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18 Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." 21 And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ~ Genesis 19:18-25
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 19 where the decision had been made to destroy the city of Sodom due to its increasing wickedness. One of the angels sent by the Lord to Lot had previously said the reason God was going to destroy Sodom was due to the fact that the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord.
The first time the word "wrath" is found in the Bible is in Exodus 22:24 where God warned Israel of mistreating the helpless among them. The sin of man has always brought about the holy wrath of God, and in the case of the city of Sodom, the threshold had been crossed.
In v.18-20 of today's passage we read, "18 Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."
It was probably a very long and sleepless night for Lot. As he looked to obey the Lord by departing from Sodom, he gathered up his daughters, his wife, and whatever stuff he had grabbed on the way out the door. Due to his age, when he looked at the distance to the mountains, he was overwhelmed. At that time, Abraham was 99 years old and Lot was older than Abraham. The stress of all of this upon the old body of Lot made the prospect of traveling up a mountain daunting to Lot. Instead of a long and tedious flight to the distant mountains, he asked for divine mercy so that he would not have to go up the mountain.
When God judges, He makes a difference between the ungodly and the godly. When it came to the flood, God just didn't indiscriminately destroy the world and save a group of eight people on an ark. In 2 Peter 2:4-9 we read, "4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment."
In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "21 And he said to him, 'See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar."
While asking that he not have to travel up the mountain, Lot called for God's mercy to be placed upon a nearby town that was set for destruction. This city was one of the cities which was allied with Sodom during the war mentioned in Genesis 14. It was at that point that Lot was granted safe passage to that city. This was a demonstration of God's mercy even while He exacted His judgment upon those in Sodom and Gomorrah. A portion of the wicked would be spared. Maybe this was God’s way of giving Lot a chance to tell the people of that town about Him after failing to do so in Sodom. That city was then called Bela which meant "destruction." Ironically, the very name it held was the thing it didn’t receive. From this time on, it would be known as "little" which is the meaning of its new name given by God: Zoar.
In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens."
At the rising of the sun, and, at the same time that Lot entered Zoar, "YHWH caused it to rain down brimstone and fire from YHWH." And, we must remember, this was the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus who hurled His divine wrath down on these wicked people. The same Lord who went to the cross so that He could deal graciously toward us was the same Lord who looked with wrathful eyes at the wicked sins of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Those who look too intently on one aspect of the Lord Jesus, like His love, while disregarding His wrath are only deluding themselves. The same type of destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah will be used on this unrepentant world someday. As we are told in the book of the Revelation, fire and brimstone will be hurled down on those unwilling to humble themselves to the point of receiving God's free gift of salvation.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground."
Just as it was that day in Sodom and Gomorrah, at the end of time all sin that will have no atonement will be judged. Though men become rich, powerful, and famous, if they never enter into a personal relationship with God, they will be the recipients of His wrath. Only one Substitute satisfies the wrath of God and He is God's only begotten Son.
Along with the people, the lush and well watered land surrounding the Jordan, with all its trees, fields, and crops were also destroyed. If we were to go there today, we would see a ruined land with undrinkable water. The people and buildings that are there now are entirely at the mercy of a supply line bringing in food, water, and provisions. Without that, it would be one of the most miserable places on earth.
The wrath of God is not the main message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of our sin is the main part of this wonderful message. The gospel cannot be appreciated apart from understanding the wrath of God. On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ bore the full weight of God's judgment for time and eternity. As we learn from His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane, there was no other way for God's wrath to be removed, but through His death on the cross at Calvary. For all those who trust in Him and His work on that cross, God's wrath is removed for it was placed upon Him. For those who refuse, God’s wrath remains upon them.
