Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2642
“The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.” Genesis 19:23.
THE destruction of Sodom was, undoubtedly, a literal fact. And the record of it in Genesis is as true a piece of history as any event that is recorded by Tacitus or Josephus. But it was also intended to be a great parabolic lesson to us—a lesson in the shape of a parable—by which we might receive both instruction and blessing. The Old Testament is a great Book of texts and the New Testament contains the sermons upon them. Lot’s wife was in the Old Testament as a text and in the New Testament we have the sermon upon it, “Remember Lot’s wife.” And wherever, my Brothers and Sisters, I find our Lord Jesus Christ, or any of His Apostles referring to an incident in the Old Testament, I always think it is our business to look at that event to which they refer. In the writings of the old Puritans, which I delight to read, I often find in the margin a hand pointing to some special words which it is requisite that the reader should particularly note and read with care. And when I see the hand put opposite the passage, by some old lover of the Truth of God, who, in days of yore, read the book, I generally turn to it with eagerness, to see what is the gem pointed at by the finger.
Now, I think, when our Savior said, “Remember Lot’s wife,” He did, as it were, put a hand on the margin of the Bible, pointing to the whole incident describing the destruction of Sodom. He did, in effect, say, “Mark that event. Look at it closely, for there is more in it than there seems to be.” And as there is something instructive in Lot’s wife becoming a pillar of salt, there is something to be learned from every step of Lot’s journey—and from every incident connected with it. If it is so, I shall not be regarded as being whimsical and fanciful if I assert that, in this text, I believe there is much instruction in the simple incident recorded here—“The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.”
I will soon map out my sermon. Lot was nearly in the dark till he reached Zoar—that is the first head. Secondly, the sun was risen upon the earth as soon as Lot was in Zoar. Thirdly, the same moment which saw the sun rise on Lot saw the fiery hail fall on Sodom. We have here three facts which I think are three pictures illustrating three great Truths of God with regard to the sinner’s experience.
I. First, then, LOT WAS NEARLY IN THE DARK ON THE ROAD HE RAN TILL HE REACHED ZOAR.
Mark, when he first started, the Scripture tells us, in the 15th verse, that the morning rose—there was the first gray dawn when the angels hurried him out of Sodom! it was just the breaking of the day and it is said that as soon as Lot entered into Zoar, the sun was thoroughly risen, but not till then. He had to find his way through shadows and run, to a great degree, in the dark.
Ah, my Friends, that was a solemn moment when those notable guests turned their host out of doors and did it all out of love and kindness, too! When the two angels took Lot, his wife and his daughters by the hand and dragged them forth, and bade them run, it was a solemn moment. The heavens were heavy with God’s wrath and only waited until Lot was safely housed to burst in impetuous torrents upon the devoted cities. Do you not see them, or, rather, do you not fancy you can see their black figures in the gloom of the twilight? You scarcely understand what it can be—there are two men pushing forth a family into the street. You see them next grasping their hands and with loving haste driving them forward. You now hear a voice, something more than earthly, speaking in the celestial language, crying, “Escape for your life!” And now mark the man, his wife and his daughters fleeing—fleeing from their own house—fleeing from their own kinsmen and acquaintances! A woman leaving her own sons-in-law and wives leaving their own husbands to perish in the city! Watch their flight! See them as they flee across the plain—they often stumble, for the way is not clear before them—and they little know where they are going. They only see the dark shadow of the mountain looming in the distance and they run there, in the darkness, with all their might.
Now, Lot running in the dark is the picture of a poor sinner when he comes out of Sodom. You who have just been awakened and convinced of sin, must not expect that you will have the sunlight of God’s favor all at once. There must first come into your house the angel of conviction to thrust you out of your abode of ruin. After you have run a while, you will then have sunlight, joy and peace. But in your running, while you are seeking the Savior, you must expect to run in the darkness—and if you do expect it, you will not be disappointed. Oh how dark it is to a poor sinner when he is first brought to know his state by nature, before the blessed remedy of Grace has been applied to him by the Holy Spirit! Look at him—tears follow each other down his cheeks in one perpetual race! He weeps almost all day and all night. And if he rests for a while for very sorrow, his dreams disturb him—he is always miserable—men call him mad, for he is as one demented. He talks to himself in doleful language and, as he goes about his business, he moans and sighs, “Oh, that!” And, “Ah!” And, “Would that!” Monosyllables that no man understands, but which are well known in their inward meaning both to God and to his own heart! He has no ray of hope. He believes he is shut out from God forever and he thinks that God is just in having hidden the light of His Countenance from him.