and in like manner as took place in the days of Lot they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
The Lord sets a second picture beside the days of Noah: Sodom in the time of Lot, described not by its worst sins but by its buying, planting and building. Why picture a city on the edge of destruction by the most ordinary activities of life?
Genesis records the gross evil of Sodom, yet the Lord's summary here stays on the surface of daily routine. One writer notes that choice, and what buying and building show about the hopes of the people doing them.
We know from the history (Genesis 19:4-10) that Sodom was also guilty of the dreadful moral corruption of homosexuality. But the Lord spoke here only of their concentration on living for this life. He adds to the previous verse that they bought, sold, planted and built. These things show how they were preparing to go on living on earth, with no concern for eternity.
Lot's Sodom adds trading and building to the list of daily habits. That extra marks a step forward for the world, and the question is what the step was worth.
There was progress in the world. Civilisation had advanced. But was it any better morally? … People too easily forget that a far wider judgment is waiting for the world, following the pattern of these two judgments from God.
Luke alone records this comparison. Notice who is telling it.
Only this Gospel gives us this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. And it is the Lord who tells us about the world before the flood, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah too, and of Zeboiim. He saw it all. He tells us the future too.
Eating, trading and building are not crimes. The question is how people use them, and whether they leave any room for God.
There is nothing wrong in these things of the world themselves. The right or the wrong lies in the use man makes of them. There is no conscience in these things, no spiritual affection in them, no moral good in them (they are all God's creatures, of course). The things are not evil… It is a world that is forming pleasures for itself out of what God did create; but it does not care for God, for it rejected Him.
The angels led Lot out in full daylight, and the city carried on. One writer fills in the ordinary scene behind the verse's short list.
They held their market. The exchange opened, traders met there, and farmers came in from the country with their produce. Housewives went out to buy the food for the day, and everybody was busy… Note this: God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of the city, and that warning the people despised.
Sodom's routine ran right up to the moment Lot was outside the city. One writer traces how tightly the fire waited on him reaching the town of Zoar.
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot entered Zoar. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of burning sulphur and fire to fall. Nothing could happen until Lot reached the city; but once he was in it, nothing more held back the fire.
Many expect the world to improve until it is fit for Christ's return. One writer meets that hope head-on.
Scripture nowhere teaches that the time of the earth's blessing will come before Christ comes. It comes after… If you are not a believer, but someone who rejects Christ, that day may catch you by surprise, just as it caught the people of Sodom when they had opened their shops for another day's business and another day's sins.
- Ordinary. The charge against Sodom here is not its worst sins. It is a life wrapped up in this world, with no concern for eternity.
- Advanced. Buying, selling, planting and building show a world that had moved on: progress in civilisation, none in morals.
- Neutral. The things listed are God's creatures and not evil; the wrong lies in a world using them to enjoy itself without Him.
- Uninterrupted. Business opened as usual on the final morning. Sodom's one warning was the sight of Lot being led out, and the city despised it.
- Until. The fire could not fall while Lot was still inside, and nothing held it back once he was out. So Scripture promises the world no slow improvement before Christ comes.
but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven, and destroyed all [of them]
Jesus reaches back to the last day of Sodom, a city whose shops opened as usual on the morning it burned. He is not teaching history. He is describing the world He will return to judge.
Only Luke keeps this second illustration. Notice who gives it. The Lord who saw the cities of the plain burn is the One describing what is still to come.
So in the days of Lot, the people of the cities of the plain were living as if nothing but permanent life on earth lay before them… Fire and brimstone rained down on them from heaven and cut their work short. "So will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Only in this Gospel do we have this reference to Sodom in the days of Lot. It is the Lord who tells us about the old world, and about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah… He witnessed it all. He foretells the future likewise.
The sky gave no hint. The city got one signal: angels leading a man out at dawn. It despised the warning.
They held their market. Their exchange was open, and business men met in it. In came the farmers with their produce from the country. The housewives went out to buy the day's food, and everybody was busy… Yes, quite true: "the sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar." Nothing looked different, in nature or in the city… Note this. God is not going to give the world one single bit of warning when He judges it, any more than He gave Sodom. Its only warning was the angels leading Lot out of it, and that warning they clearly despised.
The verse ties the fire to one man's departure. That rescue set the clock in both directions.
The One to whom vengeance belongs has settled the whole plan of safety… But a solemn scene of judgment goes with all this. After this, Lot entered Zoar, and the sun had risen on the earth. And yet that sunny hour was the very time for the rain of brimstone and fire to fall. Nothing could be done until Lot entered the city, but then nothing remained to be done before the fire came down.
The verse says sulfur; older Bibles say brimstone. It is a real substance, and it marks God's judgment right through Scripture.
Bitumen, pitch, or sulphur, which is still found in its crude state in Palestine. In God's judgment it was rained from heaven. Gen. 19:24; Ps. 11:6; Ezek. 38:22; Luke 17:29. It is symbolic of what will add to the torment and anguish of the wicked. Rev. 14:10; Rev. 19:20; Rev. 20:10; Rev. 21:8.
Sodom was a busy, advancing city. Kelly asks what that progress was worth.
"Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building." There was progress in the world; civilisation had advanced, but was it any better morally? "But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all." Men too easily forget the judgment that awaits the world. It will be beyond all comparison wider than these two, but it will follow their pattern… No delusion is more ruinous than the idea that Christendom will escape its doom because there is much good in it. The Lord lingers to save souls. When His own are gathered out, judgment will proceed all the more sternly, because the world saw His grace, saw its fruits, and heard His warnings in vain.
The Lord's two examples ended differently. A third ending is still ahead.
The days of Noah ended in a flood of water. The days of Lot ended in a flood of fire. The present age will soon end in a flood as well. It will not be providential or temporary. It will be the direct judgment of God.
Lot was pulled out, but he still had to keep moving. Wolston presses the same urgency on the reader.
Led outside the city, he and those with him are put on the road to safety. But being on the road is not enough. They must reach the place of safety… "Escape for your life," is the word. "Do not look back" — do not turn back. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley; escape to the hills, lest you be swept away."… Know this: there is nothing but judgment for those who stay in the valley. There is no safety except in Christ.
- Eyewitness. The Lord who watched Sodom burn is the One describing it here, and He tells it to show what His own return will be like.
- Ordinary. Buying, selling, planting, building: the fire fell mid-routine. The sky gave no sign, and the city laughed off its one warning.
- Timing. Nothing could fall while Lot was still inside; the moment he was clear, nothing delayed the fire.
- Pattern. Water in Noah's day, fire in Lot's — advancing civilisation changed the world's habits, not its end.
- Escape. A warning, or even a walk out of the city, is not the same as reaching safety. Safety is in Christ. Reach it now.