Luke 17:28-30
Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
The Lord makes it very clear that the days of the coming of the Son of Man would be like the days of Lot.
Who is Lot?
We learn about this man named Lot in the book of Genesis.
Lot was the son of Haran, grandson of Terah, and nephew of Abram (Abraham). It seems that Lot’s father Haran died early. At some point, after Haran’s death, Lot’s grandfather Terah decided to move to Canaan with his entire family. However, they settled in Haran instead of Canaan. After the death of Terah, the Lord spoke to Abram and told him to go to Canaan and gave him a promise to make him into a great nation (Genesis 12:1–3). Abram set out on this journey with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot.
When they came to Bethel, there was a quarrel between Abram’s and Lot’s sheepherders because both of them had much livestock and the land was not enough to support the amount of livestock each of them owned. So, Abram proposed an idea (Gen 13:8-9): they would part company, and Lot could choose the land he wanted. Lot chose the land of Sodom and Gomorrah near the Jordan River, as it was rich and lush while Abram dwelt in Canaan.
Genesis 13:12: "Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Noteworthy events after this include Lot’s rescue from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, during which Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, and Lot being made drunk by his daughters so that they could have children with him.
Lot chose Sodom based on its outward appearance.
Genesis 13:10 - It was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
However the men of Sodom were extremely wicked.
Genesis 13:3 - But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
What were the wickedness found in Sodom?
Sodom was a wicked city.
Sins of Sodom:
1. Genesis 19:5 - Sodom was known for rampant homosexual behaviour. In fact, the term ‘Sodomy’ and ‘Sodomites’ are derived from Sodom which was known for this widespread sin.
Bible also records other sins of Sodom
2. Ezekiel 16: 49 - Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
From the outside, it may appear that Lot was selfish and ungodly in choosing such a city to dwell.
However, let us see what the Bible has got to say about Lot:
2 Peter 2: 6 - 8
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)
You may ask – How come a person like Lot - a wavering family man, a comfort-loving person and a drunken dad— be righteous?
There are three possible reasons why Lot was called righteous by Peter
1. Peter gives the answer in the very same passage of 2 Peter 2: 7 - 8
and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)
Lot was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. His soul was tormented day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds
It is true that Lot chose the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, let us not forget that he did not forcibly demand those cities from Abraham. He was given a choice and he decided looking at the outward appearance of Sodom. Bible records that it was like the garden of the Lord. That does not mean that he agreed with the sins of Sodom.
Nowhere do we find him committing the sin of Sodom.
Neither was he indifferent to their sins.
On the other hand, he was oppressed. His soul was tormented by seeing and hearing about their wickedness.
Now lets get back to Luke 17:28-30
The Lord makes it very clear that the days of coming of the Son of Man would be as the days of Lot and the destruction of Sodom - pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; failure to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy
In fact, Jesus likens the last days to be so. Very true, we are in the last days.
Even today, the world around us is full of sins of Sodom.
How is our reaction to the sins around us?
Many Christians today conform themselves to the patterns of the world which the Bible clearly prohibits us (Romans 12:2)
A second group remains indifferent to the sins around them although they do not participate in the sins
There is only a small group of people who are oppressed, whose souls are tormented on hearing about such things. It is only this group that go on their knees and cry out to God pleading for the sins of their nation and the people around them. Lot belonged to this group and was called as righteous.
2. Lot called out the wickedness of Sodom
Lot was not silent to the wicked deeds of Sodom.
Genesis 19:7 - and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
When the wicked men wanted to sin with the strangers who came to stay in the house of Lot (Genesis 19:5), Lot did not give up. He tried his best to protect those who had come to his refuge. He even warned the men of Sodom to withdraw from their wicked act. When he failed in all his attempts to prevent them from entering, the angels worked on his behalf. Bible says that they reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
Are we silent to the wickedness around us or we trying our best to tell people around us about their wicked ways and preach the righteousness that comes through Christ?
Ezekiel 3:19 - But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.
This is exactly what Lot did. He could not stop their wickedness, but he saved himself.
3. The third reason why Lord was righteous was that he obeyed God and did not turn back to see the destruction of Sodom
The Lord had decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord but wanted to save righteous Lot and his family. When the morning dawned, the angels took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. When bringing them out, the angels commanded them to not turn back.
Genesis 19:17 - So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that [b]he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you.”
The Lord overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Lot’s wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. However, Lot did not turn back.
That is why, Jesus solemnly warns us that nobody must go back on the day of His coming
Luke 17:31 - On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife!
The Israelites looked back to the pleasures of Egypt in the wilderness
Exodus 16:3 - And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Numbers 11: 5 - We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
And the entire generation perished in the wilderness. They could not inherit the promised land. Only their children could inherit them.
However, Lot did not turn back and escaped the destruction of Sodom.
Lot stands as a sign for the end days.
To be saved in the coming of the days of the Lord, we need to be like righteous Lot
1. We should not be people indifferent to the evil happenings around us but our souls must be tormented and we must cry out to the Lord in the prayer
2. We must do our best to warn people of the wrath to come and preach the good news of the gospel of Christ
3. Once saved, we must not turn back to the pleasures and the sins that we left and came.
Luke 9:62 - But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
