Genesis 19:15 - Meaning and Application

Here we see, first, Lot rescued out of Sodom. Even though there were not ten righteous people there to save the city, this one righteous man was still delivered, as Ezekiel says, “he delivered his own soul” (Ezekiel 14:14). Early in the morning, his own visitors, in kindness to him, brought him out of the house, along with his family (Genesis 19:15). His married daughters were lost with their unbelieving husbands, but the daughters who stayed with him were kept safe with him.

Notice how Lot was brought out of Sodom by a kind kind of force, as in Genesis 19:16. He had not mocked the warning like his sons-in-law did, but he still hesitated. He delayed and did not move as fast as the danger required. Many people do the same when they feel some sorrow over their spiritual state and know they need to change, yet they keep putting off the needed work. Lot did that, and it could have cost him his life if the angels had not taken hold of his hand and led him out, saving him “with fear” (Jude 1:23). Scripture says, “The Lord was merciful to him,” and that is true, because otherwise he might justly have been left to perish since he was so slow to leave.

We should learn three things from this. First, the salvation of even the best people must be credited to God’s mercy, not their own worth. We are saved by grace, meaning God’s free favor, not by our merit. Second, God’s power must also be recognized in bringing people out of a sinful life. If God had not brought us out, we would never have come out. Third, if God had not been merciful to us, our own delay would have ruined us.

Next, Lot was urgently pressed to make his escape once he was outside the city, as in Genesis 19:17. He still had to see himself in danger of being destroyed and let holy fear drive him to flee for his life. That kind of serious fear is needed in working out our salvation, that is, in living out what God has begun in us. He was also told to keep his attention fixed on the task. He must not long for Sodom again, so he was told not to look back. He must not stop in the plain, because it would all become like one great dead sea. And he must not settle for anything less than the place of safety God appointed, so he was told to escape to the mountain.

These warnings still speak to people who have been rescued from sin by grace. Do not return to sin and Satan, because that is like looking back to Sodom. Do not rest in yourself or in this world, because that is like staying in the plain. Press on toward Christ and heaven, because that is like escaping to the mountain, and we must not stop short of that.

Then we see the place of refuge fixed for him. The mountain was first named as the place he should flee to, but Lot asked for a city of refuge, one of the five towns nearby, called Bela (Genesis 14:2, Genesis 14:18-20). It was Lot’s weakness to think that a city of his own choosing would be safer than the mountain God had chosen. He even argued against himself when he said that God had shown great mercy in saving his life, and yet he could not escape to the mountain. But if God could pull him out of Sodom while he was still lingering, could God not also bring him safely to the mountain? Could the One who saved him from greater danger not also save him from lesser danger?

Lot kept stressing how small the city was. He said, in effect, “It is a little one.” That was his plea for it, and the place was therefore given a new name, Zoar, which means “little.” Requests made for the sake of little ones are worth remembering. God granted Lot’s request, even though it showed much weakness, as in Genesis 19:21-22. We see here how much favor God can show to a true saint, even one who is weak. Zoar was spared to please Lot. His prayer was not as noble as Abraham’s prayer for Sodom, because Lot was mainly thinking of himself, yet God still answered him. This shows how powerful the prayer of a righteous person can be. Also, Sodom’s destruction was delayed until Lot was safe: “I cannot do anything until you have come there.” God takes care to protect his people. Judgment is held back until God’s servants are sealed, as in (Revelation 7:3) and (Ezekiel 9:4).

It is also noted that the sun had risen when Lot entered Zoar. When a good man comes into a place, he brings light with him, or at least he should.