It appears Lot went from being a farmer in the surrounding fields of Sodom to a place of political prominence in that city’s gate. The “gate” of a city was where elders met to conduct its affairs (Prov. 31:2323Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. (Proverbs 31:23)). Genesis 19:99And 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) could be translated, “This fellow came in to sojourn, and he will again and again be a judge.” Oh! beloved Christian friends, how many believers there are, called by God to be sojourners here, who have set about to “again and again” correct the conduct of the world a world that is under a coming day of judgment (Acts 17:3131Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)).
It will be thus with the professed church. The world will tire of her constant efforts to correct it and will overthrow her completely. God will put it into the heart of the world to do it (Rev. 17:15-1815And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:15‑18)). Solemn thought!
Lot’s Vexation and Failures
Lot lived with a vexed soul, and his efforts to make Sodom better failed completely. Still, his life’s interests were in Sodom. When this happens in a man’s life, his house comes into shame. Husbands! Fathers! The Lord has given us a place to “rule.” But it is not in this world; it is in our homes (1 Tim. 3:55(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) (1 Timothy 3:5)). If we neglect that responsibility, both our homes and the assembly will suffer.
As a husband, we find that Lot had little apparent love for his wife. He had worked hard filling her house with “stuff,” but in an hour of grave danger, instead of being the “saviour” of his wife (Eph. 5:2323For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (Ephesians 5:23)), someone else must take her hand to save her.
Providing for the Needs of Our Wives
There are husbands like Lot who are quite willing to allow someone else to provide for the needs of their wives. A husband should be one to whom a wife can turn when she needs answers to her questions (1 Cor. 14:3535And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. (1 Corinthians 14:35)). Often we men may find ourselves sitting in some gate perhaps for long hours giving answers to others.
Lot was found there at even and it appears he planned to return there “early.” I suspect that this was the pattern of his life. His work was his life, and he stayed late at the office and returned to it early (Gen. 19:1212And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: (Genesis 19:12)). While there are times when a man will be called on to work extra hours (Neh. 4:21-2321So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. 22Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day. 23So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. (Nehemiah 4:21‑23)), that is not what I refer to. There can be little doubt that Lot’s advancement in Sodom was due to his pursuit in life. He sought his “own things,” not the interests of the Lord. I doubt his wife suffered for lack of material things, but she did lack a husband’s caring and directing love in her life.
Providing for the Needs of Our Children
Lot as a father was no better. In Genesis 19:1414And 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), it could read, “Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters.” It appears from this verse that these men were engaged to his daughters and had not yet taken them in marriage.
How tragic is the lack of Lot’s care for his daughters! In an hour when they needed him most, he would have given them up to those who would have defiled them. We all agree that such conduct is contemptible. But dads! What have we been guilty of exposing our daughters to?
Fathers: Teaching Their Daughters
Do we fathers pass the time of our “sojourning... in fear”? Are we not often very careless in instructing our precious daughters in manners calculated to preserve them in purity?
I think none influences a daughter’s choice of a husband as much as her father. Do we teach them that the way that they dress has an important influence as to the type of young man that will be interested in them? Do we help them to learn what they should avoid doing or where they should avoid being? Do we encourage our daughters to go to “functions” of the world that expose them to the young men of the world? (See Dinah in Genesis 34.)
Fathers: The Result of Carelessness
Dinah was allowed by her careless father to keep company with the “daughters of the land.” Perhaps he reasoned, “Oh, they are not saved, but they are really nice girls.” But the sad result was that Dinah met Shechem (who defiled her) when she was with those “really nice girls.”
Shechem was “more honorable than all the house of his father.” Have we ever heard, “He’s not saved, but he is a really nice boy.” How vital that fathers ask, “But who is his father?” Is his Father, God? Does he reflect in this life that God is his Father? Is not that a most critical consideration? How crucial are these questions!
Fathers: The Result of Neglect
Oh! where was poor Lot when his daughters chose men of Sodom to be their life companions? He was involved with the “more important” affairs of Sodom. There he met those two strangers “angels,” thinking they were simply “men.” Sensing they were important men, his care for them was more important than that of his own daughters!
Fathers: Their Most Important Work
Let us not think this does not relate to us as fathers! How many fathers neglect their own children, while thinking they are doing a more important work (not now for Sodom) for God. Beloved, what is our concept of the Lord’s work for those who are parents?
Does He not reprove those who would teach the neglect of their families under the thought that it was “Corban” (Mark 7:1111But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. (Mark 7:11))? Do we really think the Lord would lead us to sacrifice our responsibilities towards our children in order to serve Him (Judg. 11:30-4030And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, 31Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. 32So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 33And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel. 34And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. 35And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. 36And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon. 37And she said unto her father, Let this thing be done for me: let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my fellows. 38And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months: and she went with her companions, and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. 39And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed: and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel, 40That the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in a year. (Judges 11:30‑40))? Oh! how careless we are as fathers!
The Sad Results of the Misuse of Marriage
May we consider the “end results” of this misuse of marriage. “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:3232Remember Lot's wife. (Luke 17:32)). Why did she look back? This chapter indicates that her heart had been taken away by the “stuff in the house.” Oh! how many homes have been destroyed because of the pursuit of filling those beautiful homes with beautiful “stuff.”
May we soberly consider Lot’s two daughters. Instead of Lot’s children replenishing God’s interests down here, they, by means of their father’s drunkenness, give birth to the Moabites and the Ammonites, children who were to be shut out from being included among the Lord’s people (Deut. 23:33An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever: (Deuteronomy 23:3)).
In conclusion, beloved brethren, may we soberly and humbly obey the words of the prophet: “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:55Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:5)).
H. Short