Gen 19:15-32
When we hear a story like this, we tend to say, “I would never do that.” The bizarre parts of the story, combined with the horrible decision made by Lot’s wife, make it hard to relate to.
If we were in their shoes, we would have made different, maybe even
better, decisions.
As we go through this story, we will see just how bizarre humans can be.
And make no mistake about it; what the Bible describes here is bizarre.
The actions of Lot and his daughters are shocking, quite frankly,
somewhat difficult to discuss in mixed company.
We also see in this story an example of one of the worst decisions in
history. Lot's wife turned back after she was warned not to.
But here, I want to implore you to look past the bizarre nature of the
story and the obviously dumb choice of Lot's wife so that you might
analyze the question of why.
* Why did Lot's family act so bizarrely?
* Why did Lot's wife look back, causing her to die?
As we study this portion of Scripture, I want the question of why to be
foremost in our minds.
The Escape
- Gen 19:15 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. - Gen 19:16 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. - Gen 19:17 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.
He lingered
The Christian life is one of constant forward movement. We are not to
go back, look back or fall back.
But Lot lingered. 16, "And while he lingered."
Why
One commentator has noted:
"Too much of Lot's heart was in Sodom, so he was not anxious to leave
the city. This lack of urgency to do the things of God is a common sign
of compromise and a backslidden condition." David Guzik
Put another way, he left his heart in Sodom.
- He considered the people of Sodom family, notice vs 7, he calls
them brothers - He loved the lifestyle of Sodom. When the massagers brought him
outside the town, they told him to go to the mountains. But lot
asked to go to another city. vs 18-21. We know from reading vs 21
that the city he asked to go to was also wicked.
He lingered because that was what he was used too. He was used to the
people of Sodom, he was used to the culture of Sodom
This what I’m used to is not a good excuse for making the same
mistakes constantly.
“A sign of maturity is that you only make new mistakes”
“You will have a great life if you go through life and only make new
mistakes. Your family will be blessed. Everyone around you will be
blessed.”
However, your life will be miserable if you constantly make the same
mistakes.
What we see in the life of Lot here is one of the saddest things that can
ever happen to a believer, “a change of circumstances without a
change in heart.”
This led him to make the same mistake he made in moving to Sodom in
the first place.
Question: do you find yourself lingering in situations God has called you
out of? If so, let you ask you this?
Where’s your heart? Have you given it to Jesus? Or is it in the world?
- How many people do you know who married the wrong kind of
person? They divorce and say to everyone who will listen, "I'm not
going to make that mistake again." - And then they marry the same type of person again?
What happened? they didn't learn from their mistake. They lingered in
their old of thinking because they haven’t given their heart to Jesus
God rescued Lot; however, we see here that he did not want to be saved.
He fully intended to make the same mistake again.
Lot's lack of faith
The angels told him to go to the mountains; I think we can assume that
the message the angels gave him came from God.
Lot did not want to follow God's instruction.
He tells us why in verse 19
Gen 19:19 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:
God had just intervened miraculously. However, Lot did not think God
could protect him and his family.
But this is more than a lack of faith; clearly, Lot preferred to live in a
city,
Lot was in the worst of all possible places. Instead of grabbing hold of
the World, the World had grabbed hold of him.
God destroys Sodom
- Gen 19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into
Zoar. - Gen 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; - Gen 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all
the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
Lot's wife
Gen 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a
pillar of salt.
“She looked intently, she looked longingly, she looked nostalgically.”
Some scholars believe that the phrase "but she looked back" meant that
she stayed in the plains near Sodom and was consumed by the judgment
that fell on Sodom.
Jesus and the New Testament give us a warning, he says "remember
Lot's wife"(Luke 17:32)
Jesus is talking about the day of judgment, saying, "do not be like Lot's
wife."
Part of God's salvation is that he rescues us from the culture. The
problem is that Lot's wife did not want to be saved.
She loved Sodom. You might be tempted to think she has a good reason
to feel sad and hesitant to leave.
Her friends were in Sodom.
Remember, her friends tried to kill her and her family because her
husband would not allow them to rape visitors to the city.
It was sad to leave part of her family behind, but that's no excuse not to
move forward with life.
Listen to me. Do not allow your family to keep you from moving
forward.
We see it all the time.
Someone gets saved and starts to grow, but their old friends cause them
to lose momentum.
- Instead of moving forward, they're stuck in the past.
- Instead of establishing new patterns of behavior, they find
themselves falling back under the influence of their old friends.
Do not allow anyone, I repeat anyone, to keep you from moving forward
in your relationship with Jesus.
- I don't care if they are your mom
- I don't care if they are your dad
- I don't care if they are your best friend from middle school
- or your spouse
You move forward!
But Lot's wife lingered.
She lingered because the culture of Sodom had a grip on her. In the end,
it led to her downfall.
“The culture we live in today is dark and ugly. However, if we look
back at our old days nostalgically, it will consume us.” (Luke 17:32)
God wants to save us from the effects of this culture (Gal 1:4)
It is with all this in mind that we come to one of the most bizarre stories
in the Bible. The incest of Lot and his daughters
- Gen 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the
mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell
in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. - Gen 19:31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is
old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the
manner of all the earth: - Gen 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will
lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
An old proverb comes to mind, "you can take the boy out of the country,
but you can't take the country out of the boy."
Lot's family were rescued from Sodom, but that city had their heart.
Lot's Daughters were entirely corrupted by the culture of Sodom.
This tells us two things about Lot's family.
- They had bought into the people of Sodom's worldview.
- They did not trust God would provide for them, so they hatched
their own plan.
The first thing led to the other, since they had bought into the couture,
they did not trust God
It was these two things that produced their wicked actions.
Too often, when we come to this portion of Scripture, we only Focus on
the bizarre behavior displayed by Lot and his family.
When we do this, we do ourselves a disservice because it allows us not
to make any application to our own lives. We simply read this story and
say to ourselves, "don't commit incest, got it"
But this story is about more than the destruction of Lot's family and their
bizarre behavior.
- It is a warning to not go down the same path.
- It is a warning to deal with the root of the problem.
The real problem
We are tempted to look at the people in this story and say, "the real
problem is that they are materialistic and weird."
- Materialistic because they valued luxury and pleasure above
everything. Lot and his family were willing to die to preserve their
luxury. - Weird in the sense that they were willing to commit incest, and
that's all I'll say about that.
It is easy to see those two descriptions and immediately turn to our
culture and say that it exactly matches what we see in America.
- We are increasing in materialism. The social status of owning
stuff means more to us than anything. - We are also increasing in weirdness. We read about incest in this
story and are rightly horrified by it.
But how many things do we consider normal now that we were once
horrified by? The plain and simple truth is as a society, we are becoming
more and more strange.
But again, these are only symptoms of a more significant problem,
which, I hate to say, has invaded the church.
We love the world
- Lot lingered because his heart was in Sodom.
- Lot’s wife lingered because her heart was in Sodom.
- Lot’s daughters did what they did because the culture of Sodom
had taken hold of their minds.
It’s here we are tempted to get out the flashlight and inspect others. To
shine the light on their imperfections and shortcomings. But I want you
to ask yourself 3 questions:
- What situation am I linger in that God has called me out of?
- What warning from God have I ignored?
- What have allowed to keep me from moving forward?
All these things effect the heart. If allow myself to linger in situation I’m
not supposed to, then my heart will be affected. If I ignore God’s
warnings from Scripture, my heart will be affected. If I stop progressing
in my walk with Jesus, my heart will be affected
3 keys to protect your heart
- Be transformed
- Be carful
- Be delighted
Be transformed
Rom 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
All lasting change takes place in the heart and mind. If we, through the
reading of the Bible allow God to transform our minds daily, it creates in
us a heart the loves God.
Be carful
- Be careful what you allow yourself to hear
- Be careful what you allow yourself to see Job 31:1 “I have made a
covenant with my eyes, why then should I look upon a maid” - Be careful what you allow your mind to meditate on
Because these things are gateways to your heart, and what you fill your
heart and mind with is what you are. If you fill your mind with worldly
things, you will be worldly
Be delighted
- Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat
of the scornful. - Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night.