Lot had chosen the way of Sodom because of the desire for cattle and worldly success. He might have doubled, tripled or quadrupled his possessions in Sodom.
He possibly had a lot of possessions, but that morning when he had to leave Sodom, I wonder how much he could carry. How much of worldly goods can one man and his two daughters carry as they rush out of a town in an escape to the mountains? The angels got to him in the evening and he only knew at night that he had to leave. There was obviously no time for him to convert his goods into the type of valuables that he could carry. So he came to Sodom with things and went out of Sodom without things. He, unlike Abraham, did not come out with many goods. He wanted to gain the world and, right in this world, he lost the world. If that had been all he lost, it would have been bad enough. He, however, lost more!
The Bible says that he did not stay in the city which he had initially chosen and for which he had received the approval of the Lord. He went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the hill with his daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters. Lot was restless. He first wanted Zoar because it was a small city. Later on the small city of Zoar became too big for him. He then dwelt in a cave.
- From the beginning he chose all the Jordan valley.
- Then he chose something smaller than the valley – he chose the city of Sodom.
- Then he was sent out of Sodom to a city smaller than Sodom.
- He refused this city and chose the much smaller city of Zoar.
- He was insecure in Zoar and so he went out and finally ended up in a cave.
A cave! A cave! What a place for a man who wanted to gain all the world! If it were only a cave, it would be bad enough. Things were, however, worse. In the cave he committed incest with his two daughters and gave birth to two tribes that fell under God’s judgment – the Moabites and the Amorites.
So Lot became the father of tribes that were an abomination to the Lord and His people. What an end! It started with greed. It ended in the production of abominations. Have you stopped and calculated where your divided heart will lead you to? Have you counted the long-term effects of your sin of
- worldliness,
- disobedience,
- greed,
- lust,
- etc,
on your walk with God,
on your service for God,
on your children,
on the church,
on the cause of the Gospel worldwide?
Are you sowing seeds that, when fully ripe, will be a perpetual problem to you?
Are you lighting a flame that, when it will take off and begin to blaze, will be totally beyond your control and may destroy you and yours permanently?
THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST
We have said that all who know the Lord will escape the Great Judgment that is coming on the world. However, all the saved will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Lord rained brimstone and fire in judgment on Sodom. He will rain fire on the works of the believer. The Bible says, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
Lot lost everything. He came through fire, losing everything, but he was saved by God’s grace. May we be different from him! May we bring our all to the Lord and bring ourselves in particular and insist that He accept our offer of ourselves and our all! May we wait before Him until we are sure that He has accepted us and our all for now and for all time! Then may we live in His immediate presence and serve Him to His satisfaction, and then our reward will be great in heaven. Amen.