Gen. 19:1 "And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. 3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat."

Lot was in a weak spiritual condition.  While he had a righteous soul (2 Pet. 2:8), he was vexed with the unlawful deeds of the wicked.  Before Lot came to Sodom he dwelled in tents with Abraham.  Now Lot has increased with material goods, but not increased with the spiritual blessings of fellowship with God and with His servants.  He had gone from dwelling in a tent to dwelling in a house.  He had gone from being a herdsman to being on the city council of Sodom (we know this because he sat in the gate of Sodom). 

Lot, in seeing the angels, desired to have fellowship with the angels.  Lot probably did not know at this time they were angels, but he knew they were not of Sodom and he was hungry for fellowship for someone not of Sodom.  Lot was willing to serve these men and be hospitable to them.  However, they (the angels) were not as interested in having fellowship with Lot.  He said they would tarry in the street that night.  However, Lot prevailed upon them and they agreed to stay with Lot that night.  Lot made them a feast and baked unleavened bread for them and they did eat.  Thus, the angels did have fellowship with Lot.

Gen. 19:4-11 Angels Encounter with the Sodomites

Gen. 19:4 "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. 9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. 10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. 11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door."

            From the above passage of scripture we make the following observations:

                        1.  When Abraham interceded on behalf of Lot the Lord said that if there were as few as ten righteous within the city he would not destroy the city for the ten's sake.  The above passage tells us that there were not more than four righteous in the city at most. 

                        2.  All the men of the city were practicing Sodomy.  This was true for both old and young alike and from all quarters of the city.

                        3.  All the men were desirous to forcibly rape the strangers who came within the city of Sodom.  There desire to know them was not to get acquainted with them, but to have sodomite relations with them. 

                        4.  Lot's two daughters were married, yet according to Lot they did not know a man.  Apparently, the marriage was a marriage of convenience as the sons-in-law were Sodomites as well. 

                        5.  Lot's offer of his daughters to this mob was itself a wicked act.  Thus, we know that righteous men can do wicked things. 

                        6.  The men of Lot were not interested in the daughters of Lot.

                        7.  When Lot refused to bring the men out to the howling mob, they turned on Lot and threatened to do to him what they planned on doing to the men.

                        8.  The strangers revealed themselves to be angels when they pulled Lot back into the house and smote all the men with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

                        9.  Heb. 13:2 "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."  Lot was one that had entertained strangers and being unaware of their station had entertained angels.

Gen. 19:12-23 Lot departs from Sodom

Gen. 19:12 "And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

            14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

            15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

            17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20 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. 21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar."

There are two main themes in the passage above – the judgment of God and the mercy of God.

God showed forth his judgment upon the cities of the plain because of their exceeding wickedness: Ps. 9:17 "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."  Jude 1:7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."  Thus, the wicked are responsible for their actions and further God's longsuffering only goes so far when it comes to the acts of gross wickedness.  God is not mocked.  The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain had given themselves over to fornication and had gone after strange flesh.  There is no reason why they would not have known better and yet they rejected the laws of God to commit their fornication with strange flesh.  God answered in judgment upon them because of their wicked acts.

The mercy of God is manifest towards Lot and towards his wife and daughters.  Lot was not deserving, as he had lived in such a way that his sons-in-law thought he was mocking them as he warned them to flee the destruction of Sodom.  Lot because of his manner of living had not been a faithful witness of the right way of the Lord.  Further, Lot's proposal to the howling mob of bringing his daughters out to them was also wicked.  Yet, God was merciful to Lot.  God is merciful to his elect children.  We don't always get what we deserve, but rather, we are blessed to partake of God's mercy.  God was merciful to Lot in delivering him from the destruction of the cities of the plain.  Lot had seemingly been reluctant to leave as he lingered in his departure from Sodom.  Further, God was merciful and longsuffering toward Lot in granting him his petition to dwell in Zoar and sparing Zoar from the destruction.  If Lot had been acting on faith, he would have gone up to the mountain as God had told him initially.  Later, Lot realizes his folly and goes on up to the mountain as God had initially warned him to go.  Further, because of God mercy toward Lot, He held off on the destruction of the cities until Lot entered into Zoar. 

While Lot's actions were not always good, yet God's mercy toward Lot is an encouragement to each of God's children.  Unfortunately, there are times that we are guilty of acting like Lot, and yet God is merciful to us.  We should be quick to praise God for his mercies towards us.