Genesis 19:23 The sun was risen on the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.… 1. Sunshine and midnight are alike great opportunities of God. They are as the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud to the whole race of man. By their dumb mouths God speaks to us, and their silent movement, without a sound, warns us of His presence, His love, and His providence. It was when God's servant, weak, failing, and infirm, shattered and broken, in deep sorrow, led by an angel, had placed his trembling foot-steps on the rock; it was then, when he had come safely out of the blazing city, and the lurid fires glared in the sky; when at last, though oh! how long, how lingeringly, the aged patriarch had emerged from his deep trouble; then the sun arose upon the earth. 2. Few characters in the Bible are more full of comfort than Lot's. Weak in disposition, faulty in his general life, erring after repeated warnings, irresolute even when he stood on the verge of ruin, God was yet willing to save him. 3. In the beginning he showed tendency, distinct and clear. He loved ease, comfort, wealth, worldly possessions, and beauty. He followed disposition. That disposition was not sinful — it was weak. It erred on the side of what multitudes (and those the good) admire — kindness, easiness, gentleness, affability, lack of severity. It was exactly the reverse of the disposition of Abraham. All doubt as to the end of Lot, and his position in eternity, is removed by the verse which declares, on the warrant and in the words of St. Peter, that "God delivered just Lot," who was "a righteous man." His escape is called a deliverance, and the act of God is spoken of as a means used to remove Lot from the sinful examples of Sodom and Gomorrha. (E. Monte, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. |
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