Today we take a hard look at the downward spiral of repercussions Lot had to face for his selfish choices. We must heed the warning and ask ourselves, “Am I making choices that will compromise my witness down the road?” Sin always brings greater loss than we bargain for.
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Transcript: Welcome to “5 Minutes with Pastor Lutzer.” Thanks for joining us on this journey, a look into Abraham’s life. But today we look at his nephew, Lot, who lived in Sodom. Last time I ended by pointing out that sometimes God does not answer our prayers. The answer is denied, such as in Paul’s thorn of the flesh. Sometimes the answer is disguised, which is what happens here. Sometimes it is delayed. By disguised, I simply mean this, that Abraham thought that surely there are ten righteous in the city. God had promised He would not destroy the city if there were ten righteous. Well, it turned out there were only four.
But Lot now had invested heavily in Sodom. He had chosen the best pasture land. He pitched his tent toward Sodom and then he ends up being a judge, which means he had some serious status in the city. Two men come to him and they tell him what is going to happen. He invites them into his home. The men of the city see these two visitors and are banging on Lot’s door wanting them for sexual reasons. And Lot—I mean this sounds incredible—I wouldn’t believe it unless it were in the text—actually said to them, “Well, I have two daughters who are virgins. I’ll give them to you, but please don’t do anything with these two visitors.” Luther, in his commentary said in German, “Es geht mir an mein ganzes herz” (“it goes through my entire heart”). How could Lot do that? It shows you the depths of depravity that someone can sink into. Well, the visitors say, “you have to leave.” And the Bible says Lot lingered. I mean he and his wife, as I’ve mentioned have invested heavily in Sodom. I mean this is where they were in part of the social club they attended—to use modern terminology—the nightclubs. They belonged. They had status. They probably had a nice house with a lot of furniture. And now they’re supposed to leave everything? Here’s one of the saddest verses in all the Bible. I think it’s verse seventeen, if I remember correctly, but you can find it there. Lot is talking to his two sons-in-law who had not yet married his daughters and he says, “we have to escape because judgement is coming” and the Bible says they thought he was joking. “This coming from you? Now you’re talking about the judgment of God?” So the men take Lot and his two daughters. They forced them out of the city and Lot’s wife looks back. God had said, “Don’t look back just go.” And one of the shortest biographies in all the Bible, Luke chapter seventeen, Jesus says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Wow. That’s a summary of her life and what a lesson there is there for us about looking back and obeying God. But we need to leave that on the side for now. What happens is, Lot ends up with his two daughters. You know the awful story. Incest is committed. Two children are born. And they become the fathers, the Bible says, of the Moabites and the Ammonites “even on to this day”—that is to say, as to when the Scripture was written. And the impact of his decision—of Lot’s decision—continues, indeed, until this very day.
Now I want to ask the question: What did Lot lose as a result of his sin? Well, he certainly lost his witness didn’t he? He was not telling anyone in Sodom about the need to believe in his uncle’s God, namely, “Jehovah.” No, there was no witness there. His son’s-in-law to be thought that he was joking. His family was destroyed. We already talked about his wife and now his daughters and this terrible experience in a cave and his character was destroyed. Now what I have to emphasize is that you need to tune in next time because we’re going to continue the study of Lot. We’re going to see what the New Testament has to say about it. And we’re especially going to be talking about the consequences of bad decisions and the consequences of sin. But as for today, ask yourself this question: what decisions are you making today that are compromising your witness, your life, that may have ongoing repercussions? It’s a rebuke to all of us. Thanks for joining us and we’ll see you next time. And as for today, you just go with God.