Abraham had convinced God not to destroy Sodom if there were 10 righteous people in it. So, to this day the Jews require 10 men to form a "minyan," a quorum to hold an official synagogue service.
The angels meet Lot at the gate, and he urges them to stay with him, not in the town square. Lot knows his town is dangerous. Yet he sits in the gate, the place of judgment and official business. This is where many go wrong in reading Lot, forgetting to interpret Scripture with Scripture. They assume he should not be there. That he should have left long ago. But the text doesn't say or imply that.
2 Peter 2:7-8 is very clear: "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."
Lot was righteous, and distressed at the city's wickedness. Having two daughters of marriageable age, he still stayed. Faithful Christians can live in New York City, Las Vegas, and other Sodom-like places today. There is something right about our impulse to separate from wickedness, but sometimes we're called to stay. Missionaries often have to make this choice.
The trick if we stay is to not get attached to the world's ways and comforts. God is going to judge it all, and you'd better find yourself rooting for God more than the judged on that day.
This is Jesus' point in Luke 17:28-33:
"Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it."
"Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it."
Lot and his family show clear signs of having gotten so attached to the comforts of city life, that he didn't want to go when angels were trying to rush him out! Much of the church today is so compromised, that if God were to do this today, the response would be the same as Lot and worse. "Oh, God shouldn't have done that. He should have given them more time. That was too harsh." Literally judging God as in the wrong. This is why they stay away from the Old Testament and the Psalms and become Marcionites, talking about needing to "unhitch" from the Old Testament. Yikes. Make sure your heart is with God in all He does and says, not just the parts that comfort and inspire you.
What I never noticed in this chapter before was in verse 3. Lot feasts the angels with unleavened bread, a clear prequel to Passover. And Passover is exactly what is happening here: God taking His people (Lot/Israel) out of a wicked place (Sodom/Egypt), on the favor and intercession of someone else (Abraham/Moses/lamb).
No comments:
Post a Comment