Day 7 & Day 8 The tag alongs in life

Gen13 Gives us some insight into Lot as a person, he doesn't strike me as a go getter, and has no firm direction of his own. His father Haran, died in Ur of Chaldeans , his death obviously left a great impression on the whole family as his grandfather, Terah didn't continue his journey to Canaan Gen11:32. This event stopped the journey for the whole family.
Lot was brought up by his grandfather and uncles, one of whom was also his brother in law! His other sibling,Iscah we aren't told anything about. His family dynamics were probably as strange to us as ours would be to them today. It seems every generation has something to deal with in their family, now back to the blog....

The land could not support the prosperity of both families and quarrels break out between the two households. Abram takes the initiative and offers Lot whatever land he needs. Lot chooses to live among the cities of the plain, beside the retrobate city of Sodom. Later we are told that he lived in the City, Gen 14:12. and then he and his household get captured and Abram has to save them.

Having said all that, Lot is spoken of as being a righteous man and God marked him and his household out for saving (by remembering Abram) when Sodom was about to be destroyed 2 Peter 2:6-8 "and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)".

Could it be that Lot had enough integrity to recognize the wickedness around him but lacked the personal direction or backbone to stay away from the cities or fight against it? His pleading with the men in Gen19:6 show that he focused on appeasment. Reasoning with people who are irrational is generally not fruitful. People who are focused on getting their own way generally have hearing problems!

So where does this put Lot? God saves him and his family but the story does not have a "happy- ever-after" ending. His wife turns into a pillar of salt, and his two daughthers deceive him, have sex with him and become pregnant. The daughters had focus, they feared that they were alone in the world and wanted to preserve the family lineGen19:32. Unfortunately, they too gave birth to nations the Moabites and the Ammonities future enemies to the people of God.

What I have considered while looking at Lot, I see that in our first family we may bear a hallmark of an event in our lives that "takes the rug from under our feet", it undermines our confidence in our own abilities and decision making process, we let issues slip and slide until they are totally out of our control.
Death of a father, failure to continue the journey by the grandfather, could all be contributors to Lot's lack of backbone, but there is something else. Lot did know right from wrong, he spent his time travelling with Abram the man of faith, but it didn't rub off onto Lot.

As Abram moved about, he pitched his tent and built an altar. It is not recorded thatLot does likewise when he moved to live beside the cities. Abram is known as the Hebrew Gen 14:13, why not Lot? Lot lived closer to them...

It seems that a healthy backbone is supported when the heart worships YHWH.
Siobhan