Now the two angels that had visited Abraham earlier,
had arrived at the gateway of Sodom. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was sitting there.
The gate was probably a bust place full of activities. The place where commerce
took place and latest news would spread. When Lot saw the two men, like his
uncle who was hospitable, he urgently urged them to be his guests. He probably
knew the wickedness of the city. He had lived with them for a while. While he
did not engage in their activities, he was aware of their sinful propensity.
Lot probably had good intention for the angels, though he was not aware that
they were sent by the Lord to destroy that city. He knew the dangers they would
be exposed to and wanted to shelter them from harm. So he invited them to be
his guests. At first the angels refused, saying that they would rather spent
the night in the square of the city. But at Lot’s strong urging, they finally
agreed to come and stay in his house.
True to form, the people of Sodom heard news of the
visitation of the angels and knew that they had gone to stay with Lot. The city
were full of homosexuals. And their lust had got a better of them. They came to
Lot’s house demanding that Lot surrender the angels to them. They were looking
to have sexual relationship with the two angels. None of them, not even Lot,
knew that they were sent by God to judge the city. The action of Lot to protect
them reveals the righteous character he had. No wonder Peter in his epistle
called him righteous Lot. Unfortunately, he has often been judged for the wrong
way he tried to appease the mob. He offered his two daughters for them to do as
they pleased. While what he did was wrong, his action showed that he genuinely wanted
to protect the two angelic visitors. Why he did that we will never know. He was
probably at his wits end. He did not know how else to appease the mob.
The whole scene highlighted how wicked the people
of Sodom was. It also reveals to us how brave Lot was. It was daring of him to
go outside the door and negotiate with the mob. But the very act of offering
his virgin daughters to the mob, shows the moral weakness of Lot. He was even
willing to concede to a lust-crazy people. Even if what he did was a desperate
attempt to protect the angels, it shows how flawed his reasoning was. His thinking
was insidiously shaped by living among the wicked people. Herein is a warning
to us believers, we must be careful who we run with. We must not let our guard
down and become influenced by the world. Remember we must not love the world nor
the things of the world. It is imperative that we be well connected to the Lord
so that we will know how to please Him all the time.
The mob was so relentless in their evil pursuit
that they were pushing past Lot to break down the door. The angels then quickly
reached out and pulled Lot into the house and shut the door behind them. But
that was not sufficient to keep the angry mob out. The Angels had to strike
them and made them blind. They became so confused that they couldn’t even find
the door. And the time to judge the city had arrived. The angels were about to
execute the judgement. And Abraham’s intercession took effect. It’s not a secret
that the whole focus of his intercession was for the preservation of his nephew
and family. And God intents to honour it. So the angels told him to gather his family
and get out of the city. Lot did. He even tried to get his future sons-in-law
to join his family to get out of the city. But he appeared to his sons-in-law
as jesting. People form opinions about us by how we live out our life. Obviously
how Lot lived was not seriously enough to be believed. For our words to be taken seriously, how we live is
critical. We need to be congruent. Remember what we say must match how we live,
if we are to be taken seriously! The
Lord expects that of us.
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