(Genesis) Genesis 18:12-27 — J. Vernon McGee

Lot's Warning Rejected in Sodom

And the man said unto Lot, Hast thou here any beside son-in-law, and thy sons, thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place? For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

Lot's Compromised Witness

And Lot went out, he spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.

Now this man Lot here is in a very bad situation. He'd spent years now down in the city of Sodom. He'd learned to tolerate this sort of thing, although he calls it wickedness. And he saw his sons and daughters grow up, and they apparently married among the people of that day.

And when the time came, and Lot got this word from the Lord to leave the city, he went to his sons-in-law, and he said, Let's get out of here, God will destroy this city. They laughed at him. They ridiculed him.

I suppose they knew that the week before he had invested a little money in real estate there. And they said, We know you. You were wrapped up in the city of Sodom. This is your home. You have apparently applauded these things and approved of them.

You see, this man, out of the will of God, in this place, is no witness for God. He didn't win anybody in this city. And when you go down to their level, friends, you don't win them today either. And that's being demonstrated, I think, in this hour.

Lot's Righteousness Despite His Compromise

Now this man, Lot, frankly, I would have agreed with Abraham that he wasn't saved. But you remember Peter, in 2 Peter 2, 6 and 8, says this righteous man vexed his righteous soul. I tell you, he never enjoyed it down there.

Lot's Escape from Sodom

Now he's going to leave the city. He can't get anyone to leave with him except his wife and two single daughters. When the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

God's Mercy Toward Lot

And while he lingered, the man laid hold upon his hand from the hand of his wife, from the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. You see, here's a man that was God's man in spite of everything.

And if I only had the book of Genesis, I'm not sure I would believe that Lot was saved. I'd agree with Abraham. But since Peter calls him a righteous man, and this man had become that way because he had followed Abraham, he believed God, and he had offered the sacrifices, and the Lord being merciful unto him.

God had extended mercy to him, and he believes God, and he gets out of the city. Now it came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said, Escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

Lot's Reluctance and Compromise in Zoar

And even Lot didn't want to leave. Lot said unto them, O not so, my Lord. Behold now thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die.

He'd get out of the city, but he couldn't make it to the mountain. And now he says, Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, a little place called Zoar. And that's where he went. You see, he came out of Sodom, but this man didn't come clean even out of that, and of course he got in a great deal of trouble at that particular time.

Lot's Wife and Her Love for Sodom

Now God destroyed the city of Sodom, and we're told two things here, one concerning his wife and the other concerning his daughters. The one concerning his wife is that he looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Now that, I think, has been greatly misunderstood. Why in the world did Miss Lot turn and look back? Well I think the reason is twofold. She turned and looked back, first of all, because she did not want to leave Sodom.

She loved Sodom. She loved Lot, too, but it was a lot of Sodom that she loved, and she didn't want to leave. I think she was a member of the country club, the sewing club, and the Shakespeare club, and in fact there wasn't a club in town that she wasn't a member of.

She just loved these little get-togethers in the afternoon, and I'm not sure but what they met and studied religion. They had a nice little religious club. Oh, she was right in the thick of it all, friends.

Living for the Lord's Return

She didn't want to leave. Her heart was in Sodom. Her body walked out, but she surely left her heart there. Now that is a tremendous lesson for us today. We hear a great deal, and I hear a great many Christians who talk about they want to see the Lord come, and they're not living like it on Sunday morning, why it's difficult to get them to leave their lovely home, and Sunday night they're not going to leave their lovely home because they love TV, too.

They've got a color TV, and they're going to look at the programs on Sunday night because they have some good ones and they want to see them. They're not going to church. Now when the Lord comes, friends, you're going to leave the TV, you're going to leave that lovely home, you're going to leave everything down here.

I just have one question to ask you. Will it break your heart to leave all of this down here? I've asked myself that question many times. I'm not anxious to leave, I'll be honest with you. I'd love to stay.

I have my loved ones, I want to be with them, and I have friends, and I want to be with them, and I have this program, and I want to be with it, and I'll be very frank with you. I hope the Lord will just let me stay here.

But I also want to be able to say, when he does call, I don't want to have a thing down here that will break my heart to leave. Not a thing. I love my home, too. But I'll be honest with you, I'd just soon go off and leave it.

Disbelief in God's Command

May I say to you, Ms. Lott turned and looked back. That's one of the explanations, and then the other is just simply this. Why did she look back? She didn't believe God. God says you leave the city and don't look back.

And Lott didn't look back. He believed God, but Ms. Lott didn't. She did not believe God. She wasn't a believer, and so she didn't really make it out of the city. She's turned to a pillow of salt. And I'm not going into the story of the two daughters that's as sordid as it can be.

The Consequences of Loving Sodom

Frankly, Lott didn't do well in moving down to the city of Sodom. He lost everything except his own soul. And you know, that's a picture today of a great many people that won't judge the sins in their lives.

And they're saved, but just so as by fire. And you find that the Lord has said, in a very definite way, to some of these folk that have put all their eggs in a basket like this. God says that if you won't judge your sin down here, he will judge it.

And apparently, that was the case in Lott's story. Now, I want to leave this chapter, but I want to leave it by looking at Abraham. What did Abraham think of all of this? Well, let me read verses 27 and 28 of Genesis 19.

Abraham's Detachment from Sodom

Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain. And behold, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

Now, when Abraham looked down there, I think his heart was sad. I'm not sure whether he knew Lott had escaped or not. He probably learned about it later on. But when he looked down there, he probably was sad because of Lott's sake.

But Abraham hadn't invested a dime down there. And when judgment came, it didn't disturb him one whit, because he wasn't in love with the things of Sodom and the things of the world. You remember what we are told today?

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.