When Abraham and his household moved from Mesopotamia into Canaan, his nephew Lot went with him. He also went with Abraham into Egypt, and then back into Canaan (Gen 11:26-31; 12:1-5,10; 13:1). Like Abraham, Lot was a wealthy owner of sheep and cattle. When trouble arose between Abraham’s and Lot’s workers, the two households separated. Lot chose for himself the fertile pasture lands around Sodom and Gomorrah, east of the Dead Sea (Gen 13:5-11). Lot’s choice was selfish and it soon brought him trouble.
Mesopotamian invaders raided his territory, plundered his goods and took Lot himself captive. Only swift action by Abraham rescued him (Gen 14:1-3,12-16). Lot established himself in the city of Sodom and continued to increase in prosperity. But Sodom and the neighbouring city of Gomorrah were so morally corrupt that God decided to destroy them (Gen 13:12- 13; 18:20-21). Lot did not agree with the immoral practices of Sodom (2 Peter 2:7-8), though he apparently did nothing to oppose them. He was even prepared to allow the sexual perverts of the city to rape his daughters, in order to save two guests from homosexual assault (Gen 19:1-11). Lot was so much at home in Sodom that even when God’s judgment was about to fall on the city, he did not want to leave (Gen 19:15-20). The two daughters of Lot, still affected by the evil influences of Sodom, forced their father into immoral sexual relations with them. The two children born as a result marked the beginnings of two nations, Ammon and Moab (Gen 19:30-38).