Two angels entered the city one evening, and Lot who was sitting in the Gate of Sodom, and stood up to meet them and bowed himself with his face toward the ground (v. 1).
Lot offered up his home, but the two angels said they would stay in the streets all night. Lot insisted that they stay with them. Why? Because he knew the city, and he knew it well. The two angels complied. Lot made a feast for them and they ate (vs. 2-3).
Sure enough, before Lot’s guests lay down, a mob (young and old men) surrounded the house and called for Lot. They wanted to know where the men that came and to send them out so they may ‘know’ them. Their intentions were evil (vs. 4-5).
Lot went out of the door, shutting it behind him, and pleaded with they not act so wickedly. Lot then did the unthinkable—he offered his two virgin daughters to take the place of his guests. Then he told them to do to his daughters as they pleased, only to leave his guests alone (vs. 6-8).
Who would consider seeking to resolve the threatened rape of strangers by proposing the rape of family members? You could try to excuse Lot by saying, “It was the culture” or “It was all about hospitality” or “Women didn’t count back then.” But what was it really? It was Sodom thinking. Lot had lived in this city for so long that he wasn’t just physically there, but thinking like them as well.
Was Lot a good man? Yes. A leader? Sounds like it. A person with whom angels shared company? Apparently. But he also was a Sodom thinker. His views were compromised enough to concede that although Sodom’s everyday life might be wrong at some level, it was acceptable at another.
The mob told Lot to stand back, and accused Lot (a sojourner) of being of judge. They threaten to deal worse with him and pressed hard against Lot; coming near to break down the door. The two angels reached out the door and pulled Lot into the house – shutting the door. The angels struck the men with blindness and they became weary trying to find the door (vs.9-11). Wow, these men were determined to continue on their evil path even after being struck blind. This tells us the condition of their heart and mind was ‘evil continually’, reminiscent of the people prior to the flood.
The angels told Lot to leave the city with his family, for they were going to destroy the city because the ‘cry’ against them has come before the Lord and the Lord has sent them to destroy it. But he drags his heels. He unsuccessfully tries to convince his married daughters and their husbands to join him. In fact, Lot’s son-in-laws do not take him seriously. As the morning dawns, the angels urge Lot to hurry up and leave with his wife and two daughters, to avoid being consumed by the fire of destruction. He moved so slowly that the angels finally grab his hands and drag him, his wife, and their two unmarried daughters out of the city. They told Lot and his family to ‘escape for your life’, do not look back, don’t stay in the plain, and go to the mountains; otherwise you will be destroyed (vs. 12-17).
You probably wouldn’t hesitate if angels warned that your city faced destruction. You would grab your loved ones, but you would hurry.
Lot’s family, however, lingers. We can be sure they felt immense grief about leaving behind their children, livelihood, home, possessions, and community standing. But they had also lost sight of the fact that the Lord specifically preserved the family. He came to save them personally.
Lot had lived there long enough that the warning, even when spoken by angels, didn’t dispel all doubt. He remained attracted to a city where wicked behavior was simply part of the daily cycle of life.
The story does not end there. After leading Lot and his family from the city, one of the visitors—who Lot called ‘my Lord’—urged them to flee to the mountain immediately. The response? More Sodom thinking:
“Oh, not so, my Lord,” Lot said in Gen. 19:18 (KJV).
He essentially said: “I cannot do this great thing you ask of me. Let me go to this small town instead.”
The Lord of the Universe urged Lot to go to the mountaintop for safety and protection. But Lot is blinded, doubtful, and uncertain. Instead of fleeing toward the mountain, he settled, stuck and satisfied with a lesser place.
Lot’s request is granted, and is urged to hurry because Lot is holding up the destruction. So, Lot goes to Zoar (vs. 18-23).
The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire, consuming those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all that grew upon the ground…total destruction. But the wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt (vs. 24-26).
Abraham got up early and looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the plain; and the whole area appeared as the smoke of a furnace. God remembered Abraham (intercessory conversation) and sent Lot out of the city that was destroyed (vs. 27-29).
It is interesting for comparison, when Abraham spoke to the Lord – his plea was for others (the righteous), but when Lot spoke to the Lord – his please was for himself. This is a character issue, for when Abraham and Lot was to split their herds – Lot took what he thought was the best. It helps explain how Lot ended up in Sodom.
The story ends on an even worse note—if that were possible. Lot held up in a cave with his two daughters, reduced to a hermit-like existence. This compels his daughters to fear they won’t find husbands to give them children. Their solution: get their father drunk and have sex with him (incest). How could two young women devise such a plan and consider it reasonable? Sodom thinking.
Both daughters get pregnant. The eldest daughter bore a son and called his name Moab, who is the father of the Moabites. The younger daughter bore a son and called his name Benammi who is the father of the children of Ammon (vs. 30-38).
In the Bible story, Lot started in a pleasant place and incrementally moved into a wicked city. He began with Abraham and ended up a leader of Sodom. He wasn’t disturbed enough by his surroundings to want to leave or to understand why God would destroy it. This is ‘creeping compromise’ and it can be deadly spiritually speaking – compromise NEVER results in good…as many stories of the Bible attest to.