Week 3 September 2025, Devotion Part 1

If he rescued righteous Lot…(for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day…), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial…  2 Peter 2:7-9

Caution! Looking back to Sodom and Gomorrah may be hazardous to our health. Peter’s protestations of Lot’s righteousness bother us. We remember him as Abraham’s nephew who prospered under his patronage. Lot’s greediness had landed him in Sodom. Because of quarreling between their herdsmen, Abraham had amicably suggested they part company. He offered his nephew first choice of available land and Lot went whole hog after the more fertile Jordan valley.

It takes no fertile imagination to link sodomy to the unnatural sexual practices of ancient Sodom. Sitting in the city gate one fateful evening, Lot met two men – angels sent to send him packing – who planned to spend the night in the street. Lot urged them strongly to take shelter in his home immediately. Even so the lust-crazed Sodomites nearly got to them. Lot, good host but ghastly father, offered his two virgin daughters to the mob. They were miraculously spared the ordeal. The next morning the angels had to drag Lot from the place about to go down in infamy. Mrs. Lot looked back and suffered uncommon cardiac arrest from a sodium overdose. Her daughters, reared in the corrupt climate that vexed Lot so unceasingly, got him quite drunk in a cave and then took turns committing incest in order to be with child. Thus he fathered the frequent adversaries to the nation of Israel, namely the Moabites and Ammonites.  Part 1 of 2

Comment: “Cut it off!”  I’m yelling at Peter who cut off the right ear of the high priest’s servant during the arrest of Jesus.  All four Gospels report the incident to confirm his out-of-control outrage.  Having read all of 2 Peter 2 for context, impulsive me wants him to cut it off right at the end of verse 6.  He has just railed against false prophets and shameless leaders promoting sensuality, all mirroring our present culture. God’s wrath has Him cast even angels into hell, send a catastrophic flood, and destroy Sodom with fire and brimstone.  What on earth compelled this apostle to spring “righteous Lot” on us in verse 7?  He could have moved, kept his girls from dating local guys, and his wife from growing too attached to such a horrible place.  No one believes me, I’m sure, if I claim that Peter just told me to “cut it out” and move out of California, as many do.  He’s found out that my closest neighbor uses the word “damn” in every conversation and I haven’t converted him.  None of the nearby families have shown an interest in checking out my church, and several couples openly practice their sexual immorality.  Touché, my friend, and just like me, never lost for words.  Our supreme common ground is Jesus Christ and the saving grace of our IMMORTALITY, which He secured for us on that cruel cross.  Peter, do rub it in now: Ruth, the Moabitess, wife of Boaz, became an ancestor of King David and through him to our Lord.  Is anything too hard for Him, vexed reader?