Our last article looked at the words of Melchizedek to Abraham. We saw the wonderful type of the Messiah exhibited in this man, who as King-Priest blessed the patriarch and was given tithes by him. We look for the day when the Most High God sends His Son to the earth, and will “deliver his enemies into his hand.”
The last recorded words of Lot are: “Oh, not so, my Lord… I cannot escape to the mountains… behold now this city… let me escape thither…” (Gen. 19:18-20).
Poor Lot, he never really seems to understand the working of God in his life. God says, “Flee to the mountains”, and he comes up with a million excuses why this won’t work, and why his plan is better than God’s! God always knows best, and we have to trust Him implicitly and unquestioningly! Lot’s great plan is to flee to a small city to be safe. However, Lot later finds himself in danger in the city, and he has to flee to the mountains (Gen. 19:30). You can imagine the people’s reaction to the lone survivor of the Sodom and Gomorrah destruction!
What tragedy results from this! His daughters now despair of life (perhaps based on experiences in the city), and they manipulate their father into incestuous relations with them. How much better for Lot if he had gone to the mountains initially, as God commanded, trusting that God knew what He was doing and would work things out for good. Maybe if Lot had gone to the mountains first, he could have integrated into society later “when the dust settled”!
This incident also gives some interesting insight into the work of the angels. Lot’s last words are a request to the angels working with him, a request that they grant. We can see here that the angel listens to Lot’s request, and makes a decision to allow it: “See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also…” (Gen. 19:21). Do we sense a little frustration in the angel’s words here? There is no indication that the angel had to get authority from on high to grant this request. The angel made this decision himself. Note that granting this request meant that Zoar (the little city Lot wanted to flee to) was spared from overthrow (v. 21)! Too bad the people of the city didn’t realize this — maybe they would have accepted Lot as a hero, not a villain! It would seem that the angels are given a job to do by God with certain parameters and guidelines to work within. Inside those parameters they have room to change plans and make decisions — they are not robots. Rather, they have to react to unexpected circumstances (like an uncooperative Lot).
But there are limits to the parameters. The angels could not destroy Sodom until Lot was safe (v. 22), and the moment Lot entered Zoar “the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from heaven… and overthrew those cities and all the plain” (vv. 23-25).
The lesson we learn from Lot’s “famous last words” is that we must accept God’s will for us and obey His commands without question. “Thy will, not mine be done” and “God willing, we will do this or that” must be the hallmarks of a faithful believer’s life. We must never doubt God by asking for our circumstances to be changed to suit our wants and desires. As the old saying goes, “Be careful what you ask for — you just might get it!”
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5,6).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One