FRIENDSHIP 2 - Be careful in choosing your friends!

Friendship 2 - English files

Freundschaft 2 - German files

Devotional Thoughts about Genesis Chapters 13 and 19

The narrative about Abraham starts early on in Genesis, and the flip sides of many of the pages begin setting the cultural backdrop of Canaan. That’s where we find the warning story of Sodom. Besides Sarai, Abram's wife, Lot was the patriarch's only family member to accompany him from Haran to Canaan. This nephew seemed to be the son he didn’t have, probably sharing in his wealth.

We wonder how things might have turned out if Lot had chosen differently, but as it was, he went from being the lottery winner of an earthly paradise (13:10) down the slippery slope of pitching his tent toward Sodom (13:22) to living in Sodom (14:12) to sitting in its city gate (19:1). This last was a place of influence in an oriental city, but the story shows that the city had influenced him and his family.

Lot was a hospitable man who was rightly concerned for the welfare of his guests, but when a mob came pounding on his door demanding the strangers, he actually offered his daughters to pacify them! In 2 Peter 2:7,8 it says he was a righteous man who was deeply disturbed by the wicked­ness around him. Yet he stayed in Sodom for years and even hesitated when the angels warned him to get out. The family escaped only by God’s mercy, being led—if not pulled—by the hands of angels.

Our last picture of Lot in Genesis is of a frightened old man in a mountain cave, and there his daughters took matters into their own hands. With time, the Moabites and the Ammonites joined the cultural landscape of Canaan, offering the Israelites a yet larger assortment of idols vying for their worship.

Lord, please give me discernment in choosing friends and the strength to say no to what I know is wrong.

Downloading lesson files

If you're interested in the lesson files, simply click on the appropriate link above to download them in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next two blogs will continue the Friendship series.