My Answer: Lots of concerns about Lot

Q: Genesis 19 is really making me wonder if Lot was such a righteous man. I mean, God did save him from the destruction of Sodom, but on the whole he looks like a drunken, incestuous pimp. Have I missed something? — S.C.

A: First of all it’s important to realize you are not alone in your confusion over this particular story, wherein two men—angels of the Lord, it turns out—are offered hospitality by Lot before his house is surrounded by an angry mob of townsfolk. To save them, Lot says:

“Look, I have two daughters, virgins both of them. Let me bring them out to you and you could do what you like with them. But do nothing to these men because they have come under the shelter of my roof.” (Genesis 19:8)

Now surprisingly, this doesn’t work. Maybe this band of rapists had already partaken in Lot’s daughters before, and they weren’t as chaste as he believed. God only knows. Anyway, Lot and his family are sent out of town to avoid destruction and warned not to look back. But Lot’s wife—Bernice, I think—just couldn’t resist one last peek and was turned into a pillar of salt. Lot was too old and feeble to drag her to the emergency Batcave in Zoar, so he donated her body as a salt lick to be enjoyed by travelling livestock.

Lot and his daughters—let’s call them Hester and Wilhelmina: the Bible didn’t really consider most women important enough to name—do finally make it to the Batcave, when the girls realize their chances of dating have taken a turn for the worse. So, they concoct a scheme to get their Dad drunk and they both get knocked up.

I admit, the whole thing does sound a bit seedy. But in this matter, as in all things, God has the answer.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggests that Lot, his lookee-loo wife, his “open-minded” girls and their massive jugs of wine and are really none of your concern. “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged. You’ll receive the same judgment you give. Whatever you deal out will be dealt out to you.” So says The Savior in Matthew 7:1-2.

So intead of making yourself feel better by having a go at a man that God Himself chose to save, why not have an inner dialogue about why you can’t stop stealing office supplies, cheating on your taxes, and compulsively masturbating to Internet porn?

I pray this has been helpful. And remember—God loves you, and life’s greatest joy comes from knowing Him. Open your heart and life to Jesus Christ today.