The First War

    The world had fallen to sin, but it had never experienced war.  It took many generations and the world being populated with more sinful and selfish people for war to happen.  The people had divided into their own groups that became nations.  They elected leaders that became kings.  There were five southern kings over Babylon, Ellasar, Elam, Tidal, and Goiim.  They fought against the five northern kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar).  

    Once war began, it never ended.  The first war took was between nations.  Then it became about the northern kings rebelling against the one king that ruled over them:  Kedorlaomer.  It was considered more of a rebellion.  That war happened near the Dead Sea.  That war was four kings against five kings.

    The war led to vicious plundering.  Some of that happened in the land that Lot had chosen.  It had been years since Lot and Abraham had separated and Lot had established himself in the land.  He was very worldly, but still held onto the roots of his faith.  His actions said that he cared more about wealth than family.  I doubt that God allowed the war to just teach Lot a lesson, but God did allow Lot to loose everything in the war.

    Lot needed Abraham who dropped everything to come to his aide.  Lot and his family had been kidnapped to be ransomed or turned into slaves.  It was not a good place to be, but when Abraham heard about what had happened he did not hesitate to go rescue his nephew.

    Abraham never abandoned his family.  He stayed faithful to God over all other distractions.  God found favor with Abraham for his faithfulness and was with him in his pursuits.  That included rescuing Lot, his family, and his stuff.  

    Melchizedek was the king of Sodom.  He blessed Abraham and desired to give him riches, but Abraham declined.  Abraham was not trying to be rude, but his wealth came from God, not man.  No matter what happened Abraham was always going to put God first and that meant sometimes being in uncomfortable situations with people that would never understand.

Genesis 14:1-16