When Jesus was teaching about His coming and the close of the age, He not only compared the close of this age with the days of Noah, but also with days of Lot.
And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30 NKJV)
In order to understand the time of Lot we may have to look in the Book of Genesis chapter 19 of get a clear picture of what the Lord Jesus was talking about:
That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him.
Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. “Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. Look, I have two virgin daughters.
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”“Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door. But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door.
Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside. Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking. (Genesis 19:1-14 NLT)
The city of Sodom derives from the English word sodomy which was applied to a particular form of sexual perversion. The story of this city reveals that Lot had to deal with the same kind of sins society faces today. The sinful practices of the people had influenced him to the point that he wasn’t able to take a stand.
When he finally decided to take stand against unrighteousness, it was almost impossible because he was no longer a true witness. This is evidenced by Lot’s compromise in giving up his two virgin daughters. “Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”
What did he think? Possibly Lot thought the men who wanted to have sex with the angels would become disinterested and leave. Although it was a custom during those days to protect the guests at any cost, his proposal reveals how deeply sin had affected Lot and the city. Men desired homosexual relationships to the point that they did it openly, aggressively and were willing to resort to physical violence to get it.
In addition it encompassed the entire population both and young old. These men totally lacked common sense and they ignored all accepted moral behavior. No wonder this wickedness was so great that God had to destroy the whole city. Now how did the time of Lot differ from the time of Noah? Both of these times were similar, but in Lot’s time a special men desired sexual relationships with other men.
Lot was a nephew of Abraham who had come into a personal relationship with the Lord after observing God’s dealing with Abraham. The time came when he had to separate with Abraham, for the land could not support both of them if they stayed together. (Genesis 13:6) Therefore Abraham allowed Lot to choose where he would go.
Abraham’s choice was not based on the things of this world, but for eternal things, for he was (waiting expectantly and confidently) looking forward to the city which has fixed and firm foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God. (Hebrews 11:10 AMP) Lot on the other hand, never looked beyond his present surroundings.
Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. (Genesis 13:10 NLT)
It is said of the men of Sodom that they were sinners exceedingly because they were sinners before the Lord. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord. (Genesis 13:13) This was in spite of the kindness He had shown them, for the land of Sodom was “like the garden of the Lord” prior to its destruction. Perhaps this is why Lot was drawn towards the wealth and fertility of Sodom, and he became blind to the wickedness of the city’s inhabitants.
After some time, the Lord sent two angels to proclaim that He was going to destroy the city. Lot by this time was sitting at Sodom’s city gate. (Genesis 19:1) The city gate was considered to be the meeting place for city officials to transact business and discuss current events. This would indicate that Lot held an important position in the community which has been cited as one reason why he didn’t want to leave.
The angels then asked Lot if he had “anyone else son-in-law, sons, daughters, and whomever you have in the city”—to take them out of the city before it was destroyed. (Genesis 19:12) So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiances, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking. (Genesis 19:14) When Lot told his sons-in-law to run from the wrath to come, they thought he had lost his mind.
Then the angels became insistent because Lot was still hesitant and the angels had to literally seize his hand and the hands of his wife and two unmarried daughters, to a place of safety for the Lord had mercy on them. (Genesis 19:16) But why was Lot double minded when it came to leaving the city? We have to understand that Sodom was a very beautiful place– well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord.
Like many of us, Lot did not want to leave the wealth, comfort and his position of authority which he probably enjoyed so much. In comparing the days of Noah and Lot, Jesus mentioned how people went about their daily business in these activities: eating drinking, buying and selling, farming and building—all these activities are lawful but the problem was people were so attached to these activities that they did not recognize what was going on morally.
The spirit of materialism was so strong that they no longer had any eternal consciousness. The Bible says that the real sin of Sodom was not homosexuality, but pride, abundance of food and indifference to the poor and the needy. Selfishness is the root cause of all other abominations. They tell us we are in a recession yet the rich are getting richer and richer and the poor are getting poorer, yet wealth is not destroyed but it is just transferred to the richest.
Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom; Pride, overabundance of food, prosperous ease, and idleness were hers and her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” (Ezekiel 16:49 AMP)
Jesus said that “Beware! Watch out. Be on guard against every kind of greed. Why? Because a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses. (See Luke 12:15-21) Greed, over abundance of food, and pride will always lead to perversion and then destruction.
The problem everywhere, whether in the West or in Africa is that we are putting our confidence in earthly things and not in God. We multiply increase, and hoard stuff but we are still unsatisfied. Why? Because nothing under the sun will satisfy us. We store up earthly treasures but we don’t work on our relationship with the Lord yet genuine rest is found in Him.
Compared to eternity we physically on this earth are only given a very brief moment of time to get our priorities in line. How tragic that most of us don’t grasp the importance of eternity. You wonder why so much our time is spent (if not all) on those things that are temporary! Most of our thoughts about life revolve around what we plan to do tomorrow or the day after.
About the only area in which there is any long range planning is the field of financial investments. However, we should look at life with eternity’s values in view! 100 years from now it will not matter whether you had a nice bank account, a portfolio of stocks or mutual funds, a savings account or a retirement account!
What will count for an eternity is: Did you develop a personal walk with Jesus Christ and secondly what motivated you to serve Him? If you are a Christian…. having accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and Lord… just honestly ask yourself this question: How much time do I devote to those things that are eternal?
The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. Historians tell us that when Alexander the Great, discovered there were no more lands to conquer, he sat down and wept.
