Lot was a difficult man to deal with. Ask any angel. He may have been a little self serving (ask his uncle) and was clearly lacking in discretion (just ask his daughters).
He pitched his tent as far as Sodom, ended up with his own house in the town; tried to linger their, offering up his own daughters to Sodom’s men. He tried to bargain with Angels and succeeded in bringing about offspring (whether intended by him or not) by his own daughters.
Not a picture of spiritual health!
At the same time, Like Abraham, he welcomed the strangers in and held a feast for them. Like Noah, he was a preacher of righteousness to a godless people, obeyed the word of the Lord when told to escape and is described by Peter as righteous. He also gets a favourable mention alongside Noah by Jesus in Luke 7.
Now, all of this makes us a little uncomfortable. How can a guy like this be describe as righteous?
To many in the modern (and ancient) world, righteousness is an inward condition. It describes moral goodness. But in scripture this is not its primary meaning.
To be righteous is to be made acceptable by God. To be righteous is to be put right, justified, by God. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. The Jews failed to attain the promises of God because they attempted to establish their own righteousness (justification, vindication) apart from the righteousness that comes from God (Rom 10:3)
Lot was no choir boy, but He was righteous. His wife and sons-in-law were tied to Sodom. But Lot was not. Lot was tied to the Lord.
God had graciously justified Lot and that is what saved him – plus nothing.
The righteousness of God was the shield which preserved Lot. Lot, despite his weakness was clinging to the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ) and the promises of God. He believed God, just as Abraham did.
Jesus came to Sodom (Is 1:10; Rev 11:8) and suffered for Lot. That is the gospel and in it God reveals His righteousness (Rom 1:7). Jesus was and is the righteousness (the vindication) of God to all mankind
(cf. 1 John 2:1). And it is faith in His righteousness that saves us, not ours.
Proclaiming God's Grace.
!read the bible in a year
!oyster
!fall of jerusalem
The same could be said of Abraham & Moses as far as their personal failings go….
In defence of Lot
Ge 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
Ge 13:10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
I have heard the account of Abraham & Lot several times now & it still puzzles me why his choice is considered a bad one by many ministers, mainly because
1. Abraham gives him that choice, if Abraham knew it was a bad option he should never have put it to Lot as an offer to take up
2. Abraham seems to say well if you choose Cannan I will choose the area of Sodom because Abraham says
If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
3. The verses below consider Lot to be righteous & someone distressed over the conduct of the lawless, which implies to me that he would not of settled there if the lawless conduct was so prevelant, it may have developed later after he had first settled.
2Pe 2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
2Pe 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
2Pe 2:9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.