Bible in a Year, Day 12: Pulled From the Fire in Genesis 19

Today's reading

Today's reading is Genesis 19, and Pastor Jack Graham focuses on the moment the angels pull Lot out of Sodom.

But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, the LORD being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.

(Genesis 19:16, WEB)

Reflection

Genesis 19 is one of the tough stories in the Bible. Pastor Jack Graham calls it dark, painful and raw, filled with judgment. Two angels arrive in Sodom to see whether the outcry against the city is as bad as it seems, and it turns out to be much worse. Every man in the city, young and old, surrounds Lot's home, demanding to abuse the visitors.

Sin had blinded them so completely that they could not recognize the holy ones God had sent. The angels struck the mob blind, and the men still groped in the dark for the door. As Pastor Graham put it, "That's what sin does, it blinds us and then drives us deeper into sin, stumbling into destruction."

When morning came, the angels told Lot to run and not look back. Lot hesitated. He had lived there so long and had settled in, and the situation felt impossible to him. So the angels took hold of him, his wife and his daughters by the hand and pulled them out before judgment fell.

Lot's wife still turned around. Pastor Graham says, "She turned towards the life god was saving her from and became a monument to misplaced longing." It is worth asking what you might be tempted to look back at, even after God has started to pull you away from it.

Then good news breaks into this bad news story. Lot was saved because God remembered Abraham's prayer, while Abraham watched the smoke rise from a distance. Pastor Graham points us to Jesus, who took the fire for us on the cross. "He came himself, and he took us by the hand when we were hesitating, when we wanted to look back" is how he describes it. Peter writes of the same rescue: God knows how to rescue the godly from trials (2 Peter 2:9).

Pastor Graham does not soften the other side of this. "God is a holy God and judges sin every single time." Judgment is real, and so is the hand of Jesus held out to you today.

Take it with you

• Is there anything you are hesitating over because you have settled in and it feels too hard to leave?
• What might you be looking back at, even though God is saving you from it?
• Thank Jesus today for taking the judgment you deserved, and answer his call to come with him.

Prayer

Lord, you are holy, and you take sin seriously. Thank you for coming to us yourself in Jesus and taking us by the hand when we hesitated. Forgive us for the times we have looked back at what you have saved us from. Give us hearts that trust you and feet that follow you. We give our lives to you today, and we run to you. Amen.