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(14) So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law,
who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the
LORD will destroy
this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. New
King James Version Change your email Bible version
This is not a way that God
wants His children to live. Even though He mercifully intervenes and saves, He
wants His children to enjoy the best of the abundant life and to be prepared for
His Kingdom.
Most are familiar with Herbert Lockyer's series of "All" books: All the
Prayers of the Bible, All the Parables
of the Bible, All the Promises of the Bible, All the Women of
the Bible, etc. In All the Men of the Bible, he says that Lot is the
representative man:
Perhaps there is no figure in the Bible who represents so many men of today
as Lot of Sodom. Where you will find one Abraham, one Daniel, or one Joshua, you
will find a thousand Lots.
Lot had much wealth, but he did not have the abundant life of God because of
his choice to coexist with the
world, whose constant degenerate pressure virtually destroyed his true
spirituality. Lot was not a sinner in the normal sense, but a spiritually small
and lean man.
There is an interesting contrast between Abraham and Lot. Abraham was
probably exceedingly wealthier than Lot, but Abraham lived in a tent, while Lot
lived in a house. This clearly shows that Abraham lived his life in such a way
that everybody understood that Abraham was just a pilgrim. He did not put roots
down in this world, while Lot, his nephew, did.
Lot was converted but carnal. He was a man of weak faith.
His hopes and dreams were in the world, and his interest was in the things of
this world. Lot had the same vision as Abraham, but by choice, he was firmly
anchored in the world. All of Lot's goodness
was virtually wasted because his spiritual life was going nowhere.
One might say that, because Lot was "saved," there is more than one way to
skin a cat. There might be many poor ways of skinning a cat, as well as some
good ways, too. But there is only one best way to skin a cat. Why not choose the
best way of doing it? That is the lesson of Lot's life. Why let our works that
we have built burn up? Instead, why not do things the way God says?
God was not in all of Lot's thoughts (Psalm 10:4) because he was living by sight. Lot might very
well be what we might call the quintessential second-generation Christian. He
believed, but all of his passion was spent pursuing the amusements of this
world. Lot, whose faith was weak at best, was not committed like Abraham was.
The whole aim of Abraham's life was to give glory to God, while Lot, though
righteous, lived by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). His aim was essentially to grasp at
life, to do it now and enjoy it, rather than work to develop his relationship
with God.
— John W. Ritenbaugh
To learn more, see:
Faith (Part 4)
Related Topics:
Co-Existence with Sin
Co-existence with the World
Incest
Inconsistency
Lingering
Living by Sight
Lot
Lot as Representative Man
Lot of Sodom
Lot's Carnality
Lot's Worldliness
Sin, Co-existence with
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