OT: The Book of Genesis, Chapter 19

Genesis 19:1-38

19:1 The two angels reach Sodom by evening and they come into the presence of Lot, Abraham's nephew. Lot has the same reaction as Abraham, to bow before these angels, these messengers of God.

Lot welcomes the angels into his home and offers them food and shelter. In the New Testament we spend a lot of time talking about ourselves in faith as servants. We are servants of compassion and of justice, we do the work required to enable justice and compassion to come into the world. Neither Lot nor Abraham is ashamed of their duty to serve. There is no greater title or higher honor than being a steward of righteousness. There is no more important job or purpose you could have. 

Right there in Lot's presence are the angels who serve God in arranging and bringing into effect the prayers and hopes of Lot's. Lot is honored to return some of what has been given to him.

19:2 Lot opens his home to the angels. He knows of the danger in the place where he lives and he works to protect even these angels. These are messengers of God and as such, no harm could befall them. Yet Lot reveals his soul in wanting to do what he can to ensure that the angels do not even come into danger (even though they could handle it). This is compassion. He wished to open his home to them.

19:3 The two angels accept his insisted offer and they receive Lot's hospitality; they come under his care.

19:4-5 The corrupted neighborhood caught sight of the angels in Lot's house and they surrounded it. Their desire was the exploit the angels. Surely they stood out in such a wicked place.

19:6 It is endearing to read of Lot's vehement protection of his visitors. He feels a responsibility for protecting the lives of those around him, even the ones who did not necessarily need him to. But Lot is not without flaw, as we will see.

19:7-8 The men surrounding the house succeed in causing deep fear within Lot. Lot does not distribute his love and protection evenly. Believing that the evil outside the doors would not be assuaged to leave them alone, Lot offers his own daughters to them. Perhaps Lot's mistake is somewhat understandable: he reveres these creatures but he does not understand them. He does not understand that love and compassion and protection should be extended even to the figures who are weak or perceived as average.

Lot has never understood God the way that Abraham has. Lot likely fears that he will lose God's favor if he does not act in complete reverence of these angels. What Lot does not realize is that God loves with impartiality; God would prefer Lot protect the weak, his daughters in this case.

19:9 The angry and wicked crowd continued to demand from Lot. They wanted entrance into the house, access to the two visiting angels. This is symbolic of wickedness working to enshroud good. Wicked always works to taint and thwart and ruin. It's motivation is destruction.

19:10 The angels are more advanced in their faith and understand that they must protect all of the lives in the house, as each one is vitally important to our God; they pull Lot into the house and secure the door. Just as God's love and protection secures us in safety. 

19:11 Not only did they secure the souls, the children of God, they also disabled evil from ever finding them. God reinforces His love and protection. We are doubly secured by Him.

19:12 The angels instruct Lot to gather his family and those he cares about and move them out of Sodom.

19:13 It had come to a point where God found it necessary to destroy Gomorrah. Yet as He assured Abraham, he would not destroy innocent souls. Now, realize that Lot had overtly displayed his flaw. He let fear scared him into offering his children over to evil. God does not destroy fallible souls, he destroys evil souls. Lot almost made a grave mistake, he did not respect the innocence or life of his daughters as fully as he should have but because he did not die in Sodom, we know that Lot's soul was tormented. He was weak. God protects us when we are weak. He protects us when our weakness causes us to make bad decisions. His hope is that through His strength and guidance in our weak moments, we might learn to be better. God rescues the souls who have potential for good and edification.

19:14 Lot did what he could to urge his family to pack up and leave. His sons-in-law did not believe his warning. A key element of escaping evil is having faith in God to lead you out of it. We must trust in his foretold events, no matter how they reach us. 

As humans we are often so convinced that we know better. We dismiss warnings and even the intuition of our own souls because we think we know better than nature. Or maybe we are lethargic or apathetic. We don't always act when it is necessary. We do not always heed the advice of those who care for us, who care about protecting the quality of our lives.

To be sure, an entire upheaval of your life would seem to be a difficult and unpleasant task. In the experience of life, we learn that most... if not all... difficult and unpleasant experiences produce the opportunity for our greatest growth. Lot warns his sons-in-law to act but they refuse. They refuse to grow. They choose to remain stagnant. When it is our time to change the conditions of our lives or our characters we must actively, willingly do so because it contributes to our own betterment.

19:15-16 The angels urged Lot to hurry. It was time to leave. God works with precision. There is no lingering on His part. When a decision is made, when something has to be done, it is done. Lot however, as humans do, lingered. But this is what God does for His children, even for the ones of weaker faith, He takes our hand and leads us. If we won't move when its necessary, He moves us. We are a stubborn species. Sometimes a lazy species. A disbelieving species. He makes up for those shortcomings with ultimate patience. 

19:17 Do not look behind you. Do not look back at past infractions. God wants you to be focused on the future, focused on betterment. Lot is told not to look back and this is why: to look back is symbolic of returning to an old mistake. Once you make that mistake, learn from it, grow from it and never return to it.

19:18-19 Still, Lot's faith is weak. He has just been personally escorted by angels out of a wicked city. His life has just been saved by God and His messengers. Lot still worries about losing his life.

Let's examine this type of faith because it is alive and abundant in the world today. Faith with limits is not faith. Why ever would a soul fear death when our God is the God of life? There is no death for God's children. To be gone from Earth is to be alive in Spirit. 

We know of Abraham's strong faith. Abraham would have been praying for his family, including the branch of Lot's. Witness what God can accomplish for you through your faithful prayer and compassion for others. He will personally arrange for you and those you care about to be delivered from evil. 

19:20-23 Lot requests a different destination, a city life again rather than a country life. He does not know how to live that lifestyle anymore. Permission is granted. God is not thrilled with the condition of the city Lot requests but he generously relents. God listens to the specifics of our prayers.

19:24-25 Sodom and Gomorrah and all of the evil within them were destroyed.

19:26 Lot's wife makes a mistake. She looks back. Because his wife is unable to let go of the corrupt lifestyle of Sodom and Gomorrah, she perishes with the wicked city. Evil actions cause us to perish. It is not a punishment, it is a reality. Evil cannot continue to exist in this moral and just universe. She gave her life to death rather than to life, by choosing evil over good. It was not a punishment, it was a personal decision. She enacted her free will to choose.

19:27-29 Abraham witnesses that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed and God sends Lot to Abraham to show him that He kept His promise. He did not destroy those who Abraham prayed for. God listens to our prayers and when we pray for others, they receive His blessings.

19:30 As it turned out, God's suggestion was better (not surprising, right?). Lot moved from Zoar, the city he requested to the mountains where it was safer.

19:31 Lots daughters became concerned that their family would die out in these mountains. Lot lost his wife and the world that they knew (and everyone in it) was destroyed. They believed their entire family to be gone.

19:32-33 Lots daughters developed a plan to reproduce in an incestuous relation with their father while he was drunk. The eldest daughter committed the act first.

19:34-35 The next night, Lot's second daughter did the same. They genuinely believed that they were earnestly continuing their lineage. They believed it was a necessary desperate measure.

19:36 The daughters both became pregnant.

19:37 The firstborn daughter named her son Moab (name meaning: of his father).

19:38 The second-born daughter named her son Ben-Ammi (name meaning: son of my people).