Session 13
Genesis 19:12-26
Memory Verse: Jude 7
Life is the sum of choices made. Those choices often have consequences. History is replete with people who chose poorly and suffered terrible consequences. The story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom profoundly illustrates this truth. Because the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah chose wickedness, they were destroyed. But Lot also made some bad choices that had devastating consequences. Through those choices, he lost his ability to influence anyone for righteousness. He also lost his wife and any moral influence he may have had on his daughters.
As you study this passage, consider the choices you make (or have made recently). What impact have those choices had on your spiritual growth and your spiritual influence? Ask God to guide you as you challenge the group to evaluate their choices and make the wisest decisions possible.
How many times would things have gone better if we had first considered the consequences of what we were about to do before doing it? Learning that there are consequences to our actions, words, and even to our thoughts can be a painful lesson to learn. The Bible teaches that there are always consequences for our decisions. This truth is highlighted in Genesis 19. Here we read of a people who had a ruinous end to their lives as a result of their sinful lifestyles and decisions to ignore the warnings they were given. (PSG, p. 118)
Genesis 18-19 form an amazing study in contrasts. The contrast begins with the visit to Abraham by three “men” who announce the arrival of new life with the coming birth of Isaac. It ends with the judgment of death on all the inhabitants of Sodom, Gomorrah, and other wicked cities in the surrounding region.
We can also see an amazing contrast between the faith and obedience of Abraham and the lukewarm faith and hesitancy in the obedience of Abraham’s nephew, Lot. In this story, we see the seriousness and fierceness of God’s wrath and the full extent of God’s mercy toward Lot and his family.
As chapters 18-19 progress, we learn that these three men really were two angels and the Lord God Himself. Their visit served three purposes. First, as noted, they announced the coming birth of Isaac. This was hard for Abraham and Sarah to fathom, but God’s promise to them was about to be fulfilled.
Second, they came to evaluate the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. While God is omniscient and knew how far the cities of the plains had fallen, He wanted to offer rescue and refuge for Lot and anyone else he could influence.
Finally, their visit was to inform Abraham of the coming destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities. In Genesis 18:16, God debated whether He should include Abraham in the loop on the coming destruction of the wicked cities. When Abraham heard God’s plan, his first thoughts likely went to his nephew, Lot, who was living in the middle of this target of God’s intended judgment.
Abraham immediately began negotiating with God. He urged the Lord to show mercy toward any righteous individuals who might be living in the city. The word “righteous” carried the idea of those who lived in conformity to God’s moral law.
“Righteousness” certainly didn’t define Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities, and several smaller towns nearby, may have been located in the Valley of Sidim toward the southern end of the Dead Sea, but their exact location is uncertain. In fact, many scholars believe that area is now under water, having been covered by the expansion of the Dead Sea over time.
One thing is certain, the Scriptures make their wickedness quite clear. Their unrighteousness was not relegated to deviant sexual practices alone. Later, the prophet Ezekiel spoke of their great pride and arrogance, along with their unwillingness to share their abundance with the poor and needy.
In his second epistle, Peter did call Lot righteous (2 Pet. 2:7). Genesis states that this righteous man showed great hesitation in obeying God and was the unwitting participant in an act of incest that gave birth to the Moabite and Ammonite clans. Still, the story of Lot’s rescue demonstrates the mercy and compassionate heart of God. His grace was largely shown for Abraham’s benefit and was the result of the patriarch’s intense requests of the Lord.
Read Genesis 19:12-26. What do these verses reveal about God’s mercy and His judgment? (PSG, p. 119)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
12 Then the angels said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13 for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. They brought him out and left him outside the city. 17 As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
(v. 12) Angels: In chapter 18, these “men” visited Abraham with God. However, their message of judgment and their supernatural power to strike the men of Sodom blind (Gen. 19:11) indicate that they were actually angels.
(v. 13) Destroy: The word means to cause decay or ruin. This is the same word used in 9:11 when God promised never to destroy the earth again by flood.
(v. 13) Outcry: See also 18:20. This could refer to a cry of righteous indignation or the anguish of those suffering injustice. The term might also point to the wickedness of the city, as if it was shouting to heaven. The first hint of the wickedness of these two cities came in Genesis 13:13, when Lot chose to move to the lush valley of the Jordan River.
(v. 14) The Lord is about to destroy the city: God had shown mercy to these cities once when he gave Abraham victory over the kings who had captured the inhabitants and pillaged their possessions (Gen. 14:1-16). Their wickedness, though, would not allow for a second chance to escape God’s judgment.
(v. 14) Sons-in-law: Scholars suggest two possible interpretations concerning Lot’s sons-in-law. First, it could be that Lot had at least two married daughters, in addition to the two unmarried daughters living at home. Lot would have pleaded with the sons-in-law and their wives to join him in fleeing the city. However, the phrase could also indicate that these men were engaged to his two unmarried daughters.
In either case, Lot had no genuine influence over these men. Their unbelieving and unconcerned response pointed to the spiritual darkness of Sodom and Gomorrah. The use of joking speaks of something so fantastic as to be unbelievable.
(v. 15) Swept away: This descriptive term means “to scrape away,” “to remove,” or “to destroy.” It is a picture of heaping something up and sweeping it away. The word is also found in verse 17.
He hesitated
Lot had moved so far away from God that the pull of his adopted lifestyle was strong. As a result, he hesitated (v. 16), argued (vv. 18-19), and begged to go his own way (v. 20). Lot also expressed no gratitude to God for his rescue. Likely, he had become too comfortable or too fearful. Whatever the case, his hesitation stands in contrast to Abraham’s consistent obedience and warns us about the dangers of playing with sin.
(v. 16) Because of the Lord’s compassion: God’s choice of Abraham also had an impact on Lot’s destiny. Lot was a good man with weak character. This rescue illustrates the intense love of God for all people.
(v. 17) Run for your lives: This statement echoes verse 15 to heighten the urgency of the situation. The Hebrew word for run is used five times in this passage (twice in verse 17 and in verses 19, 20, and 22). Each use emphasizes the urgency of the situation.
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords ?- ?please. 19 Your servant has indeed found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20 Look, this town is close enough for me to flee to. It is a small place. Please let me run to it ?- ?it’s only a small place, isn’t it? ?- ?so that I can survive.” 21 And he said to him, “All right, I’ll grant your request about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned. 22 Hurry up! Run to it, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.
(v. 18) No, my lords: The only place of safety was in the mountains. To stay anywhere in the valley would have exposed Lot and his family to the judgment of God. Lot, however, was still hesitating. He balked at fleeing to the mountains out of fear. God had delivered him from the hands of the marauding kings (Gen. 14); and now God was protecting him from the coming destruction of Sodom. Yet, Lot couldn’t muster enough faith and trust that God would keep him and his family safe as they ran to the mountains.
Quite possibly, Lot had become so comfortable with urban city life that he had lost all his survival skills from his years as a nomad. Lot was terrified by his speculations about the “disaster” that awaited him in the mountains. Ironically, in verse 30, Lot became frightened in the small town of Zoar and eventually fled to the mountains anyway. This period in Lot’s life appears to be dominated by fear rather than trust.
Zoar
After refusing to flee to the mountains, Lot proposed an alternative sanctuary, the nearby city of Zoar. The town’s name literally means “small,” which fits Lot’s description. Zoar, which has also been associated with the town of Bela (Gen. 14:2,8), was also intended for destruction. Despite that fact, Lot suggested that it was so small and insignificant that it could be spared for his sake while the main objective of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah could still be achieved. This is similar to Abraham’s request that God spare a wicked city for sake of a few righteous people.
While Lot was bargaining with the angels, he was actually bargaining with God. This bargaining parallels Abraham negotiating with God over the destruction of Sodom. The difference is that Abraham was speaking through his faith in God’s justice and mercy. As noted, Lot was consumed with fear.
(v. 21) I’ll grant your request: God demonstrated His grace and mercy in this reply of the angel. This also serves as an answer to Abraham’s prayer. Abraham had prayed that God would spare the wicked for the sake of a few righteous ones. This was fulfilled in sparing Zoar so that Lot would be spared as well.
(v. 21) Demolish: This word can be translated as “overthrow” or “destroy.” The term speaks of total annihilation. While Sodom and the other cities marked for destruction would experience this devastation, God promised Lot that He would not harm Zoar.
(v. 22) Hurry up: Once again, Lot and his family were urged to move quickly. Lot’s hesitation was temporarily interrupting God’s impending judgment. The angel told Lot that he could not act on God’s plan until Lot was safely in Zoar.
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the Lord. 25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.
(v. 23) The sun had risen: Because of his hesitation, Lot did not reach Zoar until the next morning. This would have been approximately twenty-four hours after God and the angels first arrived at Abraham’s tent the day before. Still, God delayed His judgment until Lot was safely away from the zone of destruction. This is another reference to God’s grace and mercy extended to Lot.
(v. 24) Out of the sky: The language describing the outpouring of burning sulfur echoes the devastating rain from the sky in Noah’s flood. One thing that stands out in this verse is the initiative of God to bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. This was not some random natural phenomenon that occurred. The Bible is clear in stating that this was an act of judgment by God on the wickedness of the people in the region.
(v. 24) The Lord rained . . . from the Lord: The repetition of Lord verifies that God was indeed the source of the judgment against the cities of the plain. This was an outpouring of His wrath against the wickedness, pride, and arrogance of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Numerous attempts have been made to explain this firestorm from heaven. What is known is that in this region there were tarpits that covered the landscape (Gen. 14:10). Some speculate that a lightning storm may have set these tar pits ablaze creating a wildfire that swept through the region. Others attribute the destruction to a severe earthquake in the region. And still others point to the presence of volcanic activity in southeastern Syria. All of this is sheer speculation in an attempt to find a logical explanation for a God-caused event.
Believers must always keep in mind that God’s ways are not our ways. God can do whatever He pleases, inside and outside the laws of nature. Jesus Himself validated the truthfulness of this incident in Luke 17:29 when he compared that judgment with the coming day of the Lord’s return.
(v. 24) Burning sulfur: The wording refers to combustible material. The current harsh landscape of the region at the southern end of the Dead Sea stands in stark contrast to the description given in Genesis 13:10 where the valley was compared to Eden.
Following that description in 13:10 is a parenthetical statement to emphasize that this was before God’s judgment fell on the region. No doubt the destruction brought by God’s fiery rain turned this green landscape into a desert wasteland.
Complete judgment
Verse 25 highlights the total destruction brought about by this judgment of God. He demolished the cities, along with the landscape around them. All the people who lived there perished, and all the vegetation in the area was destroyed. The stark description reminds us that God takes sin seriously, and He never lets sin go unpunished.
(v. 26) Lot’s wife . . . pillar of salt: The angel had told Lot and his family not to look back (v. 17). Lot’s wife apparently could not separate herself from her life in Sodom. Some speculate that perhaps she was a native of Sodom that Lot had married. The wording could indicate that she was coated with a crust of salt, as the fire and brimstone rapidly evaporated everything in the Dead Sea area. The reality of this tragic outcome is attested in the teachings of Jesus (Luke 17:28-32).
God
God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. (See Psalm 77:13; Jeremiah 10:10.)
Observe when and for what purpose a New Testament passage references an Old Testament event.
Read Luke 17:20-34. Observe how Jesus used the Old Testament accounts of Noah and Lot to illustrate His answer to the question concerning His return. Also note how Lot’s wife is an illustration for the critical truth found in Luke 17:33. What do you think it means to cling to your life in the context of the Old Testament story and the teaching of Jesus? What might be the meaning for your life according to the phrase “whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33)?