So… Lot immediately recognized the angels for who they were.
Is it because they had such a glorious appearance? I’m sure that was
part of it, as even the men of the city spoke of their good looks. Or
was it also because Sodom was such an evil place that the presence of
good was so easily recognizable? The angels wanted to spend the
night in the town square, but Lot, knowing how evil the place was,
convinced them to stay at his house.
Then we begin to see the carnality of Sodom. The men wanted to have
homosexual relations with the angels… but to avoid that Lot offered up
two of his virgin daughters instead. This shocked me. In that place,
women were completely devalued… and the men knew no restraint. But such
is the condition of society… both then and now.
The angels told Lot to take his family, his future sons-in-law, and leave… IMMEDIATELY. Then verse 16 tells us: “But he hesitated.”
Can you imagine being so swayed by the world that you hesitate to leave when a messenger of God, that you clearly recognized, is telling you there is certain doom about to take place? In my heart I scoff at Lot. I say “tsk tsk” and “shame on him.” How foolish could he be. Then I stop and think. How many times have I hesitated when I have been told to “let go” of something that could bring my destruction? It may not have been God telling me to move to another city… but I can look back on my life and see where He has told me to let go of certain relationships, but I held on too long, altering my path and getting out of His perfect will for my life.
And then… the angels grabbed him by the hands and the hands of his wife and daughters and led them out of the city. The verse says they did this “because the compassion of the Lord was upon them.” How awesome is that? There is nothing to add to that… it speaks for itself. I’m sure if I look back at my times of disobedience I can find where God had compassion on me, and spared me from what could have been outcomes more horrible than they were.
The angels told Lot to escape to the mountains… and “Don’t look back.” And in all this Lot seems a bit ungrateful. Instead he argues with them saying “No, let me go to this little city nearby.” They grant his request, and tell him to hurry because they can’t do anything to the city until he and his family get to Zoar.
So they are fleeing the city, and then…. such a sad verse…. verse 26: “But his wife…. from behind him… looked back; and she became a pillar of salt.”
She looked back. And why is that so bad? Was she looking for her friends? Was she trying to get one last glimpse of what had been her home? WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH LOOKING BACK? Did it symbolize that she didn’t trust God’s plan for where she was going? Did she turn to a pillar of salt simply because she disobeyed? It has always seemed a bit harsh to me. But I’m always trying to figure out why that looking back was such a bad thing. All through Jewish history they looked back on what God had done. I can only guess that in her heart she was longing for the “world” she had just left. Like a dog that wants to return to its vomit… like me, when I feel that I miss what the world has to offer instead of simply trusting God and the path of life He has laid out for me.
(kent monkman – lot’s wife)
So God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah…. and He even destroyed what grew on the ground. But God remembered Abraham, and how he stood in the gap for Lot, and He spared the family.For some reason Lot is afraid to stay in Zoar… perhaps he thinks if the people realize he is the only one that escaped from Sodom’s destruction they will always be leery of him…and he will never fit in. He decides to head to the mountains after all.
So, apparently Lot’s daughters don’t dare leave the mountain because they say there is “no man on earth” to lay with them. That wasn’t the case… but either way… they take turns getting their father drunk and sleeping with him. Gross, I know, but I didn’t write the book. From this deception come the lines of the Moabites and the Ammonites, both of which are mentioned several more times in the Bible, and not in a good way.
No matter what our deception… or our justified reasons for it… nothing good comes from pretense or disobedience. What treacherous line have I allowed in my life from taking matters into my own hands and not trusting God? We are still in the book of Genesis and this seems to be a recurring question.
The angels told Lot to take his family, his future sons-in-law, and leave… IMMEDIATELY. Then verse 16 tells us: “But he hesitated.”
Can you imagine being so swayed by the world that you hesitate to leave when a messenger of God, that you clearly recognized, is telling you there is certain doom about to take place? In my heart I scoff at Lot. I say “tsk tsk” and “shame on him.” How foolish could he be. Then I stop and think. How many times have I hesitated when I have been told to “let go” of something that could bring my destruction? It may not have been God telling me to move to another city… but I can look back on my life and see where He has told me to let go of certain relationships, but I held on too long, altering my path and getting out of His perfect will for my life.
And then… the angels grabbed him by the hands and the hands of his wife and daughters and led them out of the city. The verse says they did this “because the compassion of the Lord was upon them.” How awesome is that? There is nothing to add to that… it speaks for itself. I’m sure if I look back at my times of disobedience I can find where God had compassion on me, and spared me from what could have been outcomes more horrible than they were.
The angels told Lot to escape to the mountains… and “Don’t look back.” And in all this Lot seems a bit ungrateful. Instead he argues with them saying “No, let me go to this little city nearby.” They grant his request, and tell him to hurry because they can’t do anything to the city until he and his family get to Zoar.
So they are fleeing the city, and then…. such a sad verse…. verse 26: “But his wife…. from behind him… looked back; and she became a pillar of salt.”
She looked back. And why is that so bad? Was she looking for her friends? Was she trying to get one last glimpse of what had been her home? WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH LOOKING BACK? Did it symbolize that she didn’t trust God’s plan for where she was going? Did she turn to a pillar of salt simply because she disobeyed? It has always seemed a bit harsh to me. But I’m always trying to figure out why that looking back was such a bad thing. All through Jewish history they looked back on what God had done. I can only guess that in her heart she was longing for the “world” she had just left. Like a dog that wants to return to its vomit… like me, when I feel that I miss what the world has to offer instead of simply trusting God and the path of life He has laid out for me.
(kent monkman – lot’s wife)So God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah…. and He even destroyed what grew on the ground. But God remembered Abraham, and how he stood in the gap for Lot, and He spared the family.For some reason Lot is afraid to stay in Zoar… perhaps he thinks if the people realize he is the only one that escaped from Sodom’s destruction they will always be leery of him…and he will never fit in. He decides to head to the mountains after all.
So, apparently Lot’s daughters don’t dare leave the mountain because they say there is “no man on earth” to lay with them. That wasn’t the case… but either way… they take turns getting their father drunk and sleeping with him. Gross, I know, but I didn’t write the book. From this deception come the lines of the Moabites and the Ammonites, both of which are mentioned several more times in the Bible, and not in a good way.
No matter what our deception… or our justified reasons for it… nothing good comes from pretense or disobedience. What treacherous line have I allowed in my life from taking matters into my own hands and not trusting God? We are still in the book of Genesis and this seems to be a recurring question.
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