Lot Fleeing from Sodom
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We have before us one of the greatest conflagrations of all history, dual cities and their neighboring villages utterly consumed by fire sent down from Heaven.
In this great conflagration we have a forecast of the coming great tribulation into which the world now seems about to enter.
Many are the Scriptures which speak of the terrific judgments which will be upon the earth in those days.
Joel calls it: "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness." He goes on to say that a great people and strong will come forth in those days. Then he adds, "A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth."
Nahum describes the same day as a day when the hills melt, the mountains quake and the earth is burned. Nahum cries out, "Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him."
Thus do other Prophets describe the same day of judgment that awaits this Satan dominated world.
The New Testament gives the same story. Christ forewarned the time of His Coming as a time of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. Then He said, "All these are the beginning of sorrows." And in speaking of this tribulation, the Lord spoke of it as a sorrow such as was not since the beginning of the world nor ever shall be. He said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall tall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."
The Book of Revelation concludes the story of the tribulation. First of all we have the seals which are broken and the coming forth of the four horse riders. Next we have judgments intensified as the trumpets are sounded; then, we have the pouring forth of the vials of God's wrath and the completion of the judgments of Almighty God.
Thus it is that the destruction of Sodom brings before us in graphic portraiture the story of another day of unspeakable tribulation upon an earth made ripe in iniquity.
I. A SAINT WHO SEEMED AS ONE WHO MOCKED (Genesis 19:14)
In our last study we spoke of Lot's appeal to his sons-in-law, and how he seemed unto them as one who mocked. It seems to us, however, that we should place special stress upon this remarkable statement found in Genesis 19:14,
1. There are many mockers who will rise in the last days. This is the statement of the Apostle Peter, and also of Jude. These mockers, however, are apostates men who deny the faith once delivered.
They cry out, "Where is the promise of His coming?" Thus they ridicule that Blessed Hope of the Return of our Lord.
2. There are many mockers of Truth, however, who are supposedly the heralders of Truth. They stand in the sacred desks proposing to proclaim the Truth of God and yet they deny that Truth. They join hands, therefore, with the apostates described above. They sneer at men who preach Christ in His fulness emphasizing the fact of coming tribulation as "little men," "dolts," "untutored," "following fables found in the Word of God which should long ago have been relegated to the theological scrap pile."
3. There are many also today who seem to mock. Lot had no desire to mock the truth of Sodom's coming judgment. In fact, Lot fully accepted the statements of the angels, and with all concern for the safety of his children he hastened to warn them.
He who laughs most of the years of his pilgrimage, as though nothing was about to happen, and then suddenly changes his whole attitude as though everything was about to collapse, may easily seem as one who mocks. He who lives in all worldliness and carnality can hardly expect to give an acceptable warning to those who have judged his spirituality an unimportant factor in his life.
II. A BROKEN FAMILY (Genesis 19:15)
How sadly do the words ring out, "Take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here." The real thought which stands embossed before our mind is, "Where are the others?" Some of them were about to go out of the city, others were about to be left to the city's flames.
1. A divided household bespeaks a divided and weakened testimony. When in the same family and under the same roof there are some who are for God and some who are against Him, there cannot be the same weight given to the testimony to truth that should be given.
It was for this cause that God commanded that elders or deacons should have their children in submission and well taught in the things of God. The impression on the outside is that a man whose life does not lead his own family into the love of Christ can hardly be right himself. The impression also is that if a man cannot guide his own household aright, he cannot guide aright the larger household of his God.
2. A divided household bespeaks in most instances, a lack in the lives of those who are supposedly true. We know that Lot vexed his righteous soul because of the ungodly deeds and words of the Sodomites. We know, also, that he did not give a strong and vital witness against their iniquity. He certainly did not warn them of the corning judgment of a righteous God.
How many there are who live before their children without any seeming convictions of truth and without any particular warnings to them of their evil ways. When some great evangelistic movement sweeps the community such parents may become awakened to their children's danger of being eternally lost. Yet, their efforts to win their children will carry but little weight owing to their past unseemly conduct.
III. A LINGERING SAINT (Genesis 19:16)
2. The things that held Lot back. Some may wish to excuse Lot by urging that he had so many things to hold him to Sodom. His family was anchored there. His business associates were there. His home was there. His money was invested there.
The difficulty in all of this was that the things which Lot had in Sodom, he had against the command of the Lord. Perhaps unwittingly, and yet just as certainly he had allowed himself to be engulfed in a great sweeping wave of world-centered ambitions. He was looking at the things that are seen, laying up his treasures on earth, and loving the world.
2. With what difficulty many of our day will face the Coming of the Lord. Some, indeed, will draw back from Him at His Coming. Some are so engrossed in the things terrestrial that they would give half of all they possessed if they could delay the Lord's Coming. They are so much buried in the debris of this world that they have lost their desire for another world. They are set on some earthly city that they have no longings for a city that is Heavenly. They are so in love with men, that they have no longings for the Lord.
3. Obedience delayed is only obedience made more difficult. Lot, by lingering, and halting did not make it easier for himself to sever connections with Sodom. Indeed we believe that obedience put off is obedience spoiled. The commandments of the Lord require haste. To stand to one side and look at a responsibility only augments the burden of responsibility. Duty postponed is duty made irksome.
IV. THE MERCIFUL GOD (Genesis 19:16, l.c.)
1. What justice apart from kindness might have done. It is only natural for man to meet human frailties with more or less of disgust. If some one delays our call we are liable to leave the delinquent to his. fates not so the Lord. Our God is long-suffering and patient. He remembers that we are dust. He deals with us in all tenderness.
2. What God did do. As Lot lingered the angels laid their hands in loving urging upon the hands of Lot, Lot's wife, and his two daughters. Then they brought them forth outside the city.
God does not ask us to go alone, but He goes with us as far as it is necessary. It was a memorable sight to behold the man of large business ability and success being led by the hand out of Sodom, accompanied by his wife and by two of his daughters.
3. Why God did lead Lot out of Sodom. The Word is plain "The Lord being merciful unto him." Let us stop and consider Where would we be today, if God had not been merciful unto us? Had God dealt with us after our sins we had long ago been banished from His sight. When David sought for any of the house of Saul, David said: "Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" What did David do? He sent down to Lo-debar, the place of no pasture and he fetched Mephibosheth to his palace. He restored unto Mephibosheth all that had belonged to Saul, and he fed him his portion in the king's house.
This is just what God does for us. He lays His hands upon us, being merciful unto us. Then He lifts us to a standing more effectual than we had ever known, and asks us to eat at His house forevermore.
4. God is today calling us out of Sodom. Sodom is this world of folly and of shame. Christ died to save us out of it. We are not of the world, for we are other-worldly. Let us give heed to ourselves, whether we are entangled again in the gardens of the world's pleasures.
V. ESCAPING TO THE MOUNTAIN (Genesis 19:17)
1. Sodom stands for the world. There is a verse of Scripture in Galatians which says, that He died to save us from this present evil age or world according to the will of God our Father. This is exactly what we see in the case of Lot. God was delivering him from the powers of darkness which held him in their sway.
Paul, in the Spirit, spoke of the Cross by which he was crucified unto the world, and the world was crucified unto him. It is this Cross with this double crucifixion which should be our glory.
Lot was inveigled in the world against the will of God. As long as he was there he might prosper in the things of the flesh, but he could not prosper in the things of the Spirit.
2. The mountain stands for those higher realms of Christian life to which we are called. We are to set our affection on the things above. In Ephesians, the whole story of how we are to live in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus is marvelously foretold. We may be upon the earth and in the world, but we are not of the world. Our treasures should be Heavenly, not earthly. Our hope should be on high, not beneath.
Heavenly people may use the world, but they must not abuse it. They are sent into the world, but they are not constituent parts of the world. Let us each examine our own hearts to discover whether we are living in the low-lands of carnal activities or upon the highlands of spiritual endeavors.
VI. A SELF-CENTERED VISION (Genesis 19:19)
1. Lot preferred the lowlands to the mountain top. When Lot said to the angel, "I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die"; he plainly showed that while he was getting out of Sodom Sodom was not altogether out of him.
It is not enough to be saved, we need to be sanctified. This is the will of God for us. It is not enough to have life, we want life more abundantly. Too many believers are, apparently, satisfied to be saved as Lot was saved, so as by fire. Too many are willing to go with Christ only part of the way.
2. Lot put his will against the will of the Lord. Lot said unto the angel, "Not so, my Lord." He pled his way, his ideas, his preference. As an excuse Lot said, "I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die." Lot's whole contention was a lack of trust in the Lord. He was afraid to risk God, to do what God said, to go where God told him to go.
The fact that the Lord accepted Lot's plea does not mean that God thought Lot's choice better than His own command. God's attitude toward Lot is always His attitude toward His children. He who refuses to take God's first best will receive His second or His third. In this, however, the loss is always ours.
The Bible says, "Oh, that My people had hearkened unto Me, * * I * * should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat." From the moment that Lot took his own choice and refused God, he passes out of sight. Had he gone to the mountain top, he might have become one of God's great ones, he might have had his name written in God's galaxy of heroes. He chose his own way and suffered thereby.
VII. LOT'S WIFE (Genesis 19:26)
We have been speaking of Lot's carnality, of Lot's perfidy, of Lot's unwillingness to go through with God. We now come to the consideration of Lot's wife.
1. Lot's wife was saved from Sodom's overthrow. When Lot went out she went with him. She had faith enough to leave Sodom, but she did not have courage enough to go all the way with God. We believe that Lot's wife left Sodom through fear more than through faith. She could not but believe the angel's testimony, and yet, the power that dominated her in her flight was the fear of being consumed.
We suppose it is always right for any one to flee the wrath to come. Fear of hell may be a just reason for coming to Christ. Fear, however, is a motive that is in danger of leaving us stranded as soon as we are out of the terror of conflagration. Fear as a motive lies far behind gratitude and love. If we do anything because we have to and we are afraid not to, we are not liable to do more than is actually commanded. If, on the other hand, we are prompted by love, our life will be filled with excesses of every kind. We will do more than is required.
2. Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. I wonder if we can dissect the look of Lot's wife as she turned back to view Sodom. Did she begin to wonder after all if the angels had told the truth? Did she turn to see if Sodom was actually burning? Did Lot's wife turn back because everything that was dear to her heart was there; two of her daughters were there, her sons-in-law were there, her social life was there, her home and its surroundings were all there.
God has said where your treasure is, there will be your heart also. When we see Christians turning back toward the world and. speaking longingly of their old walk and way, we fear that they love the things which are seen. God help us to go all the way with Him.
AN ILLUSTRATION
A LONG LEASE ENHANCES VALUE
Lot had much in Sodom but he had to lose it.
"' If a man might have a cottage on a hundred years' lease, he would prize it much more than the possession of a palace for a day.' Of course he would; and this it is which adds so much preciousness to the joys of Heaven, for they are eternal. The pleasures of this world, however bright they seem, are but for this one day of life, which is already half over. If they were all they profess to be, and a thousand times more, they would not be worthy to be mentioned in comparison with 'pleasures for evermore' at God's right hand.
O Thou who fillest eternity, impress me with the solemn import of that word, and let me feel that all time's fleeting cares and caresses are as dreams; while the things of eternity alone have substance in them. Give me Thy grace that I may 'lay hold on eternal life.' " Spurgeon.