Run for Your Life! (Genesis 19:1-29)

Introduction

Preaching through any book in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, will eventually bring us to passages or stories that are heavy. That is exactly the reason why I prefer to preach through books of the Bible; it forces us to take on these difficult passages rather than ignore or neglect them. Today’s story in Genesis is heavy. There are parts of the story that are uncomfortable, to say the least. But this is where we are in the book. So, we’re going to tackle it, dig into it, and unearth the eternal truths that God has designed to shape our hearts to be like His.

The Story

More than likely, it was business as usual in Sodom, and the usual evening activities were afoot when God’s messengers arrived, to be greeted by Lot. He was sitting in the gate of Sodom, where it was customary for the dignitaries of the city to gather. From that fatal day when Lot made his choice to better himself in the luscious valley, he had become more and more involved in moral and spiritual compromise. In disregard of his uncle, he had chosen what he thought to be the best of the land; his motive was self-seeking, and he took no warning from the evil reputation of the cities of the plain.

There was nothing in the circumstances of that evening to give a hint that catastrophe was looming over the city, and Lot had no idea that he had been prominent in his uncle’s intercessions. As soon as he saw the visitors entering the gate of the city he was quick to offer them hospitality. He immediately assessed them to be honest men, unsuspecting travelers, whose dignity and integrity caused him to bow before them in genuine appreciation of their worth. They were willing to spend the night in the city square, but Lot was committed to shield them from the worse aspects of night-life in the city by taking them to his home.

Lot’s determination to protect the visitors nearly cost him his life. When the whole of the male population made a hostile attack on his home, in desperate self-defense and fear of bringing shame and harm upon his guests, Lot offered them his daughters in the forlorn hope that the lustful and perverted crowd would disperse. Had he but realized it, those he was protecting were able to deliver him. And deliver Lot and his entire family — especially the daughters — they did; but it was by a miraculous intervention. An angel grabbed Lot’s arm and squeezed him back inside, and shut the door. Suddenly those who had threatened to break down the door were blind, and helpless.

God’s messengers exhorted him to warn his family of Sodom’s imminent calamity. God’s mercy is wide; and he would spare as many as possible. However, Lot’s sons-in-law thought he was joking. They would soon learn, however, that this was no joke. God’s judgment is no laughing matter. The warning was real and serious. But people walking in darkness are often blind to truth’s light. To them the threat of destruction was ludicrous. But the angels who came to the city as divine assessors needed no further evidence: its guilt was established, and as the Lord’s messengers they had the mandate to destroy the city and everything in it.

At first light the next morning, the angels disclosed that the time was at hand, and with forceful urgency they commanded Lot to “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” Not a moment can be spared if anyone is to escape the doom of the city; but Lot and his family lack the will to escape. Familiar things seem indispensable and doubly precious. Lot becomes vague and irresolute; he hesitates. And had it not been for the Lord’s compassion, Lot and his family would have perished with the city. God’s merciful hand, through the hands of His messengers, dragged Lot and his family out of the city. For Lot’s sake the family is spared, and safely conducted outside the gates, but from that point on they are expected to complete their escape from the doomed valley by running with all speed to the hills. When every second counted, Lot hesitates again, and puts forward his own plan. In his fear, reason deserts him. He has failed to see the danger that was coming to the entire plain. Though his life depended on it, he dreads running to the hills.

His uncle negotiated with God out of compassion: “Will you really destroy the righteous with the wicked,” he asked the Lord. Lot, however, is negotiating out of fear. The plain had become too precious to leave. So he asks permission to run to a little village that later became known as Zoar. The name Zoar means ‘a small thing’; the name is a play on words, a pun. Surely, Lot must have thought, it’s a small thing to ask this favor. Yet, Lot’s “small” request was really an act of disobedience to the instructions he was first given. Surprisingly, he was given permission to go there. And ironically, his choice of Zoar meant that that city was spared.

But Lot’s wife … she looked back. Even a miraculous escape from the city was insufficient to overcome the feeling of loss she mourned by leaving Sodom behind. Her hesitation was fatal, for she was caught up in the molten tide that swept across the plain like volcanic lava. She became fossilized among the many grotesque peaks of rock that are a feature of the southern end of the Dead Sea valley to this day. Her end speaks a warning to our consumer society, with its enormous range of possible possessions that raise the threat of our own spiritual drift.

Brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven is a vivid description of the final catastrophe that brought to an end the cities of the plain. The significance of the event is more important than a geological explanation, and the prophets made frequent reference to the fate of these evil cities. Jeremiah 23:14 “Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.” The prophets saw the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as typifying the destruction of Samaria and Jerusalem in their turn.

in the story in Genesis 14, when Abraham conquered the four kings, we learned that the plains contained asphalt pits, coal, petroleum, and probably natural gas. As God rained fire from heaven a cataclysmic explosion took place, and entire plain burned until nothing was left. It was not only that whole populations died in the overthrow of their cities, but that the total area was rendered infertile by the cataclysm. Prolonged burning destroyed the natural properties of the soil and the falling rocks turned it into desert.

What of Abraham and his intercession? Early the next morning, there stands Abraham, at the very vista where he and the Lord looked down upon the beautiful plain. As he watched the smoke rise up like smoke from a furnace, all he could tell was that God’s judgment had turned the cities and the plain into an inferno. The city for which he had prayed was no more. Had Lot escaped? In due course he would find out that God had wonderfully sent Lot out of the midst of the judgment. Though Sodom could not be spared God’s judgment, God remembered Abraham. His prayer was effective, and his nephew Lot was rescued.

The story teaches us many lessons. Once we drift into spiritual compromise and complacency, why is it so difficult to get back on the path of righteousness? Separated from God by our sin, why is it so hard for people to trust in Jesus and receive His gift of grace and eternal life?

Why is it so hard to leave Sodom?

Let’s answer that question.

Main Points

1. An earthly focus leads to spiritual complacency and comfort with what is evil. (19:1)

A believer’s spiritual drift into complacency doesn’t happen overnight. Consider Lot’s movement over the preceding chapters:

In 13:12, when Lot chose the Jordan plain, he “set up his tent near Sodom.”

In 14:12, we read the story of Abraham’s rescue, and that Lot “was living in Sodom.”

And as this chapter of the story begins, Lot “was sitting in Sodom’s gateway” (19:1).

Near, in, sitting.

In ancient times, the city gate was where leaders assembled to do city business. This implies that Lot was no longer an alien, but a resident and part of the city’s leadership. What happened to Lot? He forgot what the psalmist wrote: Psalm 1:1 “How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers!”

The reputation of Sodom and Gomorrah was certainly known by Lot. These cities were infamous in the ancient Near East for their wickedness and especially for their sexual misconduct. Despite knowing Sodom’s reputation, Lot chose to live there. The view of that fertile plain and dreams of the riches he could amass, blinded him to the wickedness and danger that lurked in the shadows.

Lot is an example of how an earthy focus — material concerns, physical pleasures, and collecting temporal worldly treasures — leads to spiritual drift and complacency.

A strong attachment to material or physical desires divert our attention away from following Jesus and spiritual growth He desires in our lives.

When our minds are set on earthly things and success rather than heavenly things, the enemy can foster in us a feeling of self-sufficiency and diminish our desire for God’s Word.

When we are focused on material treasures, we prioritize physical comfort to such a degree that we are reluctant to make the sacrifices usually required when we are following Jesus. This is why Lot hesitated in verse 16 when the angel told him to “Get up” and leave; and why his wife looked back and was caught in the firestorm.

This is why Paul, in Colossians 3:2 warns us to set our minds on things above. The dangerous lure of the world is exactly why John warns in 1 John 2:15–17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.”

Very important question: How deep is the world’s grip on your heart?

2. Conformity to the world places us, our family, and our friends at risk. (19:2-9)

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

Lot conformed. God’s messengers were there not only to bring God’s judgment on Sodom but to deliver a message of transformation and rescue to Lot and his family.

Lot was right to show hospitality to those heavenly guests. He refused to allow the guests to find lodging in the city square, but willingly provided safety and security in his own home. Once in the house, similar to Abraham the previous day, Lot provided a meal. After the meal, Sodom’s extreme sin is fully exposed. Lot’s choice to live in the city, his slow drift to spiritual conformity, put his entire house in danger.

We’re shocked by the brazen lust of the men of the city. We’re reminded of the despicable sexual sin that pervades our culture. But nothing could have prepared us for Lot’s action. What father would offer his two daughters to be gang raped?

If you recall, last Sunday I brought up Peter’s assessment of Lot as a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7-8), and mentioned that we’d question his righteousness in this chapter of the story. Why would Peter call Lot righteous?

Lot, righteous? Really?

OK, let’s just stop a minute. In his commentary on 1 Peter, Thomas Schreiner reminds us of the difficult context that Lot faced. Only Lot showed the angels hospitality when they arrived in the city (Gen 19:1–3). Lot negotiated with the men who wanted to have sexual relations with the visitors, when he could have spared himself trouble by abandoning the angels (Gen 19:5–9). (We), of course, are struck by the fact that he offered his daughters, and clearly Lot was not without fault. Nonetheless, ancient readers would have saluted his courage in trying to protect those who were in his house, a matter of great danger when the whole city was at his doorstep. We are prone, from the safe offices and homes in which we (live and work), to criticize Lot, but most of us have never been even close to death in a conflict with a pagan and violent world. Nor have any of us ever lived in a city like Sodom with no (friends) to strengthen us in the faith.

Furthermore, We are usually more shocked by someone else’s sin than our own. A speck in our brother’s eye looks much worse than the plank in our own eye. I can’t imagine the pressure that was on Lot to protect the guests in his house. Even today in that part of the world, protecting one’s guests, at all costs, is always the honorable thing to do.

Kent Hughes reminds us that righteous does not mean perfect! We must understand that Lot was righteous in a way comparable to that of Noah and Abraham. Scripture affirms that righteousness came to Noah and Abraham by faith, not by their goodness. Both these men were flawed, as Noah’s drunkenness and Abraham’s expediency with Hagar demonstrate.

Having said that, if Lot had not drifted into spiritual complacency in the first place and made his home in Sodom, he and his family would not have been in this situation.

What happened next in the story not only saved Lot and his daughters but demonstrates some important principles to observe. We can leave Sodom when we realize that …

3. God’s power can shut the door on evil. (19:10-11)

Why did Lot offer his daughters to the lustful mob? Why didn’t he think of the power of God that was at the beck and call of his angelic guests? When it looked as if the mob would break down the door of Lot’s house and take what wasn’t theirs, the angels saved the day by pulling Lot inside and shutting the door. God’s messengers shut the door on evil. Then blinding the whole mob, Lot and his family were safe.

Listen to Psalm 91:9–11 “Because you have made the Lord—my refuge, the Most High—your dwelling place, no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent. For he will give his angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.”

And hear the promise in Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will succeed, and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court. This is the heritage of the Lord’s servants, and their vindication is from me. This is the Lord’s declaration.”

Now, of course, as we discussed last week, bad things happen to good people. Christians suffer, get cancer, are persecuted, and experience pain. When I was a boy, an escaped convict broke into a couple’s home in our community. The husband was away on business. The intruder robbed and killed the wife. They were members of the church my Dad pastored. The promises in Psalm 91 and Isaiah 54 do not guarantee immunity to physical harm. But let’s remember this: our fiercest foe is never human and is never death. Our fiercest foe is evil. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”

That … he, the enemy, and evil… that is the biggest threat to our lives, but God’s power can shut the door on evil.

Trust God’s power when the lion roars.

Trust God’s power when temptation comes.

Trust God’s power when you heart is anxious and fearful.

Trust God’s power when your mind is flooded with doubts.

Trust God and live courageously.

Obedience is built on courageous faith, which is often forged in fire. You see …

4. God calls us to trust and obey His sovereign Word. (19:12-22, 26)

Verse 16 is curious: Why in the world did Lot hesitate? This illustrates that Sodom had become more than a place to live. Perhaps we could even say that Sodom lived in Lot’s heart.

The angel’s message was more than urgent: “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop … Run to the hills, or you will be swept away!” God provided a way of escape for Lot and his family, but they had a responsibility in the escape: to obey the Word of the Lord. Lot hesitated and negotiated. His wife looked back and suffered the consequences.

Four simple commands:

run away from evil

don’t look back

don’t stop

flee to the hills

Here’s the question that stood before Lot, and actually stands before us: What and who do you love? Do we love the world or do we love God?

1 John 5:3 “For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,”

Those who love God obey His Word. Those who do not love God, who love this world and what it has to offer, are deaf to the warning of judgment. Like Lot’s sons-in-law, they laugh at the warning. But God’s divine judgment is no laughing matter …

5. God’s divine judgment and mercy are real. (19:23-25)

Lot’s wife loved Sodom. She stopped. She did not run or flee. She looked back. This phrase refers to an intent gaze. It’s much more than simply looking over her shoulder, to take one last glimpse of her home, or out of curiosity to observe the fire and brimstone raining down on the valley. It’s a longing for something, a treasure that must be left behind.

Why did she fatally linger? Was it because of family? Or pleasure? Or delights? Jesus provided the cue in his warning to be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man: “On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:31, 32). Apparently she lost her life because of her reluctance to let go of her stuff. Her sorrow over her goods so fixated her that she could not or would not move. Perhaps she decided that she would be better dead than separated from her possessions.

Another reason why it’s so hard to leave Sodom.

Lot’s wife serves as in instruction to us. In Luke 17:33 Jesus gave us this warning: “Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Her failure to preserve whatever it was she longed for cost her her life; and if we listen to Jesus’ admonition, it should raise some questions in our own hearts: What causes us to look back? It might be possessions, or a reputation, a relationship, a particular lust, or even a comfort. I’m reminded of the hymn:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus; Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace.

Though God is compassionate and slow to anger, He is also righteous and just (as we learned last week). Sin — any sin, not just Sodom’s — is serious and deserves judgment. A God who refuses to judge sin and vindicate His righteous is not God at all. Judgement came to Sodom and Gomorrah, and it will come again when Christ returns.

Just as real as God’s judgment is His invitation to mercy. When you feel the tug of this world in your heart, run for your life into God’s merciful care.

The scene quickly changes in verse 26. Remember Abraham? He begged God not to destroy the cities in the plain if righteous men could be found there. The final three verses confirm that …

6. God keeps His promises to those who covenant with Him and live a righteous life. (19:27-29)

The story ends on a hopeful and uplifting note: God “remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot lived” (19:29).

God promised to spare the righteous in Sodom, even the entire city, if ten could be found. Only one, Lot, was found. Sodom was not spared but Lot was; and even his daughters and wife, if only she had not looked back. Lot was spared, not because he earned it, but because of God’s grace and Uncle Abraham’s intercession.

Application

Questions to Ponder

What tempts you to be spiritually complacent and comfortable with sin?

Are you always swift to obey God’s Word?

Who do you know who needs to hear God’s message of repentance?

How can you rely on God’s mercy in your daily life when you fall short?

Commitment

For the first time in my life I want to confess and repent of my sins and put my faith in Jesus.

I have become too attached to worldly things and I need to turn my back on them and turn my eyes upon Jesus.

I have family and friends who are in danger of judgment because they do not believe in Jesus. I need the courage to share the gospel with them.

I need the accountability, encouragment, and fellowship with other believers and I want to join this church.