How a Man Ruined His Family
In today’s text, Lot and his family are fleeing away from the wicked city of Sodom. Our text reads:
Genesis 19:24-26
The Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Reading this story, the event of Lot’s wife looking back at the burning cities and herself turning into a pillar of salt catches the eye. However, Lot’s wife turning into pillar of salt is a side story in the more tragic tale. The real story is about Lot. I call him, the man who ruined his family.
It all started when Uncle Abraham, gave lot the pick of the land. Abraham said he would take whatever was left over. Lot looked on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw they were rich and well-watered and picked those for himself and his family. Uncle Abraham could take for himself the leftover land.
With that choice, Lot ruined his family. The cities were so wicked that God drove Lot and his family to leave. They found it hard. Eventually, Lot started his exit with his wife and two married daughters. His sons-in-law would not leave Sodom. In fact when it was time to leave the wicked land, Lot, his wife and daughters hand to be taken by the hand of the angels to get them to leave. Though told not to look back at the cities, Lot’s wife turned back and turned into a pillar of salt. His two daughters had so much of the wickedness of the city in them, that when they were alone with their father, they justified to themselves getting their father to get them pregnant. In an effort to make Lot look a little more innocent, some have pointed out that his daughters got him drunk so that he would do this evil thing. Of course we might ask, why would a righteous Lot get drunk?
Lot’s whole family left Sodom, but still had too much of Sodom still in them. If you’ve ever heard the old saying, “You can the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy,’ then you can relate that saying to Lot’s family. They left Sodom, but after years living in such a wicked place, Sodom was still in them.
Lot’s ruining of his family started when he chose to pitch his and his families tent toward Sodom. (Genesis 13:13).
Never pitch your tent toward wickedness. That is how Lot ruined his family.
Lonnie Davis