Run for the Hills, Lot!

I was re-reading Genesis 19 today, a chapter that I have always found very humorous. Most people, I'm sure, will think it very odd that I laugh at a chapter about the destruction of Sodom, but let me explain why, and I'm sure you'll be laughing (or at least chuckling) as well.

It's Lot who amuses me. I mean, this guy was not exactly the brightest lamp in the furniture store, if you get my meaning. For starters, in verse 15, he was warned by angels from God that the city was about to be destroyed and that he needed to flee. Immediately. I don't know about you, but if I had it direct from God that my city was about to be bombarded with fire and sulfur, I wouldn't bother to pack - I'd be out of there so fast I might set a new speed record. But in verse 16, it says that Lot lingered and had to be dragged out of the city by the angels. Not Lot's brightest moment!

The part of the chapter that really amuses me though is what comes next. Lot was told to flee to the hills, but he whined and said it was too far. He begged to be allowed to go to the city of Zoar, so the angels agreed to let him go there. Then, if you read verse 30, you'll learn that Lot was afraid to live in Zoar. So where did he go? Into the hills, where he was told to go in the first place!

So I guess the moral of that story is, one way or another, you're going to wind up where God wants you to be. You can do things the easy way and just go when and where He tells you, or you can be like Lot and take the long way, with possible detours through painful and/or terrifying experiences (sounds like Zoar wasn't a good place after all).

I love the Old Testament!