THE DAYS OF LOT

What a wondrous age we live in today, just to think that our Lord Jesus Christ will soon return to this earth.  The disciples of the early church did not have this hope to look forward to.   Although they knew that Jesus would return some day, their hope was in the resurrection.  One day after leaving the temple, while Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him asking, “Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3).  Jesus then proceeded to explain to them the specifics of these three occurrences:   He told them what to look for when the temple would fall; that no man knew the day and hour that the earth would be destroyed; then He told about the signs of His coming and what those days would be like.   Maybe we, as believers today, should be more like those who walked with Jesus, asking more questions about what we have been taught, and questioning as to what will be the signs of His coming.

Are we looking to the signs of his coming today?  Are we looking for the days of the son of man?  If we are truly living in the last days, then the signs of His coming should be all around us.  For over 150 years, we have been told that we are in the last days, and the doctrine that He could come any time has been preached.  The years have gone by, and many have died, never seeing His return or His days.  Most Christians have become complacent about the Lord’s return because they cannot see His days.  “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 24:48-51).

“Why, seeing times are not hid-den from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?” (Job 24:1).  The signs are here, and many Christians are just going about their lives unaware that our Lord is coming soon.  This scripture is clear; God knows what time it is and that His plans are right on schedule.  Why then do we not see the ‘days of the Lord’?   Jesus gave the wicked generation of Jews of His day a sign when they asked Him.  In Matt. 12:39, He said the only sign they would have was the sign of the prophet Jonas.     Jesus died, and was in the grave three days and three nights. Still they did not understand.   Likewise, our Lord gives us signs of His return in Mat-thew 24 and Luke 17.  We are told that our signs will be as in the days of Noah and Lot.   Everything that took place in their days is a sign of what it shall be like when Jesus returns.  These two men were warned by God of eminent destruction, and they were provided a way of deliverance.  Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house and those animals that were with him, and two angels came and led Lot and his family from Sodom before God destroyed it.

If we are to know and see what it is going to be like when Jesus comes, we must look at what happened to these men, and ask God to give us understanding.  I know that many will say we are not to know the day nor the hour, and they use Matt. 24:36 and Mark 13:32, never bothering to ask about what day or hour Jesus was talking.  It is just presumed that He is talking about when He will return.  If we would take the time and read the verses above, we could clearly see that Jesus was speaking of a day when the elements will melt with fervent heat as Peter said (2 Pet. 3:10).  Why are we are told to take heed?  Why, when Jesus began to answer the Apostles’ questions, did He tell them to “Take heed that no man deceive you.”

At the first coming of Jesus, there was a great sign in the heavens; even the wise men from the East were aware of it and made their journey to see the child who was born to be king of the Jews.  Of His second coming Jesus said, immediately after the tribulation of those days, then the sign of the Son of man would appear in heaven, and they shall see the Son of man coming in clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:29-31).  Will our eyes be open and be like the wise men at the first coming?  Does God change?  “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6).  He is telling us that He always works in a certain way, so that we will know that it is Him.

We are told by Jesus that “also as it was in the days of Lot … even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28,30).   He even warned us to remember Lot’s wife, which almost seems out of place if we are to believe the common doctrine taught today about the Lord’s return.  Two angels went to Sodom to get the righteous out before the destruction, if they would heed the warning and go.  But before they went, those two went with the Lord to make a special visit to Abraham to let him know what was about to happen.  The Lord said he was going to have a look at Sodom, to see if the noise of their wickedness was as bad as He had heard.  Abraham pleaded for mercy and bargained with the Lord to not destroy the righteous with the wicked.  Finally, the Lord said that if there were ten righteous people that He would save Sodom, but ten righteous could not be found.  Here we see that Abraham knew of the destruction before it happened, and was desperately trying to see that the righteous would be saved.

The judgment was set, and So-dom would fall.  On the eve of the calamity, God sent the two angels to the city to get Lot and his family out.  When they came to Lot, he invited them to come to his home, and fixed them a meal of unleavened bread, perhaps to show us what time of year this took place.   (The Law of Moses had not been given yet, but Moses did write this occurrence as the Spirit of the Lord moved on him.)  The feast of unleavened bread was given to the children of Israel to observe, because God said, “for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever” (Ex. 12:17).  God did not just mention what kind of bread Lot had made to let us know what they were eating or how they made bread.  He always has a meaning to what He tells us, so when we hear unleavened bread we should as-sociate it with other places where it is mentioned.  This also ties these two events together, Sodom and Egypt, for in both places God sent two messengers in to deliver His people.

The time was running out.  The two angels asked Lot of his other family members in the city, besides the ones that were with him, to take them out of the place also.  Lot went to his sons-in-law, who were married to his other two daughters.  Now, I say this to show that there were eight righteous that were in Sodom.  If there had been ten, God would have saved Sodom because of His promise to Abraham.  Peter characterizes Lot as being “just” (2 Pet. 2:7).  I would like you readers to see that there was only a little time to try to let those few know that trouble was coming and to warn them to escape it.  Lot told his sons-in-law and his daughters that it was time to get out of this place as God was going to destroy the city, but they would not listen and made fun of him, thinking he was crazy.  As the day broke, the angel began to hurry Lot, telling him to take his wife and two daughters that were there and get out.  Lot did not feel the urgency of the time, so while he lingered around, the angels grabbed him, and his wife and daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and brought them outside the city.  When the angels had brought them far enough, they told them to escape and not look back, but to go to the mountain, lest they be consumed. Lot pleaded that the mountain was too far, and saw that there was a little city nearby and asked if he and his family could go there.  God allowed Lot to go to the city and that he would save that city for Lot’s sake, but he must hurry. (See Genesis 19).

I would like you to hear some-thing in this passage that you may have never heard before when you were taught about the story of Lot.  Here we see that Lot and his family made it out of Sodom safely before the destruction came, and they made it to a little city.   It is there that Lot’s wife sees what is going on and looks back then turns into a pillar of salt.  She didn’t just turn her head around and take a glance at what was happening. If we read little farther in this passage, we are told that Abraham looked toward the city when it was being destroyed, and he did not turn into salt.  Lot’s wife not only looked back, but turned back to her life and family that was left behind.  I hear the words of Jesus, “Remember Lot’s wife.  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:32-33).   Lot’s wife was safe from harm, yet looked back to the life she had and the daughters and sons-in-law that had been left behind. We are taught today that this passage reveals the catching away, where one is taken and the other left.  But if we are taken to heaven, how then could what happened to Lot’s wife reflect this?  Can you imagine someone being changed to immortality, being transported to heaven, and then all of a sudden decide to look back on the life that they were leaving?

The Bible is a two edged sword:  Salvation and Prophecy.  From the story of Lot and the deliverance of his family from the destruction of Sodom, we can see how Jesus’ death and resurrection has brought us salvation and forgiveness of our sins.  There is also a prophecy to be fulfilled in this story.  Jesus has shown us that the days of Lot were a sign of what will  happen just before He returns.  When Jesus gives power to His Two Witnesses and sends them out to proclaim His coming, as in the midnight cry, they will try to get as many out of the place where the judgment of the Lord will fall as possible.  The sons-in-law of Lot reveal that there will be those who will mock the two witnesses, and being caught unaware, they will be left behind.  The two prophets will then press with urgency to those that will hear, sending them to where the Body is and to where Jesus will come.  And when the Two Witnesses have finished fulfilling their portion of prophecy, the Beast will make war with them and kill them.  “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:3-12).

When Jesus finished His story of one being taken and the other left, His disciples wanted to know where they were taken to.  “And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (Luke 17:37).  Are we going to be like the disciples, and ask the questions, such as, “Why did He call those that were taken ‘eagles’?”  The word “eagle” is a key word, used to describe Moses and Aaron in Ex.19 as the two witnesses, “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent” (Rev. 12:14).

There were eight righteous in So-dom, but only four heeded the warn-ing of the two angels.   We are told that there were ten virgins that heard the midnight cry, but only five made it into the wedding.  Dear readers, we have reached the end of six thousand years since the creation of Adam, and the King of Kings is coming.  The words of prophecy have to be fulfilled, and if we are not watching and waiting, we will be left behind.  I implore you today to shake yourselves, and read the Bible.  It is time to be sure of what we know, and ask questions if we do not know or understand what God is saying.  If you are not sure of your salvation, there is time to get everything right with the Lord before it is too late.  Take a look at the world you are living in.  Do you think that God is going to let it con-tinue in its iniquity?  He is not.  He is sending His Son to judge this world and all those that are in it.  Those that will hear and endure to the end will be saved.   I pray that we all will hear and prepare our hearts and be ready, so that day will not come up on us as a thief, “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through” (Luke 12:39).  People, get ready! Jesus is coming!  Will you be one of those that are safe under the shadow of His wings?  Ask questions, dear saints.   Ask!