And the men said to Lot, Whom hast thou here besides? a son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and all whom thou hast in the city -- bring [them] out of the place.
Two visitors are in Lot's house in Sodom. They turn to him with a question and a command. The city is about to be destroyed, and there is still time to get people out.
The command comes with a reason. The outcry against Sodom had reached God, and He sent the visitors to destroy the city. One writer notes that its guilt was beyond doubt.
The men then speak to Lot with great urgency. No doubt at all remains about how great Sodom's wickedness was. They have shown it in public, without shame. The only answer to this whole matter is the well deserved judgment of God. They would destroy the city because its iniquity had passed all bounds and the Lord had sent them to destroy it. What news of terrible weight for Lot!
That outcry had been building for a long time.
We have already learned that "the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord" (Genesis 13:13). Now we learn that their sin cried out to the Lord for judgment, for it was "very grievous." God waits. He bears long with the wickedness of men, but He is not indifferent to sin. It cries out to Him until at last it is ripe for judgment.
The first words to Lot are a question about other people. One writer sees a principle here: God's mercy reaches the whole family of a righteous man.
We call attention here to Lot's own family. Not only Lot, but his family too were spared, or had the opportunity of being spared, in that day of destroying judgment. Remember that Lot, in spite of his grievous position, was a "righteous man" (2 Peter 2:8). God linked the family of His servant with him. His mercy and grace went out and embraced everyone connected with the righteous man, offering them salvation from the judgment about to fall on that doomed place.
The call to leave hit Lot hard. His whole life was inside those walls.
It was hard for Lot to leave the city. In it were all his possessions, all his associations, everything he had worked for, everything he had found his life in, and perhaps some of his relatives (see Genesis 19:12). Poor Lot and his wife and daughters were almost dragged out of Sodom. Their hearts were tied to the evil city by many strong bonds. What did they have outside it?
Lot carried the warning out to his family. Writers point to why it carried no weight: his own choices had said the opposite.
A short pause is allowed. In it Lot carries a message to his son-in-law, a testimony about the judgment coming fast. But what power could that testimony have? It came from a man who had chosen to come in and settle among them… How could Lot expect his words to carry any weight when his ways had so sadly contradicted them?
Another writer goes further. Lot was a righteous man, and that did not repair the damage.
And then we see how complete the wreck of his testimony had been, in a man who was himself righteous. That very character of his would only help them reject so strange a story. Would God bring striking judgment on a place for its wickedness, when Sodom had proved so attractive to righteous Lot?
Who exactly was in the list? Commentators differ, and the Hebrew leaves room for both readings.
Very able scholars agree with the Latin translation here. The two daughters were only engaged and still living in their father's house, not yet taken to their future homes. The Hebrew allows the Revisers' marginal reading in verse 14, "were to marry"; the word means "the takers of." The older English translation follows the Greek. If they were right, it would mean there were other married daughters who died in the judgment that fell on Sodom.
One writer turns the question to the reader today:
Are you the only one in your family? Have you any still unsaved? "Bring them out," says God. "Get them out of the world. Break the fatal spell that ties them to the world of the dead. Loosen the chain that holds them. Bring them out to Jesus." He wants your faith to pierce the clouds, make its way to the very throne of God, and leave your loved ones there at the feet of Jesus.
- Cry — Sodom's sin had been crying out to God for a long time; He bears long with wickedness but is never indifferent to it.
- Command — the outcry reached its limit. The answer was judgment, with an order attached: bring them out.
- Circle — the first word to Lot asks about everyone else. His family had the same offer of rescue he had.
- Cost — everything Lot owned and loved was in the city. That is why he had to be almost dragged out.
- Credibility — the warning was true. But Lot's own life had contradicted it, so his words carried no weight.
For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before Jehovah, and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it.
The two visitors at Lot's door came as guests, but now they speak as executioners. They name who sent them, why they came, and how little time is left.
The reason given for Sodom's destruction is a sound — an outcry that has grown loud in God's hearing. One writer follows this idea through the Bible. Sin itself has a voice.
It is a solemn truth, reader, that sin has a voice, which cries to heaven for God's righteous retribution. The word of God, both in the Old Testament and in the New, confirms it. God says to Cain, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground." God then pronounces judgment upon Cain. In the New Testament we read: "Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts."
The night just past had confirmed the report. When the men of the city surrounded Lot's house, heaven's information proved exact.
The pride, luxury and leisure of Sodom brought in grievous sin, which was not unnoticed by God... when the angels were in the house of Lot, they found that Sodom's grievous sin matched the outcry the Lord had heard in heaven.
The cry had been rising for a long time before this night. God's delay was never indifference, and it was never permanent.
God waits and bears long with the wickedness of men, but He is not indifferent to sin. It cries out to Him until at last it is ripe for judgment. But, even so, the Lord is slow to judge.
The same messengers who announce the ruin are the ones asking Lot to name everyone he wants saved. One writer notices that their assignment runs in both directions.
They have a double commission. The Lord sends them to announce the coming judgment. But before it falls, they want to rescue not only Lot himself, but anyone Lot cares about. How touching are these words: "Have you anyone else here?"
The same question presses on every believer with unsaved family.
Christian! Have you no unconverted sons? Have you no unconverted daughters? Have you no unconverted loved ones? Hear God's solemn question and command of grace: "Have you anyone else here?... bring them out of the place."
Lot carries the message, but it carries no weight. One writer traces that to the life Lot had built in Sodom.
There is a moment's pause, and Lot carries a message to his sons-in-law, a testimony about the judgment rushing toward them. But what power could his testimony have? He had chosen to come and settle among them, and they had lived and moved from earliest childhood in the middle of that godless scene. How could Lot expect his words to carry any weight when his ways had so sadly contradicted them?
Another writer turns the lesson on us:
Let us be deeply serious as we testify. God's judgment will fall very soon on a godless world, and the only escape is in Christ Jesus.
The destruction is certain, yet it waits. Later the angel tells Lot he cannot act until Lot reaches safety. One writer presses on that word.
Why "cannot"? Not because the power to judge was lacking. The reason is a fixed principle of God's ways: wrath that punishes forever must never touch His people... The "vengeance of eternal fire" could never touch Lot, since he was a righteous man, though a misguided one.
Sodom's end is not only history. One writer reads it as a preview.
Lot holds an honoured place in this city as a magistrate. But the city is doomed, and the time has come when it is ripe for judgment. The Lord's own words in Luke 17 show that this solemn scene points forward to the judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "Just as it was in the days of Lot... so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed."
- Cry — Sin is not silent; it has a voice that reaches God and calls for His righteous response.
- Patience — God bears long with wickedness. He is not indifferent, and He is not quick — but sin ripens for judgment.
- Grace — The messengers of destruction ask a rescue question first: is there anyone else to bring out?
- Credibility — Lot's warning was true, but his settled life in Sodom had already contradicted his words.
- Escape — Judgment could not fall while a righteous man was still inside. The same pattern holds for the day the Son of Man is revealed.
And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, Up, go out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he was as if he jested, in the sight of his sons-in-law.
Lot has one night to get his family out of Sodom, and his warning falls flat. His sons-in-law hear that the city is doomed and take it as a joke. Why did nobody believe him?
The wording is easy to read backwards. It does not say the sons-in-law made fun of Lot. It says Lot came across to them as a man making fun of them. Older translations render this as "he seemed as one that mocked."
Lot now saw everything in a very different light, and went out to his sons-in-law to warn and deliver them. But to them he seemed "as one that mocked." Notice: it does not say that they mocked him. It says they thought he was mocking them, or making fun of them — that he was really joking... We shall each do well to ask ourselves this question. If I testify that the second coming of Christ draws near, and that it brings the judgment of the present world system, will they take me seriously? Or will my manner of life lead them to think that I am joking?
They were not being rude. They simply drew the obvious conclusion from what they knew of him.
Do the sons-in-law mock Lot? Oh, dear, no! They have too much reverence for that. They do not mock him. They listen to his words, hear all he had to say, and draw their conclusion.
Lot had chosen Sodom, moved in, and taken a public seat in its affairs. His panic on the last night could not undo the years his neighbours had watched.
Lot had come in and settled among them by his own choice. What power could his testimony have on people who had lived and moved in the middle of that ungodly scene since their earliest childhood? How could Lot expect that his words would have any weight when his ways had so sadly contradicted them? He might now urge them, with terrified face and earnest pleading, to leave a place he knew was doomed to everlasting destruction. But they could not forget the calm and deliberate way in which he had at first "pitched his tent toward Sodom," and finally taken his seat "in the gate." His sons-in-law were doubtless responsible before God for rejecting the testimony; but Lot could not expect them to pay him much attention.
The message itself was true. What failed was the messenger's standing to deliver it.
The angels told Lot to warn his relatives that the LORD is about to destroy the city. This brings to light the solemn fact that the believer in a false position has no power in testimony... His warning was indeed a witness to the truth, but it condemned Lot himself.
Something in Lot's normal manner made "he's joking" the natural reading of his face that night.
"He seemed as one that jested." That speaks volumes to me... Through the bitterness of personal experience I can understand, better than you may, that Lot had been in the habit of jesting, even though his soul was troubled. He may have been a very witty man, always ready with a joke. Whether this is so or not, I am sure it was not the first time Lot had jested with his sons-in-law. Otherwise they could never have mistaken his desperate earnestness on that awful night for a jest.
Translations differ here. The ESV says the sons-in-law "were to marry" his daughters; other versions say they had already married them. Commentators read the Hebrew two ways.
Very competent people agree with the Latin Vulgate here. They hold that the two daughters were only engaged and still in their father's house, not yet taken to their future homes. So the Hebrew well bears the margin of the Revised Version, "were to marry" in verse 14; it is literally "the takers of." ... If these are right, it would of course mean there were other married daughters who perished in the judgment that fell on Sodom.
Lot's sons never even heard the warning.
Why did he not warn his sons? Did he think it was no use saying anything to them? ... It is not surprising if his sons received no good, solid instruction from him, backed up by faithful example. Let us be deeply serious in our testimony that God's judgment will fall very soon on an ungodly world, and that only in Christ Jesus is there any escape.
The refusal was not stupidity. Sodom looked safe, and that made the warning sound absurd.
The very idea of their city being overthrown was ridiculous. Sodom had never been busier or more prosperous. The sun was shining, and there was no sign of coming judgment. They refused the message that told them of the way of escape, and perished in its overthrow. It was sheer unbelief, and how many times has the preacher seemed to you as one who mocked? But search the Scriptures, and see whether these things are true or not.
- Read it right. The sons-in-law did not laugh at Lot. To them, Lot seemed to be joking. The failure was on the messenger's side.
- Life first. His ways had contradicted his words, so his words carried no weight. A believer in a false position has no power in testimony.
- Habit costs. Nobody believed the joker when he was in deadly earnest, and his hearers perished.
- Reach ends at home. He warned his sons-in-law. No sons came out, and only two daughters escaped. A spent witness reaches no further.
- Same night, still running. Sodom looked sunny, busy and prosperous when the warning came. Refusing it was unbelief, not proof of safety. Search the Scriptures — the only escape from judgment is in Christ Jesus.