Genesis 13:10 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the choice Lot made when he parted from Abram. At this moment, we would have expected him to show reluctance to leave Abram, or at least to let Abram choose first out of respect. But we do not see any real courtesy toward his uncle in the way he handled it. Abram offered him the choice, and Lot accepted it at once and picked for himself. Self-interest often makes people blunt and ungenerous.

In the choice Lot made, we can see how much he valued the good land. He looked over the whole plain of Jordan, the low country where Sodom stood, and saw that it was well watered everywhere (Genesis 13:10, 11). Perhaps the earlier dispute had been about water, which made that feature especially attractive to him. So Lot chose that whole plain. To him, that valley looked like the garden of Eden, a place of great beauty and promise. He surely thought he would settle comfortably there, become prosperous, and grow rich, and that was all he considered.

But what came of it? The next thing we hear is that Lot is caught up in trouble among those people, and he and his household are taken captive. While he lived there, he tormented his righteous soul by what he saw around him, and he never really had a good day there. At last, God burned the city over his head and forced him to flee to the mountains for safety, the very mountains he had passed over when he chose the plain for wealth and ease. Sensual choices are sinful choices, and they seldom turn out well. Those who choose spouses, work, homes, or settlements by fleshly desires, by what looks pleasing, or by pride, and do not think about their souls or their faith, cannot expect God’s presence and blessing. They are often disappointed even in what they most wanted, and they miss the very thing they hoped would satisfy them. In every choice, this should guide us: what is best for our souls is best for us.

We also see how little Lot thought about the wickedness of the people who lived there. The men of Sodom were wicked (Genesis 13:13). All people are sinners, but some are much worse than others. The men of Sodom were sinners in a very open and defiant way, sinners before the Lord, so bold that their sin became a byword. That is why Scripture speaks of people who “declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not” (Isaiah 3:9).

Some sinners are made worse by living in a good land. That was true of the Sodomites, because their sin grew out of pride, full stomachs, and easy leisure, all supported by the abundance of their land (Ezekiel 16:49). In that way, prosperity destroys foolish people. God often gives great plenty to very wicked people. Filthy Sodomites lived in a fruitful plain, while faithful Abram and his godly family lived in tents on the barren hills.

When sin reaches such a high level, ruin is near. When sins keep increasing, judgment is close behind. Lot’s move into Sodom can be viewed in two ways. It was a mercy to the people there, because he was among them as a prophet and a preacher of right living, and if they had listened, they might have changed and escaped destruction. God sends preachers before he sends destroyers, because he does not want anyone to perish. But it was also a great hardship for Lot. He was grieved by their wickedness (2 Peter 2:7, 8), and he was troubled and mistreated by them because he would not follow their ways. It has often been the painful lot of good people to live among ungodly neighbors, to “sojourn in Mesech” (Psalm 120:5). It is even harder when, as with Lot, they brought that trouble on themselves by an unwise choice.