Good Morning.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” (Genesis 19:1-2)
That Lot was sitting in the gate of the city is to say that he was where people would congregate in those days. Seeing these two “men,” he bowed before them to serve them just as Abraham had done. He even invited complete strangers into his house to wash, sleep and depart early. But it could also be that Lot knew something that he assumed they did not — it wasn’t safe there. Even though there remained some virtue, Sodom had affected him significantly. Speaking of the city’s ultimate destruction, Peter had this to say about Lot:
“(He) delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked; for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.” (2 Peter 2:7-8)
I have often wondered how a man who chose to live among the wicked was considered righteous. While Abraham was dwelling in tents as a sojourner, Lot was living in a house in the city, apparently no longer a tent dweller. Historically, cities seem to attract all types of behavior and iniquity to the point that wickedness is heavily concentrated in urban areas. This is where Lot chose to remain and why he “tormented his righteous soul from day to day.”
As the story continues to unfold, we know that Lot’s decision to dwell there cost him dearly. So what can we learn from this? It seems to me that Lot’s story teaches convenience and material prosperity are not worth being vexed every day by wicked men, not to mention exposing your loved ones to those same evils. Lot was able to distinguish righteousness from evil but, as the Bible reveals, many in his family were not; they succumbed to it.
Yeshua said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” In that same vein of thought ask yourself, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own family?” We live in a day and time where we are surrounded by much of what vexed Lot each and every day. We cannot afford to be careless and apathetic to these dangers especially where our family is concerned. We must be watchmen on the wall and, when necessary, block the gateways through which these evil influences could come in and infect the hearts and minds of our loved ones. Lot was delivered but his carelessness cost him a lot; let’s not make the same mistake.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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