Lot and Joseph, the husband of Mary. Both faced difficult challenging situations Both were told by God what they needed to do. How did they respond to God’s direction, to His leading? We’ll look at Lot first.
Having been told by the angels that Sodom was going to be destroyed and that he’d have to flee, how did Lot react?
Genesis 19:15–16 (NAU): “When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.’ But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.”
Lot hesitates. The only way the angels manage to get his family out there is by seizing their hands and leading them out. “Seizing” isn’t a passive act, is it? One can almost say that Lot was sort of forced into obedience.
What happens next? Lot is told to flee to the mountains. Does he? No, he makes excuses, and asks for an alternative, an alternative that is graciously granted.
Genesis 19:17–20 (NAU): “When they had brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.’ But Lot said to them, ‘Oh no, my lords! Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.’”
That doesn’t work out well for Lot. Later, he finally goes to the mountains, not out of direct obedience, but out of fear for staying in that small town.
What can we conclude about Lot’s obedience? At no point does Lot immediately obey. He always seems to be seeking to follow his own ideas, ideas that he thinks are better, ideas that ultimately don’t work out. He isn’t an example for us to follow, is he?
What about Joseph, the husband of Mary? We’ll look at his responses to God’s leading in the next post.
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