Lot said, “Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight” (Gen 19:19(), in answer to God’s warning to him: “neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Gen 19:17). That is reminiscent of Noah, as is written, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord,” (Gen 6:8) after God warned, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” (Gen 6:7).
In both cases, it was the same events: (1) Mankind sinned greatly, (2) God was wrathful, (3) God issued a warning, (4) God had mercy, (5) they found grace, and then they were spared from perishing.
But Lot still looked for life on the plain in Zoar. The word “Zoar”means “small” or “insignificant.” (Abaraim Publications).
God’s plan for him was the Promise Land. That place was and still is significant! Before it was Zoar, that small city was “Bela” who was the son of Beor. The actual name of Zoar was Dinhabah [i] which means “give thou judgement.” (Strong’s Dictionary). It seems that Lot desired to go to Zoar for judgment. He would punish himself because of his previous error in choosing Sodom. That name means two things: (1) “wicked and corrupt place” (Etymology Online) or “flaming, burnt” (Abarim Publications.
Rather than safety in the Promise Land, Lot chose judgment right outside “Hell” which Sodom represents.
Lot then continued his conversation with God: “Thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live” (Gen 19:19-20).
Lot’s escape from “Hell” was in two stages: (1) God had mercy on Lot, and (2) Lot found grace. Likewise, God had mercy on Noah, and then he found grace. Just when did God have mercy on Noah? “Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (Gen 5:32). All the others were marrying in the flesh, but the mercy that God had was a five-hundred year-old man before he had children. Apparently, the “flesh” was insignificant to him!
Likewise, in Sodom, the flesh had been insignificant to Lot who had told the homosexuals of the city, “I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly” (Gen 19:17). The earth was destroyed by water because of the flesh, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the flesh.
Of course, God had promised never to destroy the earth again by a flood [ii] but he had said nothing about not using fire in local places as a warning to mankind. As God had mercy on Lot, he had mercy on the world itself. Why so? “For God so loved the world” [iii]that he had mercy on the world; the same reason that He used water for destruction before.
Whenever God destroys, He also has mercy on both the world and the people therein. The contingency is, “…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [iv] The translators of the King James version rightfully translated it “should not” rather than shall not. Sinners should not perish but they shall if they do not “believe” (Greek, pisteuo) — persuaded, confident, trusting, and with fidelity (Strong’s Dictionary).
Those are strong words! Persuasion comes first, followed by the other three natures. Fidelity is the key. After persuasion, confidence builds and Jesus is trusted as God, and with that, what would be the new creation? He changes from infidelity to fidelity, the very state of being faithful (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
Mercy is “goodness, kindness, and faith” (Strong’s Dictionary) of God. “Mercy” is the gift of faith [v] because of God’s goodness and kindness. “Grace” is the “favor” of God (ibid).
When Noah and Lot found grace; they found the favoritism of God. They were his chosen and peculiar people as the Hebrews would become, making them “holy.” [vi] They were above all the nations of the Earth. The “peculiar” are “special needs” persons and they needed God! When they found grace, that need was fulfilled!
Noah needed God to escape from perishing by water, and Lot to escape from fire. The few that escaped were warned, “do not look back!” [vii] Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. [viii] She perished in the Dead Sea. Her soul died that day, and her flesh returned to the “dust” from which it came.
However, out of fear that Zoar was so insignificant, Lot finally headed to the hills of the Promise Land. Apparently, when he saw his wife as a pillar of salt, that he saw what Jesus can do. That was his “Jesus Moment.” He would not remain near “sin” because even Zoar would be destroyed.
When Lot’s wife looked back in was in remembrance of sin. She remembered the pleasurable moments of the flesh. Her punishment was giving up her flesh. She would never pleasure again.
Lot saw what Jesus would do. The Hebrews saw the same thing. Pre-incarnate Jesus judged Lot’s wife and her flesh was destroyed. Could it be that Satan fled the perishing in her as he did with Judas. Would Satan flee in Lot’s wife to Zoar… that “insignificant little place, so as not to be found? Did Lot long for the spirit of his wife? We may never know, but we do know, as Christians, to never look back at the pleasures of sin!
Of course, with Moses, they never saw Jesus. They would never be able to look at His Face. On the other hand, they were shown what Jesus would do. Of course, the day that Jesus died, Judas, with Satan in him, died as well. Judas was Satan as “good as dead” and so was Lot’s wife. With Satan out of their midst, they could flee from him in the Holy Land. Lot went too because “he feared to dwell in Zoar” [ix]
Just whom or what did Lot fear in the little insignificant town of Zoar? Perhaps Satan who had been in his wife. Perhaps Satan fled to Zoar in his voyages to and fro over the earth in his wanderings.
God had mercy on Lot, he found grace, he was tempted to remain in sin, then he overcame the world by removing to the holy mountains in the Promise Land. Symbolically, Lot went to Paradise — the place that God had prepared for him, according to the Covenant of Abraham.
Both the Moabites and Ammonites are Lot’s seed. Like Abraham, Lot would plant his seed in the Promise Land, and they would be the “planters” of Jesus. Lot’s seed shared the Covenant with Abraham. Lot shared his mercy and grace to the world as God has done for him, but what if he had remained in Zoar… in the insignificant place? Lot would have been insignificant.
(picture credit: Behance; "Lot's Wife")
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