And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
17. he said ] One of the men is spokesman, as in Gen 19:21; but the plural “they said” is found in the LXX and Lat.
look not behind thee ] The meaning of this direction, which recalls the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, is not quite obvious. It may be a prohibition either of irresolute lingering, or of regretful curiosity. It is, probably, also, a test of obedience, combined with the thought that man could not look upon Jehovah and live. Cf. Gen 16:13; Exo 19:21.
the Plain ] i.e. the kikkar: see Gen 13:10.
the mountain ] i.e. the mountainous region on the east of the Dead Sea, “the mountains of Moab.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 19:17
Escape for thy life; look not behind thee
Delays are dangerous
I.
AN ALARM. Escape for thy life.
1. Lots life was in imminent danger. So is the life of every unconverted man.
2. But Lot had timely warning to escape from the impending storm, and so has every sinner.
3. Lots escape was to be effected in haste; and if he had not left the place at that time, he would have been destroyed with the wicked.
II. A CAUTION.
1. Look not behind thee.
(1) To consult the world.
(2) To confer with flesh and blood.
(3) To reason with the devil.
2. Neither stay in all the plain.
(1) Of carnal security.
(2) Of desire.
(3) Of procrastination.
(4) Of good resolution.
(5) Of despondency and unbelief.
III. AN EXHORTATION. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
1. Those who flee to Christ find a place of safety.
2. Those who escape to Jesus Christ shall find rest.
3. Those who escape to Christ are blessed with peace. (Benson Bailey.)
Delay in religion
I. THE GREAT CRISIS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SOUL.
1. We illustrate this by the case of Lot, as here described.
2. We apply this to the ease of undecided persons.
II. THE CAUSE OF THIS LINGERING IN RESPECT TO RELIGION.
1. The cause of Lots lingering is evident.
(1) Worldly attractions.
(2) Domestic ties.
2. The reason why some linger on the subject of religion.
(1) Taken up with the pleasures and vanities of the world, its gratifications, enjoyments, amusements.
(2) Influenced by the consideration of worldly gain.
(3) Influenced by relations and associations.
III. THE SIN AND DANGER OF LINGERING, AS IT RESPECTS RELIGION.
1. The sin committed against God.
2. The dangerous consequences of this halting in religion. (The Evangelical Preacher.)
The awakened sinner
I. I wish to speak of the MEANS by which a sinner is awakened from his spiritual slumber–from that deathly lethargy in which every human being lies by nature. The means, I hesitate not to consider, is the Word of God. Other things may assist in giving entrance to the Word, but it is by the Word, as a rule, that Gods Holy Spirit works in convincing the sinner of his sin. It matters not how the sinner gets the Word, so that he do get it.
II. Having spoken of the means employed to awaken the sinners conscience, we proceed to consider the ANXIETY which is the result. A sense of sin is produced; and sin is felt to be as a heavy burden pressing upon the soul.
III. How important that such an anxious soul should receive proper INSTRUCTION! HOW precious, then, the opportunity of meeting with a Christian friend! I have said that it is by means of the Word of God that the sinner is awakened, that the Holy Spirit proceeds in commencing that process whereby we are brought out of darkness into marvellous light; let me add, that there is a connection between the Bible and human agency. Gods plan of converting the sinner is by the preaching of the Word; and it is in this way generally that conversions are effected.
IV. We suppose the awakened sinner, thus instructed, to make his ESCAPE. Be has many temptations to remain. But one thought, one anxiety, overpowers all; life, eternal life, is his motive and his object. (W. M.Whittemore.)
Run for your life
1. My text, in the first place, suggests urgency on the part of all those who would induce people out of their sins. Why was not the angel more polite? Why did he not coolly and formally invite Lot and his wife to leave that city? The angel was in earnest.
2. My subject also suggests that the mere starting gives no security. Lot had started out of the city, but he might have perished half-way before he got to the mountains. Men start for heaven, but do not always get there. If my house be burning, and I take a bucket of water and put out the flames in this, and that, and yonder room, while I leave the flames in another room, I might as well have wasted no strength and brought no buckets of water at all. And if a man is only half saved, he is not saved at all.
3. The text suggests further, that a man, after being persuaded out of sin, sometimes looks back.
4. My text suggests that some men, having started, loiter by the way. They tarry in the plain. They are too lazy to get on. You know that men, in order to get on in this world, must deny themselves, and work hard; must go through drudgery, that after awhile they may have luxuries. If we get to heaven it will be by gathering up all the energies of our souls and hurling them ahead in one persistent direction. In mid-ocean, on the China going out at midnight, the screw stopped. Whats the matter? everybody cried. People rushed out to see why the screw had stopped in mid-ocean. Something wrong, or it would not stop in the middle of the Atlantic. So it is a bad sign when men voyaging towards heaven stop half-way. It is a sign of infinite peril. (Dr. Talmage.)
The angels admonition to Lot
I. Escape for thy life. This was the general admonition. It was not a small matter which was at stake. It was his life.
II. Escape for thy life. Are you aware of the guilt and danger of a sinful, worldly life? Remember the treasure which you have at stake; even your life; not the life merely of your body, but the life of your soul; the everlasting happiness of your immortal spirit. Be in earnest in this great work of saving your precious, your immortal soul. Be active, be diligent. Let nothing turn you from your purpose. Lay hold on eternal life. Attend especially to the three directions attached to the general admonition.
1. Look not behind thee. Renounce for ever all thoughts of returning to that state of sin and death from which you are beginning to escape. Suffer not your mind, even for a moment, to reflect with complacency on those pursuits, pleasures, or companions, from which you must for ever separate. Having once set your face toward heaven, O! look not back on Sodom. Remember Lots wife.
2. Neither stay thou in all the plain. Think it not enough to have escaped from Sodom, but remove to the greatest possible distance from everything connected with that devoted place. Think it not enough to have renounced old habits of sin, to have broken off from the commission of gross offences, from openly profane and irreligious practices: but have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Allow not yourself to remain within the forbidden regions of self-indulgence and worldly gratification.
3. Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. If there were no place of safety to which you could flee, and be at peace, then indeed would your efforts to escape be in vain, and my endeavours to assist you fruitless. But, blessed be God I there is a place of safety, a refuge provided for you, where you may be secure from the impending ruin, and may delight yourself in the abundance of peace. Lot was directed to a mountain whither he might escape and be in safety. You are directed not to a mountain, but to Jesus Christ: He is a hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tempest. Would Lot be safe if he should flee to the mountain? Whosoever flees to Jesus Christ shall be delivered from the wrath to come. He shall be delivered from all the consequences of sin, from the punishment which it has incurred, from the power which it has obtained in the heart. Do you ask how you are to flee to Christ? You are to flee to Him in your mind, with your heart, with all the desires and affections of your soul. You are to flee to Him in faith, believing His word and promises, and casting yourselves upon His mercy and power. (E. Cooper, M. A.)
The last night of Sodom
Tarry all night: Escape for thy life. The words of man and the words of angels. The man, a master of courtesy and hospitality; the angels, ministers of mercy and of vengeance. The man speaks of house and home and feasting and rest; the angels speak of impending wrath and swift destruction. The man persuades to the enjoyment of a quiet evening in a luxurious clime, and promises the return of a beautiful day; the angels would hasten an escape from a scene of enchantment and delight, at the sacrifice of all earthly possessions. The man speaks from mere feeling and a vivid impression of things as they are passing before his eyes; the angels speak of things as they are–and behind the calm and peaceful aspect of the closing day, they see the fiery tempest of the coming morn. Such is the contrast between feeling and fact, shadow and substance, appearance and reality. So unlike and allied to each other are the sensual and the spiritual; the earthly and the heavenly; the aspect of peace and safety, and the near approach of danger and destruction. Such is the difference between the judgment of man, who is all involved in the cares and toils and pleasures of the passing day, and the judgment of beings who stand outside the range of our mistakes and temptations, and who see the affairs of time in the light of eternity This awful lesson in sacred history may be all summed up in two words. The one is from man and the world; the other is from heaven and God. One says to the careless and the worldly, Tarry, he at ease, enjoy yourself while you can; the other says, Escape for thy life. One says, Wait, be not alarmed; make yourself comfortable where you are; the other says, Haste, look not behind thee; flee to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. One says, Soul, take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry; the other says, Thou fool! this night thy soul may be required of thee. The question which every one must answer for himself is always this, Which of these two voices shall I obey? To many it seems like mockery to talk of danger to the young and the gay, the healthful and the happy. But who was the mocker on the peaceful night when the cities of the plain rioted in pleasure for the last time? All the seductions and falsehoods of temptation, and all the dangers and sorrows of perdition, are bound up in that one word–wait. The voice of love speaks to the careless in terms of terror and alarm. Gods patience will not always last. The day of grace must have an end. And with many it is much shorter than they expect. (D. Marsh, D. D.)
Illustration of the sinners state, duty, and prospects
I. THE DANGER TO WHICH THE SINNER IS EXPOSED.
1. It is real. Not imaginary.
2. It is imminent. Not distant. Nearer and nearer every day.
3. It is tremendous. Not slight.
II. THE POSSIBILITY OF ESCAPE FROM THE DANGER TO WHICH THE SINNER IS EXPOSED.
1. It is proved by the invitations addressed to him in the Bible. Numerous, earnest, pathetic.
2. It is proved by the revelation of the work of Christ, on which these invitations are founded. That work is a mountain, if that be the proper emblem of strength, stability, immutability.
3. It is proved by the experience of all believers. Fire-escape. Life-boat.
III. THE NECESSITY OF PROMPT AND DECISIVE ACTION ON THE PART OF THE SINNER, IF HE WOULD ESCAPE FROM THE DANGER TO WHICH HE IS EXPOSED.
1. His flight must be instantaneous. Without procrastination.
2. His flight must be rapid. No delay.
3. His flight must be persevering. The city of refuge.
IV. THE URGENCY OF THE MOTIVES BY WHICH THE SINNER SHOULD BE INDUCED TO ESCAPE FROM THE DANGER TO WHICH HE IS EXPOSED.
1. The magnitude of the interests at stake. Life! life! eternal life!
2. The exclusiveness of the gospel method of salvation. No other name.
3. The happiness of escape. Beneficial results to ourselves and others. Address
(1) Those who are at ease in Sodom;
(2) Those who are lingering and deferring their flight;
(3) Those who are daily running in the way prescribed. (G. Brooks.)
Escape for thy life
I. You must escape for your life–THE LIFE NOT OF THE BODY BUT OF THE SOUL.
1. The everlasting welfare of your soul is in danger.
2. To effect your deliverance you must escape yourselves.
3. You must be in earnest.
4. You must sacrifice everything that stands in your way.
II. Look NOT BEHIND.
1. He who has once left this sinful world ought to give up all thoughts of return.
2. Look not behind you for the sake of your former companions.
3. Look not back to relieve yourself of the sense of guilt which weighs upon you.
4. Look not behind lest you should never advance beyond your present position.
III. STAY NOT IN ALL THE PLAIN. Delay not–
1. In hope of a better opportunity.
2. In reliance upon your good intentions.
3. Because you have begun to attend to religion.
4. Though you have been brought to reel deeply about religion.
5. For a more thorough conviction of sin.
6. Through discouragement and despondency.
7. Because you hope you are a Christian. (J. Day, D. D.)
Saved as by fire
There is such a fate as being saved, yet so as by fire, going into the brightness with the smell of fire on your garments. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Escape for thy life
When danger is behind us we should strain all our powers to escape from it as Indians or settlers do to escape from the prairie fires in America. A tribe of Indians, who were swift of foot, once gave a white man they intended to kill a chance to escape by running whilst they all pursued him. He ran with such mad haste that he managed, though with great difficulty, to escape. Look not behind thee,. . . lest thou be consumed Gen 19:17).
Look not behind
The ancients told a fable about Orpheus who, they said, could move men and beasts, birds and fishes, and even trees and rocks by his wonderful music; that when his wife Eurydice was bitten by a serpent and had died, then Orpheus followed her into the infernal regions and there played his music with such exquisite skill that even Pluto (who was said to be the stern and inexorable king of hell) and his grave wife Proserpina were moved to such pity that they gave Orpheus leave to take his wife back to the world again on condition that he did not look around whilst they ascended. As, however, they were rising, the fable says he looked round, either from love, or doubt, or forgetfulness. The result was he saw his much-loved wife for a moment, but then she vanished from his sight for ever. If we look and turn back to the world or sin, we shall lose Gods favour and blessings, and we may lose our souls for ever.
No time for delay
A man was once shut up in prison, loaded with chains, and condemned to be hung. He had been taken a prisoner in war by a cruel tyrant, and knew that there was no hope for him if he could not in some way make his escape. In the dead hour of night, when all his guards were sound asleep, and not a footstep was to be heard around his prison, the door of his dungeon was opened, his general entered and took off his chains, and said to him, Haste thee, escape from this place. I have, at immense expense and terrible exposure of my life, entered this prison to save you. Follow me, and I will guide you safely. But you have not a moment to lose. An hours delay may prove for ever too late. What will you think when I tell you that the prisoner said, Let me think about it–wait a little while; and then actually refused to go with him? Who was to blame for that mans death, but himself? This is precisely the way that sinners, condemned and bound by Satan to be shut up in the dark prison of despair, act when Jesus, the great Captain of our salvation, comes to set them free. A great warrior was once persuaded by his enemies to put on a beautiful robe which they presented him. Not suspecting their design, he wrapped himself tightly in it, but in a few moments found that it was coated on the inside with a deadly poison. It stuck to his flesh as if it had been glued. The poison entered into his flesh so that in trying to throw off the cloak he was left torn and bleeding. But did he for that reason hesitate about taking it off? Did he stop to think whether it was painful or not? Did he say, Let me wait and think about it awhile? No, he had more sense than that. He tore it off at once, and threw it from him, and hastened away from it to the physician. Sinner, this is the way you must treat your sins if you would be saved. And do it now. Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. A sprightly boy, who was the pride of his master, who was loved by all his fellow-servants, once came to me to talk about his souls salvation. He had heard that to live in sin was to live in rebellion against God and in great danger. He felt that he was a sinner. He knew that he ought to forsake his sins. He talked freely with me about himself. Before we parted he promised to begin the service of God the next day. He went off to his business. I saw no more of him for about three months. As I was riding along one day his master met me and asked me to go in and see William, for that was his name, who was very sick. I found him very ill, and about to die. Surely, said I to myself, he is prepared and willing to go, for I remember his promises and good resolutions to begin the next day. I said to him, William, I hope Christ is precious to you now? Oh! sir, said he, I have no hope in Christ! I fear I am lost. I resolved when I saw you last to repent and be a Christian the next day. But the next day brought something that prevented me, and caused me to put it off till the next day still, and so I thought at the end of every day that I would begin the next day. But every day passed on and closed in the same way, And here I am yet, a hardened sinner, and in the arms of death. I tried to tell him about Jesus as his Saviour. I prayed for him. And while I was repeating some precious promises from the Word of God, he turned to me and said, Oh! sir, it is too late; I am lost. I cannot be saved now. Tell my fellow-servants not to put off another day making their peace with God. Scarcely had he given this testimony of the danger of delay, when he was overcome by stupor and delirium, and thus died in darkness and impenitence. (Bp. Meade.)
Escape for thy life!
For thy life! Ah, brethren, were it only the life of your body that you knew to be in jeopardy, you would not hesitate, you would not tarry. You would escape from a burning house, you would leap from a sinking ship, and leave all you have in the world behind you. Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. One instance of the truth of these words. A young officer doing duty with an Indian cavalry regiment when tiger shooting one day, missed his mark, and soon found himself in the tigers clutches. It was an anxious moment–few of his friends being at hand. As a sportsman of experience the young man knew well that his best course was to lie quietly and sham death. The tiger surveyed his prey, looked around, and thinking all was safe, set to work to make its meal. Taking the young officers hand in his mouth he deliberately devoured it, and the arm was eaten to the elbow before help arrived. Had the victim moved, or uttered even a groan, the tiger would have put an end to his existence before going on with his repast. Of course the shattered arm had to be removed from the shoulder, but that brave officer lives, and holds at this present moment a post of honour under the Government. Now imagine the suffering endured by him whilst lying, quite conscious, in the power of a voracious man-eater! Why do I tell you this? To ask you what it was that strengthened him to such an act of heroism. It was love of life–it was for his life! (J. B. C. Murphy, B. A.)
Escape
It is a rather popular word with young people. At the head of a newspaper paragraph or of a chapter in a story it instantly commands attention. We at once think of a convicts escape from prison, or a backwoodsmans escape from Indians, or a mail-steamers escape from icebergs. But observe–what are all these escapes from? The convict escapes from weary confinement; the backwoodsman from hated foes; the mail-steamer from dreaded peril. No necessity to urge escape from these. (E. Stock.)
Look not behind thee
This demand seems somewhat strange to us; for we would rather expect that the angels would summon them to look at the cities while God was executing judgment on their wicked inhabitants, in order to show them His power. But the words of the angels to Lot rest on a certain idea found among many ancient nations. To witness with human and profane eyes Gods holy acts was regarded as fatal to the beholder. We find this fact as it existed among the old Hebrews expressed in many passages of the Old Testament. Moses, as soon as he hears the voice, I am the God of thy father, out of the burning bush, hides his face, being afraid to look upon Eloheem. When the Lord revealed Himself in fire and smoke on Mount Sinai, the children of Israel were forbidden to break through the bounds to gaze on the Lord, lest they perish. Gideon (Jdg 6:22) andManoah (Jdg 13:22) feared that they might die because they had seen the angel of the Lord. Even Isaiah, when about to be consecrated by Jehovah for his prophetical office, exclaims, in the aspect of the throne and of the all-covering magnificent garment of God: Woe is me! for I am undone, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Indeed, the Divine holiness is a devouring fire to men regarded as sinners (Isa 33:14). Even the seraphim, according to the immense contrast between the Creator and His creatures, cannot stand the holy God and cover their face Isa 6:2). Similar to the Jewish is this conception among heathen nations. The Greeks and Romans were not accustomed to look back while performing certain sacred rites; and the classical legends are full of examples in which this ceremony is observed. Tiresias, the famous diviner of Thebes, consulted by Alcmena, daughter of Electryon, king of Mycenae (now partly re-excavated), ordered her to burn the two dreadful dragons which her son, a boy of only ten months, had killed, and to send the ashes over the river. There the servant should spread them in the clefts of the rocks, and after that come back without turning his back. Thus Theocritus tells us in the twenty-fourth book of his idylls. Another case is recorded by Ovid. When Deucalion and Pyrrha, the only two persons who were saved out of the deluge according to the Greek tradition, consulted the ancient oracle of Themis regarding the restoration of mankind, they received the answer: Depart from the fane, veil your heads, loosen your girded vestments, and east behind you the great bones of your parent (that is, the stones of the earth). And in one of the most beautiful of the old myths the turning back of the person in question was not less fatal than in the case of Lots wife. Orpheus, who struck the lyre so wonderfully as to move the very rocks and trees, mollified even the rulers of the lower regions, and obtained permission to take back to the world of light his beloved wife, the nymph Eurydice, who had died from the bite of a serpent, on the condition that he was not to look back before reaching the tontines of the Hades. But curious, like the wife of Lot, Orpheus broke this condition shortly before his wish was fulfilled, and Eurydice vanished from his sight to return to the kingdom of darkness. (H. V. Hilprecht, D. D.)
Escape from destruction
It is related that once the city of Pleurs stood in a quiet valley of the Alps, beneath the shadow of the snow-covered mountains, a pleasant and prosperous town. Above it hung the avalanche threatening destruction. One night a wakeful man heard the ominous sound breaking on the still air, which heralds the descending mass of ice. Starting from his repose, he awoke his daughter, and with her hastened towards the city gate. There she recollected that her casket of jewelry had been left in the house, and turned back to secure the treasure. In another moment the overwhelming deluge of the avalanche fell with the voice of thunder between father and daughter, burying the city beneath it, When the morning dawned, the spires of the churches alone rose above the cold, white grave of the just before busy town. The maiden perished with her idol, while he who sought to save her escaped. (Tract Journal.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. When they had brought them forth, c.] Every word here is emphatic, Escape for thy LIFE thou art in the most imminent danger of perishing; thy life and thy soul are both at stake. Look not behind thee – thou hast but barely time enough to escape from the judgment that is now descending; no lingering, or thou art lost! one look back may prove fatal to thee, and God commands thee to avoid it. Neither stay thou in all the plain, because God will destroy that as well as the city. Escape to the mountain, on which these judgments shall not light, and which God has appointed thee for a place of refuge; lest thou be CONSUMED. It is not an ordinary judgment that is coming; a fire from heaven shall burn up the cities, the plain, and all that remain in the cities and in the plain. Both the beginning and end of this exhortation are addressed to his personal feelings. “Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life;” and self-preservation is the first law of nature, to which every other consideration is minor and unimportant.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either one of the angels said this, or the third person, the Lord himself, who having parted from Abraham, after some time came to Lot, as appears both by the change of the number; for before this he speaks of them in the plural number, but from hence in the singular number, as Gen 19:19,21-22; and by the variation of the phrase, for the other two speak with submission, and as servants, Gen 19:13,
The Lord hath sent us, & c.; but this speaks with more authority, as is evident from Gen 19:21,22.
Escape for thy life, i.e. as thou lovest thy life. See Deu 4:15; Jos 23:11; Jer 17:21. Or, escape with thy life, for the Hebrew particle al is sometimes taken for with, as Exo 35:23; Lev 2:2; 14:31; Deu 22:6. So the sense is, Stand not lingering in hopes to save thy goods, them thou shalt lose as a punishment of thy sin and folly in choosing to dwell with so wicked a people; and be thankful that thou hast thy life given thee for a prey, as it is expressed, Jer 38:2.
Look not behind thee, like one that grieves either for the loss of thy pleasant habitation or vast estate, or for those cursed miscreants justly devoted to this destruction. And this command, though given to Lot alone, yet was directed also to his companions, to whom doubtless he imparted it, as is evident both from all the other commands, which equally concern all, and from the following event. See Mat 24:18; Luk 9:62.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad,…. Into the fields of Sodom, or the suburbs of it:
that he said, escape for thy life; not one of the two men or angels that had been with him all the night past, for they had now left him, and were gone back to the city: but Jehovah the Son of God, who had been communing with Abraham, and now came to Sodom, and appeared to Lot, just at the time the two angels left him, and bid him escape with all haste, if he had any regard for his life, and that of those with him:
look not behind thee; as showing any concern for his goods and substance he had left behind him, or for his sons-in-law, who refused to come with him, and much less for the wicked inhabitants of the city; and this command was not given to Lot only, but to his wife and daughters, as appears by the sequel:
neither stay thou in all the plain: in the plain of Jordan, for the whole plain, and the cities in it, were to be destroyed:
escape to the mountain, lest thou be destroyed, lest thou be consumed; the same mountain the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they that were with them after the battle of the kings, fled to, Ge 14:10; here only he and his could be safe from the conflagration of the plain.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When they left him here ( , to let loose, and leave, to leave to one’s self), the Lord commanded him, for the sake of his life, not to look behind him, and not to stand still in all the plain ( , Gen 13:10), but to flee to the mountains (afterwards called the mountains of Moab). In Gen 19:17 we are struck by the change from the plural to the singular: “when they brought them forth, he said.” To think of one of the two angels – the one, for example, who led the conversation – seems out of place, not only because Lot addressed him by the name of God, “ Adonai ” (Gen 19:18), but also because the speaker attributed to himself the judgment upon the cities (Gen 19:21, Gen 19:22), which is described in Gen 19:24 as executed by Jehovah. Yet there is nothing to indicate that Jehovah suddenly joined the angels. The only supposition that remains, therefore, is that Lot recognised in the two angels a manifestation of God, and so addressed them (Gen 19:18) as Adonai (my Lord), and that the angel who spoke addressed him as the messenger of Jehovah in the name of God, without its following from this, that Jehovah was present in the two angels. Lot, instead of cheerfully obeying the commandment of the Lord, appealed to the great mercy shown to him in the preservation of his life, and to the impossibility of his escaping to the mountains, without the evil overtaking him, and entreated therefore that he might be allowed to take refuge in the small and neighbouring city, i.e., in Bela, which received the name of Zoar (Gen 14:2) on account of Lot’s calling it little. Zoar, the of the lxx, and Segor of the crusaders, is hardly to be sought for on the peninsula which projects a long way into the southern half of the Dead Sea, in the Ghor of el Mezraa, as Irby and Robinson ( Pal. iii. p. 481) suppose; it is much more probably to be found on the south-eastern point of the Dead Sea, in the Ghor of el Szaphia, at the opening of the Wady el Ahsa (vid., v. Raumer, Pal. p. 273, Anm. 14).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 17
Verse 17: The angel who led Lot from Sodom instructed him to make haste to seek the sanctuary of the “mountain,” likely the mountain region of Moab to the east. “Life” is nephesh, also translated “soul.” The term denotes the mind, will, and emotions of the individual. In this case, it refers to physical life upon the earth, not eternal life in Heaven.
The angels’ injunction to Lot not to look back to the city and “plain” or circle from which he fled was evidently meant for his wife and daughters as well.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. Escape for thy life. This was added by Moses, to teach use that the Lord not only stretches out his hand to us for a moment, in order to begin our salvation; but that without leaving his work imperfect, he will carry it on even to the end. It certainly was no common act of grace, that the ruin of Sodom was predicted to Lot himself, lest it should crush him unawares; next, that a certain hope of salvation was given him by the angels; and, finally, that he was led by the hand out of the danger. Yet the Lord, not satisfied with having granted him so many favors, informs him of what was afterwards to be done, and thus proves himself to be the Director of his course, till he should arrive at the haven of safety. (424) Lot is forbidden to look behind him, in order that he may know, that he is leaving a pestilential habitation. This was done, first, that he might indulge no desire after it, and then, that he might the better reflect on the singular kindness of God, by which he had escaped hell. Moses had before related, how fertile and rich was that plain; Lot is now commanded to depart thence, that he may perceive himself to have been delivered, as out of the midst of a shipwreck. And although, while dwelling in Sodom, his heart was continually vexed; it was still scarcely possible that he should avoid contracting some defilement from a sink of wickedness so profound: being now, therefore, about to be purified by the Lord, he is deprived of those delights in which he had taken too much pleasure. Let us also hence learn, that God best provides for our salvation, when he cuts off those superfluities, which serve to the pampering of the flesh; and when, for the purpose of correcting excessive self-indulgence, he banishes us from a sweet and pleasant plain, to a desert mountain.
(424) “ Ad salutis metam.” — “ Au port de salut.” — French Tr
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Abroad.Heb., outsidethat is, of the city.
Look not behind thee.This was not merely to prevent delay, but also showed that God demanded of them a total abandonment in heart and will of the condemned cities, and hence the severity with which the violation of the command was visited.
Plain.The Ciccar or circle of Jordan. So also in Gen. 19:25; Gen. 19:28-29; see Note on Gen. 13:10.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. He said Does Jehovah himself now appear again with the two angels, or is one of the two angels here intended? Either view is possible, but perhaps the more simple and obvious one is, that it is here one of the two angels that speaks . The angel’s words breathe with a quivering energy .
Note the four commands: 1)
Escape for thy life It is a race for life . 2)
Look not behind thee One backward look may prove thy ruin . 3)
Neither stay thou in all the plain All this fair circle of the Jordan, (Gen 13:10,) on which Lot had cast covetous eyes, was now a doomed field, from which he must get himself utterly away . 4)
Escape to the mountain The mountains of Moab, on the east of the Dead Sea, were probably intended . Away to the hills must he now betake himself for safety who once left the hills for this attractive valley . The escape, escape, repeated twice, intensifies the thought of his imminent peril, and now it is added:
Lest thou be consumed Deadly destruction and wrath hover over all the plain .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And it happened that, when they had brought them out, he said, “Escape for your life. Do not look behind you. Do not stay in all the Plain. Escape to the mountain lest you be consumed.” ’
The ‘he’ has been prepared for by the phrase ‘Yahweh being merciful to him’. He is now directly aware of the voice of Yahweh. Probably there is too a theophany of some kind, possibly in the form in which Yahweh had appeared previously in chapter 18. Lot now knows he is not just dealing with angels. Yahweh is involved. The message is clear. The whole plain of Jordan is to be destroyed. The mountains are the only place of refuge.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 31
LOT DELIVERED OUT OF SODOM
Gen 19:17. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
IT is extremely profitable to observe how ready God is to honour those who honour him. Lot had been a very distinguished character in Sodom. He had seen and heard with much concern the iniquities that were committed by those around him: he had vexed his righteous soul with their unlawful deeds from day to day; and had set them a pattern of piety and virtue. Nor was he inattentive to the welfare of strangers: he was ready at all times to exercise the rights of hospitality, and to shew to others the same liberality which he would wish to meet with at their hands. Indeed his sense of honour in this respect carried him beyond the bounds of prudence or propriety: for when he was protecting his guests from the assaults of those who would have injured them, he even preferred the sacrificing of his daughters, to the suffering of the laws of hospitality to be so grossly violated. That he erred in this matter, we have no doubt; because he had no right to commit one sin in order to prevent another. But he meant well: and probably was so agitated with fear and horror, as scarcely to be aware of the impropriety of his proposal. His zeal for God, and his attention to his guests, were well rewarded. He was informed that the persons whom he had received under his roof were angels in human shape; that they were sent to destroy the cities of the plain; and that they were commissioned to rescue him and his family from the common ruin. In what manner they executed their commission, we may judge from the urgent advice which they gave him in our text; and which we shall consider,
I.
As given to Lot
If we consider the circumstances of Lot, the advice given him was,
1.
Most salutary
[The measure of this peoples iniquities was now full: and God had determined utterly to destroy them. This determination had already been announced to Lot; and he had been sent to his friends and relatives to declare it to them; though, alas! they had only treated his message with contempt and derision. His own mind indeed was convinced that the wrath of God would fall upon those devoted cities: but yet he was disposed to linger, and defer his flight. Whether he felt regret at leaving so many relatives behind him, or was grieved at the thought of losing all his substance, or had an idea that some time would elapse before the threatened judgments should be inflicted, he was not sufficiently earnest to escape the impending danger. The angels therefore took him and his wife and daughters by the hand, and led them forth without the city; and gave them the counsel which is contained in the text.
The time for executing vengeance was just at handThere was no safety but in flight; nor any refuge but that which God had appointedA little longer delay would prove fatal to them allThough they were out of Sodom, they were at a considerable distance from the mountainTo reach it, required their utmost exertions: it became them therefore to strain every nerve in order to secure the proffered mercy
To promote this was the direct tendency of the advice: so suited was it to their condition, and so conducive to their welfare.]
2.
Most benevolent
[It is obvious that the extreme earnestness expressed by the angels, together with the whole tenour of their advice, was exceedingly alarming. It was calculated to inspire Lot himself with terror, and to extinguish in the weaker females all the powers of reason and reflection. But shall we therefore say that these divine Monitors were impertinently officious, or needlessly severe? Suppose that, having received a commission to warn Lot, they had yielded to a mistaken tenderness, and forborne to alarm his fears: suppose they had gently admonished him of his danger, and suggested the expediency of providing against it: suppose that, when they saw him lingering, and knew that one hours delay would involve him and his family in the common ruin, they had contented themselves with hinting in a distant manner that more expedition would be desirable: would such conduct have become them? Would they have acted the part of friends? Yea, would they not have been awfully responsible to God for their unfaithfulness, and been really chargeable with the death of all the family? Assuredly, the more faithful and earnest they were in the discharge of their duty, the more real benevolence they exercised: nor could they have displayed their love in any better way, than by seizing hold of them to quicken their pace, and urging them by the most powerful considerations to secure their own safety.]
We shall not depart from the real scope of the advice, if we regard it,
II.
As applicable to ourselves
Our condition is certainly very similar to Lots
[God has declared that he will destroy the whole world of the ungodly, as soon as ever they shall have filled up the measure of their iniquities: and the judgments that he will execute upon them were typified by those that were inflicted upon Sodom. The cities of the plain were set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire [Note: Jude,.]. And it is doubtless in reference to the destruction with which they were visited, that the place of torment is described as a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone [Note: Rev 20:10.] But there is a place of refuge provided for us; a mountain where no storms can assail us, no judgments ever hurt us. This refuge is the Lord Jesus Christ; whose name is a strong tower, to which the righteous runneth and is safe. On the other hand, there is no salvation for us, unless we flee to him. While we continue of the world, we must take our portion with the world: we must come out of it, if we would not be partakers of its plagues [Note: Rev 18:4.]. We must bear our testimony against it, that its ways are evil, and must in the whole of our spirit and conduct be separate from it [Note: 2Co 6:17.].]
The same advice therefore is proper for us, as for him
[Two things are indispensably necessary for us, if we would enjoy the benefits which God has offered us in his Gospel; and these are personal exertion and persevering diligence.
It had been declared to Lot, that the threatened destruction could not be executed till he should have arrived at the place provided for him [Note: Gen 19:22.]. But could he therefore say, I am in no danger; I may take my leisure; I may leave myself in Gods hands? Surely if he had acted in so presumptuous a manner, he would have perished with the ungodly multitude. When he had come out of Sodom, his exertions were no less necessary than before. He must flee to the mountain: he must escape as for his life: he must not delay a moment, lest he should be consumed. Thus it is with us. We cannot say, God has sent his only dear Son to save me, and therefore I have nothing to do: we must rather say, God has offered to have mercy on me, and therefore I must work out my salvation with fear and trembling. To found our hopes upon the secret purposes of God, would be to delude ourselves, and to ensure our eternal ruin. We might as well hope to win a race without running, or to gain a battle without fighting, as to get to heaven without personal exertion. We must seek; yea not only seek, but strive, to enter in at the strait gate, if ever we would find admittance into it.
Nor will it avail us any thing to put forth our strength to the uttermost, unless we maintain a constant, vigorous, persevering diligence in the course that we have begun. Lots wife was a partner of his flight, but not of his preservation: for she looked back, and was therefore made a lasting monument of Gods displeasure [Note: 6.]. And if Lot himself had remitted his endeavours, he also would have perished in like manner. We may run well for a season, and yet be hindered: we may begin in the spirit, and yet end in the flesh: we may escape the pollutions of the world, and yet be again entangled therein, and overcome. We may come out of Egypt, and yet never reach the promised land. It is not he who begins well, but he that endureth unto the end, that shall be saved. If we put our hand to the plough, and look back, we are not fit for the kingdom, of heaven.]
Address,
1.
Those who are at ease in Sodom
[We would not willingly speak reproachful words, or address you in terms that are needlessly offensive: but we are sanctioned by the prophet Isaiah in saying, Hear the word of the Lord, ye Rulers of Sodom, and ye people of Gomorrha [Note: Isa 1:10.]. We bless our God that the abomination referred to in the context, is held in universal abhorrence; and that the very thought of it excites as general indignation amongst us, as it did in Sodom a general concurrence and approbation. But in all other respects those wicked cities are a glass wherein we may behold ourselves. This, says the prophet, was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her [Note: Eze 16:49.]. And what can be conceived more characteristic of our state? Our pride, our luxury, our love of ease are not a whit inferior to theirs. Again, our Lord says, As it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all; even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed [Note: Luk 17:28-30.]: and let me ask whether it is not so at this day? We are attending to our temporal concerns, our cares and pleasures, with avidity: but notwithstanding we are warned continually of our guilt and danger, how backward are we to flee from the wrath to come! Know ye then that the wrath of God is about to be poured out upon you: and that if ye flee not with all earnestness to the Lord Jesus Christ, ye must inevitably and eternally perish. Perhaps in warning you thus we appear as persons who mock [Note: ver. 14.], or, at best, as needlessly harsh and severe: but we affirm, that what we speak will soon be found true; and that in discharging our duty thus, we perform an office worthy of an angel. We believe Gods denunciations, and therefore we speak: and if we should speak smooth things to you, and prophesy deceits, we should prove your bitterest enemies. In this urgent matter, concealment is treachery, and fidelity is love. Arise then, every one of you; and escape for your lives.]
2.
Those who are lingering, and deferring their flight
[Many, we doubt not, are convinced of the necessity of taking refuge in Christ, yet are so immersed in worldly cares or pleasures that they know not how to commence their heavenly course. They think that a more convenient season will present itself; and that they shall carry their purposes into effect before the day of vengeance shall arrive. But how many have grown grey with age, while their convictions have led to nothing but abortive wishes and ineffectual resolutions! And how many have been overtaken with the storm, while they were thinking and intending to escape from it! There are indeed many, who have come out of Sodom so as no longer to participate in its grosser abominations; and are, in profession at least, advancing to the place of refuge; while yet in their hearts they are attached to the things that they have renounced. To such persons we would say, with our blessed Lord, Remember Lots wife [Note: Luk 17:32.]. She looked back, while she was following her husbands steps. We inquire not what her motives were; it is sufficient, she looked back; and for that she was struck dead upon the spot; for that she was made a monument to all future ages, to assure us, that if our heart be in Sodom, we shall perish like Sodom: whatever be our professions, or whatever our progress, if our heart be not right with God, we shall take our portion in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death [Note: Rev 21:8.]. Make haste then, and delay not, to keep Gods commandments [Note: Psa 119:60.], and to lay hold on eternal life. Rest not in any purposes, professions, or attainments. Turn not back even in thought: but forgetting what is behind, press forward toward that which is before. It will be time enough to rest from your labours, when you are got safe to heaven.]
3.
Those who are daily running in the way prescribed
[Faint not, dearly Beloved, neither be weary in well doing. For your encouragement you are told to regard Lots deliverance as a proof, that God knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, as well as to reserve the ungodly for punishment [Note: 2Pe 2:6-9.]. Whatever difficulties therefore you have to encounter, fear not. And do not unbelievingly wish that your way were shorter than God has appointed it. This was Lots weakness and folly. God did indeed graciously condescend to his request; and spared Zoar for his sake: but his unbelief was punished, not only in the fears which harassed him in Zoar, but in the awful dereliction that he afterwards experienced. From this time we hear nothing of him except his drunkenness and incest: and, if St. Peter had not given us reason to believe that he became truly penitent, we should have had ground to apprehend that he was, after all, an outcast from heaven. Plead not then for any other refuge, or for the indulgence of any sin. Say not of any thing that God has proscribed, Is it not a little one? A little one it may be in comparison of others; but, whether little or great, it must be renounced: we must abandon for ever our connexion with it, and let our regards terminate in God alone.
But let not those who are hastening towards heaven, be contented to go alone: let them seek to take all they can along with them. Let them exert their influence to the uttermost over all their friends and connexions, in order that they may be instrumental to their salvation also. Let them especially manifest their conjugal and parental affection in this way. Yet if, after all, they be derided as visionaries by some, and be forsaken in their progress by others, let them not for one moment intermit their diligence in the preservation of their own souls. If their labours prove effectual only to one or two, it will be a rich consolation to them in the day of judgment, that, though many who were once dear to them have reaped the fruits of their supineness, there are others for whom they have not laboured in vain, nor run in vain.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
Ver. 17. Look not behind thee. ] As loath to depart. Non minus difficulter a deliciis Sodomorum abstrahimur, quam canis ab uncto corio .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
He. Septuagint reads “they”.
life = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. See App-13.
look, &c. Figure of speech Asyndeton. (No ands, but climax.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he said: Gen 18:22
Escape: Gen 19:14, Gen 19:15, Gen 19:22, 1Sa 19:11, 1Ki 19:3, Psa 121:1, Mat 3:7, Mat 24:16-18, Heb 2:3
look: Gen 19:26, Luk 9:62, Luk 17:31, Luk 17:32, Phi 3:13, Phi 3:14
Reciprocal: Gen 13:10 – the plain Gen 13:11 – chose Gen 14:10 – the mountain Gen 19:12 – son Gen 19:30 – Lot 1Ki 1:12 – save Pro 28:22 – and Jer 46:5 – fled apace Jer 48:6 – Flee Mic 1:13 – bind Zec 2:6 – and flee Zec 2:7 – Deliver Mat 2:22 – he was Luk 12:23 – General Luk 21:21 – flee Phi 3:7 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 19:17. Look not behind thee He must not loiter by the way; stay not in all the plain For it would all be made one dead sea; he must not take up short of the place of refuge appointed him; escape to the mountain Such are the commands given to those who, through grace, are delivered out of a sinful state. 1st, Return not to sin and Satan, for that is looking back to Sodom. 2d, Rest not in the world, for that is staying in the plain.
3d, Reach toward Christ and heaven, for that is escaping to the mountain, short of which we must not take up.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; {i} look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
(i) He willed him to flee God’s judgments and not to be sorry to leave that rich country, full of vain pleasures.