“Genesis 19:12-16”

Thursday, December 12, 2019

“Then the two men said to Lot, ‘Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.’ Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, ‘Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.’ But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.’ But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.”

---End of Scripture verses---

“‘Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters…?” (verse 12) It appears that Lot and his wife had some unnamed sons and possibly other daughters besides the two mentioned in this account. If that was the case, sadly they had become so comfortable with the corrupted Sodomite culture that they could not be extracted and saved. Sadly, the wicked city had already “swept away” a portion of Lot’s family even before the Lord rained down “brimstone and fire…out of heaven” (verse 24). If we do not make a deliberate and determined effort to shield our children from the worldly culture in which we bring them up, they will more than likely be corrupted and consumed by it just like “victims” of Sodom.

“Bring them out of the place.” (verse 12) If only Lot had had the foresight to get them out of that place at the first notice of danger, or even if he had never set foot in that dreadful place to begin with, how much better their lives and destinies would have been. But he didn’t heed the warnings. “‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18) “Have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.” (Jude 1:22-23)

“We are about to destroy this place…” (verse) The time for negotiation and longsuffering had reached its end, and the moment for action was “about” to happen. It was time for the Lord, through the agency of His angelic emissaries, to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities for their abhorrent, incessant wickedness. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) But God’s patience is not without its limits, and it is obvious to Him when hardened hearts are beyond the point of contrition. “Because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” The abomination was equivalent to the outcry, and it was time for the punishment to fit the crime.

“Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law…” (verse 14) And it was no doubt done with a sense of earnestness and urgency, but even so, “he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.”“Their fault lies not in their disbelief but in their lack of seriousness, which reveals their insensitivity to the enormity of the moral evil about them.” (Nahum Sarna) Let this serve as a stern warning to us. As the Lord’s evangelist bond-servants rebuke, reprove and exhort us from the pulpit each Lord’s Day about the seriousness of sin and the eternity of destruction, do not pass the warnings off as mere preacher talk and dismiss their concern as a simple overreaction. “They thought perhaps that the assault which the Sodomites had just now made upon his house had disturbed his head, and put him into such a fright that he knew not what he said. They that made a jest of every thing made a jest of that, and so perished in the overthrow. Thus many, who are warned of the danger they are in by sin, make a light matter of it; such will perish with their blood upon their heads.” (Benson Commentary)

“When morning dawned…” (verse 15) When the day of reckoning dawned, neither the residents of Sodom, nor Lot and his family were ready to flee the impending destruction. The Lord did not visit His retribution upon them like a thief in the night, but at the dawning of a new day preceded by ample warnings, and Lot’s unwarranted lack of preparation would have been his own undoing had not the Lord shown “compassion” for him. The Lord’s angels exhorted Lot, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here.” Get out while you still can! Run like your life depends on it! Because it certainly does!

“But he hesitated.” (verse 16) Before we are too quick to criticize, let’s take a moment to empathize with this pitiful man. When the angels urged him to take his two daughters “who are here,” his broken heart likely ached for the daughters who were not there with him, still in the midst of the city doomed to destruction. In spite of the wickedness of the city’s inhabitants, he still considered those doomed fools his friends and “brothers”. All his worldly possessions, his numerous herds, all the wealth he had garnered by his partnership with his righteous uncle Abraham, would be left behind and reduced to cinders.

But, before we “hesitate” to leave the world, its carnal occupants and the lust for earthly wealth behind to follow Jesus all the way to heaven, let’s consider the Lord’s admonitions. — “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) — “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34) — “But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

“So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters…” (verse 16) They snatched them out of the fire, or more literally, in anticipation of the fire. Who knows how many times the Lord has saved us from misery by keeping us from the things we desired to do and have and the consequences that would have ensued? But, be that as it may, as compassionate as the Lord is for the ones that He loves, He will not drag us out of the world kicking and screaming, and into the safety of the fold of our Lord Jesus Christ where His good will abides. If we find our way to heaven’s glory it will be because we willingly and knowledgably chose to do so. And if we descend into the fire of Hell’s eternal torment it will be because we personally neglected our own soul’s eternal security. Don’t do that!

Please read Genesis 19:17-22 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

- Louie Taylor

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