Setting the Stage:

The place is Canaan, a land in which I am considered a foreigner, a 'Hebrew' (literally the man from across the river {Euphrates}).  I am still named Abram.  It will be many years before Heavenly Father changes my name to Abraham.  I arrived in this land about ten years earlier with my nephew Lot.  My immigration was the end product of following instructions given me by Heavenly Father.

Many things have happened since my arrival in Canaan.  I have traveled across this land, survived a great famine by journeying to Egypt, and parted company with my nephew.  Through all this time the Lord kept me safe and caused me and my nephew to become very prosperous, even when I made less than “righteous” choices.

This prosperity led to a separation from my nephew.  Together we had too many flocks and herds for the land to support.  So Lot went to live in the rich land of the plains near Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot’s choice had unforeseen consequences when he got caught up in a war between the people of that region and a number of strong kings from Mesopotamia.  He and his entire household got carried off as part of the victor’s spoils.  In fact I have just come back from a long and fierce campaign in which Heavenly Father led me and my men to rescue Lot and the others.