The Fall of Lot

“How blessed is the man who does
not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”  Psalm 1:1

One of the most tragic figures in all of Scripture is
 that of compromising Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who renounced the land of promise for the sinful society of Sodom, ultimately to lose everything of importance. His slide into apostasy, as traced in Genesis 12-19, seems to parallel the progression described in today’s text of not becoming a godly believer.

Lot is first mentioned as traveling with Abram and Sarai from their homeland to Canaan in obedience to God’s command (Gen. 12:4-5; 13:5). A petty problem arises which surely could have been resolved (13:6-10), but Lot chose (v. 11) to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (v. 13).

Lot soon found a home in the city itself, not content to merely herd his flocks in the fertile valley. By standing in the way of sinners, when Sodom was attacked by enemies, he was captured (14:12) and later rescued by Abram (vv. 14-16).

Lot’s identification with wicked Sodom did not end there, as it should have, for when the city’s wickedness was beyond God’s forbearance, Lot was found sitting in the seat of the scornful, a leader of the city, sitting in the gates with the town fathers (19:1). Lot was a “just” [or “righteous”] man, “oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men” (2 Pet. 2:7), but his actions (Gen. 19:8) and his lack of spiritual influence even within his own family (vv. 14-16, 31-38) testify to the horror of such a compromising lifestyle.

May God grant us all the persevering faith of Abraham and not the compromising faith of Lot.