May 21, 2023
Reading: Genesis 19:1-29
Focus: Genesis 19:16 – When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
Father God, I have to wonder sometimes how many times You have taken my hand to pull me away from danger. I am thankful that You do. Open our eyes and minds to Your word today, In Jesus Name. Amen.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a very sad story but it is one that reminds us of just how much God hates sin. The Lord and two angels had visited Abraham and told him of the destruction that was going to fall on the cities. Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city if as few as ten righteous men could be found. Abraham knew Lot lived in Sodom. The Lord knew just how bad the cities were. How corrupt and what an abomination they were. The immorality, the sexual perverseness and the absolute abandonment of any sense of right and wrong.
When Abram was told by the Lord that Sodom and Gomorrah were to be destroyed, his immediate thought was of Lot, his nephew. Lot’s father was dead and Abram had stepped into be the father figure he needed. I am sure his heart shook with fear for Lot and his family. So, he bargained for his life. He pleaded with God and God allowed that if there were ten righteous men, the cities would be spared. I’m thinking that Abram knew that there weren’t even 10 righteous men, but he had to try.
Remember when Abram and Lot parted ways? Lot chose the lush green plains of Jordan, where there was plenty of water and grass for his livestock. Lot pitched his tent near Sodom. Not quite into the city that was so wicked but close by. Eventually he moved into the city. He was a righteous man, in that he did not participate in the wickedness of the city. However, he was always caught up in the moment, not looking down the road, nor at consequences. But he became prominent enough in the city that he sat at the city gates where justice was handed down, where business took place and where the town crier announced edicts and announcements from the ruler. The city gates were important in the culture.
It was there, at the gates of Sodom, that Lot met the two angels and insisted they stay with him. He knew what the men of the city would do to strangers. He was trying to protect them from the wickedness in the city. At first they intended to stay out in the streets of the city. It took some convincing but eventually they agreed to stay with Lot. He took them to his house and fed them. As they prepared for bed, then men in the city, young and old, had learned of the two strangers and went to Lot’s door demanding that they be sent out to them for sex. Lot went out to begged the men not to do what they wished to do to the strangers. He tried to talk them out of it. He even offered his two virgin daughters. But they weren’t interested in the women. They wanted the men. This only made the mob angry. They pointed out that Lot was a stranger too and now he wanted to judge them. They threatened to do worse to Lot. Lot’s back was to the door and the angels opened the door and pulled him into the house. The angry mob tried to break into the house, but the angels struck them blind.
The angels told Lot of the destruction to come and to gather his family and escape to the mountains. Lot went the fiancés of his daughters with the news but they thought he was joking. Toward dawn, because of the mercy of the Lord, the angels encouraged Lot to leave but he hesitated. I wonder why. Was he thinking of all his possessions and wealth? Seeing him hesitate, the angels took the hands of Lot and his family, and led them out of the city to safety, urging them to run for their lives. By the time they reached safety, “. . .the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. . .” The Bible tells us that not only were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed but all the cities of the plain suffered the same fate (Genesis 19:25).
Lot’s wife did not reach safety. She had paused, turned back and looked at the destruction of her home and was turned into a pillar of salt. Why? Lot and his family were running for safety. Lot’s wife looked back. She may have stopped to look longingly at her home, where all of her possessions were. But I have to wonder why. She had heard what the angels said. Did she not believe it? The Hebrew word for ‘looked back’ is more than a mere glance. It meant to look and consider what you were looking at. She did that. The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:16 that willful and deliberate sin leads to death. She was told by an angel of God not to look back, but she deliberately looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. What caused her to turn into a pillar of salt? Again, the Bible is silent on this. It could have been some of what was raining down on the cities hit her or God simply turned her into a pillar of salt. Either way, she died because of her disobedience. It is said that she stands to this day where she died.
Now, I am not an archeologist or scientist, but the destruction of the cities was so complete there are no ruins to dig even though archeologists keep trying to find them. All there is looks like solid walls of a city, but when you touch it, it is only ash. The city of Pompeii in Italy was covered by the eruption of a volcano. However, those who died there were found, sort of. Their bodies were encased in ash and lava, leaving hollow sculptures of who they were. But here, thousands of people turned instantly to ash. I have read that the ‘Cities of the Plains’ were somewhere along the Dead Sea. The theories are numerous. I don’t know if the destruction created the Dead Sea or if it already existed then. What I do know is that Sodom and Gomorrah were wiped off the map by God’s wrath because of their sin and abominations. The destruction is just a shadow of what will come when the wrath of God is poured out over this earth at the end of time. I can tell you this, I don’t want to be here when it does.
God hates sin. Our world is full of sin, maybe not as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah yet, but it is getting more and more like those cities as time passes. I know some Christian kids who listen to the same ‘music’ that everyone else listens too. They use some of the same language and actions as their non-Christian friends. Why would your non-Christian friends want to become Christians if your actions, music choices, and language are the same as theirs? What does Jesus do and why should they bother? Are you separate from the world? Or do you blend in so well that no one knows you are a Christian?
God hates sin. I can’t say that enough. Plain and simple. Death and eternal separation from God is the penalty for sin. No one can escape that. No one, except those who have accepted God’s grace and mercy through Jesus Christ and His death on the cross and His blood shed for our sins. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. We can’t earn it. Mercy is God’s compassion for our fallen humanity. We have no reason to expect it. But Jesus came to seek and save the lost. God granted Lot His mercy by getting him out of the Sodom. Jesus granted us His mercy at the cross by taking our sins upon Himself.
Have you received God’s Grace and Mercy?
Father God, I am humbled that You would send Your Son to find me. I am thankful for the Grace and Mercy you have given me. Lead me away from sin. Point the way to safety. Help me to guard my footsteps so that I don’t run into sin. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- Why do you think Lot moved into the city of Sodom?
- Do you think Lot realized who he was hosting?
- Why do you think Lot’s wife looked back?
- Are there things in your life that are no different than your non-Christian friends?
- Do people know you are a Christian by the way you live, act and speak?
