Lot the Lingering Loser
Pastor Don Carpenter
Bible Boneheads / Sin / Genesis 19:15–29
It is fun, interesting, and sometimes instructive to watch my grand kids play after church. As you may know, sometimes the kids love to play tag or chase when the crowds die down. Each child has their strength and weakness. Some are quick, some are agile, but some have learned the hard way that when you are running forward down the side aisles that have the support arches that protrude into the pathway, it is unwise to look backward. The sound of THUD, silence, then shrieking, is the sound of a child learning the lesson that when you have to run forward, it is unwise to look backward.
As we continue to look at Lot, a Bible Bonehead, we will discover that when we are given merciful warnings from God, we need to act and not hesitate, for when we do, we could lose everything like what happened in the story of Lot the Lingering Loser.
Lot Lingered In Spite of Multiple Warnings
He needed another wake up call
Genesis 19:15 KJV
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.
The first time God rescued Lot, he was a prisoner of war (14:12, 16); and he went right back into Sodom. That painful experience should have warned him that he was out of the will of God; but if Lot heard the warning, he certainly did not heed it. 1
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). Be Obedient (p. 82). Victor Books.
When morning dawned: we may assume that Lot has returned home from his unsuccessful visit to his future sons-in-law and is perhaps again in bed at his own house. All the earlier events have taken place in the night and early hours of the morning. The Hebrew expression is “And as the dawn arose,” which in many languages is expressed as “Before the sun came up.” The reference is to the period between first light and sunrise. In languages that divide these early hours and have a number of different expressions for periods of time before the sun rises, it is best to refer to the time when there is just sufficient light to see well.1
1 Reyburn, W. D., & Fry, E. M. (1998). A handbook on Genesis (pp. 425–426). United Bible Societies.
Ezekiel 16:50 KJV
And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
Lot was dragged by the mercy of God.
Genesis 19:16 KJV
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; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Titus 3:5 KJV
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
But he lingered: lingered means delayed or hesitated. In some languages this is expressed as “took his time” or “didn’t hurry.” Translators may wish to make this statement a time clause, for example, “When Lot hesitated …,” followed by the action of the angels.
So the men seized him … by the hand: the angels have to use force to make Lot and his family leave.
1 Reyburn, W. D., & Fry, E. M. (1998). A handbook on Genesis (p. 426). United Bible Societies.
Lot was given explicit instructions
Genesis 19:17 KJV
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.
• Escape for your life
• Don’t look back
• Don’t stay in the plain
• Escape to the mountain
Lot Begged to Go His Own Way
Genesis 19:18–23 KJV
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 shewed 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 any thing 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.
Lots Priorities Were Still Selfishly Focused on Temporary Comfort.
• God is about to rain down fire on Lots friends and even his married daughters and sons… yet he was begging not to have to go on a camping trip.
• God in His mercy promised to spare Zoar
• Perhaps if Lot would have followed the original instruction, his wife would not have been close enough to look back and be destroyed.
• Sometimes after God has been trying to get us to change direction, He lets us have what we were begging for and sends leanness to our souls.
Psalm 106:13–15 KJV
They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel:
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.
And he gave them their request; But sent leanness into their soul.
Lot Lost Everything
Genesis 19:24–25 KJV
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
• His Livelihood and Possessions
• His Friends
• His position
• His married daughters and sons
• His wife
Genesis 19:26 KJV
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
• Lot did follow the rest of the instructions but by then it was too late.
Genesis 19:30 KJV
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
Lot Was Spared Because Abraham had Prayed.
Genesis 19:28–29 KJV
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Ezekiel 22:29–31 KJV
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Conclusion:
God is merciful enough to warn us way more than we ever deserve. It would be wise not to linger… if God is moving you to make a move, do not hesitate! God is merciful enough to give us specific leadership through scriptures and the Holy Spirit.. it would be wise not to bargain. It may be because of the hardness of your heart, He will grant you your request only to send leanness. God has your soul in His hand if you are saved, but your carnality could result in great personal loss. Take the warning and learn from Lot the Lingering Loser.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 6:12 PM April 5, 2022.