Genesis 19 Devotional Bible Study

Genesis 19 Chapter Summary

The two "men" were revealed to be angels in the form of men. They went to Sodom. Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city and insisted they stay in his house. The two "men" agreed, but later that night, the men of the city surrounded Lot's house and threatened to break in and attack him if Lot didn't send his guests out to be sexually abused by the men.

Lot went out and offered to send out his two daughters instead, but the men did not agree and advanced toward the house. The two angels then pulled Lot back into the house and struck the crowd with blindness.

 

The angels told Lot to take his family and leave the city because they were going to destroy it. Lot tried to warn the two men who were engaged to his daughters, but they brushed him off, thinking he must be joking.

 

At dawn, the angels again warned Lot to leave the city. He hesitated for some reason, and the angels took him, his wife, and their two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city, telling them to flee and not look back.

 

Lot begged to take refuge in a small town nearby named Zoar. The angels allowed it, but as the family was fleeing, Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. She had seen the Lord raining down brimstone (burning sulfur) on the city and on the surrounding area, including Gomorrah.

 

Abraham saw the smoke from where he was.

 

God rescued Lot for Abraham's sake.

 

Later, Lot and his two daughters moved to the mountains because they were afraid to stay in Zoar. Because there were no other men around, his two daughters agreed to get Lot drunk and have sex with him. The older daughter gave birth to Moab (ancestor of the Moabites), and the younger daughter gave birth to Ammi (ancestor of the Ammonites). Lot was not aware of having sex with his daughters.

 

 

“I Insist”

Genesis 19:2

“’My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to your servant’s house.’”

Lot offered the two men (angels) room and board. The other men of the town just wanted to take advantage of them.

When the angels refused Lot’s hospitality, he insisted strongly enough to convince them to stay with him. When the men of the town didn’t get their way, they also insisted, so strongly that they threatened to break into Lot’s house and beat him.

Both parties were persistent. Are you? If you offer to help someone, and they refuse, do you let the matter drop or do you follow up with another offer?

We need to give people the freedom to make their own choices, as God does with us. But God also always extends grace to us again at the next available opportunity. How can you extend an offer to help someone after they’ve refused you before? How can you gently insist so that they know you know you’re sincere in your desire to help them and not simply being polite?

 

Lot's Sons-In-Law

Genesis 19:14

“So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.”

Lot tried to warn these two men to get out of the city, but they thought he was joking. We can't be surprised when people don't take God's message seriously. They don't believe in the reality of God and His actions. They don't feel the gravity of their own sin. We do. We need to make sure that we, at least, are taking God's Word seriously.

 

 

Don't Look Back

Genesis 19:26

“But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Lot's wife turned back and was turned to salt. When we flee sin or a situation that God is calling us out of, we can't look back. We have to follow God wholeheartedly, full steam ahead. 

What sin or situation in life is God calling you to flee from? If you don’t leave it behind, you could become stuck in place, like Lot’s wife, instead of making progress on the path God has set for you.