Advanced Level, Block 2—Result of Entering the Good Land
Week 15
The Captivity of Lot
Point to Emphasize: We must remain with the older, more experienced ones, not going our own way.
Reference Reading: Genesis 13:5-13; 14:1-12; Life-study of Genesis, msg. 43
Memory Verse: In like manner, younger men, be subject to elders… (1 Peter 5:5a)
[Note: Emphasize that elders means those older and wiser ones]
Story Sample
Abraham had finally responded to the call of Jehovah. BUT, Abraham took Lot, his nephew, with him and they began to prosper. They had flocks and herds and tents; and their herds began to grow and grow in number. The time came when there was not enough land to support both families. Soon the herdsmen of Lot and the herdsmen of Abraham began to argue. They both needed room for their animals to graze.
So, the arguing grew with the herdsmen until one day Abraham said to Lot, “Let there please be no strife between me and you and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right, then I will go to the left” (Genesis 13:8-9). At this point, Abraham was giving Lot a choice. Would he remain with Abraham who had God’s visitation, or would he go out on his own and do things his own way?
Lot looked over the whole land and chose to go his own way. He did not reply that he wanted to stay with Abraham. Instead, Lot chose what appeared to be the better land, a land that was green and well-watered. Lot should have told Abraham, “I will not leave. I will do whatever it takes to remain with you.” But he took his family and all his herds and went to the land of Jordan. The Bible says he separated himself from Abraham. This is the keyword, separated. Do you think this was a good choice to separate from his uncle, who was older and wiser? No, Lot went his own way. This choice was a tragic mistake for Lot.
Well, Lot made a bad decision when he made this choice. Jordan was not at all what it appeared to be, for it was a land that was close to Sodom, a very evil city. He was headed the wrong way by moving away from his godly family. After some time, Lot and his family even moved and lived in the city of Sodom. They ended up in a very wicked place. And later, during a big battle of the kings in that area, Lot’s family was taken captive. The outcome of making the choice to leave his uncle was that he and his family were taken captive. If he had stayed with Abraham, he never would have lived in such an evil place and never would have been taken captive.
This is a warning to us all. As we grow up, we will make a lot of decisions. In junior high and high school you will have to make choices. Will we choose to take the godly way of our parents or will we choose to go our own way? Some of our choices may separate us from the way our parents live. If we are separated from the godly way our parents live, then we are headed in the wrong direction, in the way of Lot.
We don’t have to separate ourselves either. No matter what decisions we must make, no matter what we are going through, we can always go to our parents and the more experienced ones and talk with them about how to stay close to those who love God. This will keep us from going out our own way and from heading in the wrong direction like Lot.