Genesis 18 & 19
Was Lot a Righteous Man?
Sodom and Gomorrah, infamous for advanced stages of sin, engulf Lot and his family in their mess. In reading the account it is difficult to know where Lot, Abraham’s nephew, stands in all of it. God has promised to spare Sodom if 10 righteous people can be found. But 10 are not found and the city is destroyed.
The bible is the best commentary on the bible, and in this case the book of 2 Peter helps.
2 Peter 2:6–9 (ESV)
6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
Sodom warns us all of God’s judgment upon sin. The passage from 2 Peter also appears to vindicate, to some degree, Lot. But if Lot is not wicked himself, the environment in which he placed himself certainly deeply and adversely impacted him. The account at his house with the angels present, the death of his wife when she looked back, and the depravity of his daughters in seducing him – the entire narrative does, in fact, caution us about the influences in our lives.
