Dangerous decisions: Lot
Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom (Genesis 13:12).
The history of Lot is one of the saddest in the Old Testament. His life had so much promise, and he received so much blessing, but the last we read of him is living in a cave (Genesis 19:30). We can trace the downward direction of his life through two critical decisions. The first was not his responsibility; the second was. He lived his life alongside the great man of faith, Abraham, who was his uncle. Abraham lived by faith in God. He was a pilgrim who built altars and walked with God. Yet when famine struck the land that God promised him, Abraham made a dangerous decision and moved his family to Egypt and lived a lie. But God protected him and brought him back to the Promised Land, “to the place of the altar which he had made there at first” (Genesis 13:4) and his life before God prospered. But there were consequences to Abraham’s decision to go down to Egypt. We often think that our choices are personal, but we should never forget that we rarely affect just ourselves in making them.
Abraham took Lot with him into Egypt, and it seemed to have had a profound effect on his nephew. In Genesis 13, Abraham was very rich, and Lot shared in his prosperity and became a wealthy man. But their success created tension between their herdsmen as they shared resources to feed their flocks. Abraham did not want strife between kinsmen and invited Lot to choose which part of the land he wanted to move into, and whatever he chose, Abraham would go in the other direction. Abraham teaches us how important it is to solve difficulties between the people of God and to pursue peace. And, in doing so, to be willing to sacrifice one’s own interest to benefit others. He also teaches us faith and humility. He had the authority and power to command his nephew to move to another place, something he did with his family in later circumstances. It was a power he would later use to rescue Lot.
So, Lot was given a wonderful opportunity for a new and exciting life of faith. What did he do? “Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar” (v. 10). He chose the place that reminded him of Egypt, and he pitched his tent toward Sodom. Soon he stopped living as a pilgrim and decided to live in that wicked city. Abraham would later rescue him from the consequences of that life and allow him to return to the life of faith he once knew. But Lot returned to Sodom. He lived there until the city was destroyed and his wife perished. As an old man, he would end his days in the most desolate of circumstances.
Peter calls Lot, “righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2:7). He was a child of God. But Lot did not grasp the opportunity God gave him to live his own life of faith in response to the God who blessed him. He did not pause to ask the advice of his godly uncle or to pray to God. Instead, like the prodigal, his heart was captured by a superficial view of the world. He made an instantaneous decision based on what he saw, and this led to his ruin. God uses Lot’s life to solemnly warn us of the spiritual, moral and physical dangers of the world we live in: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 John 2:15). God teaches us to reflect carefully on the critical decisions we make; to consider those we will take with us in the path we choose; to take time and wise counsel; and above all to go into the presence of God to seek the wisdom that is from above (James 3:17), and to ensure we keep ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21)
