12:10 informs us that Abraham and Lot went down into Egypt.
v.1 tells us that Abraham went up out of Egypt.
Lot accompanied him but we will see in a moment that he left his heart in Egypt.
Notice the contrast between Abraham and Lot:
Abraham walked by faith—Lot by sight.
Abraham was kind and God-conscious—Lot was greedy and worldly.
Abraham looked for a city where builder and maker was God.
Lot made his home in a city built by man and destroyed by God.
Abraham was made “hero of the world”—the curtain falls upon Lot with all his possessions destroyed in Sodom, and himself dwelling in a cave.
The life of Lot was a tragic one.
Describe the strife that arose between the herdmen—v.7.
Verses 8 and 9—Abraham’s proposition to Lot.
Verses 10-11 tell us of Lot’s choice.
“He lifted up his eyes.”
This was the beginning of Lot’s spiritual death which ended in shame.
Eye-gate is one of the avenues through which temptations assail the soul.
John says, “All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; these are not of the Father, but of the world.”
Walking by sight is the cause of most of our failures and sorrows. It was so at the beginning.
Eve “saw that the fruit was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes…she took the fruit”—Genesis 3:6.
Achan’s confession was “I saw a goodly Babylonish garment, a wedge of gold of 50 sheckles in weight, and two hundred sheckles in silver, then I coveted them, and I took them.” I saw—I coveted—I took.
Lot’s experience was no different from many others.
He lifted up his eyes—he beheld the plain—he saw that it was like the garden of the Lord, like the best of the land of Egypt.
Lot’s heart was still in Egypt.
God saw something very different.
v.13—“The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.”
Let us now consider Lot’s stay in Sodom:
Note the downward steps of this deluded man. See v.11-12.
1. “He lifted up his eyes and beheld.”
2. “He chose all the plain of Jordan.”
3. He “separated” himself from Abraham.
4. “He pitched his tent towards Sodom.”
5. He dwelt in Sodom.
6. Finally we see him so involved in the life of Sodom that they made him a judge.
7. Tragedy of tragedy we find his daughter married to men of Sodom.
Like leprosy sin has after a small beginning, but how rapid its spread, how loathsome its issue, how dreadful its end.
Peter’s denial was no sudden, isolated act, but was a climax to a series of events.
1. There was boasting and self-confidence. “Though all shall flee, I will not run away.”
2. Then there was the sleeping in the garden when he should have been watching and praying.
3. Then there was the following of Christ afar off.
4. Then there was the warning of himself at the world’s finish.
5. Then amid these evil men he denied his Lord with oaths and cursing.
What did Lot gain by his separation from Abraham and his sojourn in Sodom?
Nothing at all. He was a loser.
Consider now Lot’s deliverance from Sodom.
God never gave Lot up. God warned Lot.
Genesis 14 tells us of the defeat of the kind of Sodom.
Lot is taken prisoner, he lost all his possessions, and might also have lost his life.
When Abraham delivered them, and Lot had recovered all his possessions, he returned to Sodom. There we leave him.
In the meantime, the events of Genesis 18 and 19 take place.
Abraham is visited by heavenly visitors.
Two angels accompany the Lord. (Theophany).
Eventually the two angels proceed to Sodom.
The Lord Himself remained behind and Abraham interceded with Him on behalf of the righteous in the city.
When the angels came to Sodom they found Lot sitting in the gate. They were reluctant to accept his hospitality.
How far can a backslider wander from God?
See 19:8.
He was willing to sacrifice his two daughters to the wicked men of Sodom to secure his own preservation and peace.
v.14 describes for us the powerlessness of his testimony.
Lot had utterly lost his testimony. His sons-in-law would not believe him.
In gaining influence in the world he had lost power even in his own family.
The next morning the angels urged Lot to take his wife and two daughters and flee from the doomed city—v.15.
v.16—Lot was reluctant to leave. His heart was in Sodom.
The angels took them by the hand and rushed the outside the city.
v.17—“Escape for your life; look not behind you, neither stay in the plain.”
Lot’s wife had also left her heart behind in the city. She looked back and was turned into “a pillar of salt.”
Consider Lot as he was with Abraham: He had flocks, and hands and tents—14:5.
The final picture of Lot is in a cave in a mountain, with his two daughters—19:30.
He was bankrupt, destitute. He lost his wife, sons-in-laws, left to face the fruit of his own awful sin.
Then lastly look at the proud, prestigious judge of Sodom.
Mortal drunk—totally incapable—hopelessly inebriated—committing a heinous sin at the instigation of his daughters whom he had trained in Sodom.
The way of transgression is hard—Proverbs 13:15.