“When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them”(v16).
What a heart warming commentary on the life of a man whose only recorded commendable act in the scriptures was that he, like his uncle Abraham, practiced hospitality and took into his home strangers and in the process entertained angles, even putting his life at risk for them (v9) ! Every other recorded act was laced with self interest and poor choices for example:
- Against expected traditional norms, he accepted to make the first choice ahead of his much older Uncle that brought him up. Gen 13v10- 11 reads “Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, towards Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah). So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out towards the east. The two men parted company”
- It appears he could not resist the lure of cities! When he parted ways with his Uncle, “Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom”( Gen 13v12) Even though his core investment was in livestock having regard to the fact that it was his economic interest that clashed with that of his uncle (Gen 13v7), he pitched his tents near Sodom. By the time of this rescue, he had moved right into the city of Sodom, built a house and fully integrated into the life of the city and become one of the elders sitting at the city gate (19v1)! Even at his rescue, he negotiated a relocation to another city, Zoar (19v18-22) and yet he knew very well that the city of Zoar was in alliance with Sodom and had even gone to war together during which he was captured and Abraham had to intervene to rescue him and his family (14v8).
- When it dawned on him that even Zoar was not that safe, Lot, in fear, moved and settled in a cave on the mountain alone with his 2 daughters and ended fathering their 2 sons (19v30-35),
Despite all the poor choices, we are told that Lot was a righteous man who experienced divine mercy! Peter commenting how God intervenes on behalf of the righteous used Lot as an example. He said “if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) – if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment”(2 Pet. 2v6-9).
If mercy is defined as a companionate response that moves a person to help one who is helpless and in need, Mercy could as well have been Lot’s middle name:
- He lost his father as a child but was brought up by both grand father and uncle who loved him
- He was caught up in a war he had no hand in and taken as a prisoner of war but was rescued by his Uncle and his allies.
- The friendship between his Uncle and God and the intercession of his Uncle laid the foundation for his rescue from the punishment that was visited on Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of his fascination!
- The intervention of the Angels as they pulled him back into the house saved him from being manhandled by the men of Sodom.
- Even “When he hesitated [leaving that city], the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them”(v16).
How true that “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,”(Titus 3v5-6)
Father, I thank you for your mercy, which I enjoy on daily basis. Lord, help me to be thankful through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen
