罗得的失败与被掳
创世记十四章说到四王与五王的战争，最终五王被四王击败。你若仔细读，会看见这场战争完全是为着罗得和亚伯拉罕。这场战争主要发生在所多玛，因为神的一个子民罗得住在那里。在战争之前，罗得已经与亚伯拉罕分开了（创十三11）。你认为罗得与亚伯拉罕分离好么？不，不好。今天所有的年轻人都喜欢和年长的一代分开。然而，在神的经纶里，年轻人与年长的一代分开并不好。你若这样作，你会失去标的和保护。在创世记十三章的时候，神的目标和永远的标的是随着亚伯拉罕。倘若你在那里，使自己与他分开，就等于使自己与神的标的分开了。神的目标是随着蒙召的人。你若与蒙召的人分离，就是与神的目标分离。罗得绝不该与亚伯拉罕分离，因为神的目标是随着亚伯拉罕。
罗得不是先被四王击败。他那次失败乃是先前至少两次失败的结果。第一次失败发生在罗得的牧人和亚伯拉罕的牧人相争，亚伯拉罕叫罗得拣选地的时候（创十三7-11）。罗得没有多加考虑，就立刻作了拣选，并且离开了。
罗得和亚伯拉罕分离后，“住在平原的城邑，渐渐挪移帐棚，直到所多玛。”（创十三12）。罗得渐渐走下坡。他往下坡走了第一步之后，就很容易走第二步、第三步。第一步是离开与所多玛相距很远的亚伯拉罕。罗得走上通往所多玛的路，他走向所多玛。在神眼中，所多玛是个罪大恶极的城市（创十三13）。罗得是神的一个子民，必然知道这事。他该远离所多玛，不该走向所多玛。然而，因为所多玛周围的土地肥美，罗得就走向所多玛。最终，他迁入那城，住在那里，并且定居在那里。那是他第二次的失败。
你想神会允许祂的子民住在这样一个邪恶的城里么？当然不会。因此，在神的主宰之下，基大老玛领军攻打所多玛。神允许那场战争发生。四王与五王交战。按人来说，五王应该得胜，因为他们人多。但四王击败了五王，并且所多玛城被掳掠。圣经强调所多玛被掳掠，因为罗得住在那里。神绝不会允许罗得平平安安的住在那里。
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The Overcome of the Called (1) — Gen. 14:11-12
Lot’s Defeat and Captivity
Genesis chapter 14 speaks of the war between the four kings and the five kings, in which the five kings were ultimately defeated by the four kings. If you read carefully, you will see that this war was entirely for the sake of Lot and Abraham. This war mainly took place in Sodom because Lot, one of God’s people, lived there. Before the war, Lot had already separated from Abraham (Gen. 13:11). Do you think it was good for Lot to separate from Abraham? No, it was not good. Today, all young people like to separate from the older generation. However, in God’s economy, it is not good for the younger generation to separate from the older generation. If you do this, you will lose your goal and protection. In Genesis chapter 13, God’s goal and eternal target were with Abraham. If you were there and separated yourself from him, it would be equivalent to separating yourself from God’s goal. God’s goal follows the called ones. If you separate from the called ones, you separate from God’s goal. Lot should never have separated from Abraham because God’s goal was with Abraham.
Lot was not defeated by the four kings first. That defeat was the result of at least two prior failures. The first failure occurred when Lot’s herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsmen strove with each other, and Abraham asked Lot to choose the land (Gen. 13:7-11). Without much consideration, Lot immediately made a choice and left.
After Lot separated from Abraham, he “settled in the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom” (Gen. 13:12). Lot was gradually going downhill. After taking the first step downhill, it was easy to take the second and third steps. The first step was leaving Abraham, who was far from Sodom. Lot set out on the road to Sodom and walked toward it. In God’s eyes, Sodom was an exceedingly wicked city (Gen. 13:13). As one of God’s people, Lot must have known this. He should have stayed far from Sodom instead of walking toward it. However, because the land around Sodom was fertile, Lot walked toward it. Eventually, he moved into that city, lived there and settled there. That was his second failure.
Do you think God would allow His people to live in such an evil city? Of course not. Therefore, under God’s sovereignty, Chedorlaomer led an army to attack Sodom. God allowed that war to happen. The four kings fought against the five kings. Humanly speaking, the five kings should have won because they had more people. But the four kings defeated the five kings, and the city of Sodom was plundered. The Bible emphasizes that Sodom was plundered because Lot lived there. God would never allow Lot to live there in peace.