“And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 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. 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.”
Genesis 19:27-29
Abraham gets up early and goes out to where God had made the promise of sparing the lives of the righteous. I’m sure the sight wasn’t pretty, after some serious judgment the rubble and rising smoke could be seen for miles around; perhaps Abraham’s heart sunk as the evidence seemed to show that there weren’t enough righteous people for mercy to be given.
We know, however, this wasn’t the case. Although the standard of righteousness wasn’t met, God still sought a way to spare the lives of those who believed and committed themselves, never once compromising His judgment on sin. This is a perfect picture of God’s heart towards all of us, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, “None are righteous, no not one.” Although we didn’t meet the standard of righteousness we see that God still sought a way to give mercy through the death of His son Jesus, carrying out perfectly an uncompromised judgment through Jesus and at the same time accomplishing a rescue of those who would believe and commit themselves to Him.
There are a couple more interesting truths that are present here. We see that the deliverance of Lot was partly due to the prayers of another. Perhaps, like Abraham, your heart sinks when you see the outworking of destruction.
You watch as he ruins his life with those habits.
She’s returned to her old crowd and heads down the wrong road.
The truth is God hears our cries on behalf of others and He is faithful to seek and to save those who are lost in sin.
As easy as it is to pass judgment on Lot and see him as a backsliding screw up, a lost cause who continues to make poor decisions and just keeps drifting farther from what’s right, the Bible in fact calls him righteous.
“…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)-then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations…”
2 Peter 2:6-9
Through the Lord’s eyes Lot was a righteous man, this sobers me up quite a bit because often I’m quick to write off this person due to the outward appearances and actions, on the other hand we aren’t the Lord. God sees the heart, the righteous Judge knows exactly where that person is at inside and He is mighty to save them out of the oppressive temptations and atmosphere that is tormenting them.
In the same way we have the responsibility to pray for those who are tormented in their soul by the life that they live, whether they have chosen that route or not, God is the one who discerns the heart, our job is to pray and desire that God grace and mercy be poured out on them.
Abraham chose to pray instead of pass judgment
God chose to seek and to save that which was lost
And Lot escaped through the flames
It’s a beautiful picture.
