1 - 3 The Angels with Lot
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw [them], he rose to meet them and bowed down [with his] face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
There is almost no greater difference imaginable between two believers than the difference between Abraham and Lot. Lot was a believer, he is called a righteous (2Pet 2:7), but there is almost nothing to be seen of this in his history. Nor does the LORD come Himself to Lot as he did with Abraham. This also shows the enormous difference. He could share His thoughts with Abraham during a meal, with Lot He couldn’t.
Lot first lived nearby Sodom, later in Sodom and is now even in the gate of Sodom. Sitting in the gate means being part of the city council. He was, so to speak, perhaps chairman of the political party LS (Livable Sodom) and worked for a restoration of values and norms. His whole testimony, however, is connected with the living climate of Sodom and represents a mis-testimony to the LORD.
The LORD does not connect himself with such believers; He does not acknowledge them. He acknowledges only those who are separated from worldly thinking and acting because they are guided by Him and His Word. He only acknowledges as His sons and daughters believers who do not go under one yoke with unbelievers, as it clearly says in 2 Corinthians 6: “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; and I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty” (2Cor 6:14-18).
It means that believers cannot take joint responsibility with non-believers in the pursuit of a particular goal. This can be applied, for example, to a marriage, a business purpose and political advocacy.
The angels don’t even want to come into Lot’s house. After long insistence of Lot, they do it anyway. The meal he prepares for his visit is also of much lower quality than that of Abraham in the previous chapter (verse 3b; Gen 18:6-8). Everything speaks of compulsion and lack of understanding to notice that he has visit from heaven, messengers of God.
4 - 11 The Men of Sodom and Lot
4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied [themselves trying] to find the doorway.
The visit did not go unnoticed in Sodom. The complete depravity of the inhabitants, that dwells in every age group, is expressed in all its horror. They call upon Lot to bring out his visitors, that they may indulge in their degrading passions upon them, and may act as “men with men committing indecent acts” (Rom 1:27). Their way of life becomes proverbial, so that audacious, unabashed sinners are said to “display their sin like Sodom; they do not [even] conceal [it]” (Isa 3:9; cf. Jer 6:15a).
This scandal is even characteristic of the whole region (Jude 1:7). What happens in Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around it leads the apostacy to a high point. It is about the most brutal shamelessness directed against all that is natural given by God. They have left their original nature. That is rebellion and apostacy. It is fornication and added to that the going after “strange flesh”, which is completely contrary to the natural order of God.
The unbound, free lifestyle and legalization of homosexual practices propagated by liberals in our day and age is similar to the practices of Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole region around them. What God has done with these cities shows how He judges this behavior. This should be a warning to anyone who lives like this or accepts it as normal and may even be committed to general acceptance of this way of life. “The punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7) shows that God’s judgment on this never comes to an end. All apostates will be affected by this judgment.
The unclean spirit manifesting itself goes too far for Lot. His name as host is at stake. He cannot allow this to happen with his visitors and tries to keep them from their wrongdoing. In his approach to them he calls them “my brothers”. He has fallen to such a low moral level that he considers himself to be their family. In that position he really is, as we can see from the alternative he offers them. It’s really unbelievable – but it’s in the Bible, so it’s true – but Lot finds his name as a host more important than his name as a father. As a kind of compensation, he offers his two daughters to the vermin, with whom they can do whatever they want.
However, the men of Sodom do not want Lot to equate him with themselves. Lot may still be so integrated in their society and have worked so hard for a ‘Livable Sodom’, but he is and remains an alien to them. This is a point of light in the midst of the spiritual darkness, even though it is that small.
Let’s not make a hard judgment about Lot too quickly either. How many believers who have all their interests in the world sacrifice their children to preserve their so-called good name? Busy as they are with their own worldly interests, they don’t care about the way their children spend their time. And without knowing it, those children become addicted to the Internet, surf the dirtiest sites around and get entangled in a web that completely destroys them mentally and physically.
The angels use their power to keep Lot from this folly. They pull him inside the house and strike the men of Sodom with blindness (Job 5:14-15). They did not want to hear, now the eyesight is also taken away from them. It is a harbinger of the darkness in which they will be forever.
12 - 15 Lot Must Flee
12 Then the [two] men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring [them] out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. 15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
The angels tell Lot why they came. Lot, perhaps because of what he has just seen, attaches so much importance to this message, that he warns his sons-in-law. But they regard his warning as a joke. They don’t take Lot seriously. They also don’t know Lot as a serious guy. It’s not a bad thing to tell a joke once, but anyone who always is playing the funny man shouldn’t expect to be taken seriously when it matters.
Of course, it is also unbelievable when someone tells us that the world is going to be judged, while he does everything he can to make life in the world as easy as possible. He who feels politically responsible and does his utmost to enjoy the world as much as possible should not believe that he is plausible when he comes up with a message of judgment about all this. Lot is someone whose whole attitude shows that life in the world fills his entire horizon, whereas nowhere in his life does faith appear to be a present factor.
Also, it doesn’t seem that Lot himself is in a hurry to get away. The angels must urge him to hurry. How hard it is to let go of the stuff you may have worked for as hard as you can, and which means so much for you. His stuff is not part of his life, it is his life.
16 - 23 Lot Flees
16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD [was] upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my LORD! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near [enough] to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
The angels take Lot and his wife and daughters by the hand and drag them with them. Wife and daughters are also given the opportunity to escape judgment because the LORD wants to save Lot. This shows the enormous grace of God. This grace is also abundant when Lot begs not to have to go to the mountains. That is so close to heaven. Only people like Abraham live there. A man like Lot doesn’t feel at home there.
He would like to live in a city. It only has to be a small city – “Zoar” means ‘small’ or ‘insignificant’ – as long as it looks like a city. The thought of a tent, to be a pilgrim, is not attractive to him. He has breathed in the air of the city and it is in the depths of his lungs. And again that enormous grace is shown. His request is granted: he may go to the city of his wish.
24 - 26 Sodom and Gomorrah Overthrown
24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked [back], and she became a pillar of salt.
When Lot arrives in Zoar, the LORD “rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone” and “He overthrew those cities, and all the valley”. Lot’s wife did go with Lot, but she does not mind the order given not to look behind her (verse 17). She does look behind her and becomes a pillar of salt, a continuous memorial, a beacon of remembrance.
This is how the Lord Jesus applies it: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk 17:32). He says that as a warning not to put the heart on the things of the world and not to waste our time and attention and energy by filling our lives with food and drink and buying and selling, with planting and building. We can’t take anything of it with us in the day of judgment. It all comes to an end.
Thus says the Lord in the verses which precede the warning example of the wife of Lot in Luke 17: “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back” (Lk 17:28-31).
The Lord Jesus also said that if the miracles He did in Capernaum had occurred in Sodom, Sodom would have converted and “it would have remained to this day” (Mt 11:23). Why then, we might ask ourselves, did He not do that? Because according to the wisdom of God, Sodom and Gomorrah had a testimony of God’s revelation, perfectly adapted to them.
They have had God’s testimony in creation (Rom 1:19-20). But they have not bowed before God. They acted according to their corrupt nature, and did not take any notice of God’s revelation in creation. They will be judged on the basis of this rejection of God’s testimony. Thus, each people are subjected to a test of their obedience to God in a way that fully matches their responsibility.
27 - 29 Abraham and the Judgment
27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning [and went] to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. 29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
While the most terrible scenes take place in the plain, Abraham is at rest. The fact that he is at rest does not mean that he is not moved by what is happening below him. He prayed too intensively for that. And this prayer is not in vain. He goes to the place where he stood before the LORD and places himself there on his guard post (Hab 2:1). When we have prayed, we should look forward to the result. We should address our prayer, like a letter, and then expect an answer (Psa 5:3).
Here we read that Lot owes it to the prayer of his uncle Abraham that he did not perish in judgment. Lot will not have known this. He comes to know when his life will be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ.
30 - 38 The End of Lot
30 Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 34 On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
The history of Lot ends as sadly as his life has always been. We hear nothing about his death. The man has long been dead, that is, spiritually. The last thing we hear from him is surrounded by the darkness of a cave. His spirit is darkened, not primarily by wine, but already by the fact that he is getting drunk by his daughters, not just once, but twice.
Lot and his daughters are out of Sodom, but (the spirit of) Sodom is not out of Lot and his daughters. The daughters of Lot are so depraved in their spiritual development by their living in Sodom that they bring about the disgusting proposal of getting their father drunk and then having sexual intercourse with him. They act deliberately. They know their father as a characterless man who will submit to their plan completely unsuspectingly, without any resistance.
It is going as they agreed. From the pitch-dark spiritual atmosphere of Sodom, who lives in Lot, he performs twice an act that requires no further explanation. The moral darkness is complete. In this completely dark scene, he becomes by committing incest the father of two children from whom the bitterest enemies of the people of Israel originated.
There is no more talk of Lot. Separated from Abraham externally and internally, he no longer has any meaning for the history of salvation. Even his death is not mentioned. This is how Lot disappears from history.