2:7,8
In the midst of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah one man was rescued, Lot. There are some problems in this. If we read the account of Lot in Genesis 19 and earlier mentions of him, he does not come over particularly favourably. He chose to live in Sodom, which was not the best thing to do. When the evil men of Sodom wanted to rape the men who came to visit him he offered his daughters instead. Now on this latter point we need to consider the situation a little more deeply. There are two factors to take account of. One is the deeply rooted cultural imperative to protect one's guests. The other is the intensiveness of the situation. There was a baying mob, full of threat and violence, making their demands. This is not a situation where it is easy to make a calm and collected decision, but a situation in which one is more likely to make a rash, desperate decision. However, Lot is certainly no saint! And later on he gets drunk and commits incest.So God saved this reprobate man. It should be noted that extra-Biblical material does refer to Lot as being just (in the book of Wisdom). Peter indicates that there was torment in Lot’s soul at what was going on. Before we are too quick to judge Lot (in the sense of counting ourselves better than him) we should view our own lives. We may be concerned about much that goes on in our society, or even the world, but how much do we do about it? How often are we prepared just to look the other way? One would hope we would not go to the lengths of offering our daughters, but if we are honest we may share many of the faults. Yet God saved such a man. None who are saved are worthy of salvation, we are completely dependent upon the mercy of God.
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