Genesis 19:15-17
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”
This is another example of a story from the Bible that I am very familiar with, and yet I am now struck by a little detail upon re-reading it that I have never paid attention to before.
Genesis 18-19 includes the now famous story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many of the details of the story have long stuck with me. I have always loved the part when Abraham intercedes for the cities and goes through a kind of bargaining with God, finally getting God’s word that He will not destroy the cities if only 10 righteous people can be found there. I have also been terrified when imagining myself trapped in the house with Lot and his family while that gang beats on the door outside demanding Lot turn his guests over to them so that they can have their way with them.
The part that stands out today is what the angels do for Lot after they tell him to leave the city. They have already warned him to leave, but when he “lingers” they literally take him and his family by the hand and guide them out of the city. Not only is it a picture of grace, but Moses takes the time to point out that the LORD is “being merciful” to him.
This detail of the story is saying something to me about God’s grace in the midst of evil. I don’t believe that God has revealed everything to us about questions like, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” or “Why doesn’t a God who is both all-good and all-powerful just do away with evil immediately?” He does, however, reveal a lot about these questions, just not everything. Some of it is simple and it gives us comfort, and some of it is complex and causes us to wonder.
This part is simple, and amazing to me: God makes someone righteous by His grace, not because they earn it with their works, and He keeps all of His promises to them. So, the whole business of salvation begins and ends with God. Our only hope is that He would take us by the hand.
As I read through all of Genesis, I find that Lot is not someone who I would consider “righteous” at first glance. In a lot of ways, I wouldn’t consider Abraham righteous either. But that is so much of the point of this story. Here are two men who are full of fears and doubts, Abraham laughs at God when He makes promises, asks God for second and third assurances that He will keep His word, commits adultery to try bring about an heir rather than waiting on God, and allows his wife to do the same just to save his own neck. Lot would rather give his own daughters over to the lustful mob than stand up to them, and he is afraid to live outside the comforts and protection of the city.
But, these men are recipients of a promise from God and God always stands by His word. Neither of them deserve any of God’s blessings, and yet God never waivers in how He treats either of them. There are a lot of little pictures in this story that illustrate God’s mercy toward them, and one is the picture of the angels leading Lot and his family out by the hand.
Even when Lot was reluctant to be rescued, God went the extra mile to bring Him to safety. He could have just warned him and left it at that, but God literally took Him by the hand and brought him out of where he was not supposed to be.
I think the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in the New Testament echo this same part of God’s heart. He does not leave His children behind, even when they wander off and get lost. Also, they are never righteous because of what they do. He declares them righteous when they trust Him (Genesis 15:6, Galatians 3:6), even though they are still imperfect in so many ways.
I am just like Abraham and Lot, and so I am just as unrighteous in my own actions and just as undeserving of God’s favor. I would be lost like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, except that the same God who was merciful to Lot and his family has been merciful to me, and He extends His hand to each and every one of us.
