"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. 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. 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. 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. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 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: 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. 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. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing til thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar." (Genesis 19:14-22)
When Lot speaks to his sons in law about the imminent destruction of Sodom, they thought he was joking. They did not take him at all seriously, to their own demise. Why then did Lot believe the angels so easily? (And by this time without a doubt he must know that they are angels.)
Lot's trust of the words of the angels, his trust that they have been sent by the Lord both to preserve him and to destroy Sodom, is another display of why it is that Lot is called by the Word of God: righteous. Righteousness is first about believing God's Word, and secondly about obeying it.
God's grace extended to Lot's family members, for Lot's sake, not necessarily because they were considered to be righteous; in fact, what follows in the next section of scripture that we study will show us that neither his wife, nor his daughters, behave righteously.
How much better might it have been, however, if Lot had chosen to remove himself and his family prior to this imminent destruction? We will see that even though God's grace preserves Lot, he will still lose much, beginning with all of his property, because of his decision in the first place to live in such a city of iniquity.
In fact, when the angels instruct Lot to leave immediately, Lot hesitates. Perhaps he is trying to figure out how he can take his possessions with him, or whether he should even try to? Perhaps he is just so overwhelmed by it all, that he is in a bit of a daze. Regardless of what it is that causes him to hesitate, it is not, I think, that he doubted the angels. He would not have run off to warn his sons in law had he not believed them immediately.
There are five cities in the valley of Jordan, the "plain" that is being discussed here. We saw the names of these five cities back in Genesis 13, during the battle of the "kings." Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the cities, but there is also Admah, Zeboiim and Bela, which is also known as Zoar. Zoar is listed last because it is the smallest of the cities; its name means "insignificance." But it is an evil city nonetheless, and is slated to be destroyed right now, along with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Yet Lot begs to be allowed to flee to Zoar instead of the mountains. He is fearful of some evil befalling him, perhaps wild animals is his fear. He prefers to live in the safety of numbers, perhaps, and chooses yet another evil city to dwell in. And he is given that which he requests.
But I wonder who it is exactly that he is asking this request of, and who it is exactly that is answering him?
They, the angels, bring Lot and his family "abroad," in other words, out of the city, possibly to a higher vantage point. And then Lot uses the term "my Lord" which could most definitely be used out of respect to any person esteemed higher than oneself. But we know that with Abraham were three men, one of which was the Lord, yet only two went into the city to rescue Lot. Have the angels and Lot and family now rejoined him? The conversation that takes place sounds just like what the Lord would say. And while all references to the angels use the term "they," now suddenly it becomes "he."
Whether it is the Lord himself speaking or whether it is the angels speaking on behalf of the Lord, might not be all that important to determine. What is important is that phrase that says "for I cannot do any thing til thou be come thither." In other words, 'I cannot destroy this place til you are safely out of it.'
The Word of God is filled with examples of the righteous being preserved or saved before the wrath of God comes down in judgment on the world. The righteous are not always preserved from evil (God's own prophets were murdered most of the time by unbelievers, a thing that happens still today), but they are always preserved from God's wrath, which is not evil, but justice. Noah and his family are the first examples given of this behavior of God in protecting His own, but there are many more to be seen as our study continues.
But to be counted as one of God's own, requires trusting the Word of God when it is heard, and obeying it as well, not just in part, but entirely. Men cannot go their own way, instead of going God's way, and still hope to escape His wrath. It will not happen.
Our God is both merciful and full of grace: He provides a way of escape for us, and then provides the grace necessary to walk righteously before Him. Both the way of escape and the grace to be obedient are found in one place: Jesus Christ, aka the third man who spoke with Abraham, aka the "angel of the Lord" who is none other than the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, aka the ultimate sacrifice for our sins that causes us to stand at the day of judgment and be counted as "righteous."
No comments:
Post a Comment