When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away." But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my lords! Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved." He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:15-26 NASB)
Okay, so Lot knows who these guys are, they tell him they are here to destroy the city, and yet, he can't seem to get it together to leave. Really? A roving mob of nocturnal rapists makes up the most common past time of the place and yet Lot can't let the place go. I find it difficult to understand why he's there in the first place. I was hoping that he was hoping to share the influence of his God with them. But his refusal to leave flies in the face of that. If he truly believed in the power of God and truth of the coming destruction, I would hope his faith would impel him to get out of Dodge.
The text is alarmingly specific here. Lot "hesitated". The angels had to take he, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and bring them out of Sodom. They were told to run for the hills, but Lot then negotiates to make for a small town on the plain because the hills are too far. The angel tells him that nothing will happen until he's safe, but he wants the town. And God gives him that.
The text is also specific that this is happening for Lot because of the compassion of God and his love of Abraham. I would also include the patience of God. These two angels put up with way more than they should have from Lot. So strong was the love and compassion of God (in the midst of His wrath - don't miss the irony here) that He endured the failures of Lot as He saved he and his family.
We are not told, and I find it really difficult to guess at the attraction of Sodom. What was it that was so difficult to give up, especially given the description of the place? On the other hand, I am not so far out of my own refuse pile of sin that I can't remember how difficult it is to release. There are many things to which people give themselves that consume them and yet are difficult to let go. I remember mine, and still, occasionally feel it's pull back. So, while the text may not tell us what it was specifically with Sodom, I suspect that it had to do with all those things to which a person can loose themselves. I suspect Lot had his, even though we may not be told what it was specifically. It was as if all the addictions off humanity were located in those two cities. That would explain such a fractured reality on an entire community.
I see the difficulties and the casualties of my own sin in my life. I see here the description of Lot's (and his gets worse on in the chapter). While I'm not told the specific sin, the consequences are described, and I can readily recognize the connections with my own life. In fact, there are still things I find it difficult to give up, and I don't know why. Perhaps I need to spend more time here letting the lesson of Lot sink in. There is a message from my Master to my soul here: LET IT GO!
The life I live in this world, I should be living in relationship with my Master. Only then is life truly eternal. Isn't it another kind of fractured reality to endure something in my life that hinders this relationship? Does it make any more sense for me to hold on to anything, sinful sounding or not, that impedes my walk with my Master, my availability to Him, my ability to hear Him, and therefore obey Him? In these ways, am I not like Lot? A little too much for my comfort.
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