So [Abraham] said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
And 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... Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. [Abraham] dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord."Genesis 13:8-13
In Genesis 18, the angel of the Lord and two additional angels met Abraham to deliver the news of great blessing. But there were two matters on their agenda. The second item on their itinerary concerned Abraham's nephew Lot, and more specifically: the city he had chosen to dwell in. While the angel of the Lord remained with Abraham to inform him of the impending destruction, the two angels went into Sodom.
- Genesis 18:20-22 PERADVENTURE TEN
The cry of the city was great, and the sin very grievous. Therefore, the angel of the Lord told Abraham that the city would be destroyed. Abraham nearly panicked, he had family there! But because he had such great faith in God, he ventured to understand the necessity of such widespread destruction. Abraham wanted to be sure, as he suspected, that God would not destroy a city full of righteous people. When God assured Abraham that he would not destroy a city that housed even "just" ten righteous people, Abraham returned to his home and God to his plans for Sodom.
The fact learned from God and Abraham's conversation was that there were fewer than ten righteous souls living in the city. God had no plan to destroy them, but to move them out, prior to the destruction. Those few belonged to Lot's family, and the two angels who were with God, were sent to not only to destroy Sodom, but to get them out.
This is a dark and somewhat complex chapter in scripture if not viewed from the right perch. Understand that we have a powerful God who does choose and enact destruction when He deems fit. But the order of destruction comes from God's heart, not His fist. When God chooses destruction, it is actually the preservation of righteousness that He is chooses. God is able to discern the truth within each individual; no innocent will ever be caught in the crossfire of God's wrath for the guilty. Our God is equal parts power and compassion; He planned and delivered the destruction of Sodom with as much attention to detail as He planned and delivered the innocents within it. Therefore do not cower away from "Old Testament" God as many do; for even here in the dark, He is working to preserve the light He has planned for you.
- Genesis 19:1-11 INTO YOUR SERVANT'S HOUSE
As Lot sat near the entrance-gate of Sodom, the two angels walked in. Lot bowed himself to the ground in reverent greeting and invited them to his home. The angels declined, likely a test for Lot, and opted to remain in the street overnight. Lot pressed them to reconsider, he knew that it was a sinful city and they would not be safe. And though Lot was deeply flawed, he did have reverence for God and respect for his messengers. He evidenced that by his insistence on offering protection for them, even though it would make his home a target in the corrupt city.
And a target indeed his home became. A mass of sinful people from all over the city crowded around Lot's home. They knew that Lot housed two guests. By the size and fervor of the crowd, they knew these were not ordinary guests but angels. They demanded that Lot release the angels to them. Lot refused; in effort to protect the angels, he even offered to give the crowd his two daughters instead. This proved that while Lot had not yet reached the level of depravity that would harm angels of God, he had been severely influenced enough by the corruption of his neighbors as to be not far from it.
Nevertheless, the angels intervened: they pulled Lot into the house and blinded the crowd of aggressors, preventing their ability to find and compromise the shelter of Lot's house. Matthew 8:28-34 and Mark 1:24-28 help us to understand why this evil crowd so desperately wanted to have the angels in their possession.
Although the righteous often neglect to recognize the power of God, the truly evil do not: for to their deep annoyance and distress, they cannot forget how mightily they suppressed by it.
When He [Jesus] had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Matthew 8:28-29
Like the two demon-possessed men above, the evil people of Sodom recognized entities of God. They too knew that the time of their destruction had come.
Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Mark 1:23-26
Once again, the first thing evil does upon seeing a man of God is recognize its impending destruction. The city of Sodom knew that the arrival of the angels was the arrival of their end. In desperation, they attempted to resist it. But they could not. Like the men from the verses above, they wanted more time to languish in sin. They would not receive it.
- Genesis 19:12-26 OUT OF THIS PLACE
With haste, the angels began to prepare Lot and family for departure, but Lot's family would not go. They were content citizens of the sinful city, as God knew. He had numbered the righteous in the city below ten. But Lot was distressed; his family did not believe his warning, and more importantly: did not want to leave. Lot lingered so long, trying to convince them, that if not for God's mercy, Lot would have been detained by their refusal and stuck in the destruction of the city.
The angels were able to remove Lot, his wife and two daughters from the city. Once again Lot had the chance to choose: follow God's orders, or choose his own way based on what his own eyes could see. Lot chose wrongly again; he asked if he could escape to another city, rather than the mountainous haven God had planned, and his request was granted. God does not suppress our free will! But life is so much better if we suppress our own will in favor of His.
Lot was not the only one to make a mistake. As the city crumbled, Lot and family were told not to turn back, not to look back, but to continue along God's route. But Lot's wife did look back... and died because of it; turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's wife "looking back" was a metaphor for the choice in her heart. She wanted to return to that lifestyle. She lamented the destruction of her life there. God had committed to comprehensively destroy Sodom and all corrupt members and she, in her heart, had declared to be one. Though she had physically left the city, she was stunned and reduced to particles of nothing along with it.
- Genesis 19:27:-29 THE SMOKE OF THE LAND
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 19:28-29
It might not be outrageous for one to wonder whether Lot himself was innocent enough to deserve escape from Sodom. Ultimately, only God knows the answer to that. What is obvious, because scripture has told us so, is that Abraham prayed for his nephew and God answered affirmatively. Therefore, we also know that our powerful God puts power in our prayer. We do not waste our time when we intercede in prayer for others.
And therefore though we may witness darkness in life and scripture, like Abraham observing from the hill, we can have peace knowing that there is hope and purpose even in the smoke of the land.