Learning from the Destruction of Sodom
“and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):” (2 Peter 2:6-8 WEB)
The apostle Peter wrote that Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was righteous. By this, we know that he is saved and that he got saved because he had faith in Yahweh.
However, Lot’s end was tragic. He escaped from Sodom with no possessions except for the clothes on his back, his wife, and his two daughters.
On the way out of the city, his wife turned back after being told not to, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Afterwards, Lot settled in a cave because of fear.
“When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.” They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line. ” They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.” (Genesis 19:29-36 WEB)
Seeing the scale of destruction, Lot’s two daughters thought that the whole world was destroyed and that there were no other men left, so they proceeded to make Lot drunk with alcohol, and slept with him to bear children. After that traumatic experience, all they could think about was sleeping with a man!
This was a righteous man’s ending because he chose to live a worldly life.
This all began because Lot decided to walk by sight. Abraham and Lot’s flocks had grown so much that they could not live together anymore. When Abraham asked Lot to choose where to separate himself to, Lot chose based on what he saw, without praying to ask for God’s counsel—he was walking by sight.
“Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other.” (Genesis 13:10-11 WEB)
We learn from the Book of Proverbs that there is a way that seems right to a man, but it only leads to death.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 WEB)
From then on, righteous Lot was tormented in his soul (mind, will, and emotions) every day from seeing and hearing the wickedness of the people in Sodom.
Not only him, but his family was exposed to this worldliness daily as well.
We who are born-again will feel this tormented soul state even more so than Lot because we have the Holy Spirit inside us. Our born-again spirit hates what is evil and loves what is good.
This is why if genuine Christians fall into sin, they will hate it and want to be delivered from sinful habits and lifestyles.
Lot’s wife turned back to Sodom because her heart was full of the world. Her treasures were in that city. When she looked back after the angels told her not to, it revealed that she was not really saved (she had no faith in Yahweh).
The wicked ways of Sodom had also rubbed off on Lot’s daughters. They learned to make their father drunk and do something as vile as committing incest with their father.
All these tragedies happened because Lot chose to put himself and his family in a worldly environment, without leaving Sodom before its destruction. He failed as the head of the house.
Worldliness will ruin Christians and cause them to live defeated lives. They stop reading God’s word and praying, and instead use all their time and effort to pursue what the world runs after, only rushing towards their destruction. Unnecessary hurts and suffering are sure to come.
What example are you setting for your family? Are your daily habits leading them closer to God’s ways, or drawing them away from His ways and towards the world instead?
“Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor...For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble; each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:8, 11-15 WEB)
Are you focusing on earthly things like “gold, silver, costly stones”, or is your heart on the things of God which are heavenly?
When the time comes for you to stand before Jesus’ throne, don’t be like Lot who escaped with nothing but his life. Lot’s works were all burnt up, and he got out of the city with nothing, like he lived his whole live in vain.
When the day comes for your eternal rewards to be measured, I hope that you will be happy with the way you invested your time in this life. When you build your life upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, with the Gospel and its advancement as your chief goal, there is no way you will be shortchanged on ‘awards day’.
What is the point of chasing foolish things in this lifetime only to end up with nothing that lasts forever, as if you are saved through fire with all your works burnt up? Be wise—walk by faith, not by sight. God’s word is true.
Judgment day for Christians is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it is a day for receiving eternal rewards. How do you maximize your rewards, identify your God-given calling in life, and step into that to enjoy a worthy life? I share a whole book about that in “Sandcastles Don’t Last Forever”.
This was the first book I wrote, and it is full of revelation about our eternal rewards which are hardly taught about in pulpits today (I’ve never heard anyone preaching this): http://bit.ly/sandcastlesdontlastforever
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