WWTK: Lot

According to Bible Gateway, there are about 30 references to Lot (capital L) in the scriptures. There's probably a lot to learn about the man (and the child) . The most obvious thing we know about Lot is that he is the son of Abram's brother -Abram's nephew - but possibly like a son in that Abram and Lot lived together for a long time. Lot had opportunity to see a man of faith up close. He was "only" a nephew, not a son, but he was a child in one of God's stories.

We don't know how old Lot was when they left Haran, but we know he moved when Abram moved as God sent Abram on his journey. We can read the story of Abram and imagine it through the eyes of his nephew- when would Lot have been around? When would he not? But God didn't tell Abram's story from Lot's point of view.

We know that Lot lived with his uncle's family well into adulthood. What he thought, how he felt, the things that affected him as a boy are all speculation but we know he prospered like his uncle.We know there came a time when there wasn't enough room for them to coexist with all their possessions.

Abram could have been content with Lot as an adopted son. Abram could have said "Thanks, God, one is enough." But God made Abram a promise to give him a child of his own and Abram believed God. We don't know if that effected Abram's relationship with his nephew. Did Lot get the short end of the deal? Or did he prosper anyway? It appears that Abram took good care of Lot. He came to Lot's rescue once in person and once in prayer.

2 Peter suggests that Lot was a righteous godly man buy we don't know much about Lot's faith. Abram was the one in the family who seems to be living the faith-driven life. We can guess that Lot spent a fair amount of time in Abram's company. Yet from a evangelical or fundamentalist point of view, Abram probably wasn't always the best role-model in the world.

Lot didn't seem surprised when the old man sent two strangers to him with a strange message on an odd mission. If your uncle sent two strangers to your house on the same mission with the same message, what would you think? Did he know they came because of Abram? We don't know.