Havasu Christian Church
September 27, 2026
Character Studies in Genesis
“Learning about Lot” (and his family)
INTRO: We are back tracking again… Last week, we went back to take a look at Melchizedek. This week, we will go back and take a look at Lot. Lot is Abraham’s nephew. He is the son of Abraham’s brother. He is right there, next to Abram, when he’s still Abram. He comes along for the ride. It only seems right to give him a look.
- Lot Abram’s Nephew, left his home with Abram.
- Lot’s own father has died.
Genesis 11:27–28 (NASB95) Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.
28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
- His family,
- His grandfather has died as well.
- Abram is his family!
- Lot had his own fortune
- He has a family
- Soon we’ll read about his wife and two daughters.
- He may have had other children, but these are all we know about.
- Lot has his own posessions and servants
Genesis 12:5 (NASB95) Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
- Lot has enough livestock to need to separate from his uncle, Abram.
Genesis 13:5–12 (NASB95) Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
6 And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”
10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
11 So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other.
12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
- Lot made what seemed to be a wise choice…
Genesis 13:10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
- He takes a look around, and chooses what looks like the best deal!
- This valley was “well watered.”
- That’s a real plus when raising livestock.
- Water for you and your livestock to drink.
- Water to grow the grass your animals need.
- “WIN, WIN!”
- “Like the garden of the Lord!” like Egypt.
- It’s a good place for growing things!
- But there was a catch!
Genesis 13:13 (NASB95) Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.
- Sodom is not a place that a good man would want to live!
- The men of Sodom are wicked!
- They do wrong, when doing good would have served them better!
- They are sinners against the Lord.
- They apparently KNOW about God, but choose to flaunt their contempt for God.
- God had given the people of Canaan prophets to tell them about Himself.
- The people of the “cities of the plains” have apparently decided they don’t care!
- Lot simply sets up his tents in the area of the “cities of the valley.”
- But as time goes on, he moves INTO Sodom!
- Lot chooses to ignore his conscience.
- How do we know this?
2 Peter 2:6–9 (NASB95) and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;
7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men
8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
- Lot chooses to continue to live there.
- In spite of his feeling oppressed by the evil going on around him.
- In spite of feeling tormented because of what kind of place he lived.
- Why did Lot stay in Sodom? Let’s speculate.
- Maybe his wife and daughters were tired of living in a tent!
- Maybe LOT was tired of living in a tent.
- Maybe he sold his herds and became a “city guy.”
- Whatever the reason, it cost him almost everything!
- Lot suffered a huge loss because of his terrible choices.
- In Genesis 18 we see God tell Abraham that He is about to destroy Sodom.
- Abraham bargains with God… God allows it.
- What if there are 50 righteous men?
- How about 45? You wouldn’t destroy the good with the wicked, would you?
- How about 40?
- How about 30?
- How about 20?
- How about 10?
Genesis 18:32 (NASB95) Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”
- Abraham has pushed as far as he can, and he knows it.
- God agrees that if 10 men live there, the city will be spared.
- Why did Abraham do this? Again, let’s speculate…
- Abraham doesn’t want to see this kind of destruction take place?
- He’s concerned about Lot and his family?
- The two angels, in disguise, arrive in Sodom.
Genesis 19:1–26 (NASB95) Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.”
3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
- Lot is determined to get these guys off the street and protect them in his own home.
- When they say they will stay in the square, Lot argues. He “urged them strongly.”
- Lot brings the “men” home and feeds them.
- Before they can go to bed, a mob forms outside Lot’s house.
4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;
5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.”
- “All the people” surround the house.
- Apparently, everyone wanted to either participate, or watch the proceedings.
Genesis 19:6-8 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
- Lot goes out to deal with these people.
- He even does the unthinkable… he offers his innocent daughters to the mob.
- I’ve heard about the ancient “rules of hospitality” but I cannot understand how Lot could make this offer.
- Things go from bad to worse!
Genesis 19:9-10 But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
- The people of Sodom begin grumbling about Lot trying to convince them to do right.
- “He’s an alien, (foreigner) but he acts like he thinks he’s a judge!
- “We’ll mistreat you worse then the guys we were after!
- Before anything worse happens, the two angels pull Lot inside and shut the door.
- The time for action has come.
- God has given these wicked people the chance to repent. He’s even had Lot call them out about their sin!
- These wicked people refuse to listen!
- Their punishment is on the way!
Genesis 19:11 They struck the men who were
at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
- Even after being struck blind, these people won’t give up their wicked desire!
- They “wearied themselves trying to find the doorway!”
- The level of evil is stunning!
- Even when struck blind, they don’t give up on their perversion!
- The Angels give Lot instructions!
- First orders: Warn your family.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
- Lot warns his soon to be son in laws.
- They ignore his warning.
- The second order: “Get outta town!
15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.
17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
- Lot still hesitates.
- Why?
- Maybe he is still concerned for his son in laws?
- Perhaps Lot has gotten used to the comfort of Sodom.
- “The people leave a lot to be desired, but the town… That’s nice!”
- The Angels grab his wife and daughter’s hands, and drag them out of the house.
- Lot follows along.
- The Angels “put them outside the city!
- This is the compassion of God at work!
- It would have been easy for God to say “If he doesn’t want to get moving, let him burn!”
- Instead, God has His Angels usher them out of town.
- Lot’s still not ready to “let it all go.”
Genesis 19:18-20 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.”
- Lot wants to go to a town!
- He really has become accustomed to living in the city!
- This guy is really pushing his luck!
- The angel grants his request… probably just to get the guy moving!
Genesis 19:21-23 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.
“Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
- God finally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah!
24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven,
25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
- Brimstone and fire rain down.
- In the area South of the Dead Sea, they dig up “Sulfur nuggets.”
- They burn quite easily.
- There is no city left, of either Sodom or Gomorrah.
- All the inhabitants are destroyed!
- The Valley that was like “the garden of God” was utterly destroyed!
- To add insult to injury, Lot’s wife “looked back.”
- The Angels said not to look back!
- His wife turned into a “pillar of salt.”
- Visitors to the Dead Sea are shown a “pillar of salt” that the guide will call “Lot’s wife.”
- One more horrible thing happens from all of this.
Genesis 19:30–37 (NASB95) Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.
31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth.
32 “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.”
33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.”
35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
- Lot moves into a cave with his two daughters.
- The daughters don’t think they will be able to have husbands after all that has happened.
- They get their dad drunk, two nights in a row, and have sex with him.
- They both get pregnant from doing this.
- They both have sons, who wind up being the beginning of their own tribes.
- God doesn’t “pretty up” anything in His Word. It gets told, just the way it happened!
What is there to learn from this sad, sad story?
- Lot had a rough start.
- Scripture doesn’t say how old he was when his dad died, but burying a parent is ALWAYS hard!
- A rough start does not have to set the tone for your life!
- With God, the rough start can actually be useful to the rest of your life.
- My Dad. Family hit the road during the Depression… It motivated him to do some really great things with his life!
- In spite of that rough start, things went well for Lot.
- He had his Grandpa, and his Uncle Abram.
- They helped him to prosper.
- When his Uncle Abram headed for Canaan, Lot was brave enough to leave home behind and go with Abram and Sarai.
- When God is guiding you, it should be easier to be brave!
- It isn’t always easy to trust, but remember: “God is in control!”
- Lot got greedy
- He could have said “Uncle Abram, you can choose where you want to live!”
- Instead, he chooses what seems to be the best… for him!
- When we are tempted to “look out for #1,” maybe we need to look again.
- Considering others before ourselves is the right thing to do, even if it doesn’t keep you out of trouble.
- Lot should have bailed!
- When he puts himself in a spot where his conscience is kicking him in the brain, he should have paid attention!
- Instead, he stayed.
- It’s often hard to move once we stop moving.
- “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.”
- But is it really? It wasn’t for Lot!
- Listen to your conscience.
- As a Christian, the Holy Spirit uses our conscience to prompt us to do what is right.
- When God sends a message, LISTEN! Then DO something about it!
- If God makes it clear to you that He wants you to act, ACT! Don’t argue!
- Of course, there’s the obvious “don’t look back.”
- (In a wistful voice) “I used to party… I used to be promiscuous… I used to get stoned…. I used to Steal… I used to lie and cheat… But I gave it all up for Jesus!”
- People forget that all those things they look back at (sometimes fondly) were killing them!
- Those things were also blocking our way to Jesus!
- Finally, Lot’s daughters did something really dumb!
- They got Lot drunk to make it happen.
- Don’t do dumb things!
Stay in control so you don’t contribute to the dumb things that others want to do.
