BACK TO SODOM

God spoke to Abraham and he stepped out in faith, leaving his home and beginning a journey to a land that God would show him (Genesis 12:1). Abraham did as God instructed and took his wife, Sarah, and his nephew Lot with him. Because Abraham followed God, over the next years God blessed both him and Lot and they became rich in livestock, silver and gold (13:2, 5). The blessing of God was so strong on the two of them that they needed to live apart because the land could not support both of them living in close proximity. Abraham allowed Lot to choose where he wanted to live and Lot chose the Jordan Valley and the city of Sodom, even though the men of Sodom were widely known as wicked, great sinners against the Lord (13:13).

Sometime later a group of neighboring kings invaded the Valley of Jordan and Lot and his family was taken captive. When Abraham heard about this, he mobilized his forces and rescued Lot and recovered all his possessions and family.

After his rescue, Lot returned to Sodom. The looming question one has to ask is, “Why would Lot go back to Sodom knowing its reputation for being a place of great evil?” Is it possible that the depravity of Sodom and his acceptance of it had gotten into Lot’s heart and soul and clouded his thinking?

Again, time passed and Abraham had an encounter with three heavenly beings (angels). A part of that encounter pertained to their journey to Sodom to see firsthand if it was as wicked as was thought and to destroy Sodom and all the towns around it (Genesis 18:16-21).

Abraham immediately began to intercede for God’s mercy to be displayed on behalf of any righteous people living in Sodom. After a lengthy and complicated time of intercession, the angel of the Lord left and  two other angels went on to Sodom. They met Lot soon after their arrival and he prevailed upon them to stay in his home.

Very shortly after their arrival in Lot’s home, the men of the city showed up and demanded that the visitors come out to them so that they could violate them sexually. Lot then did something that totally boggles my mind. Lot appealed to the men of the city to not touch the visitors and offered his virgin daughters to the mob for them to abuse in any way they wished. What in the world was going on in this man’s mind?

Before I speak to the issue of what was going on in Lot’s mind, please let me paint this picture with some contemporary understanding. First, Sodom is a type of the corrupted world system and second, Lot is a type of the compromised New Testament believer, a sad picture of the lukewarm Laodician church (Revelation 3:14-22).

So what had entered into Lot’s mind and spirit that caused him to return to the notorious city of Sodom and then act the way he did when his guests were threatened?

The first thing I see is that Lot had found a place of prominence there; he was accepted as an important person, a leader. When the angels arrived in Sodom, they found Lot sitting in the gate of the city (Genesis 19:1). “Sitting in the gate of the city” was reserved for men of authority and prominence and it seems to show that Lot had been accepted there. The sad commentary of the contemporary church is that the more acceptance it has received, the more it has lost its edge in witness and worship. Prominence and acceptance are addictive, constraining and corrupting, and are to be handled with extreme caution.

The second thing I see is that the perversion of the city had corrupted Lot. When Lot saw the visitors coming into the city, he knew they were not safe there and he rightly invited them to his home for the night. When the crowd came demanding the visitors, Lot’s corruption comes out and he offered his daughters instead. No man living for God would ever make such an offer. This is the reaction of a man who had allowed the corruption of the world around him to taint his life and his soul. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

The third thing I see is that Lot liked living in Sodom, he liked what he was doing and what he was involved in. When the angels told Lot what was about to happen and warned that Sodom was about to be destroyed, he did not want to leave — he liked it in Sodom. The angels had to take him by the hand and literally drag him out of the city (19:16). We do not hear much teaching anymore about the Second Coming of Christ, the rapture of the saints. Why is that? Could it be because so many in the church are very happy living in Sodom and are not too happy with the idea of leaving?

I wish Lot’s story ended on a happy note of joyous freedom and deliverance but it doesn’t. Lot’s wife was an unhappy participant in the exodus from Sodom. Even though the angels gave explicit instructions to move out and only look ahead, Lot’s wife did not follow the directions. She looked back and died! Lot and his daughters eventually went to a cave in the mountains to hide and the daughters got their father drunk so they could have sex with him and get pregnant. Out of their disgraceful behavior each daughter gave birth to a son, both of whom became the fathers of two of the neighboring tribes that would attack Israel for centuries to come. The Moabites and the Ammonites were vicious foes of Israel and they were direct descendants of Lot and Abraham. The lesson is that when parents are casually accepting of sinful behavior, the consequences are more violently manifested in their children.

Lot went back to Sodom! He was enamored with the way it fed his senses and catered to his needs and he did not understand the price he would pay to live in Sodom.