Notice again, Lot’s approach at the very beginning, how he subtlety changed what he was told to do. The angels said, take them out! Now Lot changed that to preaching to them. I get the very distinct impression that they told him, “grabbed them by the hand and take them out.” It is a difference between come and go. That is, come with me. In the same way that the angels had to do with Lot. They did not preach to him. They grabbed him by the hand and yanked him out of town. That is what the angels expected Lot to do.
Apparently Lot thought that his preaching was going to have some good occur as a result of it, and yet there is a difference. He preaches to them “get out,” but what does he do? He lingers. Lot does not follow directions very well, does he?
You can see that Lot, though he was a man of great faith, there was not enough faith, not living faith, not faith that really trusted God, but faith that he equivocated all the time and interpreted what was said in way that he felt was best for himself.
Notice the difference in their prayers. Abraham appeals to God to spare the people of the city, Lot on the other hand, not considering the saving of his life is enough, request that he be able to continue to live in the valley, in the plain, and that they spare a small city. Would you call that trading on the mercy of God? Would you call that tempting God, pushing Him to the very limit? Well, I would. Abraham’s prayer was an appeal for mercy and grace for others. Lot’s is an appeal for self-indulgence. He pleads for his own way, right to the very end.
Now I do not know what it was that was motivating Lot. Maybe it was his feelings for his wife, because she, from every indication, was very deeply involved in the city, much more than Lot was. Whatever his motivations were, God is showing very clearly that they were not entirely devoted to God, and I think that we can say, that they were carnal.
Notice that the angels in warning them that they are going to destroy it, and to get their people and family out of it, says specifically that it is God’s will that this happen. “The Lord has sent us to destroy this place.” The reason was that the outcry against them had grown great. Its offense of all those sins had come before God, and He determined that it was enough. It had to be destroyed. So, notice as we start, here, that the destruction was going to be an act of God. It was His will that it be destroyed.
This is an echo of Genesis 13:13 where it said that this sin is exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. It had come before God's face, and He was determined to destroy it. In verse 23, they had gone out, and sent Lot to Zoar:
