The Judgement Day – (Genesis 19 – Part 2)

With the men of Sodom blinded and fumbling outside Lot’s door, the angels urged Lot to stop wasting any more time and let them carry out what they had come for. They told him to get his things ready and gather his family — if there was anyone else Lot wanted to save, now was the time to get them. Lot had pledged his daughters to marry two men from Sodom. Yes, the same daughters he had just moments ago offered to be raped were virgins, waiting to be married.

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city! ” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. – Genesis 19:14 (NIV)

Snapping out of his deranged state, Lot now started acting like a parent. He wanted the two sons-in-law to join them, believing without them, his daughters would have no suitors — the same daughters whose lives he was about to throw away were suddenly his top priority. In trying to get their future husbands out of the city, Lot was once again about to risk losing his own family.

The Destruction at Dawn

As dawn approached, the angels urged Lot to hurry and take his wife and two daughters who were with him, warning that he would be swept away when the city faced judgment. When Lot hesitated, the men took hold of his hand, along with the hands of his wife and daughters, and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

Shouldn’t Lot have shown greater urgency in leaving Sodom after the warning he received from the Angels? Lot was hesitant to leave Sodom because he was deeply attached to Sodom. It was his hometown, the place where he had built his life, gathered memories, and invested himself fully. Leaving it behind was not just about walking away from a city; it was about tearing himself away from everything he had made his identity. Perhaps there was also guilt — Abraham had once rescued him from Sodom, and yet Lot had returned. In this moment, it was not just hesitation; it was the inability to leave his sinful ways behind.

The same often occurs with us when God attempts to pull us out of the quicksand we’ve created. We resist, even going so far as to cling to the very quicksand, much like Lot. We develop a form of Stockholm syndrome, growing more attached to our captors — the allure of the world and its king — than to our Redeemer. Rather than running to the one who offers salvation, we stubbornly hold on to the very things that are dragging us down.

On the Run

Once they had brought them out, one of the angels told them to flee for their lives, warning them not to look back or stop anywhere in the plain. They were to escape to the mountains, or they would be swept away. But Lot, fearing for his life, pleaded with them, saying he couldn’t flee to the mountains because the disaster would overtake him there, and he would die.

Perhaps Lot was reluctant to face Abraham, who lived in the mountain region, as it would have been a reminder of the shame he had brought upon himself by returning to Sodom after being rescued. There was also the underlying issue of his unwillingness to fully return to God. Lot was caught in a state of indecision — he wasn’t ready to completely abandon the sinful world of Sodom.

Instead of fleeing entirely from his past, he sought to stay close in Zoar, perhaps testing whether the situation would resolve itself and hoping to return once the danger had passed. This desire to remain in the vicinity of Sodom, rather than fully embracing God’s deliverance, reflected his struggle to let go of the life he had known, even when it was clear that God was calling him to something different.

As Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen, and the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants and vegetation. Lot’s wife, however, looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. It wasn’t just a physical glance; it was an attempt to return to the life she had known, a life tied to sin and destruction. She was still emotionally and mentally stuck in her past, unable to sever her attachment to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Her punishment wasn’t merely for disobedience but for the deeper desire to return to what God had already condemned. She longed to go back to the cities, to the familiar ways of her neighbours, rather than embracing the new life God was offering. In doing so, she demonstrated a refusal to leave behind her old life and its sinful entanglements, showing that she was unwilling to fully trust in God’s plan for a new beginning.

Living in a Cave

Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. – Genesis 19:30 (NIV)

Lot settled in a cave, unwilling to venture outside. He and his daughters spent the rest of their lives in isolation. Much like a dog seeking refuge from the loud chaos of fireworks, Lot, having witnessed the fiery destruction from the heavens, developed a deep fear of the outside world. This fear, whether irrational or born from the trauma he experienced, revealed his continued lack of trust in God. Rather than embracing the new life God had offered, Lot chose to hide, spending the remainder of his days in seclusion, away from both God and Abraham.

Lot’s daughters, facing isolation and fearing the extinction of their family line, devise a plan to conceive children by their father. They intoxicate Lot on successive nights and sleep with him, resulting in both daughters becoming pregnant. This account underscores themes of desperation, moral compromise, and the consequences of human actions amid dire circumstances.

Lessons from Lot

The corruption of Sodom extended not only to Lot but also to his family. Lot neglected the safety and well-being of his daughters, failed to arrange their marriages, and allowed them to remain isolated with him in a cave. His daughters, influenced by a corrupted mindset, viewed procreation as their primary duty. This distorted perspective led them to believe it was acceptable to engage in immoral actions with their father to preserve their family line. Lot’s wife, too, was deeply attached to Sodom and could not bear to leave, ultimately perishing alongside the city she could not forsake. While God spared Lot and his daughters from physical destruction, their spiritual distance from Him seems to suggest a permanent departure from His presence.

The story of Lot and his family serves as a sober warning for us today. It reminds us that physical deliverance means little if our hearts remain tied to the corruption God calls us to leave behind. Like Lot, we can make compromises that not only harm ourselves but also leave lasting damage on those under our care. Like his daughters, we can adopt the thinking of a fallen world if we are not rooted firmly in God’s truth. And like Lot’s wife, we risk losing everything when our affections remain with the world rather than with the God who seeks to rescue us. True obedience requires more than escaping destruction — it demands a complete turning away from sin and a willingness to follow wherever God leads, no matter the cost.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is Lot foolishly wasting precious time trying to convince his sons-in-law to join him in escaping Sodom?
2. Shouldn’t Lot have shown greater urgency in leaving Sodom after the warning he received from the angels? What is it that holds us back from accepting the way out that God provides?
3. Why did Lot refuse to go to the mountains and instead seek to settle in a nearby region?
4. What can we learn from Lot and his family?