WWUTT 358 Lot Was a Righteous Man?

In 2 Peter 2 we have Lot described as a righteous man, but in Genesis 19 we observe

Lot doing some unrighteous things. And yet he was still righteous when we understand the text.

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're in 2 Peter 2 again today. We'll also be in Genesis 18 -19.

If you want to mark that in your Bible, and we'll get there in just a moment. First let's begin in 2 Peter 2, starting in verse 4.

Peter says, For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.

If He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

And if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day,

He was tormenting His righteous soul over their lawless deeds that He saw and heard. Then the

Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

So we've been looking at these four premises that Peter has laid out. The minor premise and the major premise.

We looked at the first premise on Monday, for if God did not spare angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, that is the minor premise.

And then the major premise, of course, in verses 9 and 10. Then we looked at the second premise yesterday.

If He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.

Today we're going to be looking at premise 3 and 4, both of those premises we'll be looking at today.

If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

And if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked.

He was a righteous man who lived among them day after day and was tormenting

His righteous soul over their lawless deeds that He saw and heard. So let me ask you a question before we go to Genesis chapters 18 and 19 and we read the story that is connected with these two premises.

Was Lot a righteous man? Yes. Correct? I mean, we have it right here.

Lot was a righteous man. And as that righteous man lived among them, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds.

We have it stated three times that Lot was righteous. Was Lot righteous?

Yes, Lot was righteous. Now let's go to the story and read Genesis chapters 18 and 19.

In the first half of chapter 18, God comes and visits Abraham. This is a

Christophany. It's an appearance of Christ in the form of a man. It's not his incarnation. He just has an appearance as a man and he has two angels who are with him.

They sit with Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre and Sarah prepares for them a meal. And God says to Abraham, by this time next year, you are going to have a son.

And Sarah overhears this and she laughs because the way of women is no longer with her.

Abraham and Sarah are old and advanced in years. It's not possible for them to have children. But as you know, the story,

God calls into existence the things that do not exist. As it says in Romans four, they have a son whom they name

Isaac, which means laughter because they laughed at God. They named Isaac laughter.

So then from there in the story, verse 16, the men set out. This is God and the two angels.

The men set out from there and they look down towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.

The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

For I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the

Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,

I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.

And if not, I will know. So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the

Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it?

Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fare as the wicked.

Far be that from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?

And the Lord said, if I find at Sodom 50 righteous in the city,

I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold,

I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. It's a very humble approach when talking to God, especially asking special favors from him.

Verse 28, suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?

And God said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there. Again Abraham spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there.

And God answered for the sake of 40, I will not do it. And then Abraham said, oh, let not the

Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there.

And God answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there. And Abraham said, behold,

I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. And God answered for the sake of 20,

I will not destroy it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again.

But this once suppose 10 are found there. And he answered for the sake of 10,

I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham and Abraham returned to his place.

And that's the end of chapter 18. Now, remember what we read yesterday. God spared eight people on an ark and destroyed millions because of their wickedness in a flood.

So we know that God is righteous and gracious. And as he says this to Abraham, he will do it.

But God is sovereign. And God knows that there are not 10 righteous people in the city of Sodom.

So because God is still a good God who will spare the righteous, he says to Abraham that his nephew lot needs to be pulled out of Sodom because he is going to rain fire and brimstone down on the cities and destroy them for their evil and their wickedness.

So before we get into chapter 19 here, I ask you again, is lot a righteous man?

Yes, we've just read in second Peter chapter two, that lot is a righteous man.

So let's continue. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening and lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.

When lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, my

Lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.

And they said, no, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly.

So they turned aside to him and entered his house and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread and they ate.

So once again, is lot a righteous man? Yes. Look at how he cares for the strangers that come to a city, even meeting them out by the city gate because he knows the wickedness of the people in his city and how they will treat these strangers that have come into town.

So lot is, is being righteous in the way that he deals with these visitors.

Verse four, but before they lay down the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house and they called to lot.

Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them.

In other words, so that we may rate them. They want to, uh, they, they want to have sexual relations with these men, these visitors who have come into Sodom and look at the way that, uh, that the, the men are described.

The men of Sodom are described. It says that as they came to the house of lot, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house.

So the corruption of the men in Sodom is so great. It is affecting every generation of men.

There is no recovering from the hard heartedness that has come upon the people of these two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

So verse six lot went out to the men at the entrance. So he goes and meets the men of Sodom outside his house.

He shuts the door after him and he says, I beg you, my brothers do not act so wickedly.

So I ask you once again, is a lot a righteous man? Yes. A lot is a righteous man.

We've just read it. Second, Peter chapter two lot is a righteous man. So we continue on verse eight, behold,

I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you please only do nothing to these men for they have come under the shelter of my roof.

Now hang on a second. So we've been talking about how lot is a righteous man. Peter says it three times.

Lot is a righteous man. We've been reading about how lot has dealt righteously with these visitors who've come into his city.

He is even being tormented in his righteous soul because of the way the people in Sodom and Gomorrah act and lot can't stand it.

So he's a righteous man. And yet we read that he has just offered his two daughters who are virgins to the men of Sodom to rate them instead of the visitors that came into lots house.

So how is it that we can say that lot is a righteous man if he is offered this, this horrible thing to these, these men of Sodom.

So let me ask you another question. I've asked you three times up to this point is a lot a righteous man.

Yes, he is a righteous man. So let me ask you this question. Now, do righteous people always and only do righteous things?

No, sometimes righteous people do things that aren't so righteous, don't they?

Right, because we're still sinners. We are still sinners inhabiting these fleshly bodies just because we got saved and came to Christ does not mean that we cease to sin.

And the righteousness that we have is a righteousness that does not come from us, but comes from God Romans 321.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So the righteousness that we have does not come from us. It comes from God. The righteousness that lot had same thing.

It did not come from him. It is the righteousness of God. But lot is still a sinful man and still does unrighteous things.

But it is by the grace of God and his righteousness that he spared lot the destruction that was going to come upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And the righteousness that lot had as a righteousness that had been given to him by God, he was tormented in his righteous soul by the sin and the wickedness and the evil that he saw going on around him all the time.

It doesn't mean that lot was a perfect man. It meant that in his in his spirit, he hated the things that God hates, the wickedness that was going on around him and was tormented in his spirit day after day by the wickedness that was going on around him.

So what lot did here is not to be commended, but we should still recognize that God saw him as righteous and spared him the wrath that came upon these cities.

Verse nine, the men of Sodom said, stand back. And they said, this fellow came to sojourn and he has become the judge.

Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man lot and drew near to break the door down.

So the very fact that lot is trying to discourage their behavior is offensive to them.

And they mean to harm lot also with the men that they want to they want to rape, they want to molest.

But the men, verse 10, the two angels reached out their hands and brought lot into the house with them and shut the door and they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they were themselves out groping for the door.

This kind of goes to show you how wicked they were. They were just struck with blindness by the angels inside.

And yet the men still do not stop trying to come against the door of the house of lot. That's just how absolutely corrupt and wicked they were.

Verse 12, then the men said to lot, have you anyone else here, sons in law, sons, daughters or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people has become great before the

Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So lot went out and said to his sons in law who were to marry his daughters up, get out of this place for the

Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons in law to be jesting. As morning dawn, the angels urged lot saying up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.

But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the

Lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

So God forcing lot out of the city because he hesitated. This is how merciful

God is and how righteous he is. And by his righteousness, lot has been spared the judgment that was to come upon the city.

And as they brought them out, one said, escape, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley.

Escape to the hills lest you be swept away. And lot said to them, oh no, my Lords, behold, your servant has found favor in your sight and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life.

But I cannot escape to the hills lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to and it is a little one.

Let me escape there. Is it not? Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved. He said to him, behold,

I will grant you this favor also that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly for I can do nothing till you arrive there.

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun had risen on the earth when

Lot came to Zoar and the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the

Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground.

But Lot's wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the

Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. And he looked and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent

Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which

Lot had lived. And so I ask you once more, was Lot a righteous man?

Yes, Lot was a righteous man. In fact, we even see here in the story how righteous

Lot was to the very end when his wife turned back and looked at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, disobeyed what the angels told them not to do.

But because her heart and her mind were with these cities that God had overthrown, so she looked back at them, longing to be with those people, and she turned into a pillar of salt right there.

But Lot did not look back at the cities. He and his daughters remained steadfast toward where it was that God had sent for them to go.

And so we come back to 2 Peter 2 and we read again. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

And if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.

Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Now Abraham had pled with God to spare the cities if there were 10 righteous people in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God said that he would, but God knew that there were not 10 righteous people in Sodom.

That became a reality to Abraham when he got up that morning and he saw the smoke rising from the city and he knew that there were not 10 righteous people there.

But what was it that Abraham was doing? The way that Abraham is described there is coming out and looking down upon the cities.

What was it that Abraham was doing? He was praying. He too was tormented in his righteous soul for the evil that was going on in those cities, and he was so vexed in his soul that he was praying that the cities would be spared.

But he knew God's will would be done over the will of man, and so it was.

The judgment of God exercised against Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness that was prevalent there.

And so let us see from this how God had spared Lot, how God had destroyed

Sodom and Gomorrah, that he knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

So we know as Christians to keep ourselves steadfast, looking unto the

Lord, unto Christ Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith, that we have his words stored up in our minds and in our hearts.

We are guided by them, not swerving to the left or to the right. And we know that what

God does, he does in his righteousness to accomplish his will, and we are fully trusting in him, loving him, praising him, and glorifying in him because he was merciful toward us and spared us the wrath that is coming against all unrighteousness.

Let us pray. Our God, what a wonderful God you are, and I pray that we would have a heart, a spirit that is given to us by you to know your righteousness so much that we are vexed in our souls when we see the wickedness and the unrighteousness that is happening all around us.

Just as Lot was tormented in his righteous soul day after day over the lawless deeds that he saw and heard, it makes us long for the kingdom of heaven.

We desire for your eternal, peaceful kingdom to come to this earth and to wipe out all evil and to bring with you your peace so that we may dwell with you forever in your holiness and your righteousness.

Keep us steadfast in the faith, Lord. Keep us meditating on your word and knowing the things that please you so we might worship you as holy as God.

Forgive us our sins when we who have received the righteousness of Christ still do those things which are against what

God has commanded. We ask for your forgiveness and that you would lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake.

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and we pray these things in the name of Christ, amen.

This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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