“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds),” 2 Peter 2:6-8.
We could be forgiven for believing that Lot was not a saved man were we only to have the accounts of him recorded in the book of Genesis.
He was not called by the Lord to go forth from Babylon to the land promised to Abraham. He merely tagged along with his uncle!
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran,” Genesis 12:1-4.
I have no doubt that Abraham would have shared the contents of the Lord’s promise with his family members, including Lot, and I would be of the opinion that it was the prospect of future ‘material’ benefits that were to be bestowed upon his uncle, and which he could share in, that moved Lot to go with Abraham to the land promised of God.
This is not just an opinion based upon mere prejudice on my part, but rather on the information given us about Lot in the divine record.
In the many references to Abraham building altars and calling upon the Lord, there is no mention of Lot sharing in these times of worship!
Quarrel
In the incident involving strife between the herdsmen of the two men, I believe we can see a kindly, accommodating spirit manifested by Abraham.
“And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left,” Genesis 13:7-9.
He neither wished to see strife over grazing rights nor sought to demand that the younger man be submissive to him.
Rather, he gave to Lot the choice of where he wished to go. “If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
On the other hand, we see the domineering motive of Lot in the verses 10 – 12, the heart of Lot is revealed to us.
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.”
Abraham was guided to where he should dwell by the call of God. Lot was guided by his greedy ‘eyes’!
He chose that area and took up residence in Sodom, despite what was already known about it.
“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly,” Genesis 13:13.
Lot was able to abide the company of those who were seen by the Lord as exceedingly sinful!
The Gate
He not only took up residence amongst them, but from the words of Genesis 19:1: “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. . . ”, it appears he came to some prominence!
That place, ‘the gate’, is frequently linked to the location of the sitting of the elders to rule and adjudicate.
“Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate,” Deuteronomy 22:15.
“Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. . . . And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem,” Ruth 4:1, 11.
“Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent,” 2 Samuel 19:8.
In these references, and there are more, the gate of the city was the place where those in authority met and made decisions.
It is very possible that such was Lot’s ambition and desire to avail of this world’s goods, that he became a ‘ruler’ in Sodom.
It is seen that he was committed to that evil place, for even after it was overthrown by Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam (14:9-12) and Lot had to be rescued by Abraham, he returned to that evil city.
His view of Sodom differed very much from that of his uncle!
Abraham’s reaction to the offer of a reward for delivering those taken captive by Chedorlaomer, is an indication of what he thought of Sodom.
“And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich,” Genesis 14:22-23.
What Lot was most anxious to do, make himself rich through Sodom, Abraham utterly rejected!
His Testimony Rescued
I repeat, I think that it would it would be easy to deem Lot a lost sinner were it not for what Peter was divinely inspired to say of Lot. He was a “just” man and “righteous”. The words “just” and “righteous” basically carry the same meaning. Thus the Lord three times states what the spiritual state of Lot was!
“A threefold cord is not quickly broken,” Ecclesiastes 4:12, and a threefold declaration by the Lord of Lot’s regenerated spiritual state is not to be rejected.
I might say, that since the Lord has to repeat the true state of Lot’s heart, it does indicate that his lifestyle suggested strongly the opposite!
Not Alone
Sadly, there are many who likewise call their standing with the Lord into question by their lifestyle! This is specially the case in these days of worldliness and backsliding. On every hand you find those who profess to be Christians mingling freely and happily with the ungodly, engaging in the same pursuits and activities, dressing in the same immodest fashions and painting, powdering and parading themselves in their efforts to be “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2).
The lessons of Lot as recorded in the Bible are there as a warning to us all!
I. YES, LOT WAS TRULLY SAVED, BUT HE WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE ALTOGETHER!
1. His desire for this world’s goods overruled what should have been his aversion to Sodom’s wickedness.
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar,” Genesis 13:10.
He could see the richness of the area but was blind to the sins that went along with that richness. “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked,” Psalm 37:16. That was the thinking of Abraham when he rejected the gifts of the king of Sodom, but sadly his nephew was not of that mind!
All around us today, in the pulpits, politics and the business world, we see Christians who are prepared to put up with and even engage in sin, in order to advance themselves materially!
There is an ignoring of both God’s exertion to holiness and His warning of the harvest of such actions.
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:35-36.
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not,” Galatians 6:7-9.
2. In his backsliding he descended to great depths.
“And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof,” Genesis 19:6-8.
This was the most despicable response of Lot to the wicked demands of the Sodomites! It is inconceivable to think that a father would say this of his daughters!
But I would remind Christians today that there are Christian parents, who for reasons just as wicked as Lot’s attempt to placate his evil ‘neighbours’, place their little ones in the hands of those who believe that the lifestyle of the sodomite is acceptable and must be consented to as legitimate!
Is that not, in essence, as wicked as the attitude and actions of Lot?
I believe it is and it will be seen to be so when Christians stand before the Lord!
3. Despite his compromise and seeking to placate his evil neighbours, he was despised by them.
“And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door,” Genesis 19:9.
Lot’s seeking to appease the sodomites and his efforts at integrating with them were unsuccessful. They knew him to be an ‘outsider’. They knew his heart better than he did. They likely discerned his ‘vexation’, despite his attempts to suppress it and conceal it!
Even the most backslidden true believer will manifest something of the disposition that God placed within them by His grace and it will be seen by the ungodly.
The backslider can never be at one with the wicked. Oil and water will not mix!
II. LOT’S FOLLY REMOVED HIS EFFECTIVENESS AS A WITNESS.
1. He had no impact for good upon his wife.
She had no desire to obey the Lord and her husband. She was most unhappy to be dragged out of Sodom, having no faith in the divine warnings of judgment.
“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. And 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. . . Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt,” Genesis 19:16-17, 24-26.
Even as fire and brimstone rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, his wife looked back with obvious regret that such was happening, for her heart and affections lay there!
Whatever her husband may have said to her in his vexation at the sins of Sodom — if he said anything — it had no impact upon her!
2. He had no impact for good upon his sons in law!
“And 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 mocked unto his sons in law,” Genesis 19:14.
He very belatedly witnessed to his sons in law, but they thought he was joking! Such a contrast was there between how Lot had lived and acted that when he took God’s word of warning in his mouth to them they thought it was all a laugh!
Children
Are there not many sons and daughters today who consider their parents warning of judgment to come as a mere ‘joke’ because there is no living out by those parents of the gospel message they are trying to impress upon their children?
The vacant seats beside Christian parents in churches speak loudly to us in this matter!
Guiltless
Oh yes, there are fathers and mothers, who like the prodigal’s parents, were guiltless in the matter of his rebellious departure, but there are all too many parents who know within their hearts that they did not live for the Lord before the family and suffer self-condemnation in the wake of their children’s rejection of God’s Word!
Abraham had asked the Lord that if there were ten righteous in Sodom, would He spare the city from judgment and the Lord answered: “I will not destroy it for ten’s sake,” Genesis 18:32.
There were possibly ten in Lot’s family: his wife, his two unmarried daughters and his married daughters, who may have numbered three and their husbands, and, of course, himself. But, none but Lot was righteous!
3. Even the two daughters, who escaped with him, were contaminated by the wickedness of Sodom and their father’s backsliding.
Their evil-mindedness is too distressful to dwell upon. Their wickedness produced two nations of rebels against God and His people! The nations of ‘Moab’ and ‘Ammon’ are testimony to the outworking of backsliding! That is what Lot’s compromise with sin gave ‘birth’ to!
III. IT IS A SAD FACT THAT LOT’S SIN COST HIM HIS WHOLE FAMILY!
There is nothing left of Lot but a dark account of his life. Were it not for Peter’s words, as we have said, we would be inclined to number Lot amongst the souls lost for all eternity.
We should note Peter’s opening words regarding Lot. The Lord “delivered just Lot.”
He escaped the ashes of Sodom by the mighty power of God. Here is ground and encouragement for praying for backslidden loved ones. Few have ever gone as far away from holiness as did Lot, yet the Lord rescued him.
Dear Christian, pray for your children and live so as to set forth the reality of God’s grace and mercy, the truth of His Word and the dreadful judgment that will be meted out upon Christ-rejectors for all eternity.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Friday 19th September 2025