At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.
13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Genesis 14:1-16
Lot was taken captive through no fault of his own, other than he was living in Sodom at the time. You have to remember there wasn’t social media or any media for that matter at the time. News travelled by word of mouth and personal recognition. It was slow. Someone recognized Lot and recalled his relationship with Abram, and the process of informing Abram began.
Even in the midst of turmoil and trouble, God knows your name and where you are. We all know there is impending doom for Lot and his family. Perhaps this is God’s way of giving Lot a second chance to come to his senses and get out of Sodom while he can. Lot knew what kind of trouble he was making for himself by taking his family to Sodom and Gomorrah.
We all have a “Lot” in our life, someone on the verge of disaster but will refuse to budge an inch on their lifestyle and choices. We also know how heart wrenching it can be when our words fall on their deaf ears. But God is bigger than our nudging and cajoling. he can put people through rough situations just so they can look up.
We certainly can’t make choices for people, but we can be ready for them when they fall, and they eventually do just that, We can also pray that God will use circumstances to wake them up.