Lot: A Warning to Us

Genesis 19:1–38; 06/09/2026; IOUC; Brother Zhao He

Introduction

Lot was Abraham’s nephew. At first, God called Abraham’s father, Terah, to leave Ur! Abraham took Lot with him! They went to Haran, where Terah died. When Abraham was called by God to go to the Promised Land, he also took Lot with him! It can be said that Abraham treated Lot as his own son! Before Abraham had Isaac, Lot even appeared likely to inherit Abraham’s estate all along!

Later, Abraham and Lot separated because their possessions were so great that they could not live together! Lot chose the fertile plain east of the Jordan River, while Abraham remained in the relatively barren land of Canaan! As a result, Lot’s life moved farther and farther away from God, to the point that his descendants were cursed by God!

Probably none of us wants to be Lot, yet we have to face the fact that there are many reflections of ourselves in Lot’s life! So what warnings does Lot’s life bring us?

Let us look at the first main point:

Receiving God’s Messengers

Receiving God’s messengers may be the most blessed thing Lot did here!

First, receiving the two angels

What do you imagine angels look like? When I read this passage before, I imagined that the angels flew to Sodom! Also, here the three men whom Abraham met in the previous chapter become two angels! Genesis 18 says that two of the three men left for Sodom, while the other one was the LORD, who stayed behind to hear Abraham’s plea! Here we also see traces of Jesus taking on flesh in the Old Testament! Abraham pleaded with God for Lot’s family, asking Him not to destroy that city! After the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, He intercedes for us beside God the Father. As the Lord’s disciples, we carry God’s mission and imitate the Lord’s incarnation! Just as Paul said, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!

These two angels came to Sodom carrying God’s mission! Brothers and sisters, when we carry God’s mission and go to carry out that mission, we become angels! What glory this is!

When Lot eagerly received God’s messengers, salvation came to him and his whole family!

Looking at our short-term mission this year, the brothers and sisters in Sweden received Brother Mike and Yuki, and Brother Xuesong and his family in Ecuador received our short-term mission team. They and their families will all receive that eternal blessing!

Are we willing to receive the Lord’s servants today? Even the least of them! Can we lay down the worries in our hearts and receive the Lord’s servants?

Second, the foolishness of Sodom

The eyes of foolish people are blind, do you agree? Why was Lot able to recognize the two angels when he saw them, while the people of Sodom could not?

I wondered, how did Lot recognize those two messengers? When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he also immediately recognized that Jesus was the Lord!

Today, some people among us may quickly believe in the Lord, while others may remain unable to believe in the Lord for a long time! I believe Lot’s ability to see was because God heard Abraham’s prayer! When we share the gospel, we should pray early for those with whom we share it!

Because the eyes of the people of Sodom were blind, they did such a foolish thing! In the past, I might have used phrases such as “a pitiful person must have something hateful about him,” “he deserved it,” and “it serves him right” to judge others and express the indignation in my heart! Yet have we ever thought that we were once just like them, foolish without knowing it! It is only that God had mercy on us!

Those who have believed in the Lord must all the more have mercy on people and forgive people! Because God had mercy on us! Whether we have come out of foolishness depends on whether we can have mercy on people and forgive people! Only when God forgives our debts can our relationship with the Lord be restored! Just as the Lord’s Prayer says: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors! Yet when Jesus was crucified, He prayed for those who shouted for Him to be crucified, saying, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!

Having mercy on people also does not mean having no justice and blindly trying to please them! Lot tried, by pleasing the people of Sodom, to carry out the so-called rescue of the two angels. How great and spiritual it seemed—even his own daughters could be sacrificed! Lot had just recognized the angels as lords, but now, without praying, he offered the bodies, lives, and safety of his own daughters in exchange for the so-called protection of the two angels! May God have mercy. Once human passion rises up, people will do some unimaginable things!

May the Lord lead us to truly trust in Him and enter into God’s wisdom!

Finally, never finding the door

God had mercy on Lot. He kept Lot from falling into foolishness and pulled him into the house!

I remember that when I had just believed in the Lord, I met two Jehovah’s Witnesses. They called themselves Christians, wore suits and ties, and were very warm toward me! I began discussing faith with them! I even gave them my phone number! Later, when I went to worship at the Free Church in Trondheim, I told some people about this, and they told me that these two people were Jehovah’s Witnesses! They called me on Sunday and wanted to come see me. I felt too embarrassed to refuse, so I gave them the address of the Free Church! Later, they really did come to the Free Church, but they simply could not find the address I had given them. They called me, and I could not explain it clearly either! At that time, some brothers and sisters saw the two of them walking back and forth along the road by the Free Church several times!

If people look at God’s Word with the prejudices of the old self or the deception of heresy, and persist in doing so, then even if we do all the good deeds in the world, without faith in Jesus we will be like the people of Sodom, groping around but never finding the door! May God break the hard shell of our old self and grant us a humble and teachable heart.

Let us look at the second main point:

Leading the Whole Family to Flee

First, there are still people in the city

When we receive grace and are saved, our family members also thereby receive an opportunity to receive grace and be saved! This is because each of us carries the mission of sharing the gospel with our family members! We have a responsibility to share the gospel with our family and to pray for them. We proclaim that Jesus Christ is God, that He once took on flesh, gave His life on the cross for our sins, rose again and ascended to heaven, and that He will come again to judge the living and the dead, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life! Are there still members of our families who have not heard the gospel we believe? May God help us and give us the words we ought to speak!

Second, Lot’s hesitation

After a person believes in the Lord, if we still place our hearts and our dependence on this world, we will experience the uncertainty of swaying between two sides like grass on top of a wall, because this world is not my home! Lot still did not believe that God’s mighty power would surely preserve him. He was unwilling to go up the mountain, to go toward spiritual heights! He even relied on his own human passion to bargain with God! There is a way that seems right to a person, but it is a road to death!

We see this world becoming corrupt day by day. The scenes of the last days prophesied in the Bible are becoming more and more evident: plagues, famines, earthquakes, wars, people rising against people, and nation rising against nation. Yet we still remain attached to Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, the United States, and China, where we live! When will our eyes be able to focus on the kingdom of heaven?

Yet everyone has times of weakness in life! John the Baptist also had doubt and little faith when he was in prison! I remember Pastor Andrew, who once served as a missionary in Turkey. When he was rescued by Trump, he shared about his fear in prison, and it was so real! Pastor Cao Sanqiang spent seven years in prison in China, became a person without three forms of status and was confined in China. Now he also has terminal cancer and cannot meet his wife and son in the United States or the grandson he has never met. There are also Pastor Wang Yi, who is now in prison, and the many co-workers of Zion Church. The weakness they face and their inner struggles are beyond what we can imagine! Only the Lord Jesus can understand. For our sake, He walked steadfastly toward the cross! Have we prepared our hearts to face suffering and welcome the Lord’s return? May God add to our strength!

Finally, sulfur and fire came down

The Bible says that the LORD rained sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven. Here there is one LORD, and there is also the LORD in heaven! Our God is the triune God, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit working together!

When Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom, what she carried was a heart of attachment, so she became a pillar of salt!

When Abraham looked at the smoke over Sodom and Gomorrah, he may have been concerned about his nephew Lot and Lot’s family!

I wonder whether any of you have ever been scalded by fire? Recently, I was burned by our waffle maker, and a piece of skin was gone immediately! Suddenly, I felt compassion for those who have been scalded or burned!

When God watches from heaven as the people He created meet such an end, how much pain must be in His heart! Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are children who belong to God. We must have the same mind as Jesus Christ and quickly save people’s souls in these last days!

Because God wants everyone to be saved and does not want anyone to perish!

Let us look at the third main point:

Bringing About God’s Curse

First, Lot’s uneasiness

Earlier we spoke about Lot’s hesitation, and now we speak about Lot’s uneasiness! It seems that uneasiness and hesitation accompanied Lot throughout his life! A person without faith in God truly wanders like a lost sheep! We do not know what we truly need, nor can we experience the joy and peace that are in God!

Sometimes, the thing we wholeheartedly want to ask God for is something that, once we truly receive it, still leaves us dissatisfied. The emptiness in our hearts can never be filled! Can we be satisfied with the Lord alone? If God arranges for us to go to Zoar, then in Zoar we peacefully wait for God’s will; if God arranges for us to go up the mountain, then we go up the mountain and pray in peace! May the Lord help us to have a quiet heart and rely on Him alone! God’s ways are higher than our ways, and God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts!

Second, the inevitability of drunkenness

When people do not set their eyes on the eternal God, they will despair over worldly matters, with nowhere to release their sorrow. What can they do? They can only resort to the numbing effect of alcohol! Today, drugs and all kinds of addictions are even more rampant!

As soon as people let down their guard, the evil in their hearts comes out! The Lord Jesus often exhorted His disciples: You must watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation!

The reason there is still morality in this society is that God still allows conscience to remain in our hearts! This is God’s grace! Yet people harden their hearts and often challenge God’s bottom line, numbing their consciences through drunkenness and other means. How much evil is produced! May God have mercy! When people become utterly corrupt in the last days, how terrifying this world will be!

Finally, the consequences of unbelief

The children born from the incest between Lot and his two daughters were called the Moabites and the Ammonites. God will by no means clear the guilty. He will visit their sin from father to children, to the third and fourth generation.

God later decreed that the Moabites and the Ammonites must never enter the assembly of the LORD! God is a jealous God, and He hates sin! Yet although they were cursed peoples, God still left salvation open to them! We all know that Ruth was a Moabite woman. She later married Boaz and became the grandmother of King David, and Jesus also came from this family line!

Thanks be to the Lord! God’s salvation is open to everyone. As long as we confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Lord of our lives, God is faithful!

Conclusion

Thanks be to the Lord! Lot: a warning to us! Because of Abraham’s prayer, Lot received that spiritual gift and was able to see God’s angels. Yet he had no root of faith. He relied on himself more than on God, valued the world more than God, could not be still in his heart, and acted only out of human passion without praying! Do we see a reflection of ourselves in Lot?

Let us pray together!

Scripture:

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When he saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed with his face to the ground.

19:2 He said, “My lords, please come to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and stay for the night. Then rise early and continue on your way.” They said, “No! We will spend the night in the street.”

19:3 But Lot urged them strongly, so they went in with him and entered his house. Lot prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

19:4 Before they lay down, the men from every part of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.

19:5 They called to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may do as we wish with them.”

19:6 Lot went out to them and shut the door behind him.

19:7 He said, “My brothers, please do not do this evil thing.

19:8 I have two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do with them as you please. Only do nothing to these two men, since they have come under the shelter of my house.”

19:9 The crowd said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he wants to act as a judge! Now we will do more harm to you than to them.” They pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

19:10 But the two men reached out their hands, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

19:11 Then they struck the people outside the door, both young and old, with blindness. They groped around but could never find the door.

19:12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here? Whether sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone in the city who belongs to you, bring them out of this place.

19:13 We are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against it is so great before the LORD. The LORD has sent us to destroy this place.”

19:14 Lot went out and told his sons-in-law, who had married (or were going to marry) his daughters, “Get up and leave this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

19:15 When dawn came, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away because of the city’s sin.”

19:16 But Lot hesitated. Because the LORD had compassion on Lot, the two men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. They led them out and set them outside the city.

19:17 After they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away.”

19:18 Lot said to them, “No, my lord, please do not let it be so!

19:19 Your servant has already found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great lovingkindness by saving my life. I cannot escape to the mountain, for fear that this disaster will overtake me and I will die.

19:20 Look, this city is small and near enough to flee to. Is it not a little one? Please let me escape there, and my life will be preserved.”

19:21 The angel said to him, “I also grant you this request. I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

19:22 Hurry and escape there, because I cannot do anything until you arrive.” Therefore, the city was called Zoar (which means small).

19:23 The sun had risen when Lot arrived at Zoar.

19:24 Then the LORD rained sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven.

19:25 He destroyed those cities and the entire plain, along with all the inhabitants of the cities and everything growing on the ground.

19:26 Lot’s wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

19:28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and behold, smoke rose from the land like the smoke of a furnace.

19:29 When God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham. When He overthrew the cities where Lot had lived, He sent Lot out from the midst of the destruction.

19:30 Lot was afraid to live in Zoar, so he went up from Zoar with his two daughters and lived in the mountains. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

19:31 The older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on earth to come in to us according to the custom of all the world.

19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine and lie with him. In this way, we may preserve offspring through our father.”

19:33 So that night they made their father drink wine. The older daughter went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

19:34 The next day, the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I lay with my father. Let us make him drink wine again tonight, and you can go in and lie with him. In this way, we may preserve offspring through our father.”

19:35 So that night they again made their father drink wine. The younger daughter got up and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

19:36 Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

19:37 The older daughter bore a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day.

19:38 The younger daughter also bore a son and named him Ben-Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day.