Written by: Christine Gore

Genesis 19 v 1-3
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting near the city gate. When he saw them, he got up and went to them and bowed facedown on the ground. Lot said, “Sirs, please come to my house and spend the night. There you can wash your feet, and then tomorrow you may continue your journey.”
The angels answered, “No, we will spend the night in the city’s public square.”
But Lot begged them to come, so they agreed and went to his house. Then Lot prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without yeast, and they ate it.

Notes
A few years ago I went to see a friend living in Egypt and naturally we went exploring. Our train was very late arriving into Luxor and by the time we reached the hotel all was shut up and dark. Not that this put my friend off! Before long she had roused the sleeping manager who assured us that there was a room and all would be well. Indeed it was, until we were shown to our ‘room’. For there in the middle of the upstairs lobby were our beds – much to the bewilderment of the other guests! By this stage we were too tired to leave and so we reluctantly slept there! Now the hotel manager wasn’t deliberately trying to mislead us, but Middle Eastern hospitality dictates that no guest should ever be turned away and therefore he bent the truth a little to ensure that we stayed.

Our passage today begins with another story of Middle Eastern hospitality. Lot (the nephew of Abraham) was now living in Sodom, and his position at the city gate suggests he was a respected member of the community. Sitting by the gate he would see all who came in, including these two angelic strangers. Lot is quick to offer them hospitality, but their reply is unexpected and even ungrateful. ‘No, we would rather sleep in the open than sleep in your house!’ Lot’s response to their rude rebuff is just as unexpected and he begs them to come to his house, and eventually they agree. Why did the angels turn him down and why was he so desperate that they should come with him? You’ll have to wait for the next bit of the story for answers. But in the mean time read Hebrews 13:2 – how could you be more hospitable to strangers? 

Genesis 19 v 4-8
Before bedtime, men both young and old and from every part of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house. They called to Lot, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sexual relations with them.”
Lot went outside to them, closing the door behind him. He said, “No, my brothers! Do not do this evil thing. Look! I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. I will give them to you, and you may do anything you want with them. But please don’t do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them.”

Notes
Today’s passage reads like the script for a video nasty. A menacing mob arrives and demands that Lot surrender his guests to them. No wonder he was so insistent that these strangers come home with him and perhaps their reluctance to come in the first place was because they weren’t sure if they could trust him or not – knowing Sodom’s reputation. The prospect of homosexual gang rape was as shocking and horrifying to ancient people as it is to today’s, and Lot shows great courage in going out to meet the mob to try and diffuse the situation. Protecting his guests was Lot’s sacred duty, but his solution was just as shocking and horrifying! ‘Here have my teenage daughters – rape them instead’. It’s at times like this I really wish the Bible had editorial footnotes from God. I imagine His footnote to this verse would read something like this: ‘NB This was a very bad idea! Don’t ever be tempted to follow Lot’s example!’ 

So what should Lot have done? It’s easy to say when you’re not the one facing the angry mob, but I think that he should have stood his ground and refused to compromise the lives of either his guests or his daughters. Maybe Lot was so scared he couldn’t think straight, but I suspect that he had been under the corrupting influence of Sodom for too long and consequently he takes the easy way out - which wasn’t out of character for him (see Genesis 13:5-13 and 19:17-20). 

So, how do we respond when we feel pressured by others? Do we take the easy way out, compromising what we know to be God’s way? Or are we willing to stand up and stand out for our beliefs, regardless of what others may do or say? 

Genesis 19 v 9-13
The men around the house answered, “Move out of the way!” Then they said to each other, “This man Lot came to our city as a stranger, and now he wants to tell us what to do!” They said to Lot, “We will do worse things to you than to them.” They started pushing him back and were ready to break down the door.
But the two men staying with Lot opened the door, pulled him back inside the house, and then closed the door. They struck those outside the door with blindness, so the men, both young and old, could not find the door.
The two men said to Lot, “Do you have any other relatives in this city? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other relatives? If you do, tell them to leave now, because we are about to destroy this city. The LORD has heard of all the evil that is here, so he has sent us to destroy it.”

Notes
If you thought the situation was bad for Lot yesterday – it now turns even nastier! However, it’s at this point his guests grab him by the scruff of the neck and haul him safely inside. The mood then changes and there’s a small touch of comedy. Something like a flash of blinding light renders the mob sightless and they end up falling over each other as they grope around trying to find the door. Confusion reigns and eventually they go home!

Meanwhile, inside Lot’s house, the guests reveal their mission – the bringing of God’s judgement. It is often said that Sodom was destroyed because its men were practising homosexuals, however, the ‘evil’ sins of Sodom were many, including arrogance, gluttony, disregard for the poor and needy (Ezekiel 16:49) as well as extreme sexual sins as illustrated by the proposed gang rape. We must therefore be careful how we use this passage in any debate concerning homosexuality. 

There are those who say that the picture of God in the Old Testament is of a vengeful and angry God, one who is quick to punish wrongdoers and passages such as this only seem to reinforce that view. But they are not the whole story! For example, last week you saw how Abraham dared to ask God to spare the city of Sodom for the sake of any righteous inhabitants (Genesis 18:16-33). In response God shows that He cares more about rescuing the righteous than destroying the unrighteous – saving people is much, much higher on God’s agenda than condemning. And so the Angels urge Lot to save himself and his wider family. 

Our sins grieve God. Today take time to ask His forgiveness and then be thankful that His love for you is so great that He continues to love you, regardless.

Genesis 19 v 14-17
So Lot went out and said to his future sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters, “Hurry and leave this city! The LORD is about to destroy it!” But they thought Lot was joking.
At dawn the next morning, the angels begged Lot to hurry. They said, “Go! Take your wife and your two daughters with you so you will not be destroyed when the city is punished.”
But Lot delayed. So the two men took the hands of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. So the LORD was merciful to Lot and his family. After they brought them out of the city, one of the men said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Run to the mountains, or you will be destroyed.”

Notes
I was on a train the other day when someone pulled the communication cord and then ran down the carriages shouting ‘fire!’ It was amazing to see how people responded. Some started to panic, others looked dazed, and still others were disbelieving – there was no smoke or flames, so where was the fire? As it turned out the fire was only a smouldering cigarette butt! 

You never really know how you are going to react in such a situation until it happens, but I guess our response is determined not only by what is said but also by who is saying it, as Lot was to find out. In the next scene of the story we find him running around to his extended family desperately urging them to run for their lives. I think it’s quite telling that they don’t believe his warning – in fact they think it’s all a big joke! 

Undoubtedly their unbelieving response has an affect on Lot and so at the crack of dawn the Angels are having a hard job getting him moving. So much so they end up having to physically drag him and his immediate family out of the city! 

Lot found it hard to leave his old life behind, especially when others only laughed at him for even suggesting it. He believed the Angels – but he found it so difficult to let go. But ‘the LORD was merciful to Lot and his family’. God did not condemn Lot for his reluctance nor did He give up on him. God’s patience and forbearing never cease to amaze me! 

Are there areas of your ‘old’ life that you find difficult to let go of? Will God have to drag you away from them or will you have the courage to walk away your self?

Genesis 19 v 18-22
But Lot said to one of them, “Sir, please don’t force me to go so far! You have been merciful and kind to me and have saved my life. But I can’t run to the mountains. The disaster will catch me, and I will die. Look, that little town over there is not too far away. Let me run there. It’s really just a little town, and I’ll be safe there.”
The angel said to Lot, “Very well, I will allow you to do this also. I will not destroy that town. But run there fast, because I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town.” (That town is named Zoar, because it is little.)

Notes
I have a confession to make – I think you ought to know - I really don’t like Lot! I think he’s a whinging wimp, selfish and spoilt. There you are, I’ve said it, and if I was God I would have dumped him by now and left him to his fate in Sodom. Thankfully, I’m not God and so Lot lives on!

In this episode Lot once more shows his true character, but more importantly God once more shows His. Even though Lot’s plea to run to little Zoar is out of his own weakness and not out of concern for it’s inhabitants (unlike Abraham’s concern for Sodom in Gensis18), God still agrees to his request. As Abraham stated ‘Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right, (Genesis 18:27). For God, the right choice, the best choice, is always to save first and only destroy as an absolutely last resort.

One of my colleagues has this notice on his door ‘Jesus loves you, but I’m His favourite.’ Lot’s story, amongst other things, shows that this just isn’t true! I might think that God would find Lot less loveable (just because I would), but as God says to His wayward people in Hosea 11:8&9 ‘How can I give you up … My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger, … For I am God, and not man.’ God does not have favourites – He amazingly loves us all equally – wimps, brats, sinners and all!

Who do you find it difficult to love? Why? Pray for these people. Ask God to give to you some measure of His love for them and that they might come to know His love for them all the more.

Genesis 19 v 23-26
The sun had already come up when Lot entered Zoar. The LORD sent a rain of burning sulfur down from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed those cities. He also destroyed the whole Jordan Valley, everyone living in the cities, and even all the plants.
At that point Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar of salt

Notes
The influence of Sodom was not confined to the city itself; its wickedness also corrupted the surrounding people. Not only are the city and towns erased, but the surrounding countryside of the Jordan Valley is also rendered infertile. It’s an image that speaks of the absence of God and His blessing – and what had been full of life now becomes a godforsaken desert. It’s not as though God Himself pushes the destruct button – like He’s on some divine Playstation - more that He withdraws His gracious presence and consequently the situation implodes. The people had lived as though God did not exist and now they have to live with the consequences of their actions – hell on earth. 

It’s a very sobering story isn’t it? It’s even more sobering when we get to Lot’s wife. For here is someone who has been given a second chance, but she just can’t let go of her past and consequently she forfeits her future. 

Jesus refers to the destruction of Sodom in the Gospels a few times (e.g. Luke 10:8-12 and 17:28-32) and He speaks of a judgement far worse than that of Sodom for those who were witnesses to His miracles and failed to believe Him. Who refused to acknowledge their need of rescue even in the face of such overwhelming evidence.

In case you are wondering – God still hasn’t given upon on Sodom – in two places in Ezekiel (16:53-55 and 47:6-10) we read of the fortunes of Sodom and the Jordan Valley being restored – both flourishing once more. God is a God who never gives up, even on the most hopeless or degraded of cases and nor should we. Pray today for those people and situations that seem hopeless to you and ask God to pour His life giving presence into them. 

Genesis 19 v 27-29
Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Jordan Valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
God destroyed the cities in the valley, but he remembered what Abraham had asked. So God saved Lot’s life, but he destroyed the city where Lot had lived.

Notes
The images of September 11th will no doubt stay with most of us for a very long time. Looking at the destruction of Sodom the following day must have been like looking at Ground Zero the day after the twin towers had fallen. 

Abraham had no idea at this stage whether Lot and his family were alive, no idea if his praying had made any difference. It must have been an awful moment for him. Did it make him doubt God? Did it make him angry with God? Did he despair? We’re not told. But what we are told is that Abraham was at the same place – standing in the place of prayer before the Lord (Genesis 18:22) – when he viewed the catastrophic destruction of Sodom. What is the significance of the place of prayer? It is a place of humility, trust, dependence and relationship. A place where we are able to look at the awfulness of life and still hold on to God – who He is and who we are in Him.

God had not forgotten Abraham, or his bold praying. Indeed we are told that it was because of his prayers that Lot was spared. It wasn’t Lot’s right standing before God, Lot’s righteousness, but Abraham’s that ensured Lot’s salvation. There are definite echoes of the Gospel here for it is not our own righteousness that ensures our salvation, but Jesus’. ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Spend some time thinking about what you have learnt over the last week about God, yourself and others through the story of Lot and Abraham. What do you need to say sorry to God about? What things need to change in your life?


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes