Vayera (He appeared) Genesis 18 - 22

The great parliamentarian Edmund Burke said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Back in Genesis ch14 Abraham with his private army of 318 trained men, on hearing that his nephew Lot had been taken captive by an enemy, obviously with passionate and energetic determination, gave chase over some 100 miles or so, attacked and defeated the combination of four armies, evidently a vastly larger force. He recovered all that had been stolen including his nephew Lot and family plus other captives. Fantastic!

Now at the start of ch18 Adonai, the Lord, comes accompanied by two serving angels, all in human appearance, to Abraham’s camp, reinforces His covenant promises and eats a veritable feast that Abraham and Sarah provide.

They then head off towards Sodom, accompanied by Abraham who being the good host is seeing them on their way. Then, in the light of the eternal covenant promises that God had made to Abraham, He decides to tell him what He is about to do by way of judgement for Sodom & Gomorrah’s evil.

Now here something surprises me. Abraham did not plead with God to save Lot and family or ask that time be given for him to go with his private army and get Lot out of the line of God’s fire. He did not even mention Lot. Why?

Allow me to speculate:-

• Maybe Abraham felt he had sacrificed enough for Lot who after being rescued had gone straight back to live in that wicked city.

• Perhaps more than physical distance had come between them so that nephew and uncle had become more like strangers.

• Abraham may not have been sure that Lot worshipped the one true God anymore and so, having neglected such a great deliverance (Hebrews 2.3), he may not deserve to be saved yet again.

So Abraham makes what is no doubt a wonderful plea on behalf of at least ten anonymous righteous that evidently weren’t found in these cities to the effect of…nothing.

Let’s move on to the one “Righteous Lot” (2 Peter 2.7) in Sodom.

Now I speculate again:-

• Lot went back to and remained in Sodom, even after discovering how intensely evil it was, thereby keeping his family in danger.

• Lot did not take hold of the opportunity Abraham’s last rescue would have given him to relocate to safety.

• Having allowed this terrible situation to come upon him and his family, once he gave hospitality to the two men / angels, rather than risk himself by standing against the evil of the men surrounding his home, Lot offered his own daughters in order to appease the men”.

Lot’s passivity and appeasement approach, whilst he and his two daughters were rescued with just the clothes they stood up in, led to… the death of his wife and other family members, and probably his daughter’s decision to deduce him into sex, thereby creating two more enemy nations for Israel, namely Moab and Ammon.

If only Abraham had attempted to save Lot again…

If only Lot had taken the warning of his captivity and moved…

In all of this I see a lesson. At times I come to a point where I wonder if it’s worth continuing to pray for and do all I can to ensure the salvation of my family and friends who themselves seem so passive with regard to the great salvation our Heavenly Father has offered us through the sacrifice of His own Son, our Lord Yeshua. But I should take the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to Timothy as if it were to me…

“Proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching.”

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything”.

Author: John Quinlan

Let us encourage one another to be active participants in the battle!

[TLV = Tree of Life Version. Other quotes NIV]