Lot Series

October 26, 2024

We don’t know much about Lot. He is mentioned just 26 times in Genesis, primarily in chapters 13 and 19.

We know that his father was Haran and that he joined the household of his uncle Abram and aunt Sarai after the death of his father (interestingly, it was one of Abram’s servants – and not Lot – whom Abram chose to make his heir).

We know that he went to Egypt with Abram and that he had flocks and herds.

We know he chose to “pitch his tents near Sodom.” Years before its ultimate destruction, the reputation of Sodom was already well known, and yet, Lot chose – INTENTIONALLY – to move there.

We know he was captured and taken hostage and that he was rescued by Abram and his band of merry men.

Many years went by – at least 15.

In that time, Lot went from pitching his tents near Sodom to becoming an elder of some influence at the city gate (19:1).

The final and sad story of Lot begins, however, where we left off last week; with Abraham walking down the road with his 3 visitors as they began to make their way toward Sodom (18:16).

Yahweh had chosen Abraham and his descendants to be beacons of justice and righteousness in the world, so he chose to disclose to Abraham what was about to happen.

Yahweh: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Did Yahweh really not know what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah? Of course he did. This is legal language. An investigation must occur before a judgment can be rendered (also see Genesis 3:9; 6:5-6; 11:5-6).

As the angels turned toward Sodom, Abraham and Yahweh lingered and thus begins one of the great conversations in scripture.

Before getting to the conversation proper, I want to quickly address Genesis 18:22.

In most Bibles the passage reads: “The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.”

In that culture “standing before,” indicated social status – it was the position of a servant (see Genesis 43:15; Exodus 9:10; Leviticus 9:5), so it seems right that Abraham would “stand before” Yahweh.

However, Genesis 18:22 contains a textual note inserted by the Masoretes (Jewish Scholars = Masoretic text) which suggests that, in the original manuscript, it was Yahweh who stood before Abraham. They were correcting earlier scholars (the Sopherim – this is the same group who changed Yahweh or Jehovah into “the Lord” out of a superstitious fear of pronouncing the divine name of God) who had changed the original for theological reasons – they believed it irreverent and disrespectful to place God in the subservient position.

The theological implications of this cannot be underestimated. Just like he had chosen to place himself in the subservient position when he walked amongst the carcasses (15:9-17), Yahweh was choosing to place himself in the position of servant before Abraham (see Mark 10:42-45; Philippians 2:5-8), which makes the following conversation all the more incredible…………….

Yahweh: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Abraham: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing -- to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

Abraham was interceding on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah – on behalf of his nephew, Lot.

Indiscriminate punishment is not divine judgment and Abraham knew that Yahweh would never act in an impulsive way. He was not questioning Yahweh’s ability or right to judge but was appealing to his righteousness and justice – that he was always going to do the right thing in every situation.

Yahweh: "If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

Abraham: "Now that I, who am nothing but dust and ashes, have been so bold as to speak to Yahweh…. what if the number of the righteous is 45? Will you destroy the whole city because of 5 people?"

Yahweh: "If I find 45 I will not destroy it."