After saving him from the perverts of Sodom, "Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city--take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.' So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up; get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking" (Gen. 19:12-14). Lot is given an opportunity to save his family from the impending destruction. When one considers all the evidence, it appears that Lot had only two children at this time (i.e., daughters who were betrothed to be formally married soon, but were still virgins at that moment; cf. 19:8,14,31). The men who were committed to his daughters did not believe the city was in danger; they scoffed at Lot's warning. How many today laugh at any warning of impending final judgment? Many think Christians are crazy, but this must not stop us from trying to seek and save the lost!

"When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, 'Arise take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed'" (Gen. 19:15-17). Lot was slow moving on his escape, perhaps due to the desire to save his sons-in-law or some of his great wealth. Regardless, the angels took the four of them by the hand and brought them outside the city. God always cares for His own. They were then instructed to flee for their lives! They should escape to the mountains and not look back. Lot begs for another option, not desiring to escape to the mountains. They accommodate him and allow him to travel instead to a small city of the plain, Zoar. He would be safe there.

"Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Gen. 19:24-26). Once Lot was on his way to safety, the destruction began. This was not volcanic activity or any other natural phenomena. The fire and brimstone came "out of the heavens" and would destroy everything in its path. Tragically, Lot's wife (for whatever reason) disobeyed by looking back. She forfeited her life in so doing. May we never hesitate to obey the Lord; may we cling to the way of escape He provides for us!

"And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt" (Gen. 19:29). As Abraham looked on the scene from afar, he no doubt wondered about his nephew Lot. There is no Biblical evidence that the two men ever saw each other again after splitting up in Genesis 13. Abraham also knew now just how corrupt Sodom had become-there were not even 10 righteous residents therein!

Lot did not stay in Zoar very long due to fear. He and his two daughters went to the mountains and dwelt in a cave. "Now the firstborn said to the younger, 'Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father'" (Gen. 19:31,32). Even the suggestion of such shows the corrupting influence that the perverted Sodomites had had on these young ladies. It is difficult to see how they believed their only option was to get their father drunk and commit incest with him to preserve their family! But, that is precisely what they do. Although Lot was a righteous man (cf. II Pet. 2:7), he was not perfect. His sorrow (over the loss of his wife, at the very least) was no excuse for drunkenness. The result of the incestuous behavior of his daughters was the birth of Moab and Ammon (fathers of the Moabite and Ammonite peoples). This marks the end of what Moses records for us about Lot. The focus will be shifted back to Abraham.