genesis 19:16 NIV)

b) 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. 

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