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Sermon Notes

Saving Lot

Sunday 3 May 2026 Pastor Craig Ledbetter Genesis 14
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I. Introduction - We are in Genesis chapter 14

  • Oh I wish I could go back and do it all again - teach deeper from chapter 1
  • There is so much more I want to teach you from this First Book in your Bible
  • But right now, we will stay the course, and pick up where I left off last time
  • Lot has left Abram for the bright lights of Sodom; he doesn’t need God, and he will end up in a warzone, and a prisoner of war!
  • After they separated one from another, Abram surely thought he was finished with Lot. But Lot is like a bad penny - he keeps coming back into Abram’s life in more and more trouble.
  • You see, the MEN of Sodom were WICKED (Genesis 13:13), and I mean wicked. Think of the word ‘sodomy’ and you will start to understand how wicked they were!
  • The problem was that Lot knew they were wicked.
  • But he didn’t care. Their wickedness didn’t matter to Lot. He only saw wealth opportunities, never thinking that living away from God, no prayer-life, in a world of wars, he and his family would end up suffering.

A. Lot was what the Bible calls, a “carnal” believer - saved, but addicted to this life, this world, to pleasing himself. And, as we shall see, it was a dangerous way to live

  • “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? [AND NOT AS CHRISTIANS]” - 1Corinthians 3:1-3

  • “For they that are [FOLLOWING] after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity [AT WAR] against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” - Romans 8:5-8

  • Abram ends up risking everything to save his nephew from a ruined life - he will have to do this time and again - by-the-way, it’s always this way with carnal believers!

II. Message

A. War in Canaan (Genesis 14:1-4)

  • This chapter records the first physical war mentioned in the Bible.
  • Two sets of city-states - nations were formed around capital cities (still true today)

  1. “,2 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar” - Genesis 14:1

  2. Nine nations were involved in this war in this chapter.
  3. The Four Power-players - powerful, dominate kingdoms almost 1,000 miles away
    • Amraphel king of Shinar (early Babylon)
    • Arioch king of Ellasar
    • Chedorlaomer king of Elam (early PERSIA / IRAN) - remember this name
    • And Tidal king of nations
    • These were small, early empires, all combining and coalescing into empires.
    • And this one king, Chedorlaomer had the most power, he governed many nations.
    • And he sought to continue to tax and control the small kingdoms that were gathered around the lower Jordan River Valley. To keep them under his power. To enslave them to tax them and to control them. It is the way of the world - taxation, war, expansion, oppression by the strong
  4. The 5 rebellious nations - 5 small “itty-bitty” nations “under tribute”, all located around the area of the Dead Sea (before it was the Dead Sea!) [MAP]
    • Bera king of Sodom
    • Birsha king of Gomorrah
    • Shinab king of Admah
    • Shemeber king of Zeboiim
    • The king of Bela, which is Zoar
  • Faced-off in the valley of Siddim, which is now the Salt Sea (Dead Sea)

  1. “All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea” - Genesis 14:3

  2. The area was not the Salt Sea yet. The Dead Sea forms in chapter 19
  • Why the war was fought…
  1. Because of the revolt of the five small kings from under the government of Chedorlaomer up in Babylon. They refused to pay taxes and tariffs

  2. “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled” - Genesis 14:4

  3. Canaan land was a bottleneck for trade with Egypt - whoever controlled it, controlled wealth
    • Twelve years the people of Sodom and Gomorrah served those far away empires as tributaries, and were controlled and ruled by them - like when Ireland was governed by Britain.
    • Twelve years of oppressive control over their lives - taxes, conscription to fight in every war, obeying foreign laws and expectations
    • In the Thirteenth year there was a rebellion - like here in 1798, and 1916 and a dozen others throughout the past 500 years!
  4. The 5 nations including Sodom and Gomorrah decided to rebel

B. Chedorlaomer’s mighty army (Genesis 14:5-12)

  • They were coming for Sodom and the other 4 nations who had rebelled
  • Chedorlaomer’s armies humiliated all the Canaanite nations on his way to Sodom and Gomorrah…
  1. Chedorlaomer and his soldiers marched through territories filled with literal giants (massive men), one after another. And they just cut through those nations like butter.

  2. “-7 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar” - Genesis 14:5

    • The Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim - rephaims were giants
    • The Zuzims in Ham - more giants
    • The Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim - more giants
    • The Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
    • As well as all the country of the Amalekites
    • And also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar
  3. Chedorlaomer was an incredibly powerful king with an unstoppable army!
  4. All of these were nations that stood between where Chedorlaomer was from and where he was headed!

  5. “,9 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings [AT WAR] with five” - Genesis 14:8

  • Chedorlaomer easily conquered the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah

  1. “,11 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way” - Genesis 14:10

  2. Slimepits - boiling muck that was used as mortar and concrete
  3. Those 5 small nations fled into the area of slime pits and were defeated during a decisive battle there.
  4. All the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah was taken - as spoils of war!
  5. All the wickedness of those people was now being punished
  6. In our eyes, that was a good thing - good riddance!
  7. Except for one thing…
  8. God would not have bothered to record this pagan dog-fight, these national squabbles and wars, battles. and massacres between nine heathen cities were it not for these four little words, “and they took Lot!”
  • Lot was taken captive

  1. “And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed” - Genesis 14:12

  2. That was NOT a good thing
  3. Lot was taken as spoils of war by the kings.

C. Lot’s life so far… There are so many things to learn from Lot’s life!

  • Started off well - Lot had followed Abram up to this point and been greatly blessed
  • But Lot fell in love with the lights of Sodom, with the “wealth” there
  • He did not mind the sins of Sodom. He saw an opportunity for wealth and prosperity.
  • But he ended up caught up in a war
  1. Lot, in an instant, became ruined… a prisoner of war. A slave.
    • Lot, who had moved into the wicked city with the desire for wealth, was taken captive along with thousands of others and is impoverished, along with all of Sodom and Gomorrah in the surrounding nations.
    • He’s not just kicked out of his home and business… He is defeated. He now belongs to this foreign king.
    • Lot is taken away. He’s no longer free - he is being marched all the way back to Babylon where he had first left Ur with Abram.
    • When you follow the pretty lights, you usually lose all your freedoms, one by one. He’s like a drug addict.
  2. The principle is, you don’t have to go looking for trouble for it to find you. For it to surround you, and even overtake you. Sometimes physically, often emotionally, and definitely spiritually!
  • Lot’s only hope is Abram’s God
  1. Lot still belonged to God. He didn’t act like it, he didn’t look, talk, dress, or walk like a follower of Jehovah God, but God knows his own.

  2. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” - 2Timothy 2:19

  3. “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered [SAVED] just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” - 2Peter 2:6-9

  • Thank God He is committed to protecting His people - even though we are so carnal!

D. What is the lesson here for Christians?

  • We also are in a war ladies and gentlemen!
  1. Against our old nature, our flesh, and against the god of this world, Satan
  2. If you thought by getting saved, you would only experience happiness and “smooth-sailing”, you are desperately mistaken
  3. This world will be filled with wars until Jesus, the King of kings comes and brings real, actual, peace to a war-weary world!
  4. The last great battle is found in Revelation 20:8 at the end of the 1,000 year Reign of Jesus Christ on this earth in the near future.
  5. Unfortunately, most Christians are ill-prepared for the battles of this world!
  • Seeking acceptance and fellowship with the world system will hurt you more than help! (James 4:4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. [THAT WAS WRITTEN TO US CHRISTIANS]
  • We need to separate ourselves from the things of the world AND STAY SEPARATED (2Corinthians 6:17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
  1. To come away from, and reject Filth (homosexuality and sex-scenes) in movies - complain, do not watch, promote wholesome entertainments
  2. Any alcohol in your home - why allow in your home what you KNOW has ruined your home and life?
  3. Any idolatry in your life or home - statues, and anything more important than the Lord Jesus Christ in your life! Can be sports, money, your own self image!
  4. Way we dress - are you listening ladies? Of all people, we Christians should dress better, more modestly, more thoughtfully, not like everyone else!
  5. And the Way we speak
  • Because it is the right thing to do (James 1:27) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. [IT KEEPS YOU OUT OF TROUBLE]

E. A Time to Fight (Genesis 14:13-16)

  • Abram hears about Lot being taken captive

  1. “And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive…” - Genesis 14:13,14

  2. What would YOU do if you learned your stupid nephew was kidnapped and in danger?
  3. Abram was safe from all the fighting - in the middle of the will of God
  4. And then learns about his nephew Lot and family
  5. He could have said, “It serves Lot right;” or, “He had it coming to him”
  6. But he didn’t think that way. He cared about an undeserving family member
  7. By the way, Abram is NOT having compassion on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah - only cares for his family members
  8. Abram was fulfilling the truth that would later be written in Romans 15:1 and Galatians 6:1-3.

    • “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself” - Galatians 6:1-3

    • A great church is full of people who carry the burdens of each other, knowing they could be the next ones in trouble and needing compassion!

    • “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” - Romans 15:1

    • ‘The weak’ are other believers who are carnal, and not growing in faith!
  • Abram prepares his servants for a fight - not for a rescue, but for a FIGHT!
  1. Abram is ready for the fight
    • I think this is amazing!

    • “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. [A HUGE DISTANCE]” - Genesis 14:14

    • He was NOT afraid of a fight - a fight for what is right!
    • He was confident in God - Abram is no fool - he is 80 years old, so he is fully trusting THE LORD to help him win back his nephew!
    • Abram was committed! He was going to do the right thing, even if it killed him! Oh how MEN need to have this attitude again!
    • He was a good leader
  2. Abram had 318 servants who LOVED working for him - they were not slaves
  3. He had a great relationship with his servants - he was an able leader that men were willing to follow!
  4. They were well trained in self defence
    • Why? Because there often are marauders and had to face wild animals and enemies
    • He will lead 318 men into a fight against the combined “unstoppable” power of 4 nations, 80 miles away!
    • 318 servant men can be a formidable force
    • Think of the 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas at the 480 BC Battle of Thermopylae. They were elite Spartan soldiers. They were hand-picked for their combat skill and commitment to duty to ensure the survival of the Spartan nation, acting as the main Greek defence against the Persian empire that was coming.
    • Remember Gideon’s 300 men defeating 100,000 Midianites!
  5. Abram trusted them enough to arm them all for the fight!
  6. The Bible has much to say about being healthy and prepared for LIFE - about us as a church, being ready for whatever the world throws at us!
    • Our stress-levels, entertainments, diets, laziness make us the MOST ill-prepared generation for any kind of warfare!
    • God often cannot use a Christian, not just because he is filthy on the inside, but because he is unprepared for the wars that are going on around us constantly! Unprepared for problems, disappointments, and disasters!
  • Abram risks his life for a weaker brother
  1. Lot got himself in this situation, but Abram was compelled to get him out.
  2. He puts his own life at great risk as well as all the expense.
    • We are responsible for our own sins and for getting ourselves into such deep, terrible messes in yet.
    • We find out the God of Abram often gets us out when we certainly don’t deserve it.
    • We need to treat one another with the greatest of respect, even though other people deserve to be just abandoned.
    • Because Jesus riskd everything for my life! And He is greater than Abraham!
  3. Abram’s servants loved Abram, and risked their lives, because they loved Abram, not because they loved Lot, and not because they thought Lot was worth it.
  4. And the truth is, we serve other people, and we help other people, not because people are worth it, and not because we love other people, really deeply, but rather because we love Jesus. And we’re willing to risk our life and lose everything because we love our Master.
  • He Fights to Win
  1. Every battle you face (with old habits, with wrong thinking and fears, with demonic attacks) must be fought with the determination to defeat them!
  2. Abram and his men actually defeated 5 kings and their armies!

  3. “And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus” - Genesis 14:15

  4. They attacked when it was unexpected at night. Which means they were very well trained, because it’s hard to move around in a nighttime scenario, you can’t trust the moonlight, and they’re moving throughout an army, and without being able to see and make noise, they’re taking a great risk.
  5. And in the battle, they killed the head, which was Chedorlaomer.
  6. They chased the army as far north up to Damascus. where Abram’s servant was from
  7. And Abram freed all five of those nations (thousands and thousands of unworthy, wicked people), and he did it to save one man… His nephew, Lot.

  8. “And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people” - Genesis 14:16

  9. Wow!
  10. When Jesus saved HIS people, He saved a lot of unworthy people too (you and me)! (Matthew 1:21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
  11. The truth is, we are more than conquerors too.
  • There are times to prepare to fight, and times to actually fight

  1. “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; …” - Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

  2. “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” - Ecclesiastes 3:8

  3. There are times when you should fight
    • For those who are defenceless
    • For your family if they are ever in danger
    • For your livelihood - David was taught from a young age to defend himself and his sheep using a slingshot, and his own strength - to not just allow animals or even thieves to rob or kill his sheep
    • When CARNAL Christians are taken captive (2Timothy 2:24-26) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. In cults In addictions - drug, drink, depression, bitterness, etc In demonic possession and oppression - do any of you know what that is?
    • When people are filled with and controlled by devils (Luke 8:29) (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
    • When Christians are overtaken with faults - sinking deeper into sin’s grip There are plenty reasons to quit on each other But we have ONE good reason to Fight FOR your family, not against them! Because Jesus fought for US, and freed us!
    • When so many people are deceived about God, lost, damned, headed for hell
  4. That is when other Christians need to go to war - praying, fasting, teaching, and sometimes taking up guns - it is never wrong to fight for someone else in danger!
  5. What a great example of how a Church needs to operate
    • A leader who just believes the promises of God and acts on them!
    • An army of SERVANTS who are willing to risk their lives for what is right
    • Everyone prepared for the good fight - well trained and ready Trained in how to pray effectively In how to react faithfully In how to trust God’s commands and promises!
    • And… remember… Everyone fighting our enemies, not each other!

F. Lot’s Stupidity (Genesis 14:16)

  • Lot has no spiritual discernment or ability to accept responsibility
  1. THAT is the definition of stupidity - without sense,
  2. He is given the choice of directions to move his flocks to…
  3. And he chose the watered plains of Jordan among the cities filled with wicked sin.
  4. He becomes caught in the middle of a war.
  5. He is captured along with all his possessions.
  6. Everything he had was stolen and he was helpless to get them back.
  • But because of Abram, it is all given back to him, and what does he do? (I will give you ONE guess)
  • Lot returns to what he knows… back to Sodom! He goes back to his old habits
  1. He went right back into Sodom for more of the same.
  2. The war did not change the wicked hearts of the men of Sodom
    • The captivity taught them nothing
    • They were still just as wicked as before
  3. And Lot was as carnal as before - maybe even worse because I am convinced Lot ends up marrying a woman from Sodom!
  4. Lot never humbles himself and admits HE had made some stupid and wrong choices when he left Abraham, and never developed his OWN walk with God
  5. Never builds an altar of his own - think about this! Never personally worships
  6. Just goes back to living as he always had

  7. “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly” - Proverbs 26:11

  8. Are you only like a dog? Are you a fool? You had better take a good look and see!
  • As it was 100% true with Lot, so is it 100% true with us. Once we get into the world or involved with some particular gross sin, God tries to bring us back through the preaching of the word of God like I am doing right now, calling for men and women to repent!
  • But if we ignore the warnings God sends our way, sooner or later we will pay the price

III. Conclusion - Final thoughts

A. This is for OUR learning! (Romans 15:4) For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

  • All the Old Testament events, every one of them, were recorded for our learning. to give us comfort and hope, confidence, that doing right works. See Hebrews 11.
  • Patterns, principles, and examples - These pages in our Bible are not just history, and not just stories, but patterns, principles, and examples to live by, and to learn from. And they all point to the fulfilment of the promises. of God, for the Messiah.

B. Lot is a mess, all his life

  • He was saved, justified, but as carnal as the day is long - he never grew in his own walk with God, and so was always in danger of being devoured by our enemy the devil! He will be known for all of history as a loser! Is that how YOU will be known? It is your choice!
  • Carnal Christians are known by their laziness and stupid decisions to never be different than the world around them
  • Wars, disasters don’t really change people - only Jesus Christ can change a man or a woman and make them better! You just have got to WANT to be better!

C. Abram’s Courage

  • Abram was not only a man who believed God, but courageously trusted God to help him win impossible battles
  • We need Men who once again believe God enough to fight good fights

D. Are you prepared?

  • Are you ready for the spiritual attacks that come no matter what?
  • Are you prepared like Abram and his servants were to win against any emotional, spiritual enemy?
  • Every time you open your Bible and read it chapter after chapter, you are reading instructions, examples, patterns, lessons to learn from and follow
  • Every time you come to church, I am training you - GET TRAINED!
  • It is time to fight the good fight - to stay the course, to stay pure, to stay right with God, to get closer to God, and to learn instead of always going back to the way we have always been

E. Be a risk taker for right things

  • We who are spiritual need to risk everything for souls - following the life of Jesus
  • Not because we love souls and people, but because we love our Master!
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