Come with me as we walk through the Biblical narrative and explanation of a certain man whose reputation in most Christian circles is that of compromise, weakness, and worldliness. This man of whom we know very little is nonetheless scrutinized by the masses, with many adding into the Biblical account their own suppositions, opinions, and yet sadly are seen by most as true and accurate. Spanning the Old and New Testaments, the story of a man who is righteous in God's eyes will be thoroughly examined here, with my hope to exonerate once and for all whom the Bible calls "righteous". Let us take a thorough, unbiased look at the life of Lot.
Genesis 11:26-14:16 is the text regarding Lot's family and dealings with Abram.
Lot is Abram's nephew, the son of Haran.
Lot went with Abram when he left his family to obey the Lord's leading.
Lot went with Abram out of Egypt. Lot had herds, flocks, and tents.
Lot's herdsmen (not Lot) had contention with Abram's herdsmen (not Abram).
13:10 The land Lot chose was good.
"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of theLord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."
Lot dwelt in Sodom and was kidnapped and rescued by Abram and his army of 318 men.
Genesis 19:1- 38 is the text regarding Sodom and Gomorrah and the impregnation of his daughters.
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom.
Lot saw the angels coming, bowed, and opened his home for hospitality and safety to them.
Lot begged the men of Sodom not to bother the angels, and so he offered them to have sex with his daughters in place of the men/angels.
Lot, upon the counsel of the angels, tried to convince his family to leave the city with him to avoid the judgement that was coming.
Lot asked to go to Zoar instead of the mountains due to fear of evil and death. Lot dwelt in a cave.
Lot's daughters gave him drink and had sex with him. He didn't know what was happening, as they plotted to get him drunk for this purpose. The children/grandchildren of Lot were born, named Moab and Ammon.
Deuteronomy 2:9,19
9 And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
19 And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
Luke 17:26-30
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
2 Peter 2:4-9
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Genesis 11:26-14:16 is the text regarding Lot's family and dealings with Abram.
Lot is Abram's nephew, the son of Haran.
Lot went with Abram when he left his family to obey the Lord's leading.
Lot went with Abram out of Egypt. Lot had herds, flocks, and tents.
Lot's herdsmen (not Lot) had contention with Abram's herdsmen (not Abram).
13:10 The land Lot chose was good.
"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of theLord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."
Lot dwelt in Sodom and was kidnapped and rescued by Abram and his army of 318 men.
Genesis 19:1- 38 is the text regarding Sodom and Gomorrah and the impregnation of his daughters.
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom.
Lot saw the angels coming, bowed, and opened his home for hospitality and safety to them.
Lot begged the men of Sodom not to bother the angels, and so he offered them to have sex with his daughters in place of the men/angels.
Lot, upon the counsel of the angels, tried to convince his family to leave the city with him to avoid the judgement that was coming.
Lot asked to go to Zoar instead of the mountains due to fear of evil and death. Lot dwelt in a cave.
Lot's daughters gave him drink and had sex with him. He didn't know what was happening, as they plotted to get him drunk for this purpose. The children/grandchildren of Lot were born, named Moab and Ammon.
Deuteronomy 2:9,19
9 And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
19 And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
Luke 17:26-30
26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
2 Peter 2:4-9
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
As we consider all these passages, it is well to remind ourselves that these are the entirety of the Biblical account of Lot. The Old Testament passages show us the family of Lot, his journeys with Abram, and the choosing of the land in which he lived. They account for us the salvation of the Lord for the righteous man, including Abram's bargaining with the Lord about righteous men specifically. We also see the judgement upon the wicked, not including Lot in this group. The New Testament speaks of the way people lived generally in the days Lot lived, and the judgement of God upon this type of lifestyle.
In Peter's epistle, we see the crux of the matter in my estimation. That is, no matter how hard people try to make it out like Lot was living in harmony with the Sodomites, how much preachers attempt to paint Lot as a homosexual, a terrible husband and father who dragged his family into Sodom to live in sin, or the purported evil deeds of incest and drunkenness, these are merely the non-scriptural ideas of man and indeed the opposite is true. We are warned multiple times in Scripture not to add to what God's Word says, and in 1 Corinthians 4 we are told not to judge the motives of others, but to leave that to God. Lot indeed, according to this God-breathed account, was righteous and his soul was vexed daily seeing the unlawful deeds of the men of the city. That sounds vastly different to me than every message I have ever heard preached on this man's life and actions.
I recall when our family moved to Key West, which is known as the capital and celebratory center of the Sodomite (homosexual) lifestyle. There was a small church located in the middle of that wicked city with which we felt called of the Lord to labor. When we decided to go, people assumed a few things and many were not ashamed to speak their mind on our intentions. Some did so without ever having met our family and spread rumors about us, demonstrating the point of this post. One assumption was that we went there for the nice climate and tropical surroundings. While this is one of the assets of living in Key West, indeed our desire was primarily to proclaim the Gospel in a dark place.
I add my "Amen" to the account of Lot in Peter's epistle, as living in a wicked place certainly wears on a man who desires to proclaim the Gospel and see souls saved. We moved to Key West because we were called by God to do so, because we wanted to help a struggling church which was near the point of closing its doors. Lot also went through this, no doubt, as he chose the nicer land of that which was available it would seem. Lot had a large family, flocks and herds, and was given the choice to take a land suitable for his needs, and I see nothing wrong with that. We judge often based on our limited knowledge of a situation, and this is the cause of many errant beliefs that I have seen.
Next I want to note that Lot was indeed seated at the city gate of Sodom when the angels came to destroy the city. Though I know the significance of the city gate and those seated therein, I also note that the people didn't approve of Lot judging them, this is noted in chapter 19 and verse 9. Many a preacher has proclaimed Lot's heartfelt approval of all the wickedness of Sodom due to this seating in the city gate, but again the Word of God seems to say otherwise. Indeed, the messengers of God were sent specifically for two purposes, to save this righteous man and his family and to destroy the city. Both purposes were accomplished, though Lot's family in part rebelled against him and decided to stay, supposing the warning to be a joke. Lot's wife also was lost, as she looked back and paid a great price for her curiosity. I have heard many a sermon on this issue alone, but the account merely says she looked back. It does not say why she did so, and so any conclusions about motive are merely speculation.
Now we come to the matter of Lot's daughters. As far as these ladies knew, everything was destroyed, at least the city they called home and possibly much more. Whether they understood there were other cities, other righteous men to marry and have children with, or anything else is also speculation. I find it interesting that these daughters also considered their father as a righteous man, indeed the text shows that they thought he may have been the only man left alive and also had concern for his heritage as any sons he may have had were now dead due to the judgment of Sodom.
We know that drunkenness is forbidden in Scripture, but drinking wine in moderate portions is not. When someone is pouring your drinks for you, especially your daughters who along with you were the only ones rescued from fire and brimstone raining from heaven, you may well have more than you realize and be able to be taken advantage of. A man getting drunk and having sex with his daughters sounds like a very unrighteous man, but as we see what God's Word actually says rather than what we may infer from it, we may come to different conclusions.
The only other discussion of this man is when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness. They were told expressly not to distress the Moabites (those after the lineage of Lot's son with one of his daughters) as God had given them this land for a possession. Who else did God give land to as a possession except Israel, Abram and Lot's children. Though Moab and Ammon did cause trouble for Israel and the Hebrews were not to intermarry, it is interesting to note that Ruth was a Moabitess, and in the line of Christ.
Note here that I am not saying that Lot did everything right, that he was perfect, or that we should model our lives after him in every facet. What I am saying is that God called him righteous and used him as an example in the New Testament. I have seen so often those who hardly know a man speak evil of him. I recall once a pastor was charged by all the gossiping ladies of the church with having an affair. The man was actually driving his daughter around, but as she was away at college and had never met the congregation of the church, they just assumed the worst and proclaimed it as truth.
The same judgement is seen so often in the church, painting men of God as wicked and unrighteous, fleshly perverts or horrible husbands and fathers. This is often done by those who know little or nothing about the man, his family, his finances, or much of anything else. I know men like this who have lost their public reputation not only in the church, but as rumors also spread outside the walls of the church, unbelievers pronounce shame and dishonor on the name of Christ as a result.
I was once told that it was obviously sinful to go door to door witnessing of the gospel with a single young lady as I am married. My wife has no problem with this, and as I often labor as an equipping evangelist the need for someone to do this work is common. I understand the concern, really I do, but I have to ask where logic ends and fear takes over in these scenarios. I know we should avoid the appearance of evil, but I have to ask what appears evil about two people walking around with gospel tracts and Bibles in hand, telling people about salvation in Jesus Christ? What sort of perverted minds must we have to even consider this as a danger? If it is such a danger for a married man, as it is said a man may be drawn to lust after these young ladies, then why would we ever allow unmarried men to do the same? Surely the raging hormones of your average young man are more dangerous than that of a married man of God who has given his life to the service of the Lord.
What is worse than these fearful and foolish assumptions is that so often those who are not fearful but instead are happy to have a co-laborer in this work will have rumors spread about them. Their character will be challenged, and in some cases I have heard it said that the reason a man gets involved in evangelism is specifically to get close to a young lady and seduce her.... while walking public streets and proclaiming the Gospel. Yes, it is a terrible thing to see suppositions and rumors tear down the godly reputation of a man. It is sad to see Christians taking their time and effort to destroy righteous men rather than take the time to get the facts. It is sad to see Lot's name dragged through the mud when God proclaims him to be righteous. Will we learn from this lesson, or will we continue to destroy one another, confirming the beliefs of the unbeliever that Christians really aren't any different than anyone else? If we are to effectively reach the lost with the truth of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord, we would do well to spend our time reading and applying what God's Word actually says rather than living by our additions, the traditions of men, and fear.
