Flee the Coming Judgment | Genesis 19:12–13 Lot's Urgent Rescue

Memory Verse

Then the highborn men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, take them from this place, because we will bring this place to ruin, for the outcry is great before the LORD and the LORD has sent us to ruin it (Genesis 19:12–13).

Lot is warned by the angels of the destruction coming upon not only the city, but the entire valley. When Lot spoke to his sons-in-law, warning them of the coming destruction, they took him as though he was joking (Genesis 19:14). As morning dawned, the angel hastened Lot to rise and leave. He is to take his wife and two daughters with him lest he be consumed in the punishment of the city (Genesis 19:15). Lot lingered, so the two men took him, his wife, and daughters by the hands and led them out of the city (Genesis 19:16).

The angels tell Lot to flee to the mountains and not to look back with concern or stay on the plain (Genesis 19:17). Lot begs them to permit him to go into a city close enough for him to flee to, fearing that in the mountains he will lose his life (Genesis 19:18–20). Zoar is saved because of Lot’s plea for a safe place in the plain to escape the coming judgment on the valley (Genesis 19:21). Once Lot is safely in the city, the LORD will bring judgment down upon Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, leaving a witness for all those who follow in their ways (Genesis 19:22–25; 2 Peter 2:6).