Genesis 19:27-29

2007.Sep.01 15:37

Saved for another’s sake

Read Genesis 19:27-29 | Full Chapter

Second Peter has the following to say about our friend, Lot:

Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.
(2 Peter 2:7-9, CEV)

It’s probably quite clear that I am not impressed by Lot. So, I’m trying to reconcile this statement with what I see from Lot’s life. I suppose Lot did live right, at least from the legalistic standpoint, although I think his actions and attitudes belie (surprise, surprise) the sinfulness of his flesh. Still, I have trouble with actually saying someone lived right when he tried to hand over his daughters to be raped. He was certainly troubled by the wickedness of his fellow Sodom folks, but that trouble seems to be more actual trouble rather than that he was “spiritually bothered” by it.

Well, since 2nd Peter is generally considered canonical, and since I hope that I have no pretensions of my writing being such, I figure I have yet more to understand from the story of Lot. Regardless of Lot’s level of righteousness, how much better could his life have been if he had made different choices. God had not called Lot to be an apostle to the people of Sodom, and so, in my opinion, he left far too late. More thoughts.

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
(Genesis 19:27-29, ESV)

What is Abraham thinking now? I’m not going to try to guess, but what a powerful and heart-wrenching moment this must have been. The might of Jehovah so clearly displayed, and yet how God must have wished not to display it. God loves me, but he doesn’t require me. Unrighteousness separates us from God; the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had already removed themselves from the Lord’s presence, and in judgment, he destroyed them. How pointless the revelries of the people of Sodom the night before. They gained frustration, then destruction. How pointless.

But there’s more to this story. Abraham had asked for the lives of those ten hypothetical righteous. And God would have saved the city for those. And even though, in the end, he only found four (apparently; anyway, he led four out), Jehovah still remembered Abraham and their discussion and saved those four, although Lot’s wife’s salvation was rather abbreviated. So, I’ll return to Second Peter. “This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings.” And if the godliness of Lot is sufficient, how much wonderful hope I can have in Jehovah’s saving power. And I ought to be humble when I receive it. Because, on the scale, am I living better than Lot? I hope so, but, then, I know I have faults; I am disobedient to God far too often, even knowing how good he is.

Genesis 19:15-17

2007.Aug.07 21:57

Delay

Read Genesis 19:15-22 | Full Chapter

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
(Genesis 19:15-17, ESV)

If I find myself wondering about Lot’s sons-in-law refusing to believe Lot’s warning, I find myself quite annoyed that even Lot, when it comes to it, doesn’t take the warning seriously. I find this frustrating, because this is often my attitude: I’m pretty certain, God, that you want me to…but I’m not quite ready.

Jehovah directs Jeremiah to raise a similar warning, this time for the people of Judah:

Raise the signal to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
even terrible destruction.
(Jeremiah 4:6, NIV)

Again, the destruction is a result ”"of the evil [they] have done" (Jeremiah 4:4, NIV) , of their determined disobedience. Again, delay is not an option. The time to repent is immediate, if not already past. To delay when Jehovah has commanded us to move, be it physically, spiritually, or otherwise is to invite destruction. It may be only because of Abraham that Lot escaped despite his delay.

Contrast this to the reaction of Ninevah at Jonah’s warning:

When the king of Nineveh heard what was happening, he also dressed in sackcloth; he left the royal palace and sat in dust. Then he and his officials sent out an order for everyone in the city to obey. It said: None of you or your animals may eat or drink a thing. Each of you must wear sackcloth, and you must even put sackcloth on your animals. You must also pray to the LORD God with all your heart and stop being sinful and cruel. Maybe God will change his mind and have mercy on us, so we won’t be destroyed.
(Jonah 3:2-9, CEV)

Obedience to Jehovah is an inherently drastic action for our fallen species. Obedience after delay, while still worth something, is a statement to God that I either do not take him fully seriously or I do not trust him. Lot fears for leaving what he knows, as did the Israelites upon Jeremiah’s warning. To fear earthly things is to not trust Jehovah. Lack of faith breeds disobedience because our flesh has an avenue (fear, worry, other emotions) to deceive.

Obedience is an immediate decision, usually followed by immediate action. It is incorrect to say, “I will stop this behavior tomorrow.” When Jehovah instructs me, I need to respond without delay. Even in cases where the instruction includes “do this tomorrow”, the decision is for now. Watch the brothers James and John react to Jesus’ calling: "Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him" (Mark 1:20, NASB) . Particularly instructive about this passage is that even Jesus acts immediately. However the Jesus-God-Holy Spirit thing works, Christ is immediately obedient to call the brothers Zebedee, and they are obedient to follow.

Genesis 19:18-22

2007.Aug.11 19:53

Negotiations

Read Genesis 19:18-22 | Full Chapter

But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 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; 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.” He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
(Genesis 19:18-22, NASB)

When Abraham negotiated with Jehovah regarding his planned destruction of the cities of the plain, Abraham’s motives were not entirely selfless, insofar as his nephew lived in Sodom, but neither could I call his intent selfish. In Lot’s negotiation, there is no such gray; his motives are entirely self-centered. Lot, quite possibly because of Abraham’s plea, has been slated for rescue, along with his wife, and two of his daughters, but he is not satisfied.

Lot’s selfishness and/or fear (or, perhaps, some as yet unexplored attribute) is so great that he is completely missing the point. The city he is living in is about to be destroyed because of their sin. His family has been singled out for rescue. Despite his delay, the angelic messengers have basically forced Lot to let them save his life and family members. Perhaps all this would clue Lot into the idea that’s it time to get going. But, no, he decides that just fleeing to the mountains is not good enough. How about a city. That’s not a big deal, right?

Now, at this point, if I were in the angels’ shoes, Lot would be real close to a smiting. The fact that Jehovah tolerates our negotiations at all is a huge testament to both his patience and kindness. It’s also a testament to how foolish we can be. Does Lot really think that Jehovah has ordered his salvation just to see him die in the mountains? Okay, that seems pretty silly, but look at my own life. How many times have I negotiated with God on some “little thing”, and how many blessings has that cost me?

Genesis 19:4-8

2007.Jul.14 15:41

Sin

Read Genesis 19:4-8 | Full Chapter

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”
(Genesis 19:4-5, ESV)

The sin of the people of Sodom is a grab bag. Lack of Inhospitality is noted in the Wikipedia article. Rape, at least attempted. Those are the two obvious. It strikes me as rather unnecessary to focus that for part of the group the rape they wish to commit is homosexual. But it’s in the grab bag too. And we can get caught up in any particular piece of their brutality, but that misses the point. A whole community bands together to rape travelers stopping for the night, a whole community which refuses to see its sin in such a vile action.

I find myself thinking of human slavery, particularly the enslavement of Africans brought to the Americas and of their descendants (Ha, beat that for PC!). How do we get to these points? At what point in our minds does any given war turn from reasons to just violence. How do we arrive at starting wars without reason? At some point, you find yourself banging on a pulpit saying, “These are the children of Ham and this is God’s punishment,” and you don’t even realize that you’ve embraced sin. Here’s a hint though: if you’re extrapolating from the curse of a recently drunk and rather pissed man to explain away your actions, you’re probably sinning.

How do you get there? It’s maybe not so much a slippery slope as the slow accumulation of excuses and apathy. Every sin that we say “just once more” or “not really so bad”, they add up. Or maybe there’s some other way. I am, after all, 25 and entitled to be completely wrong in my understanding of human nature. I am confident in what to do to keep from finding myself at that point: pray to Jehovah, study the Bible, keep myself around other believers so they are able to correct me, both through general association (church meeting, Bible studies, dinner, the like) and with defined accountability relationships (which I am not doing a good job of keeping up on).

Wow. That didn’t go where I was planning.

Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
(Genesis 19:6-8, ESV)

The thing with Lot is he wasn’t always part of this community, so we can actually watch him sliding (hyuck, hyuck) into it. The thing that stands out to me like a green rhino playing banjo in a cornfield is that Lot calls the men at the entrance–those people closest to the house and likely the leaders–“brothers”.

Okay. Think about that.

Not the rhino; “Brothers”.

The next thing he does is far more vile. He offers the group his daughters to rape instead. And yet, because he’s named the leaders of a gang rape “brothers”, the element of surprise that he would do so is gone. Lot has accepted this community and its sin. He continues to live in it, and considers himself close enough to its leadership to call them brothers. Lot has already accepted this community and made himself a part of it.

Look even at his reasoning. He does not say, “Do not rape,” or even “Do not rape the guests of this town,” but only “Do not rape my guests”. Lot may be the most righteous among the people standing outside his home, but somewhere along the line, he lost the line. He’s already accreting the willingness to sin of his neighbors.

The people of Sodom have engaged a lifestyle of sin, and Lot, for his part, has not rejected it.

Genesis 19:12-14

2007.Jul.29 01:40

You’re Joking…Right?

Read Genesis 19:12-14 | Full Chapter

Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
(Genesis 19:12-14, ESV)

One of the favorite cries against God is unfairness. Well, Lot at least can’t claim that here. Jehovah’s messengers tell Lot that the city will be destroyed and to get himself and all those he cares about out. Lot, for his part, believes them, and goes out the find some guys about to marry some of his daughters, in order to share the warning. His sons-in-law listen to Lot and assume he’s joking.

I find Lot fascinating. He’s the sort of husband and father I do not want to be. And, yet, I see a lot of him in myself. The security of the cities of the plains would sound inviting. Trusting my own reason to save me could well be my first reaction to situation clearly beyond my abilities. Wanting to go out on my own and prove myself: check. So, I’m going to spend a little time digging into a few words in this passage. I may over extrapolate and over interpret but I think there’s at least some good reminders for me in here.

If my father-in-law came to me and said “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city,” I’ll admit my first thought would be that he was joking. But I know my father-in-law would not leave it at that, but make it clear that he was not joking. Once assured of that, I believe I’d get up and leave the city. I know I can trust my father-in-law. That Lot’s son-in-laws persist in assuming he’s joking makes me believe there’s something significantly (but not perhaps surprisingly) wrong with their relationship. Either his sons-in-law don’t respect their elders particularly, or Lot has not acted so as to gain their trust. Or both. That would be my guess: both. Lot strikes me as the type of guy who could justify to himself making fools of his sons-in-law just for a few laughs.

I want to live in such a way as to earn the trust of others. Why should I expect Jehovah to speak to me, or especially through me, if I have not shown throughout my life that I can be trusted? It’s tempting to ignore the “little” things, the just living right things, focusing instead on the “big success stories”. How many people have wanted to change the world, and forget to live right. Lot focused on building his wealth and his comforts. His sons-in-law will only be the first relationship he loses.

In contrast, I look at my father-in-law. Why is it that I would easily trust him and get out of the city? Because, I know, by the way he lives his life, that he values other people, especially his family, more than worldly success. He would not make such a joke because no matter how much fun he may have gotten out of it, it would have damaged a relationship, and I know him enough to know he wouldn’t do that. And I hope that throughout my life, people could say that about me.