15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Genesis 19:15-21.
Abraham interceded for the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah down to ten. Genesis 18:32: And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. There were only four people saved. Sadly, even Lot’s sons-in-law burned.
It is fair to say that Lot asked for all the trouble he had to deal with.
Greed got the best of him when he was given an option on the land.
Lot undervalued his uncle Abraham’s experience with God. Lot had no clue nor any ability to see forward into the Divine plan. Abraham would be called a Friend of God, the Father of the Faith, and would be respected by the three major religious systems of the world. Lot was an orphan boy. He should have held back. Besides that, Isaac, the promised son was on his way. God could not allow the wicked cities to remain. He would not have the young Isaac exposed to the debauchery whenever he visited his older cousin. Destruction was inevitable. But Lot had chosen what seemingly was the choice real estate in the region. Abraham’s lot still stands today.
Evidently, and to his credit, Lot matured and became aware of the toxic environment. Peter sheds some light on that in 2 Peter 2:7,8:
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
But, I add, he did not move. God had to move him! God’s grace is multi-dimensional. And then when he is directed to go to the mountains he refuses and asks to be allowed to go to another city nearby, Zoar. Genesis 19:19: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die. So off to Zoar he goes. It too would have been destroyed, except for Lot. Genesis 19:21: And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
And let us not forget. God’s grace was extended to Lot as a favor to Abraham. Genesis 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt..
What a saga! But God’s grace is found in the saga too.
Your saga will not exhaust the grace of God. -PJF-
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