Lot’s Escape From Sodom — Genesis 19 Daily Word

Discover how God showed mercy to Lot by rescuing him from Sodom’s destruction. Despite Lot’s hesitation and self-interest, God demonstrated grace by guiding him to safety in Zoar before raining judgment on the sinful city.

Genesis 19:23-30 Daily Word

[Scripture]

[23] The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. [24] Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. [25] And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. [26] But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. [27] And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD. [28] 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. [29] 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. [30] Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. (Gen 19:23-30, ESV)

[Daily Word]

# Lot is clearly a sinner before God.

Yet God, who heard Abraham’s prayer, remembered Abraham and set Lot apart from ‘sin.’ Therefore, God planned to prevent Lot and his family from perishing together with the wickedness of Sodom.

However, as we see in verse 16, Lot hesitated in the midst of this. It was because he had not yet fully believed that Sodom would be judged, and because he was reluctant to leave behind the possessions he had accumulated over the years.

Even so, God showed mercy to Lot, taking him by the hand along with his family and bringing them safely outside the city. God then told them to flee and preserve their lives — warning them not to look back or linger in the plain, but to escape to the mountains so that they would not be destroyed.

But Lot, speaking out of self-interest, said that he could not make it all the way to the mountains for fear of being overtaken by disaster and dying, and asked to flee instead to the nearby small town of Zoar. In response, God graciously forgave even this behavior, saying that He would do nothing until Lot had entered Zoar.

# The sun had risen when Lot entered Zoar.

As if waiting for that very moment, God rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah the instant Lot entered. Notably, in verse 24, the text expresses this as “the LORD rained… from the LORD out of heaven.” The fact that “the LORD” is emphasized twice here is not coincidental — it underscores that it was God Himself who brought judgment upon the land.

*Yet Lot’s wife looked back at what God was doing, and she immediately became a pillar of salt. The Bible does not record the reason why she looked back, but what is clear is that she disobeyed God’s explicit command never to look back, and that she turned around because of the possessions she had left behind in Sodom.

What is important here is that the moment Lot’s wife looked back was the very moment God was judging and destroying sin — and because she was still connected to sin, she was judged along with it. God will not allow those who remain connected to sin to be used in His kingdom.

[5] For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. [6] Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Eph 5:5-6, ESV)

# Abraham looks toward the kingdom that God is establishing.

Abraham watched from a distance as God personally judged the city of Sodom and established His kingdom. Yet Abraham was not judged. He did not become a pillar of salt. Why was that? It was because Abraham was not connected to sin — he was connected to God.

Now Lot had lost everything. In God’s judgment, he lost all the wealth and honor he had painstakingly built up, and even his wife. Standing before the fire and brimstone raining down from heaven, Lot may have felt as insignificant as an ant. And as he watched God’s judgment lay waste to the entire region, he was filled with fear that he too — the one who had been seeking opportunity in the city of Zoar — might be consumed.

* People always desire their lives to remain safe and secure.

God already knew this, and so He offered Lot the safety of the mountains. This decision was meant to keep Lot safe. Yet Lot chose instead to go to Zoar. His reason for choosing Zoar was to quickly reclaim what he had possessed all along and restore things to the way they were before.

# God’s judgment is the act of burning away everything that is contrary to His kingdom.

For the kingdom of God is a kingdom where people love God and love one another as they love God. Those who lack this love—those who do not have it—are of no use to God. That is why He burned it all away.

In the same way, everything Lot had was destroyed along with it. Stripped of the wealth and status that had given him security, fear took hold of him. So he left the city of Zoar and fled straight into the mountains, pressing deeper and deeper in search of safety, until he took refuge in a cave.

God heard Abraham’s earnest prayer, and out of regard for him, He rescued Lot from the midst of judgment. Yet we find that Lot still could not fix his eyes on the God who sovereignly governed that very judgment.

The reason Lot could not look to God was that he believed what truly blessed him was not God Himself, but the wealth that made him prosperous. And so, unable to give thanks for the life and the place God had given him, we see him pressing on along his own path simply to preserve himself. Yet what we must clearly remember and believe is this: all our blessing and all our security come from God alone. May we hold fast to that truth.

[24] The LORD bless you and keep you; [25] the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; [26] the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Num 6:24-26, ESV)

Let us keep this word in our hearts, and as we go through this day, may we be a people who keep our eyes fixed on the Lord—let us pray together.

Lot’s rescue, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, looking back, the grace of God, the consequences of disobedience

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com