Lot:
You Can Get There From Here (e)
James
R. Davis
A Star Trek movie portrayed an alien
spaceship that went through a time warp to an earlier time in earth's history.
Its mission was to alter history by preventing the earth's first spaceship
from being launched. This was to alter history so that earth's spaceship
in the future would not be a threat to the alien in the present. How many
times have we dreamed of going back in time to alter something in our past
to change the present?
I might want to alter the present
by altering the past, but since that is impossible, God makes it possible
for me to come to him from here or from my present circumstances. You see,
God doesn't ask us to do the impossible. Although the circumstances I am
dealing with may very well be the result of a decision made in the past.
I may regret the decision but I can't go back. We may repent of the decision
but even the repentance will not change the consequences of how I must
live today as a result of that decision.
It is really wonderful to know
that God will save me where I am in spite of the consequences I may be
suffering as a result of a bad decision in the past. Peter makes a
remarkable statement to those who have blown it in life and are afraid
of losing their salvation.
2 Pet 2:4-9
For if God did not spare angels
when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons
to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he
brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher
of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what
is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man,
who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous
man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul
by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- if this is so, then the Lord knows
how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the
day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
Peter is talking about the judgement
of God. He speaks of God's destruction of the world in Noah's day. He speaks
of the destruction of Sodom in Abraham's day. But I find something else
in this passage; it's a stark contrast. God saved righteous Noah who made
all the right decisions that resulted in saving his family. In sharp contrast
I see God saving righteous Lot who seemed to have made all the wrong decisions
and ultimately lost his family. Peter says that the " . . . Lord knows
how to rescue godly men from trials . . . "
This lesson is certainly not to encourage
anyone to live a double-minded life as Lot certainly did. This lesson is
not to encourage you to make the decisions Lot made. Hopefully we will
gain wisdom and avoid the mistakes Lot made. Hopefully it will be an encouragement
to those who have already blown it in certain facets of their lives; it
is for those who are living with the stark realities of foolish decisions.
Decisions that have altered lives for the worst. It is for those who will
suffer presently for those foolish mistakes made in the past.
Really, I have a feeling, all
of us in some way can identify with Lot in certain facets of our lives.
In fact I think many of the great men in the Bible could identify with
Lot in certain facets of their lives. The consequences of Noah's drunkenness
resulted in consequences upon his son Ham because he looked upon his father
when he was drunk and naked. David's consequences of adultery with Bethsheba
and the resulting havoc brought upon his family. Samson's consequences
of loving Delilah and the resulting consequences of imprisonment and having
his eyes poked out. (By the way, Samson stands in stark contrast to all
those faithful souls mentioned in Hebrews 11 when God mentions him among
the faithful in Hebrews 11:32.)
This lesson is directed to those
of us who have been struggling with a facet of our lives that has been
altered for life by a foolish decision made earlier in life. Maybe
you are one of us who would like to go back and take advantage of a lost
opportunity you passed up twenty years ago? Maybe you would like to go
back and save that marriage that failed? Maybe you would like to go back
and relive those rebellious teenage years or relive that moment when
you gave in to a weakness for which you and others have been paying for
dearly all you life? Or maybe you would like to go back in time and take
back some harsh words? Maybe go back in time an never take that first drink
that eventually destroyed your family? Or maybe you would like to go back
and resist that sexual fantasy that brought your downfall? Maybe you would
like to go back so you could avoid the harsh realities of those decisions
in the present? Maybe there is a fellow out there on death row that can't
change his circumstances? There is no time warp in real life. We may have
to bear crosses daily that we have made for ourselves. There may even be
crosses on which we have nailed ourselves. But the beautiful thing
is that there is a God whose grace can save us even as we hang on our self-made
crosses. And His grace for the present gives us strength to go on; and
it says that there is yet a future. "
A Crucial Decision Made
Lot was one person in the Bible who
no doubt would have loved to go back in time and relive his past in order
that he might make some different decisions. I say that because the Bible
says he was a righteous man, and righteous people see their mistakes and
mourn over them. We learn from Lot that even righteous people can make
bad decisions. As we study Lot's life maybe we can learn some things about
decision making that will help us live in the time frame of the present.
If we learn the lessons hopefully, we can avoid fantasizing about what
might have been. If we are already where Lot was in life, that is suffering
the consequences of our mistakes, hopefully we can find grace to go on.
In the book of Genesis, Lot is introduced
to us as the nephew of Abraham. (Genesis 12:15; 13:1.) He left Ur with
Abram when God called Abram into a strange country. As a result of Abram
and Lot following God's call, they both became very wealthy. But that combined
wealth of both men caused a separation. The herds and flocks became so
large that strife arose between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Water was
getting scarce and pasture short. They had to travel long distances to
feed and water the flocks. It became a stressful time and they were forced
by circumstances to separate.
Gen 13:5-9
Now Lot, who was moving about with
Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
But the land could not support them
while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they
were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen
and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living
in the land at that time. So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling
between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.
Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the
left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."
Apparently Abraham and Lot were standing
on a high place overlooking the entire territory.
Genesis 13:10-11
Lot looked up and saw that the whole
plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like
the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and
set out toward the east. The two men parted company . . .
As you read this story it reminds
you of your inner nature that tells you to look out for number one.
Have you ever observed two people struggling in a relationship? Each trying
to squeeze the other for all there is. One fellow that had five children
said that his children could work for the Bureau of Standards. When he
pours them coke in five different glasses, they know at a glance which
glass has the most coke no matter how small the difference.
One lady told me when her two boys
had only one candy bar, she made them half it. But she had a unique way
of making them half the candy bar. One could cut the candy bar into
two pieces and the other could pick which half of the candy bar he wanted
first. Ingenious idea isn't it? This gives us an insight into the human
nature and also how Lot was thinking.
Have you ever made one of those decisions
where you just knew you couldn't lose? It was the mother of all decisions.
Well that's exactly what Lot did. He was looking out for number one when
he made this decision. Abraham should have had the first choice. He was
older. He was more like a father than an uncle to Lot. It should have been
Abram's choice. Lot could have come back and said, "Look Abraham you take
one side of the Jordan River Valley and I'll take the other. We will both
have fertile valleys and plenty of water for our herds and we will have
the Jordan River separating us to prevent the strife." But no, Lot took
it all.
Abraham made the better decision;
he put their relationship ahead of everything. He simply said, "Lot nothing
is worth destroying our relationship." I don't think Lot was listening.
He made a decision that apparently benefited him. Lot was a master at looking
out for number one. So he pitched his tent toward Sodom. He probably had
great visions where this decision would lead him. The best land, water,
and cities to trade with would enhance his economic fortunes. It seemed
as though this decision gave Lot the edge. Lot never dreamed where this
one decision in life would lead.
It is strange that many of those
decisions we thought would give us a future, instead brought ruin in certain
areas of our lives.
Maybe you have stood where Abram
is standing in this story. Abram gave up his rights. He decided not to
make a decision from a material point of view. He decided that their relationship
was too important.
The amazing thing often overlooked
in this story is that immediately after Lot's departure, God speaks to
Abram. This was a moment of great testing for Abram. His nephew, that was
no doubt like a son was departing. Lot had taken the best of the land.
Abram had wavered his rights and seemingly lost. Now he was left alone.
The land was full of Canaanites and Perizites who posed a physical threat
with Lot's departure. Abram's clan would be smaller in number and more
vulnerable. It is in times like these that we need assurance from God that
we are still a part of God's plan.
Gen 13:14-18
The LORD said to Abram after Lot
had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north
and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you
and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of
the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring
could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,
for I am giving it to you." So Abram moved his tents and went to live near
the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
It is encouraging to know when we
give up our rights God is with us in a very, very, very special way. God
reassured Abram that the land was his and that He would take care of him.
A RIGHTEOUS PERSON CAN MAKE A
BAD DECISION
In this story we see two righteous
men making decisions that would affect the rest of their lives. One makes
his decision based on the temporal. The other makes a decision based on
the eternal. Abraham made a decision that he would spend his life looking
for a city whose builder and maker was God. Lot looked toward the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah that were soon to be reduced to ashes.
Some decisions may not seem very
significant, but they set a particular course for our lives. A decision
may not seem very important, but its final outcome can be terrifying and
tragic. And often the appearance is that the choice is one that is certain
to be to our advantage.
God's estimate of Lot is much higher
than our estimate of him. God says, " . . . for that righteous man, living
among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless
deeds he saw and heard . . . "(2 Peter 2:8). It is of great encouragement
to know when you make a decision that is not right, God doesn't give up
on you. He doesn't judge your entire life by that one decision. Although
that decision can be far reaching enough to alter your entire course in
life for the worst.
Far more than the loss of his possessions
and his prosperity, Lot paid a terrible price for his short-lived pleasure.
According to Peter, Lot's righteous soul was continually vexed by what
he saw in that city. Even when the saint is surrounded by sensual pleasure,
he cannot enjoy sin for long. And more tragic than anything, Lot paid for
his decision in his family. His wife was turned to salt because of her
attachment to Sodom (19:26).
WHAT DID LOT'S DECISION COST HIM?
How time and divine judgement
can change our perspective of prosperity! When Lot made his decision
to settle in the Jordan valley, it was a virtual paradise. Moses, however,
included a parenthetical remark which put this beauty in a very different
light: "This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah" (Genesis
13:10).
Lot didn't know that he was laying
it all on the line with that one decision. In Genesis 14 kings of warring
factions capture Lot. Abraham takes his men and rescues Lot and his family.
He sells his tent, so to speak, and bought a condo in Sodom and suffered
the oppression and torment of the people of Sodom. The angels came to rescue
Lot in Genesis 19. The city was so bad that the men of the city came to
Lot's home desiring to have sex with the angels that were staying there.
Lot was such a righteous man that he offered his virgin daughters to the
men to provide safety for the angels. But the men of the city pressed him
to the point where the angels reached out and pulled Lot into his house.
Then the angels struck the men blind.
Gen 19:15-26
With the coming of dawn, the angels
urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are
here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated,
the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters
and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your
lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the
mountains or you will be swept away!" But Lot said to them, "No, my lords,
please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great
kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this
disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough
to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it-- it is very small, isn't
it? Then my life will be spared." He said to him, "Very well, I will grant
this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee
there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That
is why the town was called Zoar.) By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun
had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom
and Gomorrah-- from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those
cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--
and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she
became a pillar of salt.
Sometimes even righteous people have
difficulty listening to God. It is as though we have more faith in our
own decisions. Lot was reluctant to leave, even when God was ever so anxious
to lead him to higher ground. The angels struggled with Lot to get him
out of the city. They ask him to go to the mountains but he refused. He
was afraid for his life. He wanted to go to Zoar which was a small town.
It is amazing how God worked with this man. The angels allowed him to go
to Zoar. The city of Zoar was spared because of Lot's decision. But his
decision led him to a place of greater danger.
Gen 19:29-30
So when God destroyed the cities
of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe
that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Lot and his two daughters
left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar.
He and his two daughters lived in a cave.
Lot is much like a child squalling
because she doesn't want to go someplace. The child can go squalling all
the way or the child can cooperate and go happy, but no matter how the
child behaves the child is going to end up where you want it to go. Well
Lot went squalling but he ended up where God wanted him . . . on higher
ground . . .. on the mountain in a cave. After seeing all that fire and
brimstone, he probably figured that cave was the safest place to be.
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MAKE THE
RIGHT CHOICES?
Someone has pointed out that life
seems to be arranged backwards. We are called upon to make our most important
choices at a time when we have the least amount of experience to guide
us. Because of this, we so frequently hear expressions of regret like,
"If only I had known", "If I had it to do over again", etc. But it is this
very quality of life which reveals the inability of man to handle life
by himself. It is a wise person, indeed, who learns this lesson early and
gives heed to the Biblical admonition, "Trust in the Lord with all your
heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge
him, and he will make straight your paths." (Prov. 3:5-6)
We understand that man cannot lean
upon his own understanding. "I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his
own; it is not for man to direct his steps" (Jer 10:23). We do not know
what the future holds so there is no way that we can make intelligent decisions
without God's guidance.
Lot had a hard time accepting the
will of God even when angels were leading the way. It is hard to get rid
of that old sinful nature that wants to lead us around by the nose.
Abram's Response
In stark contrast, note Abram's response
to this difficult time.
Gen 13:14-18
The LORD said to Abram after Lot
had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north
and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you
and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of
the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring
could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,
for I am giving it to you." So Abram moved his tents and went to live near
the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
Abram's response revealed a growing
faith in God. He moved his tents toward Hebron, settling near the oaks
of Mamre. It was a plot of ground that belonged to another, not Abram (cf.
14:13), but it was where God wanted him to be. There Abram built an altar
and worshipped his God.
How different were the paths of these
two men after they separated. The one was almost imperceptibly edging closer
and closer to the city Sodom, to live among godless and wicked men, and
all for the sake of financial gain. The other was living the life of the
sojourner, dwelling on those barren hills, with his hope in the promises
of God. One lives in his tent and builds an altar of worship; the other
trades his tent in for an apartment in the city of wicked men. Here was
a decision by each man which bore heavily on the destiny of both, but,
far more, on the destiny of their offspring.
Conclusion:
The decisions reached by Abraham
and Lot are the same as those that confront every Christian. We must decide
whether to trust in the sovereignty of God or in our own schemes and devices.
We must determine whether to trust in the "uncertainty of riches" or in
the God Who "richly supplies us"' (1 Timothy 6:17). We must decide whether
to invest in the "passing pleasures of sin" or the future "reward" which
is promised by God.
These decisions are clearly contrasted
in the separation of Lot and Abram. Lot chose to act on the basis of the
practical, Abraham on the basis of brotherly love. For the sake of unity,
Abram was willing to be taken advantage of.
Abram acted on the ground of faith
in God who had promised to provide. Lot chose to direct his life on the
uncertain foundation of financial security. Abram was greatly blessed,
and Lot lost it all.
Lot chose to dwell in a city, which
seemed like paradise (13:10), but was filled with sinners. Abram decided
to live in a deserted place, but where he could freely worship his God.
Abram beautifully illustrates
the truth of two New Testament facts. First, he provides a commentary on
these words, spoken by our Lord:Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of
God (Matthew 5:5,9).
Abram was a man of meekness. He did
not have to forcefully snatch blessing, but faithfully waited for it from
God's hand. He was one who was given to peace, rather than to sacrifice
it for prosperity.
Abram was successful because he was
a servant. He did not get ahead in life because he climbed the hill of
success over that got in his way. God exalted him because he placed the
interests of others ahead of his own.
The world's way of making decisions
is to look out for number one. That was Lot's way, as well. God's way to
blessing is looking up to Number One and looking out for others.
Matthew 22:36-40
Master, which is the great commandment
in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the
first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets.
Such a life can only be lived by
faith. Such a life can only cause our faith in God to grow.
The beginning point for every man,
woman, and child is to look to God for salvation. We cannot, we dare not,
trust in our own shrewdness to get us entrance into God's kingdom. Often
what we perceive to be 'paradise' is soon to be destroyed by divine wrath.
Faith recognizes our sinfulness and trusts in the work of Christ on the
cross of Calvary for eternal security and blessing.
Our own best efforts are doomed to
destruction. Only what God promises and provides will endure.
May God enable each of us to trust
in Him, and not in ourselves? May God enable us to deal with the difficulties
we have caused for ourselves through the strength that only He provides?
May we take hope in spite of our circumstances because God will not let
us down?
Lot teaches us that God will save
to the uttermost, but who wants to suffer the uttermost?
Heb 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them.
If we do suffer, we may draw our
strength from God.
2 Cor 1:3-7
Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any
trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just
as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ
our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and
salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces
in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope
for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,
so also you share in our comfort.
