The two angels that had been visiting with Abraham and the Lord went into Sodom. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was sitting at the gate when they entered. He rose to meet them and invited them to stay at his home for the night. That night the men of the city surrounded the house and demanded that Lot’s two guests (the angels) come out. Their plan was to have immoral relations with them. Lot went outside and begged the men of his community not to act wickedly. He even offered to send out his two daughters. (This is one of those moments in the bible where you stop and say WHAT?)
Yep, he was actually willing to let these men attack his own daughters in order to protect the two angels. I don’t understand it either, but it’s right here in the bible. This is another reminder that God uses imperfect people to carry out His will. Anyway, the two angels grabbed Lot and dragged him inside and shut the door. They then struck the wicked men with blindness.
The angels told Lot to gather his family and leave, for the Lord had sent them to destroy the city. Lot’s future sons-in-law did not believe him, and they wouldn’t leave. When morning came, the angels took Lot, his wife, and two daughters and helped them escape the city. They told Lot to go to the mountains and warned them not to look back or they would be swept away. Lot begged the angels to instead allow them to escape to the town of Zoar. They granted his request and promised not to destroy it. The next morning, with Lot and his family in a safe place, the Lord rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. He overthrew those cities and the valley and all their inhabitants. Lot’s wife did what she was told not to do—she looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot was still afraid, so he took his two daughters to the mountains to live in a cave. His daughters were worried that there were no men to be found to carry on the family line, so they devised a plan to get their father drunk and seduce him in order to become pregnant. Lot did not know what they had done. I know! Gross, right? The elder daughter bore a son named Moab who became the father of the Moabites who lived east of the Dead Sea, and the younger daughter bore a son named Ben-ammi who became the father of the sons of Ammon (the Ammonites) who lived northeast of the Dead Sea.
What’s our lesson from this chapter? Though God is love, eventually He runs out of patience.
Walker Lane 