EVACUATION FROM SIN CITY
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. (Genesis 19:12-14)
The sky was about to fall and Lot could not get anyone of his family members to listen to him. He had married daughters. Their husbands thought Lot was mocking at them. They thought Lot was kidding. Lot had not been serious with his faith in the true and living God. Why should they believe him? Lot was a poor testimony. None of them believed his report. None of them took his warning seriously. After all, who would listen to this man, though he was their father, who lived a life that was inconsistent with his own profession of faith? He was a compromiser and a covetous man. He wanted the best for himself and his family. It turned out that he hurt his family by his own human understanding and fallen logic. Self-preservation turned into self-destruction. None of them wanted to leave the city. What can Lot do now? Had he been serious with his faith and live a life of faith, he would have greater credibility and speak with authority. Sadly, Lot was not that kind of a man.
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. (Genesis 19:15&16)
But the Lord was merciful to him. The Lord expelled them from the city by force. Amazingly, even Lot was lingering and could not make up his mind to flee. This speaks much of this man and his influence on his family. How is he to blame his daughters and sons-in-law for not taking his warning seriously? Only Lot and his wife and his two unmarried daughters left the city empty handed. They were forced to leave all their wealth behind. All those years he spent his life accumulating would be burnt up in a ball of fire. All those effort he put in to build his house and it turned out that he built his house upon the sand. He came naked into this world and alas he must leave all his possession behind. But the most tragic consequence was his poor testimony and his bad influence on his family.
Perhaps it was also his wife who was the source of the trouble. It might be because of her that he broke company with his uncle Abraham. How many quarrels were not started because of covetous and jealous wives to get gain? Women are naturally protective of their own status. How many horror stories have we not heard that the wife forced the husband to include her name in their property and removed the names of the man’s parents from the property? How many elderly parents were cast out of their homes because of wicked women controlling their good for nothing husbands?
But Lot was not a man with spiritual backbone. He could not control his family like his uncle Abraham. He thought it was alright for his daughters to marry the sinners in Sodom. Perhaps it was to his gain when his daughters married these sinners. Perhaps he was using his daughters’ marriages to these sinners to advance his cause, his popularity and his wealth. But now, he had to leave this city he chose to live in. Years ago, he might have thought that it was the most livable city. He could do his business to get gain and he was advancing in his career. The sinners there testified that Lot might one day become a judge there. So his involvement with the world, all those board meetings and manipulation got him quite high up in the social circle. But this time, it is game over for him. He had been playing this game of worldly gain for too long.
But his faith was kept under the carpet. No one believed he was a believer in the true and living God. He had no such testimony before the unsaved. At best, he was a secret believer. He had no courage to testify for the God of creation. He had no morals to stand up to these sinners. When they besieged his house, he offered them his unmarried daughters instead. He was a sick man. His wife might be his accomplice. There was no record of his wife protesting. His wife was not from the same background with him back in Mesopotamia. Her morals and upbringing were different. With a spiritually spineless man as her husband, she could not escape judgment from heaven.
This article is taken from a chapter in the book “In Remembrance of Lot’s Wife” which may be downloaded via:
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (Matthew 24:15-19)