Abraham in Canaan
Notes:
Lot was the nephew of Abraham (Genesis 12:5). The flocks of Abraham and Lot became so numerous that the land could no longer support their great herds. Abraham allowed Lot to chose an area in the land of Canaan in which to live and Abraham took what was left (Genesis 13:5+). In Genesis 13:14, God promised that Abraham descendants would later have this land. This area is now the land of Israel. Lot finally came to live in the city of Sodom. This city became incredibly wicked and God promised to destroy it along with its sister city of Gomorrah with fire and brimstone (sulfur) raining from heaven (Genesis 19:24). Only Lot and his family were saved with the exception of his wife who “looked back” and was turned into a “pillar of salt”. We do not know the specific location of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many believe that it was at the southern tip of the Dead Sea. Even today, there are great salt plains around this sea and animals or plants that are left in this area become encrusted with a thick layer of salt deposit.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: What lessons from the story of Abraham should we learn to apply to our lives today? Perhaps the greatest lesson we should learn from the story of Abraham is that we should learn to trust God. A detailed review of Abraham’s life reveals that Abraham sometimes made mistakes. Even though he was a man of faith, out of fear of Pharoah he lied about his sister (Genesis 12:10-20). We learn from this story that even good people sometimes fail in their faith.