KEY SCRIPTURE: Genesis chapters 18-19

RELEVANCE

Since posting Perspective: A Lot to Judge two posts ago, I've received several questions that are identical—how Lot could be considered Just and Righteous (2 Peter 2:7-8) while at the same time preparing to cast his two single daughters to the ravening wolves outside. 

Peter called Lot righteous. He may have got that thought because God held off Sodom's destruction until the angels removed Lot from that city. God told Abraham He wouldn't destroy Sodom if Abraham could find ten righteous people within its gates. That was the deal, and the conversation ended. (Genesis 18:32-33). 

Abraham didn't find ten righteous people, which means God's influence within that city was all but nil, and God judged it for destruction as per the agreement. However, God's mercy allowed for Lot, the solitary righteous person, and his family, to escape before He rained fire and brimstone upon it.

As I suggested in  Perspective: A Lot to Judge, Lot was under tremendous pressure of fear in his final hours in Sodom, which may have affected his decision to sacrifice his daughters. Yet, as we look at his path up until then, we see a sequence of poor decisions. 

Lot is such a good subject when talking about the choices Christians make. But to examine his life, we have to fill in some gaps with guesswork. As a husband and father, I don't think Lot was a strong man. His first decision was to select the lush green fields of Sodom instead of the promised land, choosing prosperity over spiritual welfare. We don't know if he was married at that stage, but Abraham gave him the choice, and he decided by the lust of his eyes.

Due to the size of his flocks and amount of workers, he would have developed a large farm, living in the countryside away from the porn and filth. Yet, our story sees him inside the heart of Sodom, the most debauched city in the Bible.

To understand such an unholy transition, we need to guess scenarios. Did he still have the farm and decide to commute? I can see that happening in today's world of cars, but not then. And it doesn't seem like he lost the farm when kidnapped. (Genesis 14)

Did Mrs Lot have a strong personality—was she the neck that turned the head? Did she and the kids want a greater social life? After all, when they escaped Sodom, she looked back at what she was missing. Maybe the kids were persistent? "C'mon, Dad, let's sell up and move into town. We've got no friends out here!"

God doesn't tell us what provoked the move, which, from a godly perspective, seems counter to a God-fearing life. We're meant to turn away from sin, not embrace the culture that cultivates it. Why didn't he move to Zoar, the town the angels took him to when they escaped? Surely, that would have been more moral. 

Did he instruct his wife and kids in the ways of the Lord—deeply, commandingly, loving their soul, like Abraham? (Genesis 18:19) For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment;

After all those years, his wife's faith was skin deep, his two eldest daughters became unbelievers once they married, and the two younger ones were immoral enough to rape him. 

There is an old saying: when you buy the house, you buy the neighbours. Sodom was a place of ill-repute long before Lot moved in. What did he expect would happen to his family in a city like that? 

You see, whilst Lot retained his righteousness, he lost all his family to unbelief, and the last we read of him is when he fled Zoar for the mountains to live in a cave with his youngest daughters for however long was needed.

As Christian parents, we also make mistakes, both in our own lives and in rearing our children. Analysing some of these old stories benefits us immensely, as they help us align our choices with our Saviour and His preferences. We tune our hearts to be more like Jesus. We get wiser and more beautiful and make better decisions as we age.

PRAYER

Dear Lord, each time I read Lot's story, my own life is challenged. Iron sharpens iron, and even an involved saga in the first book of the Bible sharpens my way to the Kingdom, showing me what I could do better. Praise you more and more every day.

Photo by Buddha Elemental 3D

PRAYER