Read Genesis 19:30-38
Questions from the Scripture text: Where does Lot go, and with whom in Genesis 19:30? Whom have we recently heard about drinking so much wine that he lost his awareness, and great sin was committed by his children (cf. Genesis 9:20-28)? To whom does that happen now (Genesis 19:31-36)? What results from this in Genesis 19:37-38?Lot is a cautionary tale who presents us with a dilemma—earthly blessings are real blessings, and so ought to be enjoyed, and are yet dangerous to our souls! How should we go about enjoying them, without falling into worldliness or abusing them? Psalm 1:1-2 gives us a good start. We are careful not to let the world tell us about how to enjoy things; we delight first in God’s law, and meditate on it day and night.
And there is a very helpful passage in 1 Corinthians 7:29-35, that basically tells us that in light of the soon-coming eternity, we should hold the duties and pleasures and pains of this life with a very loose grip. Do every task with your eye on eternity. Enjoy every pleasure with your eye on eternity. Mourn every grief with your eye on eternity. Go ahead and enjoy your wife, and mourn, and rejoice, and buy, and sell—but give them the weight in your heart that they comparatively have to eternity… so in your heart, as you do them, it is as if you are not doing them at all!
Lot, who lived by sight, is an intentional foil for Abraham in this section. God means for us to see in them two opposite ways of living. Abraham, though not perfect, is living by faith—we see this in his better moments at the end of chapter 14 and beginning of 16… trusting in God as his hope, finding in God his delight.
Lot is just the opposite. By failing to live as a true pilgrim in this world, by failing to hope in God alone and treasure God far above all earthly things, Lot has never found the 1 Corinthians 7 balance of having wives as if you have none, and mourning as if you aren’t mourning, and rejoicing as if you’re not rejoicing, and buying goods as if you’re not really possessing them, and dealing with the world as if you have no dealings with it.
We find Lot in Genesis 19:30, not living in and interacting with Zoar, while his heart is in heaven. Rather, his prior worldliness has left him completely confused. Lot’s not afraid of worldliness, like he should be; now, he’s afraid of the world itself. His worldliness wasn’t just unbelievably foolish; its effects were irretrievably harmful.
Where have you been similar to Lot? How has Christ been different? How does that relate to you being right with God? How does it relate to your growth in godliness?Suggested Songs: ARP1 “How Blessed the Man” or TPH446 “Be Thou My Vision”
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