22nd.: Lot's Ill Advised Prayer
When Abraham went into the Promised Land, he took his nephew, Lot, with him.
at one point, both men's wealth got so big (mainly in terms of livestock) , that they
could not continue to travel around together.
Abraham gave Lot the choice of which land to take.
Lot chose the lush land near the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis chapter 13).
This choice eventually revealed that Lot was a man of contrasts.
1. Centuries later, the apostle Peter once called Lot a righteous man,
a. he was “vexed with the filthy way of life of the wicked; for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.” (2nd Pet. 2:7b-8).
b. Lot courageously stood between the visiting angels who came to his door, and the men of Sodom & Gomorrah who wanted to rape Lot’s angelic guests (Gen 19:1-9). Lastly, he told his household to leave S&G, because the Lord was going to destroy S&G (Gen 19:14).
2. On the other hand, Lot was slow to leave S&G himself, until the angels made him (Gen 19:15-16).
When the angels told Lot to head to the hills (Gen 19:17), fear drove his immediate response,
“Behold now, thy servant has found grace in thy sight, and thou has magnified thy mercy, which thou has shown unto me in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die. Behold now, this city [Zoar] is near to flee unto, and it is a little one.” (Gen 19:19).
Lot asked if he could go to Zoar, and not the mountains.
The angels basically said, “Ok” (Gen 19:21).
As things turned out, Lot was afraid of something in Zoar, and went to the mountains anyway (Gen 19:30).
God gave Lot what he asked for, even though it was not the best for him.
Likewise, we need to be careful for what we ask, especially, when God recommends something else.