The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Gen. 19:15-22, “When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.’
16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.
17 When they had brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.’
18 But Lot said to them, ‘Oh no, my lords!
19 ‘Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;
20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.’
21 He said to him, ‘Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.
22 ‘Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar.”

Abraham and Lot had agreed to differ. At least, that’s what it looked like before Lot elected to take the lush green valley for himself and his family.
It didn’t quite turn out as Lot had thought it would. The City of Sodom was occupied by homosexuals. When two angels from the LORD arrived at Lot’s dwelling, the men of Sodom swarmed Lot’s house, demanding to have illicit relations with the angels, whom they believed to be men.

When Lot sought to reason with the Sodomites, they became angry and attempted to storm Lot’s house. It seems quite evident that Lot had become friends with the men of Sodom, seeing he called them “my brothers,” and pled with them to “not act so wickedly.”

Eventually, the angels persuaded Lot to gather his family and leave the City of Sodom. The “sons-in-laws,” who were intending to marry Lot’s girls, thought leaving Sodom was a joke and refused to leave. Ultimately, the two angels persuaded Lot and his family to leave.

“When they had brought them outside, one said,
‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you,
and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape
to the mountains, or you will be swept away.”
(Gen. 19:17)

It would seem that everyone would hurry and vacate that dangerous city.
Lot’s wife, however, had become so used to the evils of the city; thus, she looked back, evidently grieving for what she had to leave behind.

“Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because
she disobeyed God’s command not to look back
at Sodom during its destruction. Her action symbolized
a longing for her past life and attachments to the sinful
city, which made her unworthy of salvation. This
transformation served as a punishment and a lasting
lesson about the consequences of disobedience and
attachment to sin” (Perplex).

Our lesson is that we must never become so fixated with the ways of the world that we’re unwilling to follow the directive of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Just think: Who and what would you hesitate to leave behind for the sake of following Jesus? Those are the factors that keep us from Christ! Know any? My guess is that you do.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom