Genesis 19:23-38 NKJV
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. 31 Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” 35 Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
The Lord has His reasons for allowing wickedness and impenitence to go unpunished for a time. But there is a limit to His patience, and we learn in today’s reading that His judgment is something to be feared.
Just as people should tremble at the global flood by which God swept away the wicked, so they should also tremble at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, because it is only a small-scale example of what will happen on Judgment Day. All the wicked will perish, while only the righteous—penitent believers in Christ Jesus, who are relatively few in number—will be saved.
Nevertheless, the Lord gives us the warning of Lot’s wife, who began to flee from Sodom, but then turned back in apparent longing for the city she was leaving behind. Citing the swift and severe punishment she received for such godless longing, the Lord Jesus cries out to Christians, “Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:32-33). Do not long for the things of this life or let yourself become overly attached to them. Instead, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:2-4).
The last part of today’s reading demonstrates how many who have received the Lord’s salvation quickly turn away from Him and back to providing for themselves. Instead of giving praise and thanks to God for rescuing them from destruction, instead of trusting in Him for the future, Lot’s two daughters commit shameful acts that betray their unbelief and their utter reliance on their own schemes instead of relying on the God of Abraham. As a result, their descendants became bitter enemies and troublers of the people of God. Let us take all these warnings to heart and remain faithful to the God of our salvation!
Let us pray: Gracious Father, as you faithfully and mercifully preserved Lot from earthly destruction, so preserve us from the destruction that is coming on the world, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.