Context No. 2556 of 4322 · Genesis

Genesis 14:1-12: in context

1In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim, 2they made war with Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela (also called Zoar). 3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). 4They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 8The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim 9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills. 11They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 12They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

A war breaks out among the kings of the region, four kings against five, and the armies clash in the valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah are routed, the victors plunder the cities and carry off their goods and their people. And in the list of captives, one name stands out: Lot, Abram's nephew, who was living in Sodom, taken along with all he had.

Lot is swept up in a war he had nothing to do with, for one reason: he lived in Sodom. He had chosen that place earlier for its rich land, pitching his tent toward it, and now he shares its fate, captured because he had settled where the trouble was. It is a sober picture of how our choice of where to plant ourselves entangles us. Drift toward the world for its comforts and advantages, and you gradually share its exposures and its captivities. Lot did nothing in the battle; he simply lived in the wrong place, and that was enough to be carried off.

Where have I settled myself for the comforts it offers, in a way that quietly entangles me in troubles and captivities I never bargained for?

Sources

Genesis 14:12: They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Genesis 13:12: Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
1 Corinthians 15:33: Don't be deceived! Evil companionships corrupt good morals.