Genesis 19:12 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the preparation for Lot’s rescue.

I. Notice is given to him that Sodom’s ruin is near: “We are going to destroy this place” (Genesis 19:13). The holy angels are servants of God’s judgment as well as his mercy. They help preserve and rescue God’s people, but they also carry out the destruction of sinners. In this sense, the good angels become, for a time, agents of punishment (Psalm 78:49).

II. Lot is told to warn his family and close relations, so they may be saved with him if they will (Genesis 19:12). The message is, “Do you have anyone else here who belongs to you? If so, go tell them what is coming.” This shows a great duty, to do everything possible for the salvation of those around us, and to try to pull them out of the fire. Those whom God has delivered from a sinful life should do what they can to help others, especially their own relatives.

It also shows a great kindness. The angels do not ask whether Lot knew any righteous people in the city who deserved to be spared. They already knew there were none. Instead, they ask about his relatives, so that they might be saved with him, whether they were righteous or not. Bad people often enjoy some benefits in this world because of their godly relatives. It is a blessing to be related to a good man.

III. Lot then went to his sons-in-law (Genesis 19:14). Notice, first, the serious warning he gave them: “Up, get out of this place.” The words are sharp and urgent. There was no time to delay when destruction was at the door. They did not have forty days to repent, as the people of Nineveh did. It was now or never. At midnight this cry was made. In the same way, the call to the unconverted is to turn from sin and live.

Notice also the contempt they showed for his warning: he seemed to them like someone joking. Perhaps they thought the recent attack by the men of Sodom had so frightened him that he was not thinking clearly. Or they may have thought he was not serious. People who live for pleasure and make light of everything often make light of warnings like this, and they perish in the ruin that follows. So many who are warned about the misery and danger of sin treat it as a joke, and think ministers are only teasing them. Such people will perish with the blame resting on their own heads.