Why is it that the Bible contains the lives of so many bad men? is a question which is often asked in bible study, and as often answered. And yet the inquiry continues to be made by every successive generation, with as much earnestness as if nobody had ever thought of it before.

Lot, the relative and friend of Abraham, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, as the Scriptures call it; but where Ur was situated, exactly, is not known. It was, however, several hundred miles eastward, or north-eastward of Canaan or Palestine, probably in what now constitutes a part of Persia, though at that time it was called Mesopotamia. But I will tell you something about Lot's ancestors and early life. His grandfather's name was Terah. Terah had three sons, -- Nahor, Haran, and Abraham. Haran had three sons, Lot, Milcah, and Iscah; and dying early, these sons appear to have fallen into the...