What is the significance of Zoar in the Bible?

One of the five cities of the plain in the land of Canaan, and which alone survived when they fell under the judgement of God. It was formerly called BELA. Lot fled to it when Sodom was destroyed, but feared to remain there. Gen. 13:10; Gen. 14:2, 8; Gen. 19:22-30; Deut. 34:3; Isa. 15:5; Jer. 48:34. Identified by some with ruins at Tell esh Shaghur, 31 50' N, 35 40' E.

Similarly, places and localities are suggestively named: Egypt, Mizraim, "double smallness" or "narrowness," suggesting the well known geographical characteristics of that country with but a fertile strip on either side its river Nile, and also indicating that this world is but a narrow place, hemmed in by the unknown desert of the past and the future, with a little strip of brightness in the present. Babel, Babylon, speak of the "confusion" begun and perpetuated there. Beersheba, "well of the oath;" Shechem, "shoulder;" Shalem, "peace;" Jerusalem, "possession of peace;" all have the meaning of their names either given or suggested in Scripture; sometimes indeed the reason for a name is given. Zoar, "a little one," so called by Lot. Beth-el, "house of God," because God there appeared to Jacob. Mahanaim, "two camps," because there the Lord's host as well as Jacob's is seen.

Another name of ZOAR, a small city near the Dead Sea. Gen. 14:2, 8; Gen. 19:22.

But the hour of destruction was at hand for the cities of the plain; and when the miscreants came near to break the door, the angels "put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? Son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of Jehovah; and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; Jehovah being merciful unto him; and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed 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 is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one? ) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (vers. 11-26).

The judgment was not going to slumber, so escape was urgent, and without the married daughters and sons-in-law the angels constrained Lot, his wife and two daughters to flee, such was the mercy of God to this true saint, who nevertheless had fallen so low. Moreover his request to be allowed to shelter in the fifth and smallest city of the plain, instead of fleeing to the mountain, was granted. Sodom would have been spared if only ten righteous persons had been in it. Zoar was spared because only one righteous man entered it. Such is the abounding mercy of our God, and His slowness to judge.

The word of the angel in verse 22 is worthy of note, "I cannot do anything till thou be come thither." Why, "cannot"? Not because power was lacking to act in judgment, but because it is a fixed principle of God's ways that penal and eternal wrath is never to touch His people. The judgment of these cities was not merely a matter of governmental wrath, for penal wrath also was involved, as we see in Jude 7. The "vengeance of eternal fire" could not possibly touch Lot, since he was a righteous man, though a misguided one.

"And Lot said unto them, 'Oh. not so, my Lord: behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shown me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live!'" How many prayers does not unbelief dictate! How plainly does it characterize this prayer throughout! He owns a mercy he yet dare not trust; asks God for Zoar as a little city, that He might spare as such; and for his own good, not the human lives that were involved. How base is unbelief! How wonderful the goodness that, at such intercession, could spare Zoar!

"And Lot said unto them, 'Oh, not so, my Lord; behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy which thou hast shown me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live!'"

How many prayers does not unbelief dictate! and how plainly does it characterize this prayer throughout! He owns a mercy he yet dare not trust; asks God for Zoar as a little city, that He might spare as such; and for his own good, not the human lives that were involved. How base is unbelief! How wonderful the goodness that, at such intercession, could spare Zoar!

But Lot has no heart for the mountain. That might do for Abraham, who had never known what it was to be "a man of the world" in the cities of the plain, but the very thought of the mountain was "evil" and death to Lot. How hard it is for a worldly Christian to forsake the life of man's city for a life of separation and communion with God! The thought of a life of faith fills his heart with forebodings. The normal life of the Christian is far from attractive to the Christian who lives in the world. He is thankful to God for saving his soul from destruction, but he does not relish the pilgrim pathway. This is seen in Lot, who knows that God has been merciful to him, in sparing his life, but the prospect of isolation on the mountain fills him with dread. There-fore Lot pleads to be allowed to enter Zoar, which God allows him to do, holding back the fire of His wrath until he entered it.

Lot's plea was that Zoar was only a little city. The life of man's world still held his heart, righteous man though he was, and his plea suggests that because of its size, Zoar might be spared, for its evil would not be of the same magnitude as Sodom's. It is true that Sodom is singled out, even among the cities of the plain, for the enormity of its sins, even as we read, "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly"; but the sins in which Sodom exceeded characterized the rest, and only God's mercy, through Lot's pleading spared Zoar. Zoar might appear different in the eyes of Lot; it was little different in Jehovah's eyes; its sins, like Sodom's, reached to heaven, and called for the judgment of a righteous and holy God. The principles of the world are seen in both Sodom and Zoar; the Christian is called to walk apart from these principles, to walk in the light of God's world, in the light of the city that Abraham looked for, "A city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). We are to be entirely separate to God, not to be ensnared either in the small cities or the large cities of men; our calling is like Abraham's. He was to leave his whole former life at Ur of the Chaldeans to be a pilgrim and a stranger, not to seek the old life again in the cities of the plain.

The angels gave him this permission, saying that that town would be spared when Sodom was destroyed. But he is told to hurry, and moreover that nothing could be done before he arrived there at Zoar. Such is the protecting care of God over one believer! This tells us that Lot was evidently the only righteous inhabitant of Sodom.

The angels gave him this permission, saying that that town would be spared when Sodom was destroyed. But he is told to hurry, and moreover that nothing could be done before he arrived there at Zoar. Such is the protecting care of God over one believer! This tells us that Lot was evidently the only righteous inhabitant of Sodom.