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Sodom is proverbial in Scripture for wickedness, yet Sodom did not repel Lot. The
N.T. throws a light upon one side of Lot's action and attitude:--
"And delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (for
that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul
from day to day with their unlawful deeds). The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished"
(II Pet. 2: 7-9).
Lot was righteous; Lot vexed his righteous soul; Lot was delivered as the godly--all
this is comforting. Lot's witness, however, was marred. His fellowship with the Lord
was hindered, and he is an example of those who though saved are saved "so as by fire".
Even in the parable of the Sower, the seed that was choked by the thorns is not to be
taken altogether as of the unsaved, for Luke 8: 14 reads:--
"And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth,
and are choked with CARES and RICHES and PLEASURES of this life, and bring no
fruit to perfection."
Lot had certainly "gone forth", but he did not "go on unto perfection". Rather did he
come nigh unto cursing and being burned (Heb. 6: 8). He himself was righteous, but he
did not bring forth the fruit of righteousness.
The two angels, who together with the Lord had been entertained by Abraham
unawares, entered Sodom, but the Lord Himself Who had graced the hospitality of
Abraham's tent would not enter the portals of Lot's city. Even the two angels were with
difficulty persuaded to enter Lot's house.
Now as to the effect of Lot's choice upon his testimony. When the angels revealed to
Lot the destruction of the city, he went and spoke to his sons-in-law, which had married
his daughters, and said, "Up, get you out of this place: for the Lord will destroy this city".
What was the effect of this righteous man's earnest warning? He seemed as one that
MOCKED--or talked nonsense. Lot had chosen, dwelt in, and established family ties
with Sodom. His actions were reasonable and intelligible; his words were those of a
mocker, or as "one that played with them". Lot himself had to be hastened by the angels
lest he should be consumed with the city. Even Lot "lingered", and had to be laid hold
of, "the Lord being merciful", and set "without the city". While Abram's faith gives him
"the land of Canaan" to dwell in (13: 12), such spaciousness was too overpowering for
Lot. He pleads against the command, "neither stay thou in all plain",
"Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou
hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I
cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die; Behold now, this city is
near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one?) and
my soul shall live" (19: 19, 20).
Zoar, the city of his choice, did not long prove a refuge for Lot, "for he feared to dwell
in Zoar". The last end of Lot is pitiable in the extreme. Finding a refuge for himself and
his daughters in a cave, he who had chosen the well-watered plains and pitched his tent
toward Sodom left as his legacy two nations whose history is that of shame and