God's Mercy on Our Loved Ones (Genesis 19:15-29)

The Scripture makes it clear several times in this passage that God saved Lot for Abraham’s sake, and not because Lot himself was perfectly righteous. This is perhaps most clearly expressed in Genesis 19:29:

“So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.”

The Scripture remembers righteous Abraham and records his perspective of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 27 and 28. But earlier in the chapter, we see Lot and his wife begin by procrastinating (v. 16), then move to objecting (v. 18), and finally to disobeying the instructions of God’s angels (v. 26). Through it all, God shows Lot mercy by pulling him along while he procrastinates, answering his objections and granting him more favors. But when Lot’s wife outright disobeys the angel’s instructions not to look back, God grants instant judgment.

Please read Genesis 19:15-29.

The descriptions of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are quite vivid: “the Lord rained… sulfur and fire… out of heaven;” “the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace;” everything was destroyed, including “those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”

Yet, from all of this, Lot and his daughters were saved. Thanks to God’s love for the righteous Abraham, all they had to do was obey the instructions of the angels. Unfortunately, Lot’s wife couldn’t even do this. Scholars speculate as to why she looked back: she loved the city and mourned its destruction; she wanted to witness the awesome power of God; she dropped something and looked back to pick it up; and more crazy ideas. But it doesn’t matter why she looked back. The point is that she did exactly what she was told not to do.

Adam and Eve could have been saved from death and lived forever had they simply obeyed God’s one rule. The people of Noah’s day could have all been saved had they simply obeyed God’s call to get on the ark. Lot’s wife could have been saved had she simply obeyed the angels instructions. But no one listened. No one does what is right. No one seeks after God.

Still, God had mercy on Lot. Why? Because of Abraham.

This makes me wonder who God might have mercy on because of me. For whom am I praying so fervently that God would show them mercy? To whom am I actively sharing the gospel, so that God would show them mercy. The angels physically pulled Lot and his daughters out of a city that was about to burn because Abraham pleaded with God. Who will be pulled from the fires of hell because I have pleaded with God in prayer? Who will be saved from destruction because I have fought against the powers of darkness by shining the light of the gospel in their lives?

Who is your Lot? Who do you want to see God save today? If we are all as active as Abraham in pleading with God for our loved ones, can you imagine how heaven would overflow with saved sinners?