Lot has been carried off by King Kedorlaomer of Elam and his three allies following a revolt of the king of Sodom and other kings who no longer wanted to be subject to Kedorlaomer. Abram is going to have to come to Lor's rescue.
The five kings who rebelled against Kedorlaomer were soundly defeated, with the surviving rebels running away from the battle in all directions. One of the escapees informs Abram about the dire situation with Lot. "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." (Genesis 14:13) Abram has made friends since parting with Lot. Isn't God gracious to give us wonderful and caring friends while we walk through this dark world? What would we do without our friends to encourage us? God created us with a desire for the companionship of our fellow man.
"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." (Genesis 14:14) When the Bible says these men were born in Abram's household, it means they were the sons of his servants. Abram has faith in the Lord, but he also uses common sense. He has trained men to help him defend his homestead. A man with a family and servants to provide for has to be on guard against those who would love to take everything he has. He's a wealthy man and he knows there are those who wouldn't be above kidnapping someone from his household and holding them for ransom. He knows there are wicked people in the world who would love to rob his house. He is aware that there are those who envy his flocks and herds enough to round them up and take them away. It's as sensible for Abram to train men to defend the homestead as it is for us to lock our doors or have security systems installed. As the Lord Jesus once said, "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe." (Luke 11:12) I keep the doors and windows of my house locked at all times. This doesn't indicate a lack of faith in the Lord; it's simply using the common sense and the security measures that the Lord gave me.
"During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people." (Genesis 14:15-16) It was common in those days for a conquering army to take captives from among those they conquered, along with all their possessions. Some of the women would end up as the wives or concubines of the soldiers. Others who were captured (men, women, and children) would be made into servants of the soldiers or they would be sold as slaves so that the conquering army could make a profit on them. Abram, with the help of the Lord, rescued every person taken captive along with all their worldly goods. The Lord doesn't do anything halfway!
Lot himself doesn't appear to be an especially spiritual man, and the captives from the battle probably weren't either. They were all from pagan cities and they worshiped false gods instead of the God of Abram. But because Abram belonged to the Lord, the Lord was with him, and all these other people were blessed by Abram's faith. You and I, as the children of the Most High God, are meant to be a blessing to those around us. The people around us may not be serving God, but God can still bless them through our faith and actions, and who knows what influence this may have on them in time? They may come to know the Lord simply because they were blessed by something we said or did.
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