HIS CHILDREN BEING CORRUPTED
Lot’s children were corrupted by living in the wicked city. The word of the angels in 19:12 indicates that Lot might have had sons as well as daughters. In chapter eighteen Abraham might have considered that there were at least ten people in Lot’s family. The angels said to Lot, “Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and 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 has sent us to destroy it” (19:12-13). Lot had to tell his sons-in-law and his children that God was about to judge that city. But when Lot preached the gospel to them, some would not believe the word from the Lord, thinking that he was joking. Verse 14 says, “Lot went out, and 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 jested unto his sons-in-law” (Heb.).
Others of Lot’s children had no sense of morality (19:30-35). Look at what his daughters did after they escaped from the city! After escaping from Sodom, Lot and his daughters still had wine with them (19:32). If they had not brought the wine with them, how else could they have had it in the cave where they were dwelling? How drugged they were by the sinful situation in Sodom! When I was visiting some saints in Las Vegas in 1963, they vindicated their living in that city, saying, “It is not wrong for us to stay in this gambling city, because we are here as a testimony for the Lord.” I did not argue with them, but deep within myself I said, “If you stay here for some years, your children will have no sense about the wickedness of gambling.” Many of the young people today have been drugged. Look at the way they dress: there is no sense of morality or feeling of shame. Many times when I am on the street I have to shut my eyes. For young ladies to be without a sense of shame is to be without protection. Throughout the whole world the sense of shame and morality has been drugged. Because most of the young people were raised in a sinful atmosphere, their senses have been drugged. But if they would come in to the church life and remain in its pure atmosphere for a few months, they would never return to the sinful world. They would be unable to stand its smell.
We live in an evil age and need protection from it. Our family and our children must be protected. We all must escape Sodom and shut our doors to its evil atmosphere. If we do not, our descendants will be drugged. How could Lot and his children have conducted themselves in the way they did after Sodom was destroyed? Because their sense of morality had fallen so low. If we remain in the fresh air, we shall immediately sense the bad smell of immorality. But if we do not discern any bad smell, it means that our sense of morality has been drugged.
HE HIMSELF BARELY SAVED THROUGH THE OVERCOMER’S INTERCESSION
Lot himself was barely saved through the overcomer’s intercession (19:15-25, 29). Even after the angels told Lot that Sodom was to be destroyed, he still lingered there. He had no willingness to escape from the city, but the angels held his hand and pulled him out. Verse 16 says, “And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.” Lot was not faithful, but the Lord was merciful, pulling him out of Sodom as wood plucked out of a fire.
HIS WIFE BEING SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION BUT BECOMING A PILLAR OF SALT
Lot’s wife was saved from destruction, but she became a pillar of salt (19:15-17, 26; Luke 17:32). In the form of powder, salt is useful. But when salt becomes a block, it is useless. That Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt meant that she had lost her usefulness in the hand of God and had become a sign of shame. Today Christianity helps people only to take care of the matter of salvation or perdition. But the Bible reveals that besides the matter of salvation or perdition, there is the matter of glory or shame. Lot’s wife was not lost; she was saved from destruction. Eventually, however, she became a shame. Hence, the Lord said in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife,” warning us that, though we are saved, at the Lord’s coming back we might possibly suffer shame like Lot’s wife. Although we are saved, we may become ashamed at the Lord’s coming back (1 John 2:28).
In Luke 17:28-33 the Lord warns us not to look back. Why did Lot’s wife look back? Because some of her children, especially her daughters, were still in Sodom and because her house and her clothing also were there. If you read Genesis 19 carefully, you will see that she was behind Lot. As a couple, they should have gone together; she should not have been behind her husband. But, being behind him, she looked back and became a pillar of salt. She looked back to the place where she loved to live and became a sign of shame for our warning. This is not merely a story or doctrine. We see from it that in addition to the matter of salvation, there is the matter of shame. When the day of judgment arrives, will you share in the glory or in the shame? We shall not suffer perdition, for our salvation is assured. However, as this warning example indicates, we may be put to shame.
HIS LIFE ISSUING IN BRINGING FORTH MOABITES AND AMMONITES
Lot’s life issued in bringing forth Moabites and Ammonites (children of Ben-ammi), who were rejected by God even to their tenth generation (19:36-38; Deut. 23:3). What a pitiful ending to Lot’s life! He did not bring forth an Isaac but Moabites and Ammonites who were rejected by God. Here in the story of Lot we see the record of a defeated righteous man. Alongside of the white record of the victorious Abraham, we have the black record of the defeated Lot. The record of Lot’s life should be a strong warning to us all.
(Abraham—Called by God, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)
