Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
It Starts at Home
Have you ever known someone who was impossible to take seriously? Maybe they were such a jokester that every time they said something, you just assumed they were not serious. Other times we don’t take a person seriously because they say something that is so counter to the character that we know them to possess. It’s not consistent. That is exactly what happened to Lot when God was about to judge Sodom and had provided mercy for him to escape with his family.
Genesis 19:14 says, “And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.” Now sometimes we get the idea that his sons-in-law mocked Lot, but that is not what happened. Lot’s sons-in-law thought Lot was mocking them. Lot had lived in such a way that when he came to them and said, “Get out of the city before God judges it,” they though he was joking.
The Bible tells us in the New Testament that Lot was righteous. Before God by position Lot was a just and righteous man. But nobody would have guessed Lot to be righteous because no one knows the heart of another. All we know is what we see, and all that could be seen of Lot was evil.
God spared Lot because of what He saw based on the merits of the Messiah that would come, but God judged Lot’s family. His family perished because of what they saw in Lot, a man who lived just like everyone else. Lot escaped the brimstone but not the destruction.
The point is that a believer who does not live righteously in the world will not be taken seriously at home. I want to be thought of well by people outside the confines of my house, but if I am going to do right, I need to live right every day in front of the people who see me and know me the best.