Repeated phrase:
(1) "Get going!...or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!" v.15, "Run for your lives!...Escaped to the mountains or you will be destroyed!" v.17, "Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there" v.22 "...as Lot reached Zor. Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire" v.23b-24.
The cities were destroyed imminently and Lot was spared purposely.
(2) "At dawn the angels hurried Lot..." v.15, "When Lot hesitated, the mean grabbed his hand..." v.16, "Run there quickly..." v.22.
Even though he was given the privilege of escaping from the judgment Lot did not want to leave. He did not deserve the privilege. Why did God save Lot?
(3) 19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
19:29 So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.
"The place where Abraham stood before the LORD" refers back to chapter 18 when Abraham plead for Sodom. However, what does "God honored Abraham's request" refer to?
(NET) Abraham’s request (Gen 18:23–32) was that the LORD not destroy the righteous with the wicked. While the requisite minimum number of righteous people (ten, v. 32) needed for God to spare the cities was not found, God nevertheless rescued the righteous before destroying the wicked.
Reflection: God is gracious to us and gives us more than we requested. He has no obligation to save Lot, but He did that for Abraham.
How about us? Can we give grace to other people whom may not deserve it? Can we be patient with the new believers who failed over and over again in their sanctification? Or even to to unsaved people who did not turn to Jesus when we share the Gospel with them over and over again?
God saved Lot because of Abraham. Who is your Abraham? When the judgment comes why would God spare you? I think the answer is Jesus. God will spare us in the Judgement Day because the relationship we have with Jesus Christ. Thank God for our salvation!
(4) The older daughter of Lot told the younger to have sexual relationships with the father so that they could persevere their family line v.31-32, 34-35. The same account of what the older one did was repeated when the younger one did the exactly the same thing.
The account of total destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was also similar to the account of Noah's flood. The reasons for destruction was due to the sins of mankind, then the destruction was complete wipe out, then when Noah/Lot came out of the destruction their children committed sins again. Noah's son, Ham, disrespected his father. Lot's daughters committed incest with their father without their father knowing about that.
Reflection: On one hand, Lot probably did not have much good influence on his family. Both his wife and his children longed for and agreed with the immorality of Sodom. His sons-in-law did not take his words seriously.
On the other hand, man sinned stubbornly. Even when we witnessed the total destruction and the anger of God man (and woman) did not change. Do you see your stubbornness? Do you see your sin coming up in your heart and tempting your all the time? Our only hope to overcome sin is our new life that Christ has given us.
Audrey
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