The Sad Story of Lot, Genesis 19

The story of Lot is the story of the backslider.  It’s the story of one who had a relationship with God, but for some reason never got it right.  When Lot turned away from Abraham, he turned away from the Faith.  When he sought to live in the lush plains he was seeking his own comfort.  While seeking his own interest, his testimony as a believer in God was useless.  Then came failure and flight, but belonging to the Lord—even though he was far from he the Lord—Lot was saved as by fire, though all his works were burnt (1 Corinthians 3:14—15).  Let’s consider Lot and the—

1.  Choice he made, Genesis 13:10—12.  Those who walk by sight and not by faith will always be influenced by the things they see.  The choice of Moses, by contrast, was the choice of faith (Hebrews 11:24—25).  If we follow the dictates of our hearts and seek to satisfy the desires of minds, then well surely live close to Sodom and far from God.

2.  Position he occupied, Genesis 19:1b.  Lot started out as a companion of the Sodomites, and now we see him as their partner.  Sitting in the gates of a city was a sign of leadership; a sign that the person was a member of that society.  When a Christian can find comfort and pleasure in the fellowship of the ungodly, he will soon become a sharer of their sin.  Worldly advancement is no evidence of growth in grace.  Mixing with the world often means helping the ungodly (2 Chronicles 19:12).

3.  Message he received, 19:13.  This is the end of all things wicked:  destruction.  Here is a worthwhile question for all believers to ask themselves:  If all your wicked things were destroyed, would you lose everything?  How would it affect your plans?  If the interests of our heart are entangled with the wickedness of this world, then we will suffer loss.  That’s why it is essential to set our affections on the unseen things above.  When every wicked and worldly thing is destroyed, your inheritance will be untouched.

4.  Testimony he bore, 19:14.  Our testimony for God will always be a mockery if we are living in the flesh.  No one will pay attention to us if we live a self-seeking and selfish life and try to speak of godly things.  Who will believe that God is so good if we choose worldly things above Him?  Who will listen to us if we speak of the bitterness of sin if we roll it under our tongue like a piece of candy?  Not earnestness or eloquence will make up for inconsistency.  I see this as a great problem of the Church today:  inconsistency.  Little wonder why the world pays so little attention to what Christians have to say.  It is the life that is the light.

5.  Reluctance he showed, 19:16. So many of us are like Lot:  slow to obey the calling of God when our lives are entangled with the affairs of the world. Remember the story of the young man who left the presence of Jesus because he had his mind set on his possessions (Matthew 19:22).  How many perish in the full light of knowledge because they can’t or won’t decide.

6.  Request he offered, 19:20.   Lot sought to escape, not to the appointed mountain because it was just too far away.  Instead, he chose the city.  Why not get as far away as possible?  Why be barely saved?  Why do so many of God’s children refuse to get as far away from the world as they can?  Why do so many of us chose to live as close to the world as we can get instead of choosing total separation from the world?  Yes, Lot was saved, but he was still near enough to the place of death to be in fear, verse 30.

7.  Favor he enjoyed, 19:22.  How precious is even a backslider to God!  Judgment cannot fall on Sodom until he got outside.  God still watches out for the errant child.  But think about this further.  Consider how the presence of that errant, backsliden child was actually hindering the Lord from carrying out His own purposes!  Until Lot came out from among them, the work of God was at a standstill.

And so it is today with us.  We, in the church, if we are out of God’s will, can bring the mighty work of God to a standstill by our disobedience.  Let’s decide to be obedient to the Lord, and stay close to Him.