GOD’S MERCY – TYPICAL EXAMPLES
LORD HAVE MERCY ON LOT
Bible: Genesis 19:1-16
Key Verse: GENESIS 19:16 – But Lot lingered; and the angels seized him by the hand, and his wife, and his two daughters, because the LORD was merciful to him, and brought him out of the city.
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We Christians are very familiar with the story of Lot. However, we would like to briefly recount it so that the Church can remember it.
The Bible says that Lot was Abraham’s nephew. Abraham’s father was Terah. He had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was Lot’s father. So Lot was Abraham’s nephew and called him his great uncle. This is recorded in…
GENES 11: 27 – These are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
When God called Abraham to leave Ur, he took Lot with him, as it is recorded in…
GENES 11:31 – Terah took his son Abram, his nephew Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram’s wife, and they went out of Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
After many years of wandering from place to place, both Abraham and Lot became rich…
GENES 13:5 – 5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had sheep and cattle and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to accommodate them, so that they could not dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
So they decided to separate from each other so that there would be no quarreling…
GENESIS 13:7-9 – 7 Now there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock, while the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land. 8 And Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Now therefore depart from me; if you take to the left, then I will go to the right; or if you take to the right, then I will go to the left.”
This shows that although Abraham and Lot were on good terms with each other, they could not get the herdsmen to work together in harmony. That is why Abraham sought a way to resolve the problem, and Lot agreed.
Because he was the greater, Abraham gave Lot the first choice, and, as we have seen, Lot chose the land of Sodom to go and live there, because the land was very fertile, like the fertile land of Eden…
GENES 13:10-13 – 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) as far as Zoar; it was like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. 11 So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and passed eastward. So the two men separated from each other. 12 And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and great sinners against the LORD.
According to the Scriptures, Sodom and Gomorrah were the territory of Canaan the son of Ham.
GENES 10:15-20 – 15 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Then the Canaanites were scattered. 19 And the territory of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar to Gaza; toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, and ran to Lasha. 20 These were the descendants of Ham, according to their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
The curse of Canaan is recorded in Genesis, and the story was certainly told through generations, for it was the custom of the ancients, when books were not yet common in society, and it is certain that both Abraham and Lot knew the story. Nevertheless, Lot chose the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, because it was fertile.
Living in close proximity to sinners is something God does not want His people to do, as is mentioned in…
PSALM 1:1 – Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
That principle of God is eternal and unchanging, so even in the New Testament period, God’s words also remind us of it, as recorded in…
EPHESIANS 5:3-7 – 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 Obscenity or foolish talking or foolish jesting, which are not fitting; but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator or unclean person or covetous person, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore have no fellowship with them.
And in…
JUDGE 1:23 – Save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others have mercy mixed with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
Therefore, we can learn a lesson from Lot’s life, that is, do not collude with evil people for profit or for any other reason. We Christians can witness to them so that they will recognize what sin is and repent and believe in God. Besides that, God’s people, if possible, should try their best not to collude with any sin, especially intentional sin.
But here we also see God’s mercy as Lot’s moving his camp to live with the sinners in Sodom. That was the defeat of the two kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their enemy army captured Lot’s family and took them to another place, as reported in Genesis 14, which I will only quote here from verses 10 to 12…
GENESIS 14:10-12 – 10 Now in the Valley of Siddim there were many tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell into them, and the rest of them fled to the hills. 11 And the victors took all the goods and provisions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, who lived in Sodom, and all his goods, and carried them away.
Here we can see that God wanted Lot to move to another place, which is why He let Lot lose all his possessions and be taken away from Sodom by the enemy, as recorded in this chapter 14 of Genesis.
But God’s mercy was even greater when He blessed Abraham so that with just a small number of people, 318 men, and although they were not professional soldiers, Abraham was still able to rescue Lot and Lot’s properties, as reported in…
GENESIS 14:14-16 – 14 When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he gathered his trained servants, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them as far as Dan. 15 And Abram divided his forces and attacked them by night, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 And he recovered all the goods that had been taken; and he also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women, and the people.
God had mercy on Lot, not wanting him to live with sinners, so he allowed Lot to be saved from the enemy and to take all his property out of Sodom.
But instead of moving elsewhere, Lot returned to live in Sodom with those who committed terrible sins before God.
Here we learn another lesson, that is, the desire for profit can easily make God’s people blind to God’s mercy and salvation. Such a desire can cause Christians, after receiving God’s mercy, to continue to associate with sinners. It is seeing the immediate benefit but forgetting the harm that comes later. We Christians must avoid such temptations.
Because Lot did not understand the works and will of God, God had to show His mercy again by delivering Lot from Sodom when the angels of the Lord punished those two sinful cities, as it is written in…
GENES 19:12-16 – 12 And the two angels said to Lot, Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, and whoever is yours in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and he has sent us down to destroy it. 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law who had married his daughters, “Get up, get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law seemed to him to be joking. 15 And when morning came, the angels urged Lot, saying, Arise, and take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. 16 But he lingered; and the angels, because the LORD was merciful to him, took him by the hand, and his wife and his two daughters, and brought him out of the city.
But this time, God only saved Lot’s life and his family, but all his property was lost. It was Lot’s fault. If he had moved elsewhere after God used Abraham to save him from the enemy, he would have been safe and still had all his property. But because he did not know God’s will to follow, even though God showed mercy to him this time, he lost all his property, only saving his own life and the lives of his two daughters.
Therefore, we Christians need to remember this story and the lesson that God taught through Lot’s life. That is, many times the loss of wealth is God’s mercy to help us Christians not to lose our souls because of attachment to the possessions of this world when God returns.