12 Then the two men said to Lot, Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your

Transcription

1 12 Then the two men said to Lot, Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it (Gen. 19:12 13). 19:12 13 The two angels encouraged Lot to gather together his family members so that Lot s entire family might escape the coming destruction. They indicated to Lot that the LORD (Yahweh) had heard the outcry of Sodom s sins (crime crying out for judgment; cf. 4:10), and so the LORD had sent them to destroy the city. 315

2 14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city. But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting (Gen. 19:14). 19:14 Lot s two sons-in-law refused to take seriously the message of imminent destruction to them Lot seemed like a mocker (tsāchaq, to laugh, entertain, jest, make sport, mock) so they would not join the rest of Lot s family (his wife and two daughters) in fleeing to safety. The verb tsāchaq figures prominently in the accounts of the birth of Isaac with the motif of laughing, and significantly in 21:9, where Ishmael mocks Isaac. The motif of Sarah s laughter (18:12) may be reflected here; but whereas she had laughed only at a word from the LORD that promised a gracious provision of life, Lot s sons-in-law mocked a word from the LORD that warned of imminent death. God s warnings of judgment to come must always be taken seriously. 316

3 15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. 16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city (Gen. 19:15 16). 19:15 16 At dawn the angels urged Lot to take his wife and two daughters and flee from the judgment to come. Lot hesitated. He and his family had to be taken by the hand and led out of Sodom. It was difficult to get Lot and his family out of Sodom, because it was difficult to get the mentality of Sodom out of Lot and his family. Lot appears to have been unaware of how much Sodom had become a part of him. The rescue of Lot and his family was due ultimately to the LORD s mercy, which was expressed in compassion. It is fortunate for sinners that God is rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4), because His mercy leads to compassion that delivers or spares from danger. 317

4 17 When they had brought them outside, one said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away (Gen. 19:17). 19:17 One of the angels urged Lot and his family to escape for their lives by fleeing to the mountains rather than by staying anywhere in the valley. Apparently the coming judgment (destruction) would be limited to the low-lying valley where Sodom and Gomorrah were located (cf. 13:10). To show that the rescue of Lot was in response to the prayer of Abraham, the narrative reads so that the words of the messengers ("swept away," vv. 15, 17) recall explicitly the words of Abraham s prayer in behalf of the righteous in the previous chapter ("sweep away, 18:23). 318

5 18 But Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved. 21 He said to him, Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar (Gen. 19:18 22). 19:18 22 Lot boldly asked that he and his family be permitted to flee to a small town rather than to the mountains. Where Abraham had unselfishly interceded for the righteous in Sodom, Lot pleaded for a little city for himself. Lot lingered (v. 16) and negotiated (vv ), even as he was being dragged to safety. The angel granted Lot s request and promised not to overthrow that small town. The angel also told Lot to hurry, so that the destruction might begin. This is the whole point of the story. God could have destroyed the city of Sodom with no word to Lot or Abraham (18:17). But because of God's mercy, His angels grabbed Lot and his family and brought them forcefully to safety. "Zoar" (v. 22) means "insignificant (in size)" (cf. v. 20). It was even farther south than Gomorrah. 319

6 23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar (Gen. 19:23). 19:23 The small town of Zoar was spared from the destruction that occurred at Sodom and Gomorrah. Genuine faith is often difficult to detect. Here was an upright citizen, hospitable and generous, a leader of the community who was a judge meaning that he would screen out wickedness from his town and advise on good living. He knew truth and justice, righteousness and evil. He could have been nicknamed The censor. Yet in spite of his denunciation of the lifestyle of his people, he preferred the good life of their society. He preferred living comfortably in the city to living in the hills (vv ), where there might be no filthy living, but no good life either. Lot s hour of truth came when the LORD interrupted this life. Lot s true loyalty was revealed as godly, but in the process his past hypocrisy was uncovered. The believer had pitched his tent near the evil city (13:12), but the evil city had controlled his life. Lot was moral he recognized great evil when he saw it and opposed homosexuality. Ironically, he would sacrifice his daughters virginity to fend off the vice of evil men. By God s grace Lot would escape judgment, but his heart had become part of this world. Lot s wife was too attached to the city and its culture to follow the merciful call of grace. It would turn out that his daughters were still not uncomfortable with immorality. So long as the LORD left Lot alone, he would hold to his faith but live in Sodom. Ultimately he could not have both; Sodom would destroy him if the LORD did not destroy Sodom. 320

7 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:24 26). 19:24 25 The Lord overthrew everything associated with the evil societies of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the valley (cf. Lot s original choice, 13:11 13) except Zoar. Suddenly and rapidly the cities, their inhabitants, and all living things there were reduced to ruin by a conflagration of fire and brimstone (sulfur). God s judgment fell immediately after Lot and his family were out of harm s way. Taking time to look back (nābat, to gaze intently) would result in being overtaken by the conflagration. It is foolish for a believer to become attached to the things of this world. They will corrupt him, and God will destroy them swiftly and suddenly. In wrath, God remembers mercy (Hab. 3:2). With everlasting lovingkindness (loyal love) the LORD our Redeemer has compassion on His elect (Isa. 54:8). 321

8 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:24 26). 19:24 26 Josephus wrote that God sent a thunderbolt to set the city on fire (v. 24). Whatever means were used, it was the LORD who rained this judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. Probably the burning sodium sulfate that was raining down covered Lot's wife as she looked back (cf. Do not look behind you, v. 17) and lingered behind (v. 26). Lot s wife became a monument of disobedience. One s loves often betray one s loyalties. The heaven's rain cannot be explained solely as a natural phenomenon, such as an earthquake or volcanic eruption; it was exceptional, never again repeated, providing the parade illustration of the fiery eschatological judgment against the wicked (e.g., 2 Pet 2:6 9). The twin calamities of Noah and Lot illustrate Jesus teaching on the suddenness of the coming of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26 30). All that Lot had gained by living in Sodom burned up like wood, hay, and stubble (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10 15). The Apostle Peter cited Lot as an example of the LORD s deliverance of the godly from trials that He uses to punish the ungodly (2 Pet. 2:6 10). John called believers not to love the world or the things in the world because they will pass away (1 John 2:15 17). No good can come of loving a society so morally bankrupt that it awaits the swift judgment of God if not in a temporal judgment, certainly at the end of the age. 322

9 27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. 29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived (Gen. 19:27 29). 19:27 29 As in the Flood story, Moses focuses the reader's attention on the response of individuals to the judgment rather than on the destruction itself. Here those individuals are Lot's wife and Abraham. Later they will be Lot and his daughters. The picture of Abraham in verses is similar to that of Moses interceding for Israel in the battle with the Amalekites (Exod. 17:11 12). Lot's prayer concerning Zoar (vv ) contrasts with Abraham's prayer for Sodom (18:23 32). The substitution of Abraham for Lot in this sentence ( God remembered Abraham, v. 29; cf. 8:1) makes an important theological point. Lot was not saved on his own merits but by God s grace through Abraham's intercession. One could say that Abraham rescued Lot twice: from the Mesopotamian kings (ch. 14) and from Sodom. 323