THE ANGELS VISIT LOT
The preceding chapter was a picture of blessed Christian fellowship with God.
But now the picture changes: We leave Hebron on the plains of Mamre where Abraham dwells and we go to the city of Sodom where Lot dwells.
In this chapter Lot leaves Sodom with his wife and two daughters, and Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.
Lot’s wife turns to a pillar of salt, and then we have Lot’s awful sin with his two daughters.
In chapter 19 we have a picture of that which is “the blasted life.” Don’t forget that this man Lot happens to be a righteous man.
It is hard to believe that; if I had only this record in Genesis, I wouldn’t believe it.
But Simon Peter, in his epistle, says of Lot, “. . . that righteous man . . . vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds” (2 Pet. 2:8).
Lot lived in Sodom, but he never was happy there.
It was a tragic day for him when he moved to Sodom, because he lost his family—he lost all of them if you look at the total picture. It is tragic.
There are many men today who may be saved men, but due to their life style or where they live, they may lose their family, their influence, and their testimony.
THE ANGELS VISIT LOT
These two angels visit Lot in Sodom to announce judgment.
Genesis 19:1-25 KJV
[1] And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
[2] And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
[3] And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
[4] But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
[5] And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
[6] And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
[7] And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
[8] Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
[9] And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
[10] But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
[11] And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
[12] And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
[13] For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
[14] And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
[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.
[22] Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
[23] The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
[24] Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
[25] And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
Genesis 19:1 KJV
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
- Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.
- I cannot let that go by without calling attention to the fact that the ones who sat in the gate of a city were the judges.
- This man Lot not only moved to Sodom, but he also got into politics down there.
- Here he is, a petty judge sitting in the gate.
Genesis 19:2 KJV
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
- These two men must have had dirty feet. Of course, if you had walked from the plains of Mamre down into Sodom wearing nothing but sandals, your feet would need washing, also.
- Again, I call your attention to this custom of that day which was practiced by those who extended hospitality to strangers.
- Lot was a hospitable man. When these strangers came, he invited them to his home, and they came in.
- At first, however, they were reluctant. “And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.”
- In other words, they said, “We’ll just stay outside. We don’t want to inconvenience you.” And they said this for a purpose, of course.
Genesis 19:3 KJV
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
- Now these men have another feast. They had a feast with Abraham; they now have a feast with Lot.
- They had brought out something when they said, “We’ll stay on the street and just sleep in the park,” and Lot says to them, “You don’t do that in Sodom.
- It’s dangerous! Your life wouldn’t be worth a thing if you did that.” May I say that maybe Los Angeles ought to change its name to Sodom.
- It would not be safe for you to sleep on the streets of Los Angeles; in fact, it is not safe at all to be on the streets of Los Angeles at night. Many women who live alone will not come out to church at night.
- The days of Sodom and Gomorrah are here again, and practically for the same reason.
- Lot says, “No, men, do not stay on the street. It wouldn’t be safe for you.” When he “pressed upon them,” they came in.
Genesis 19:4 KJV
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
- This is a sickening scene which reveals the degradation of this city—the city of Sodom.
Genesis 19:5 KJV
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
- The name that has been put on this sin from that day to this is sodomy.
- Apparently there was no attempt made in the city of Sodom to have a church for this crowd and to tell them that they were all right in spite of the fact that they practiced this thing.
- May I say to you that the Word of God is specific on this, and you cannot tone it down. Sodomy is an awful sin.
- When this man Lot had gone down into the city of Sodom, he did not realize what kind of city it was—I’m sure of that.
- He got down there and found out that perversion was the order of the day, and he brought up his children, his sons and daughters, in that atmosphere.
- When he earlier had pitched his tent toward Sodom, he had looked down there and had seen the lovely streets and boulevards and parks and public buildings.
- And he had seen the folk as they were on the outside, but he had not seen what they really were.
- The sin of this city is so great that God is now going to judge it. God is going to destroy the city.
- Let’s draw a sharp line here. There is a new attitude toward sin today.
- There is a gray area where sin is not really as black as we once thought it was.
- The church has compromised until it is pitiful.
- The idea today seems to be that you can become a child of God and continue on in sin.
- God says that is impossible—you cannot do that, and this city of Sodom is an example of that fact.
- Paul asks the question: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”
- And the answer is “God forbid,” or, Let it not be (see Rom. 6:1–2).
- The idea that you can be a Christian and go on in sin is a tremendous mistake, especially to make light of it, as I judge is being done in this particular case.
- This is what they were doing in Sodom and Gomorrah—and God destroyed these cities.
- Don’t say that we have a primitive view of God in Genesis but that we have a better one today.
- Don’t argue that, after all, Jesus received sinners. He sure did, but when He got through with them, He had changed them.
- The harlot who came to Him was no longer in that business. When she came to God, she changed.
- That is the thing that happened to other sinners.
- A publican came to Him, and he left the seat of customs. He gave up that which was crooked when he came to the Lord.
- If you have come to Christ, you will be changed.
- My friend, we are living in a new day, but it just happens to be Sodom and Gomorrah all over again.
Genesis 19:6 KJV
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
- The men of Sodom were outside the door, asking that these guests in the home of Lot be turned over to them.
Genesis 19:7 KJV
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
- Lot said, “I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.”
- That is the way Lot looked at it, and he had been down there in Sodom a long time.
- It wasn’t new morality to him; it was just old sin.
Genesis 19:8 KJV
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
- When a man entertained a guest in that day, he was responsible for him.
- Lot was willing to make this kind of sacrifice to protect his guests!
Genesis 19:9 KJV
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
- “And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: . . .” You see, Lot was advancing in the political arena there.
Genesis 19:10 KJV
But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
- The angels (Moses is still calling them men) open the door, reach out and drag Lot back in, shutting the door after him.
Genesis 19:11 KJV
And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
- If Lot’s guests had not done this, both they and Lot would have been destroyed, because that was the intention of the men of Sodom.
Genesis 19:12 KJV
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
- Lot is in a very bad situation.
- He had spent years down in the city of Sodom.
- He had learned to tolerate this sort of thing, although he calls it wickedness.
- He had seen his sons and daughters grow up, and they apparently had married among people with those ethical standards.
Genesis 19:13 KJV
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
- When the time came that Lot got this word from the Lord to leave the city.
Genesis 19:14 KJV
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
- Lot went to his sons-in-law and said, “Let’s get out of here. God is going to destroy this city.”
- They laughed at him. They ridiculed him.
- I suppose they knew that the week before Lot had invested a little money in real estate there.
- He had lived so long as one of them, without any real difference, that they took his warning as a big joke.
- This man was out of the will of God in this place, and he had no witness for God.
- He did not win anybody for the Lord in this city.
- The same principle is true today: when you go down to their level, my friend, you do not win them. I think that that is being clearly demonstrated in this hour.
Frankly, I would agree with Abraham that this man Lot wasn’t saved, but remember what Peter said: “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an en-sample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds)” (2 Pet. 2:6–8).
Genesis 19:15 KJV
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.
- I tell you, Lot never enjoyed it down there in Sodom. Now that he is going to leave the city, he cannot get anyone to leave with him except his wife and two single daughters.
Genesis 19:16 KJV
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.
- Here is a man who was God’s man in spite of everything.
- If I only had the Book of Genesis, I am not sure I would believe that Lot was saved, but since Peter calls him a righteous man, we know that he was.
- Lot had become righteous because he had followed Abraham—he believed God, and he had offered the sacrifices.
- God extends mercy unto Lot, and he now believes God and gets out of the city.
Genesis 19:17 KJV
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.
- The kindly interest the angels took in the preservation of Lot is beautifully displayed. But he “lingered.”
- This is the charitable way of accounting for a delay that would have been fatal but for the friendly urgency of the angel.
Was it from sorrow at the prospect of losing all his property, the acquisition of many years?
Or was it that his benevolent heart was paralyzed by thoughts of the awful crisis?
Genesis 19:18 KJV
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
- Even Lot didn’t want to leave. He would get out of the city, but he couldn’t make it to the mountain.
Genesis 19:19 KJV
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:
- What a strange want of faith and fortitude, as if He who had interfered for his rescue would not have protected Lot in the mountain solitude.
Genesis 19:20 KJV
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.
- This city was a little place called Zoar, and that is where Lot went.
- You see, this man came out of Sodom, but he did not come clean even out of there.
- And, of course, he got into a great deal of trouble at that particular time.
Genesis 19:21 KJV
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.
- His request was granted him, the prayer of faith availed, and to convince him, from his own experience, that it would have been best and safest at once to follow implicitly the divine directions.
Genesis 19:22 KJV
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
- The ruin of Sodom was suspended till he was secure.
- What care God does take of His people (Revelation 7:3)!
- What a proof of the love which God bore to a good though weak man!
Genesis 19:23 KJV
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
- Dawn was approaching when the angels urged Lot to leave Sodom.
- Now the sun is shinning full and bright as Lot enters his city of refuge, Zoar.
Genesis 19:24 KJV
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
- God, in accomplishing His purposes, acts immediately or mediately through the agency of means; and there are strong grounds for believing that it was in the latter way He effected the overthrow of the cities of the plain – that it was, in fact, by a volcanic eruption.
- The raining down of fire and brimstone from heaven is perfectly accordant with this idea since those very substances, being raised into the air by the force of the volcano, would fall in a fiery shower on the surrounding region.
- This view seems countenanced by Job [Job 1:16; Job 18:15 ].
- Whether it was miraculously produced, or the natural operation employed by God, it is not of much consequence to determine: it was a divine judgment, foretold and designed for the punishment of those who were sinners exceedingly.
Genesis 19:25 KJV
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
- More than the two cities were destroyed.
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