I confess sometimes I walk away from scripture with more questions then answers. This is the case today. I find myself smack dab in the middle of Sodom with Lot and two angels. Do you remember the account? Two angels are sent by God to check out Sodom. As they approach the town gate, Lot is there and he encourages them to come and stay at his house. This would be a normal example of hospitality in this culture and time. Since he insisted so strongly, the angels went.
Not long after, all the men from the city of Sodom surround Lot’s house and demand that he send his guests out so that they could have sex with them. Lot then goes out and tries to negotiate with the men from Sodom to take his daughters instead. How’s that for a great dad? The crowd gets violent and the angels inside reach out and pull Lot back into the house and they shut the door. The angels then strike the men who were outside with blindness so they couldn’t even find the door.
As I read all the various commentaries on this account it seems there is more that isn’t known then is. But one prevailing question keeps going through my mind. Why did Lot feel the need to defend an angel? Weren’t angels really intimidating beings? In most every account I can think of when people encountered angels they either fell to their face or were struck dumb. Was it that Lot didn’t recognize them as angels? Abraham knew that there was something very special about them when they visited him in the prior chapter. So why didn’t Lot see what Abraham saw or if he did, why did he think he could handle the situation better then the angels?
I found myself wondering. Do I sometimes think I need to protect God? Do I feel that He can’t defend Himself and I need to step up and do something about it? Do I find myself sacrificing my own children so I can maintain what God is doing much like Lot did with his daughters? Do I spend too much time upholding my ministry to the neglect of my family? Do I think that what I am doing for God will fall apart if I don’t keep it going? Am I sometimes like Lot that I don’t even recognize God for who He is and what He can do? Have I reduced God to a person size or do I still see Him as God sized?
Like I said, sometimes I have more questions then answers. But sometimes that is all I need.
Very thought-provoking questions, Arlene. I never thought about Lot not recognizing the angels as such. My guess would be that he had fallen so far from God he lost his ability to see who they really were. I always got focused (and disgusted) on his offering up his daughters. I still struggle with Lot being called righteous (Peter I think calls him that). I don't see any evidence of that. But, then, I don't know the whole story...
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