Every Woman's Bible Genesis sampler - Flipbook - Page 39
29
9 “Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow came
to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our
judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!”
And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
10 But the two angels* reached out, pulled Lot into
the house, and bolted the door. 11 Then they blinded
all the men, young and old, who were at the door of
the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you
have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked.
“Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons,
daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this
place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has
sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés,
“Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy
it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.
15At dawn the next morning the angels became
insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife
and your two daughters who are here. Get out right
now, or you will be swept away in the destruction
of the city!”
16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his
hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters
and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the
Lord was merciful. 17 When they were safely out of
the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your
lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the
valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept
away!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19 “You have been
so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have
shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the
mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there,
and I would soon die. 20 See, there is a small village
nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see
how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”
21 “All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22 But hurry!
Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive
there.” (This explains why that village was known
as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
23 Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. 24 Then the Lord rained down
fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and
Gomorrah. 25 He utterly destroyed them, along with
the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out
all the people and every bit of vegetation. 26 But Lot’s
wife looked back as she was following behind him,
and she turned into a pillar of salt.
19:10 Hebrew men; also in 19:12, 16.
19:26 Lot’s wife did not simply glance over her shoulder. The
verb translated “looked” here indicates prolonged, intense
gazing—toward the world she loved (compare 15:5). Lot’s wife
was too attached to Sodom to accept God’s mercy, so she was
included in the judgment as she lingered in the valley.
GENESIS 19
Perspective
How could Lot do that?
SCRIPTURE CONNECTION: GENESIS 19:1-8
Some of us can instantly relate to how Lot’s
daughters surely felt about Lot’s offer to the
men of Sodom: disposable. We also have been
compromised by people we trusted to love and
protect us.
But God reaches for us in our peril. Lot, in his
cowardice, is deemed by God as worthy to save.
His daughters, reduced to sexual commodities,
are deemed worthy to save. This makes us curious about God’s love.
Jesus knows the feeling of being forsaken.
And he showed that opposing realities can
simultaneously be true: We can suffer intense
rejection, deprivation, abandonment, devaluing,
and crushing shame, while at the same time, we
can celebrate a heavenly Father who loves us
so unselfishly that he gave himself rather than
giving us.
Lot offered to sacrifice his own daughters,
perhaps to save himself. God sacrifices himself
to save us.
VIEWPOINTS
HERS: Based on their experiences with their
earthly father, what might Lot’s daughters have
believed about themselves and God?
MINE: “As a young girl under my dad’s protection,
I knew I was safe. Loved. Treasured. Absent his
protection, my world took a different spin. A godly
father carries for us daughters a representation of
God and a message of our worth.”
YOURS: What ideas have you formed about
yourself or of God based on experiences with your
earthly father? In what ways might you challenge
your negative beliefs as you reflect on your heavenly Father?
MISTY ARTERBURN is an author and speaker,
contributing to Bible projects, devotionals, and
recovery materials for over twenty years. Wife
and mom to five, Misty is the founder of Recovery
Girls and the general editor of The One Year Bible
for Women.
