The Bible is a book in which spiritual Knowledge is concentrated .... for those who want to achieve it ..
If a person reads it only as a collection of Bible stories, without the love of God... without the "fear of God",
without understanding his limitations and depravity, THEN he will perceive a lot of things biased, according to his narrow understanding of everything he comes into contact with ...

People are used to judging everything “by themselves”… and by the way it is “accepted” in society….
For example, someone watching another talk show with a famous seventy-year-old actress who appeared in short dress and bare breasts, flaunting her young lover and talking about how many of them she had ..., someone will sincerely rejoice for her, giving her glory, the glory of her naked body and "unfading" sex appeal ... daring to take an example from her in an appeal to plastic surgeons and all kinds of fashionable and socially accepted drive for body and soul ...

People perceive today's depraved behavior of their idols as the norm... as a principle of life... as something taken for granted....
It gets to the point that the wives of idols tell the multimillion-dollar TV audience how and with whom their husband cheats on them, and with whom they .... and even on the program there are lovers, supposedly former ones, who crumble in love for their girlfriends and boyfriends ...
But if the same person, who just applauded his rampant idols, reads in the Bible the story about Lot and his daughters ...., there will be no end to the limit of indignation and contempt! ........
And what will particularly anger this critic is that Lot was a righteous man…………

Lot is the nephew of Abraham, who followed his uncle away from the pagans to new lands, to where God’s Voice led Abraham…… Lot believed in the One God just like Abraham and therefore stood on the righteous path……..
It is extremely difficult for us to imagine the then life of these people ... these were completely different conditions and customs of life ... other difficulties and problems ....

It was hardest of all for those who knew and believed in the One God, lived in worship and obedience only to Him, and not to idols and gods .... Abraham and his family were surrounded by tribes and peoples pagan, barbaric, cruel and militant .... But they were not with anyone did not fight, lived peacefully, grazed their flocks….
One day, Abraham suggested to Lot that they separate due to the growth of the economy ... there was not enough pasture land for livestock ... famine times were approaching ... Abraham suggested that Lot choose the land for himself:
Genesis ch 13:
“10 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the region around the Jordan, that before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was watered all the way to Segor, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt;
11 And Lot chose for himself all the region around the Jordan; and Lot moved towards the east. And they separated from each other.
12 Abram began to live in the land of Canaan; and Lot began to dwell in the cities of the region and pitched his tents as far as Sodom.

Yes, it must be said that Lot chose a better land ... probably believing that he is younger than Abraham and he has yet to increase his family ... and Abraham had “no children planned” ....
Often people also try to choose something better for themselves, hoping that it will bring them happiness.
For example, someone chooses the best educational institution in another country….but then there he gets into some kind of unkind alteration…company…and loses everything……..
Someone chooses the best clinic for the operation, hoping that they will definitely help, but as a result, they do an unsuccessful operation (for example, plastic), and they suffer damage ...
But a man bought the best car model ... and .. crashed on it ....
The girl put on her best dress to be the most charming ... and tore it, unsuccessfully falling right in front of everyone ...
The family went to the best and most prestigious resort ... and crashed on a plane ...

Behind all this there is a spiritual reason - the desire to be the first ... "worldly pride" ...
By the example of Lot, God wanted to show people that NOT “all that glitters is gold”…….
Behind the beautiful bait that kindles the eyes of pride and complacency is something pernicious ... Why? “There are spiritual laws….
(Bible. Proverbs 16:18): “Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before a fall”

(Gospel of Matthew 16:26): “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

“Having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with that. And those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which plunge people into disaster and destruction; For the love of money is the root of all evil, which, having given way, some have erred from the faith, and subjected themselves to many tribulations” (1 Tim. 6:8-10).

Proverbs 28:20 " faithful man rich in blessings, and whoever is in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.”

Proverbs 11:28 “He who trusts in his riches will fall; but the righteous will turn green like a leaf.”

Psalm 36:16-17 "The little of a righteous man is better than the riches of many wicked ones, for the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord strengthens the righteous."

Lot was righteous in his faith, yet, like many of the believers, he was insufficiently “circumcised” in his heart… God worked on his character, admonishing and instructing through mistakes, like many of those who are learning to walk before God…
Lot is also called righteous because he did NOT participate in the abominations of Sodom, which he soon had to learn about ... because this people from idleness, satiety and wealth became corrupted to the extreme .... drinking wine to insensibility, doing indecent deeds, doing all kinds of sexual perversions and pleasures….

The Lord, seeing how irreversibly and lowly this pagan people fell, mocking at everything holy and pure, not believing in God and the Creator, but satisfying their lusts before their idols ... repaid them according to their abominations in order to rid the earth of the hearth of demonic corruption and set an example other wicked that the judgment is coming!...

The Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone!
But before that, the Angels came to Lot in order to lead him and his family out of this den ...
(Bible. 2 Peter 2: 7-8): “and the righteous Lot, weary of the treatment between violently depraved people, he delivered (for this righteous man, living among them, daily tormented in a righteous soul, seeing and hearing lawless deeds)” ....
Lot was tormented among the lawless, but continued to live there ... he was held by attachment to the material ...
His righteousness was not like the righteousness of Moses, who “would rather suffer with the people of God than have temporary sinful pleasure, and considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth for himself than Egyptian treasures; for he looked to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:25-26

Lot is not called in the Bible a hero of faith, or an excellent righteous man... His example is given to us for the edification of God, as an example of the fact that attachment to material wealth always has a detrimental effect on life and faith, creating indecision, languor, doubt and lack of freedom in the character....

It can be said that Lot was a righteous man on the verge of falling… If he had hesitated… if God had not helped him get out of Sodom… he would have perished along with everyone….
His example is an example for those who, having come to God, try to serve two masters: God and Maomon…..But Christ said: “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24-25) --- Sooner or later, those who continue to be friends with the world without giving their lives to the Lord will suffer damage and become corrupted…fall down…perish….

And to make sure that Lot was approaching the fall, it is enough to find out that his wife was already tightly tied in soul to Sodom, because she did not want to leave this evil, wicked place ... --- and although the angels warned that “leaving, go away ... and don’t look back ...”, she looked back ... and turned into salt column…Lot lost her forever….
Lot's daughters also, apparently, "acquired" the "wisdom" of Sodom .... because they decided to commit a sin and sleep with their father for the sake of procreation .... There is such a version - they were NOT Lot's native daughters, because Lot's wife "walked" and gave birth from others… Lot knew this, but hid it… and suffered…
I cannot confirm or deny this version, because it may be true, since Lot's wife did not want to leave Sodom ... ..

Nevertheless, let's see what happened to Lot and his daughters ... in what state of mind was he ... well-being? ... --- It is clear that all recent events shocked him .... he lost a lot of "acquired", leaving Sodom right on the eve of the volcanic eruption...
Then his wife died .... He was left "with nothing" ....

I conclude my story with a long excerpt from an article by Alexander Dmukh: - “Standing up for the righteous. Lot"

Gen. 19: At first, Lot was afraid to flee to the mountains (verse 19), and went instead to Segor (verse 22).
“Then he “went out of Segor and began to live in a mountain, and with him his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Segor. And he dwelt in a cave, and with him his two daughters. (verse 30)
So, what... Lot left the city of Sigor, believing that "Hiroshima" would be followed by "Nagasaki". He fears that the wrath of God may soon fall upon this city as well. His fears were not unfounded.
His two daughters also knew about it. Here are the reasonings of his daughters: “And the older one said to the younger one: Our father is old, and there is no man on earth who would come in to us according to the custom of all the earth.” (Gen. 19:31)
The adult daughters of Lot sincerely thought that there were no men left on earth except their father. They care about the continuation of the human race. You say: "But God did not burn the whole earth, but only a few cities." And how could they know that! Add here the scale of the catastrophe... They are frightened... They had a memory of the flood in the days of Noah, when Noah and his family remained... And here the situation is similar.... Only the flood is fiery.

Daughters are in a hurry: "Our father is old." They have the idea of ​​procreation. From whom? ..... Of all the men, in their opinion, only their father remained .... Therefore, they decide on a well-known act, having previously given their father a good drink of wine. For what? Because when sober, Lot obviously would not have done this ... You ask: “why did he drink wine?” --- one can guess - his dejected state of mind at that moment .. the loss of his wife, a rich house ... the usual way of life, etc. ... led him to a loss of soundness of judgment and sobriety of spirit ... he was depressed ... and daughters (and, perhaps, not relatives) tried to “comfort” him with wine so that he would “forget” ....

But this sin had far-reaching consequences --- From the daughters of Lot were born Moab and Ben-Ammi, from whom came the Moabites and Ammonites - the constant enemies of Israel. The name Moab is consonant (in Hebrew) with the phrase: "from the father", and Ben-Ammi means "son of a blood relative." This etymology kept Israel from forgetting the shameful origins of their enemies.

Four main motives sound in the 19th chapter of Genesis: the speedy judgment of God over the wicked Canaanites; Lot's attachment to material things; God's merciful deliverance from perdition, and the "rebirth of Sodom" in the cave……
This concludes the story of Lot in Genesis. And then his name reminds us and not only us of Jesus Christ Himself. When Jesus was asked: “What is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” He, among other things, recalls two events from ancient times. Jesus recalls events that everyone knew about. These events are the flood in the days of Noah and the burning of Sodom in the days of Lot.

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man:
they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Just as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all; so it will be on the day when the Son of Man appears” (Luke 17:26-31).
As in the first and in the second case, the same picture is observed. On the one hand, the death of sinners, on the other, the salvation of the righteous. For some, anger, for others, mercy. One is death, the other is life. The only difference is that in the first case, God uses water for punishment, and in the second, fire.

Jesus, in the examples he gives, equates the status of Noah and Lot. Lot finds himself on the same saving side next to the righteous Noah. These two pious men are teachers to the whole world. Just as God gave life to Noah and Lot, so God will give salvation and eternal life to all who believe in Jesus. Just as God punished sinners in water and fire, so all those who do not believe in the Gospel will reap death.
In conclusion, I will give one piece of advice to those who have decided to criticize the sins of biblical heroes...-- If you decide to expose someone's sin, and you need a living example from the Bible. In this case, there are enough characters from the “black list” in Scripture. Criticize Cain, rebuke Eli and his sons, wash Saul's bones. There are enough defendants in Scripture who have shown with their lives that it is impossible to live like this.

Do not touch the people whom Scripture calls the righteous. Can't you see the difference between them. She is colossal!
And if the righteous committed a sin, for example, like David, then the Scripture directly and frankly evaluates such an act as a crime. God has no partiality. Holy Scripture is an honest book. If some act of the saint does not seem plausible to you, then do not rush to conclusions.
If Scripture doesn't directly and unequivocally condemn, don't condemn either. Don't be drunk with emotion.
Read serious books about the culture and customs of the time. …Learn from God. See how the Judge of all the earth reasons, giving us a lesson: “I will go down and see if they do exactly as the cry against them, which ascends to Me, or not; I will know” (Gen. 18:21)
In jurisprudence, there is such a thing as the “presumption of innocence”. ("Presumed" - that is, assumed.) Everyone accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty in court. Irremovable doubts about the guilt of a person are interpreted in favor of the accused.

Do not rush to blame the righteous if their actions are not yet clear to you. If Scripture (God) does not clearly and unequivocally condemn any act that at first glance seems not good to you, then do not condemn either. God is the judge or you?!
Otherwise, we become smarter than God…”

One such place is verses 30-38 of chapter 19 of Genesis, which tells of Lot and his daughters. This place is really a challenge for many and, unfortunately, there are people who say, citing these verses as an example: “Here is YOUR Bible: one debauchery!”.

Lot, his wife and daughters are taken out of Sodom, after which Sodom and Gomorrah experience the wrath of the Lord and perish. The wife of Lot also turns into a pillar of salt, who turns to Sodom, despite the fact that it was said: “... save your soul; do not look back, and do not stop anywhere in the vicinity” (Genesis 19:17).

Lot and his daughters are living in a cave (Gen. 19:30) and something is happening. Eldest daughter says to the youngest, “... therefore, let us give our father wine to drink, and sleep with him ...” (Genesis 19:32).

It would seem a sin, incest, as they often talk about it completely thoughtlessly. However, if we look at further events, we will see that the children of the daughters of Lot formed the nations of Moab and Ammon, who continually fought against the sons of Israel. At the same time, however, Ruth the Moabite was the great-grandmother of David, that is, the daughters of Lot also participated in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:5). Thus, we see that there was some lasting meaning in the actions of the daughters of Lot.

And again, you need to turn to the Holy Scriptures. “And the older one said to the younger one: Our father is old, and there is no man on earth who would come in to us according to the custom of all the earth” (Genesis 19:31). Very short, right? Scripture does not say that the sisters were driven by lust, perversion. Not at all, the sisters are talking about the custom of the whole earth. Obviously, this is understood as the sacred duty of a woman to give birth. At the same time, the sisters come to the conclusion that a) they have an obligation to give birth; b) there is no one to be their husband; c) there is a father who is old. That is, it is conceivable only from the father to give birth to a child, and then only for a short time, since he is old and it is not known whether he will be alive tomorrow. Here is the sister's dilemma. And for them, duty is not an empty word, they saw with their own eyes what the sin of not fulfilling duty is and what it leads to. What did they know? They knew that their father had left Ur of the Chaldees, because there is Babylon, debauchery, horror, they saw that where they lived, there was also depravity and horror. Everywhere death and destruction. Yet the Lord saves them. This means that the Lord favors them, which means that they have this mission to continue life on earth.

Lot's daughters were religious and morality was not an empty phrase for them. And they did what they did, not for themselves, and not to satisfy their desires, and it was bitter to make such a decision, and the elder sister then behaved, as befits the elder, she had boldness, had determination.

Lot, in this case, did not know what had happened, for he was drunk. And chapter 19 talks about it twice. When Scripture repeats twice, it is very important. Twice it is written: did not know, did not know.

One might think that the act of intoxication in itself is not very positive. However, for example, John Chrysostom says: “And that this happened not simply and not without a reason, but the excessive grief of the soul, through the use of wine, brought him to complete insensibility.”

And it is no accident that the same John Chrysostom says: “So, let no one dare to condemn the righteous man, or his daughters. And would it not be extreme recklessness and unreason - those whom the divine Scripture frees from all condemnation, and even offers such an excuse for them, to condemn us, burdened with the immeasurable gravity of sins, not listening to the words of the anist. Paul, who says, "God justify, whoever condemns" (Rom. 8:33-34)?"

Summing up what has been said, it must be remembered that Lot and his daughters found themselves in a situation that is not ordinary, ordinary. Not everyone, probably, will be able to overcome such difficult situations. They nevertheless overcame; it's not for us to say that difficult situation they behaved wrongly, and we would have done better. If there were no daughters of Lot, their children, would there have been David, would there have been Jesus Christ?

For our reflection and edification, let's read two passages from the epistles of Peter and Paul.
2 Peter 2:4-9 « For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but, having bound them with the bonds of hellish darkness, handed them over to watch for judgment for punishment;
5 and if he did not spare the first world, but saved the family of Noah, the preacher of righteousness, in eight souls, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
6 and if the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, condemning to destruction, turned into ashes, setting an example for the future wicked,
7 a righteous Lot, weary of the treatment between violently depraved people, delivered
8 (for this righteous man, living among them, was tormented daily in a righteous soul, seeing and hearing the deeds of lawless ) -
9 then surely the Lord knows how to deliver the pious from temptation, and to keep the wicked unto the day of judgment, for punishment»
Heb.11:7 « By faith Noah, having received a revelation of things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; by it he (the whole) world was condemned, and he became heir of righteousness by faith »
The books of the Old and New Testament contain a description of the life path of many characters. These descriptions are left for us, so that we, looking at their exploits, mistakes and sins, draw certain conclusions. We must imitate right deeds and good deeds, and avoid sins and miscalculations. Moreover, we see the consequences of both one and the other.
Today we will take a brief look at the lives of Noah and Lot and try to draw some lessons for ourselves. Both the Word of God calls the righteous, but they lived perfectly different lives and reaped different fruits. We will compare four positions: relationship with God; family relationships; relationship with the world; outcome of life.
1) relationship with God
Heb.11:7 “By faith Noah, having received a revelation of things not yet seen, reverently prepared the ark”
In these words we find a concentrated expression of Noah's relationship with God. We see that he had faith; he received a special revelation from God; he had reverence for God; he acted in accordance with the will of God.
In a little more detail, we should refer to the Book of Genesis.
Genesis 6:5-9 « And the Lord saw that the corruption of men on earth was great, and that all the thoughts and thoughts of their hearts were evil at all times;
6 And the Lord repented that He had made man on earth, and was grieved in His heart.
7 And the Lord said: I will destroy from the face of the earth the men whom I created, from man to beasts, and creeping things and the birds of the air, for I repented that I had created them.
8 Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord.
9 This is the life of Noah: Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generations; Noah walked with God »
“Walking before God” means: to live, realizing that God sees our every step and knows every thought of our heart. It means having a deep desire to please God.
And so God had a plan. By not letting Noah into all the details of His plan, God reveals to him something that has never happened before and gives clear instructions on how to proceed. And how does Noah work?
Genesis 6:22 « And Noah did everything: as God commanded him, so he did»
Imagine the situation: Noah received a revelation of a great and terrible judgment, such as the world had never seen before, and of which there was not the slightest sign. He had no scriptures, no prophecies inherited from anyone who lived before him. But he immediately, without delay, began to fulfill the commandment of God. He had such faith that it was enough to work tirelessly for 120 years in a sinful, evil environment, among ridicule, among misunderstanding. He believed in things that were beyond his life experience. All he had was the revelation of God, and that was enough for him. He was in awe of the will of God. One of the men of God said: “True faith does not require any additional evidence. He didn't ask for signs, or to hear a voice, or... to see visions or dreams, he didn't ask for scientific evidence, archaeological discoveries, evidence from the field of geology. True, saving faith accepts the Word of God simply on the basis that God has said it."
How did Lot deal with this?
Gen.13:10-12 « Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the region around the Jordan, that before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was watered all the way to Sigor, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt;
11 And Lot chose for himself all the region around the Jordan; and Lot moved towards the east. And they separated from each other.
12 Abram began to live in the land of Canaan; and Lot began to live in the cities of the region and pitched his tents to Sodom»
Gen.19:15-23, 30 « When the dawn came The angels began to rush Lot saying, Get up, take your wife and your two daughters that you have, lest you perish because of the iniquities of the city.
16 And how he hesitated, then those men, in the mercy of the Lord, took him by the hand, and his wife, and his two daughters, and brought him out and set him outside the city.
17 And when they had brought them out, [one of them] said, Save your soul; do not look back and do not stop anywhere in this neighborhood; run up the mountain so that you don't die.
18 But Lot said to them, no, Lord!
19 Behold, thy servant has found favor in thy sight, and great is thy mercy which thou hast done unto me, that thou hast saved my life; but I cannot escape to the mountain, so that trouble does not overtake me and I do not die;
20 Behold, it is nearer to flee to this city, which is small; I will run there, - he is small; and my life will be saved.
21 And he said to him, Behold, I will do this also to please you: I will not overthrow the city of which you speak;
22 make haste, save yourself there, for I cannot do the work until you get there. That is why this city is called Sigor.
23 The sun rose on the earth, and Lot came to Segor...
30 And Lot went out of Segor and dwelt in woe and with him his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Segor. And he lived in a cave, and with him his two daughters»
From these words we see that Lot throughout his life, when making important decisions, did not seek the will of God, but acted according to his own understanding. First he pitched his tents as far as Sodom, and then moved to Sodom itself. And even when God clearly revealed His will to him, he hesitated to fulfill it and even argued with God. Although, as it turned out later, God's choice was more correct. As, however, and always.
2) family relationships
Heb.11:7 « By faith Noah, having received a revelation of what was not yet visible, reverent prepared an ark to save his house »
Noah did not follow the path of personal self-improvement; the meaning of his life was to save his entire house. A house is not in the sense of a structure, a building, but in the sense of the household, his whole family. Although this is not directly described, it can be assumed with a high degree of probability that Noah's sons also worked on the construction of the ark. That is, he managed to create an atmosphere of trust and mutual support in the family. With his faith, Noah kindled the hearts of his family and friends. Probably, although it is unpleasant for a mature husband, it is much easier to resist the pressure of the world, endure ridicule and humiliation than young people. Other people's opinion and authority have a much stronger influence on young people. But we see that Noah managed to keep his children within the bounds of obedience to the will of God.
Genesis 7:7 « And Noah entered, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark from the waters of the flood»
The whole family sent for her husband, father, father-in-law.
What happened to Lot's family?
Gen.19:4 « And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were taking his daughters for themselves, and said, Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But his sons-in-law thought he was joking »
Gen.19:24-26 « And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord from heaven,
25 And he overthrew these cities, and all this region, and all the inhabitants of these cities, and the growth of the earth.
26 And [Lot's] wife looked behind him and became a pillar of salt»
Gen.19:36 « And both daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father»
These three passages show that Lot had no authority over his wife, daughters, or sons-in-law. All his words are empty words. His decisions are of no interest to anyone and are not convincing to anyone. Daughters have no fear, no respect for their father. Why did it happen?
We can draw an interesting conclusion from the following words:
Gen.19:26 “But [Lot’s] wife looked back behind him»
The situation turns out to be interesting. Lot is not in a hurry to fulfill the will of God, but when he finally decides, he runs ahead of everyone. He, as the head of the family, should have run behind, covering his family, to make sure that everyone had time, no one fell, did not fall behind. Instead, we see that Lot's wife "looked around behind him". It is sad if we, on our spiritual path, are so carried away by running forward that our family is left far behind us!
3) relationship with the world
Heb.11:7 “By faith Noah, having received a revelation of things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; it condemned (the whole) world»
2 Peter 2:5 “... saved the family of Noah in eight souls, preacher of truth»
In relation to the corrupt world, Noah acted as a preacher of truth and a judge. On the one hand, the construction of the ark was an occasion for preaching. Noah's contemporaries had the opportunity to observe his work. When asked what he was doing, Noah explained that God had pronounced a sentence on the destruction of mankind, and if people did not come to their senses, in a hundred and twenty years they would be destroyed in the waters of the flood. Noah preached not so much with words as with his life, his faith. He was not afraid of the reaction of all these people. He told them the truth. Secondly, by his obedience to the will of God, by his faith, Noah "condemned the whole world." He condemned the unbelief of the people. Noah showed by personal example that it is quite possible to live by faith in God. If he could live like that, then so could those to whom he preached. He also condemned the fuss (because he wasted his time and energy not on creating comfortable living conditions for himself, but on obtaining salvation); condemned sin. His faith and fear of God were at odds with public opinion, but he did not care what people would say about him. He was worried about what God would say.
Now back to Lot.
Gen.19:1-9 « And those two angels came to Sodom in the evening, when Lot sat at the gates of Sodom. Lot saw, and rose to meet them, and bowed his face to the ground
2 and said, My lords! go into your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet, and rise in the morning and go on your way. But they said: no, we spend the night on the street.
3 But he entreated them greatly; and they went to him and came to his house. He made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Before they went to bed, like the inhabitants of the city, Sodomites, from young to old, all the people from [all] ends [of the city], surrounded the house
5 And they called Lot and said to him, Where are the people who came to you at night? bring them to us; we get to know them.
6 Lot went out to them at the door, and shut the door behind him,
7 and said: my brothers, do no harm;
8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known a husband; I'd rather bring them out to you, do with them what you please, only don't do anything to these people, since they came under the shelter of my house.
9 But they said, Come hither. And they said: And they came close to this man, to Lot, and came up to break down the door»
So we find Lot at the gates of Sodom. It was a place where you could find out everything last news. This is the place where the elders of the city gathered, where justice was administered. That is, Lot acted contrary to the words that are written in the 1st Psalm:
Ps. 1:1 « Blessed is the man who does not go to the council of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners, and does not sit in the assembly of corrupters»
We do not know if Lot was included among the elders of Sodom, but he was comfortable among these people, and although Peter writes that Lot "was tormented daily in a righteous soul, seeing and hearing things that were lawless," he liked to be in this environment. He so felt his unity with them that when the Sodomites tried to attack his guests, he addresses them with the words: “ my brothers do no evil." But did they consider him their brother? The 9th verse gives us the answer to this question:
Gen.19:9 “But they said, come here. And they said: here is a stranger, and wants to judge? now we will do worse to you than to them».
These words show that he was a complete stranger to them. Lot had illusions about his position in this society, but these people did not accept him into their circle.
4) summary of life
Heb.11:7 “By faith Noah, having received a revelation of things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; by it he condemned (the whole) world, and became an heir of righteousness by faith»
This verse begins with faith and ends with faith. Noah's faith, his fidelity, obedience to God led to an amazing result. Noah became an heir of righteousness by faith. He acquired true justifying righteousness because he did everything as God said. He believed in that event, which was unthinkable at that time - in the flood, which was God's just judgment on the sinful world. He used the only true chance - he entered the ark of salvation himself and invited his family. For many generations of God's children, Noah became a model of faith and righteousness. It is important to understand that Noah was not a self-righteous man. Let's remember that when the flood was over, the first thing Noah did was build an altar to the Lord and offer sacrifices to Him. This shows that Noah was aware that he was a sinner and needed God's forgiveness. He did what God required of him and became an heir of righteousness by faith.
What is the outcome of Lot's life? We know nothing about how Lot's life turned out after he settled in the cave with his daughters. He could have returned to his uncle Abraham, who would surely have found a place for his hapless nephew. But he didn't come back. Something got in the way, perhaps pride. After all, he left Abraham with great wealth, had herds of large and small livestock, but in Sodom he lost everything. He did not have the courage, like the prodigal son, to return to where he had blessings and from where he had fallen. We do not know how long he lived, the traces of his life were lost in history. But I would like to draw your attention to one point.
Gen.19:37-38 « and the eldest gave birth to a son, and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 And the youngest also bore a son, and called his name: Ben-Ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites until now»
Deut.23:3 « The Ammonite and the Moabite cannot enter into the company of the Lord, and the tenth generation of them cannot enter into the society of the Lord forever»
Such is the sad result of the life of this man, whom the Word of God calls the righteous. All his life he tried to get comfortable in life, he always gained something, but what is the result of all this? He lost all his savings, lost his wife, and the path to the Lord's society is closed to his descendants.
So, here are two fates, two different life paths. Noah and Lot had much in common. They both lived during spiritual crisis. They both lived in an environment that was subject to extermination for numerous sins. They both received grace from God, and God gave them the opportunity to avoid a terrible fate: to perish from the flood (in the case of Noah) and from the fire (in the case of Lot). They are both called righteous, but their lifestyle, their habits, their values ​​were fundamentally different. As we saw today, these people were distinguished by relationships with God, relationships in the family, relationships with the outside world. All these differences led to opposite consequences. May the Lord bless us so that we draw the right conclusions from everything we have heard today.


“And two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot saw them and stood up to meet them” (Genesis 19:1)

This is how the story begins innocuously. The guests came to the prophet. The Prophet, as a decent person, invites them to enter the house, but “they said: no, we sleep on the street”. Strange habit for an angel, but oh well. As a result, Lot nevertheless begs them and they enter the house, have dinner and are already going to sleep, when suddenly:

“City dwellers, Sodomites, from young to old, surrounded the house. And they called Lot, and they said to him: Where are the people who came to you at night? Bring them out to us; we shall know them” (Genesis 19:4-5)

The word they chose was: we know. It is curious what kind of perverts lived in Sodom and how Lot himself escaped violence, because he, too, was once new in Sodom? Or did you avoid it? We can only guess from the answer he gave, which was just delightfully cynical:

“Here I have two daughters who have not known a husband; I'd rather bring them out to you, do with them what you please; only do nothing to this people, for they have come under the roof of my house” (Genesis 19:8)

That's how it is! He would sacrifice his daughters for some strangers who were used to sleeping on the street and whom he had just met. Hospitality, of course, is good, but not to the same extent. Although, perhaps, at that time it was considered quite decent behavior.

But Lot's daughters didn't have to be known. The angels blinded the townspeople and saved the day. In a similar story in the Book of Judges, things did not turn out so well. But more on that below.


A little later, the angels told Lot to gather all his relatives and leave the city. The composition of the relatives is quite curious: “And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who took his daughters for themselves” (Genesis 19:14)

What are "sons-in-law"? But what about Lot's recent statement about the innocence of his daughters who did not know a husband, if they are both married? It is possible that they did not have sexual intercourse, although, given the mores of this town, this is unlikely. It turns out that Lot was cunning, which is very much in the spirit of a “true-believing” person. On the other hand, disposing of the fate of daughters without asking the opinion of their husbands also causes slight bewilderment.

The sons-in-law thought that Lot was joking and did not listen to him. Considering the above-described prank of dad, I don’t really want to listen to him. The angels, meanwhile, hurried Lot, and he, taking his wife and two daughters, left the city. And although the angels told him to go to the mountains, Lot nevertheless went to a nearby small town. Justified by the fact that it is safer there. The old man did not trust the angels. The fugitives were ordered to run without looking back or stopping.

“And Lot’s wife looked around and became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26)

What is the meaning of this? Why such a small offense should be punished so severely? Perhaps this is a hint of disobedience. And still, even if so, the punishment does not correspond to the crime. The same Sodomites who came to Lot's house demanding to give them guests for "knowledge" were only blinded. And Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt, just because she looked back to look at these fireworks that the Almighty arranged. Or maybe she saw how the angels had fun, chopping the people of Sodom into minced meat? Extra witness. Like it or not, but this is inexplicable cruelty, without any visible reasons. Which is very much in the spirit of the Old Testament God. An incomprehensible cruelty permeates the entire Bible, and Old Testament especially.

Here is the explanation given by the theologians: “By the fact that Lot’s wife looked back at Sodom, she showed that she regretted leaving her sinful life - she looked back, lingered, - and immediately turned into a pillar of salt. This is a strict lesson for us: when the Lord saves us from sin, we must run away from it, do not look back at it, that is, do not linger and do not regret it.

In general, all these explanations of the clergy are very funny, and below we will consider some. But how do you like it? Nice trick to say the least. If she looked back, then she regretted the sinful life. And where, may I ask, is it said that she led a sinful life? She seems to be the wife of a righteous man. And why shouldn't she look back, just because something rumbled there? Why not accept such a simple option?


Meanwhile, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, and Lot, afraid to live in Segor, goes to live in the mountains, taking his two daughters with him. Why he was afraid to go to Sigora, only Lot himself knows. They live in a cave. Oh, and these prophets love to live in caves. What happened next is more suitable for an erotic movie script:

“And the older (sister) said to the younger: our father is old; and there is no man on earth who has come in to us according to the custom of the whole earth. So let us make our father drink wine, and sleep with him, and raise (conceive) from the father of our tribe. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the eldest went in and slept with her father: but he did not know when she lay down and when she got up. The next day the elder said to the younger: behold, yesterday I slept with my father; Let us give him wine to drink this night also, and you go in, sleep with him, and we will raise (conceive) from the father of our tribe. And they made their father drink wine that night; and the youngest went in and slept with him: and he did not know when, she lay down and when she got up” (Genesis 19:31-35)

The plot "Lot and his daughters" was popular in Renaissance painting. If you look closely at the image below, you can see the burning city, and the pillar-wife decorating the neighborhood of Sodom, and the fox, who seems to guess more than Lot about the immorality of the whole picture, and some couple relaxing a little far from Lot.

in big expansion

I wonder how the Church itself explains this story? There are so many sins here that it is not clear how the earth bears them after that. By the way, one of the reasons for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was constant incest. And here Lot himself does the same with his daughters. So why is he righteous? Maybe because he is Abraham's nephew?

As a result, both daughters became pregnant. The eldest gave birth to a son, Moab. The youngest is the son of Ben-Ammi. Both became the progenitors of entire nations: the Moabites and the Ammonites, respectively. Apparently, Lot himself was deeply violet - where the children came from and who the father was. His mind was filled with fear and worship.


A similar story happened with the inhabitants of Gibe. And the morality of this story goes off scale far beyond the immorality of the previous one.

The plot almost completely repeats the story of Lot and his daughters in Sodom. A Levite and his concubine decided to spend the night in Gibeah with an old man who lived in that city. The Bible then speaks for itself:

While they cheered their hearts, behold, the inhabitants of the city, depraved people, surrounded the house, knocked on the door, and said to the old man, the owner of the house: Bring out the man who entered your house, we will know him.The owner of the house went out to them and said to them: No, my brothers, do not do evil, when this man entered my house, do not do this foolishness. Here I have a daughter, a maiden, and he has a concubine, I will bring them out, humble them, and do with them what you please; and with this man, don't do this madness. But they didn't want to listen to him. Then the husband took his concubine and brought him outside. They recognized her and cursed her all night until morning. And they let her go at dawn. And the woman came before the dawn, and fell at the door of the house of the man who had her master, and lay down until the light. The master found her in the morning, opened the door of the house, and went out to go on his way: and behold, his concubine was lying at the door of the house, and her hands were on the threshold. He told her: get up, let's go. But there was no answer, because she died. He put her on the donkey, got up and went to his place.(Judges 19:22-28)

With such plots and the content of these stories, it seems extremely strange to try to veil the unambiguous desires of these characters with words like “know”. Although thanks to medieval censorship for this. Who knows how these stories were told to each other in the original.

It is noteworthy that this very "husband" Levite went for the "concubine" to her father's house, where he was received with joy and stayed for a long time. And then, after a couple of days, he exchanged it like a coin. What is this if not another one good example"respect for woman" in scriptures? Again, what lesson can be learned from this story?


Now back to the explanations of the clergy.

Here is how Jewish experts explain these simple stories:

"The people of Sodom were evil and very criminal before Hashem" (Bereshit, 13:13). The same was the case with four neighboring cities - Amoroi, Adma, Tzvaim and Zoar, which were part of a kind of coalition, the capital of which was Sodom. The inhabitants of all five cities were murderers and adulterers who deliberately rebelled against Hashem because they did the same deeds as the generation before the Flood.

Further, it is described in detail how rich these people are, but not good and greedy. Branches on trees were broken so that the birds would not eat fruits, onions and bricks were stolen from each other, and - what a horror - they trusted not in God, but in themselves. Somewhere between these descriptions, the Midrash tells a story about one of Lot's daughters named Plotis. It turns out he had four of them. Such inconsistencies in the scriptures are not uncommon, therefore special attention I will not give them. So, the girl secretly gave to the beggar, and since the inhabitants of Sodom were greedy, they were greedy even for someone else's and they did not like that the beggar still did not die of hunger. For this, they either burned the girl, or smeared it with honey and tied it, and she died from bee stings - here the Midrash and Torah somehow did not decide.

Before her death, the girl turned to God, saying - to hell with me, but at least punish them, and he promised that he would definitely come down and punish. The fate of the beggar is silent.

And here God, as if to justify himself, declares that he did not destroy Sodom immediately, but 25 years before that “He sent an earthquake to that region to encourage the inhabitants to correct, but then they did not pay any attention to the Divine warning.”


I must say that when representatives of the clergy come to the rescue to explain what is written in the sacred texts and try to make up for these uncomfortable moments, it looks pretty fun. It is understandable. Where to go with such instructive stories?

Take, for example, the Hebrew version described above, which, as an exculpatory speech, describes the inhabitants as follows:

“The inhabitants of all five cities were murderers and adulterers who deliberately rebelled against Hashem, because they did the same deeds as the generation before the Flood”

Murderers and adulterers. Is it all over the place? And children and old grandparents? They are all murderers and adulterers. Only Lot is handsome. Or was it such a resort area where only young people lived? Such a medieval Kazantip with Ibiza.

Why was this warning needed at all if the trick with the Flood did not work and people just continued to sin as before? And what kind of God is this, who was offended by rich people because they counted not on Him, but on themselves? Since when is this considered criminal and deserving of punishment? The remaining descriptions of the actions of the inhabitants of Sodom clearly do not pretend to be the degree of mortal sins. So, petty hooliganism compared to what the Lord himself did. Wow, 25 years ago he arranged an earthquake so that they would understand that it was He who was warning them. It must be said that with a clear and direct communication of his thoughts to mankind, God clearly did not differ. All the time he communicated with some hints and parables. In 2004, 250,000 people died in the Asian tsunami. Was it again that God played pranks and warned?

The explanation of the Jewish interpreters does not end there. For example, this explains the whole motive that prompted God to put Lot in this ridiculous situation: “Eh it was part of the heavenly plan. Hashem wanted Lot to persevere, so that he would have certain merits for which he should be saved.

Lot, it turns out, did not have enough merit, and it was necessary to show one more small merit in the form of perseverance in order for him to deserve salvation. And how did it turn out? Listen! I have two unmarried daughters. I will bring them out to you, and do with them what you will. I only ask you a favor, leave my guests alone, for they have come to my house!

And this is righteous. The most decent person in town. It must be said that although the Jewish sources promise that their history differs from the biblical one, there are no significant differences in them. Perhaps a little thriller with the blind, who feel the doors in order to get to know everyone who moves and some details.

No matter how many such explanations there are, to notice how much the morality of that time differs from the morality of modern world not difficult. And no matter how the believers insist that God's actions are justified, modern morality tells us that everyone is not punished for the sins of some, and no fairy tales can cover such theses. God would be God Almighty, if instead of the Flood and the destruction of cities, he carried out pinpoint strikes and not with such cruelty. Let's say heart attack the offender would have gotten away. But no, God does not like trifles. If we punish, then with all the divine scope. Is he God or is he not God, after all?

One choice, two completely different stories. The uncle shows humility towards his nephew - an unheard-of behavior for the harsh Old Testament times. Abraham yields to Lot to avoid controversy the best lands. The name of one of the cities where Lot pitched his tents is Sodom. It became a household word. Sodom was a flourishing and rich city. Its inhabitants did not need anything. Abraham went in the opposite direction from Sodom. And became great through the ages. How does this story repeat itself over and over again today? What does a carefree life, spiritual deafness and the desire to get everything from life lead to? Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev discusses the relevance and topicality of the Old Testament episode from the Book of Genesis.

“And Lot, who walked with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land was not large enough for them to live together, for their property was so great that they could not live together. And there was a dispute between the shepherds of Abram's cattle and between the shepherds of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanites and Perizzites dwelt then in that land. And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are kindred; Is not the whole earth before you? separate yourself from me: if you are to the left, then I am to the right; and if you are to the right, then I am to the left.

Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the region around the Jordan, that before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was watered all the way to Sigor, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt; and Lot chose for himself all the region around the Jordan; and Lot moved towards the east. And they separated from each other.

Abram began to live in the land of Canaan; and Lot began to live in the cities of the region and pitched his tents as far as Sodom. The inhabitants of Sodom were evil and very sinful before the Lord.

(Gen. 13:5–13)

It is said that the land was not large enough for the people of Abraham and for the people of Lot. There were a lot of them. Abraham's household and Lot's household. Abraham's servants and Lot's servants. Evidence that God blessed not only the house of Abraham, but also the house of Lot, which was then in unity with the house of Abraham. And later, after Lot separated from Abraham, Lot's household became impoverished, and he leaves Sodom and Gomorrah with only a small family - with him his wife and two daughters, and no one else.

When Lot chose for himself the land in which he would live, Abraham gave him the right to decide where to go, saying: “Choose which one is for you. You go right, I go left. You go left, I go right." Now, Lot chose with carnal eyes. He saw the land of Sodom and Gomorrah. And, as the Bible says, for him it was like the garden of the Lord. Like heaven! That is how he valued these lands. But soon, after a while, paradise turned into hell. This is happening now.

Many of my friends left some for America, some for Western Europe. In the first letters they wrote: we live in paradise, we have everything. But after a while, heaven turned into hell. And in the letters there was a cry: “What to do? Everything here is on credit. And if I don't pay it on time, everything will be taken away from me. Even the water from the pool is pumped out and taken away. The lawn will be rolled up and taken away…” And even: “They can take my children away from me.”

Paradise turns out to be hell - if we evaluate what is heaven and what is hell, based on purely carnal criteria

Very often, heaven turns out to be hell - if we evaluate what hell is and what hell is, based on purely carnal criteria, worldly understanding. And a person should be careful in his assessments of the surrounding reality and reality. Especially in our time. Because what we seems good and favorable, maybe not so in reality. Maybe behind a bright facade to hide the black essence.

Yes, Lot and his family did not learn the "habits" of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, did not perform their "feats". And they were saved, leaving Sodom. But were they saved? And did they really leave Sodom?

Sodom already lived in their hearts. turned around to gloat that the city was dying, but she was alive. For this, God punished her: she also died. And Lot did not escape the fate of Sodom, as he thought. Because it was Sodom who pushed his daughters so that, having drunk their father with wine, debauchery with him, committed the sin of incest.

Staying in Sodom will not be without consequences

Staying in Sodom will not be without consequences. You can’t just leave it and then live, believing that everything is in order. So you think that - to Europe, to America, you will earn money there, you will return to Russia and live happily ever after. Not! This will not happen without losses. There will definitely be some losses, difficulties - and first of all, these difficulties will hit our children. And sometimes it hurts a lot. In one family I know, who lived in America for a long time, then they simply suffered with a child. He spoke Russian with an accent, all his vital interests changed. They took the child to the old man. And the elder said: this child should be sent for reprimand!

Let's remember the Bible lessons.