The Rescue of Lot
When morning came, the angels were still urging Lot to leave the city. Why was Lot still hesitant? Was he hoping that his two future sons-in-law would change their minds and come with them out of the city? But the angels wouldn’t wait any longer. They said, “Get up and take your wife and your two daughters that you have, and get out, so you are not destroyed by the lawless acts of the city.” (19:15). But not all arrived in safety.
Lot was unwilling to leave for several hours. The angels took them by the hand and led them out of the city, and told them to flee to the mountain. But Lot believed they wouldn’t make it and asked if they could escape to the nearest town. The angels agreed.
Genesis 19:23-26 “The sun came out upon the earth, and Lot entered into Zoar. 24And the Lord rained sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens, 25and He toppled these cities, those in which Lot resided, and all the surrounding region, and all those who dwelled in the cities and everything that sprang forth from the earth. 26And his wife looked at what was behind, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Archaeological evidence shows that everything in Sodom burned at a very high temperature. Pottery was glazed on one side (the side facing up) when glazing wasn’t a thing at that time. The whole region was poisoned with salt so that no vegetation grew for many, many years.
The prevalent theory is that a meteor (or many meteors) exploded above the surface of the cities, and the burning rocks consumed everything on the ground. A meteor also could have landed in the Dead Sea, causing a tidal wave that showered the area with a high amount of sodium. The water from the Sea wouldn’t have been enough to extinguish a fire burning that hot.
The text says that in the morning, Abraham went out to where he had surveyed the valley the day before, and a flame was going up like a smoking furnace. God had done as He had said. Sodom and Gomorrah paid the ultimate cost for the multitude of abominations committed. And God preserved Lot from the destruction.
This week’s New Testament passage comes from Luke 17:28-37.
“‘Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32Remember Lot’s wife. 33Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.’ 37And they said to Him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.’”
Let’s not be like Lot’s wife.