Frantic



Genesis 19:1-29

http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis+19%3A1-29/

As God already knew, there were not 10 people in the entire city of Sodom (or Gomorrah) who were not wicked. While God would have honored His deal with Abraham to spare the cities had He found 10 righteous people, it wasn’t going to happen. In fact, Lot and his family probably couldn’t have been listed among the righteous either, but God spares them for Abraham’s sake. Let’s look at some of the details in this story to see where God is leading us.

  1. When the angels arrive, Lot recognizes them as having come from God and he is fearful for them. His first bit of advice – get off the streets. His main goal is to get them out of town. Lot knows where he lives.
  2. In verse 5, the men of the city want Lot to send his visitors out to them. The ESV says, “so that we may know them.” That’s the biblical way of saying “have sex with them.” Sodom was known for having a very large homosexual population.
  3. Lot is so panic stricken by this violent group of men at his door he is even willing to give them his two daughters if they will leave his guests alone. (Not Lot’s finest moment.) Just imagine the atmosphere inside of Lot’s house and on his front porch. It sounds like utter chaos.
  4. The angels are never panic stricken. They simply handle the situation. God’s warriors are not stymied by a bunch of drunk guys looking for sex.
  5. Lot’s sons-in-law (or future sons-in-law) don’t believe that disaster is coming and lose their opportunity to be saved. They scoff and then they die.
  6. Lot, his wife, and his two daughters run for their lives. The one and only caveat they are given is “don’t look back.” Lot’s wife doesn’t listen to that advice to her own demise. She looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. The movies have depicted her as simply glancing back as she ran. In all likelihood, she stopped running and stood there watching the destruction. Bad idea.

  7. The ruins of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have been lost. We aren’t completely certain where they are. When God destroys something – it’s gone. Located on the plains where it is believed the cities stood are pillars of salt, the picture being one of the most famous. Is that Lot’s wife? Only God knows the answer to that.
The description of this entire scene seems fraught with frantic chaos. When destruction comes, it scares us to death. No where do we see Lot and his family turning to the Lord. They are simply panicked and run. It’s a tragic story. When God comes in wrath rather than mercy all you can do is run. For those who believe, you don’t have to run away for you have the Lord to run toward. When panic comes, where do you run?

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