Genesis 19:27-29. 27And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
One of the most perplexing statements in the New Testament is this one about Lot:
2 Peter 2:7-8. 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
Even if you have never read Genesis 19, you would have a hard time classifying Lot as righteous. Not once, but twice he baled on Abraham, choosing the “Edenic” prosperity of Sodom over the Promised Land. But if you have read Genesis 19, then you know that Lot was far from the other righteous people of the Bible. Enoch, Noah, Job. Lot doesn’t even come close to these saints.
Genesis 18 ended with the two angelic visitors going down to Sodom to see if the cries of the oppressed that have reached to the ears of God are legitimate. It didn’t take long for them to get their answer. Meanwhile, Abraham and Jesus stay behind and engage in a bargaining session over nothing less than the salvation of Sodom. Abraham takes on the role of priest and pleads for the sparing of the city based on the influence of the few righteous that may be living there. You recall that the conversation appears to end abruptly when Abraham negotiates God down to only ten righteous.
Genesis 18:32-33. 32Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Likely, this is the number Abraham wanted all along. Jewish tradition says that there were ten people in Lot’s household as described in Genesis 19:12. Him and his wife (2), his sons (2), his married daughters and his sons-in-law (4), and his two virgin daughters that he offers up to the lustful mob (2). You see, Abraham is still believing the best about Lot. Surely Lot, a ruler in Sodom who sits in the gates of the city (19:1), and his household will be able to transform this wicked city. Like Peter says, Lot is tormented by the wickedness of the city, surely he will do something, along with his family to bring about change.
Except that he won’t.
From the beginning of the chapter, Lot proves that he is far short of where he needs to be as a patriarch of righteousness. Maybe Lot told Abraham that he would go live in Sodom in order to make a difference, to bring the light of Yahweh to this dark, pagan place. But rather than Sodom being transformed, Lot and his entire family have been conformed to the world around him. When the angels tell Lot to gather his family and flee, he can only convince (or force) his wife and two younger daughters, the ones that are still directly under his authority. His sons, sons-in-law, and older daughters don’t even flinch, in fact they think he’s joking (or a joke). On top of this, Lot’s wife will famously look back on the city and become a pillar of salt – a molten memorial of her own failure to seek satisfaction in the righteousness of God.
OK, so how is Lot righteous?
Our answer has to be that Lot was righteous the same way that Abraham was righteous – by faith. Remember, before Abraham was commanded to do righteousness and justice (18:19), he was declared to be righteous by his faith in God’s covenant promises (15:6). Clearly, Lot wasn’t righteous because he DID righteousness and justice. His best intentions to show hospitality to the angels and protect them from the Sodomites could only come by offering his own daughters up to their evil intentions. After decades in Sodom, Lot has had no lasting impact on his town, even as one of its leaders. He couldn’t even convince most of his family to trust him and leave.
Bu in the end, despite all of Lot’s flaws, and they are massive, Lot trusted God. He fled when the angels said run. Lot heeded the warning. He demonstrated a mustard seed worth of faith. Just enough to escape by the skin of his teeth, begging for God’s mercy as he ran.
Lot was simultaneously righteous and sinful. Can you relate? Of course you can. Even in Christ, we are what Martin Luther called simul justus et peccator (righteous and sinful at the same time). In Christ, God has justified the ungodly (Rom. 4:5), not the godly. Lot was an abject failure as a nephew, father, husband, municipal leader, and “Christian.” Yet he is called righteous. And that’s good news for the rest of us ungodly failures today. We truly are both saint and sinner. But we are positionally saints who still sin, not sinners who sometimes get it right. And remember, imputed righteousness is still true righteousness. Christ’s own righteousness in us is quite real, not just a label or some sort of divine misdirection. Lot’s righteousness by grace through faith was real enough to get him a visit from the angels on the day of Christ’s wrath against Sodom. And one day, our righteousness in Christ will get us a visit from the angels as well, as they are sent by God to gather all his people from the four corners of the globe.
There’s something else we need to point out from today’s scripture. Did you notice what it says about Abraham? God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out. God saved Lot for Abraham’s sake. When God remembered Abraham, meaning God considered his covenant with Abraham, he spared Lot. Why? Because Abraham asked him to. Abraham’s intercessory prayer was answered by God. Lot was saved because of his mediator. As Paul will say two thousand years later, all who have faith in God are the children of Abraham. Lot is still Abraham’s imperfect son. His prodigal. Loved by God because of a covenant promise made to Abraham on a starry night.
Righteous Abraham prayed that Sodom might be spared for the sake of ten righteous people living in the city. Well, there weren’t ten righteous people. There was barely one. But God, in his mercy, answered Abraham’s prayer anyway. Why? Because the Judge of all the earth WILL do what is right. He won’t destroy the righteous with the wicked, and he will spare the righteous from his destructive wrath.
Except when he didn’t.
There was no angelic escape from the wrath of God on the night Jesus died. Though he prayed earnestly for it with sweat like drops of blood, there was no salvation for Jesus on that dark day. Will God destroy the Righteous One FOR the wicked? Yes, he died at Calvary. Will God fail to spare the Righteous One from his wrath? Yes, he did at the cross. That’s why he will never destroy you and me. That’s why we are spared from his wrath. The destroying fire of Sodom is not our fate. In Christ, ours is the purifying fire of God’s loving discipline that will guide us all the way home.
You: In what ways do you relate to Lot, even as a Christian.
You in Christ: How is our imputed righteousness from Jesus part of his intercessory prayers for us?
Christ in you: What “Sodom” is Christ telling you to flee from today? How does faith drive you toward Christ, not just away from sin?
Prayer: Father, I know in my every day experience that I am both saint and sinner. But in you I am prayed for and perpetually cleansed by Christ’s blood. Help me to run from my Sodom and toward my Savior today. Amen.
To Live is Christ 