LEARNING DAILY

Genesis 19:15-16, As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he lingered. So, the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

The second part of proverbs 1:7 states, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.” There is a warning in this, a warning that says a day is coming when God will separate those willing to learn from Him and His Word and obey His commands from those who believes he “is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 12:15). With being prepared spiritually in mind, there is a lesson to be shown with what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah that supports this.

The verses before the two above show God’s warnings of mercy and the importance of responding to those warnings. There are consequences of ignoring His Word as the fool does; there is emphasis on the need to live a righteous life in obedience to God. The angels were to remove Lot, his wife, and daughters from the area before judgment came. “But he (Lot) lingered.” There was a mob who wanted to destroy Lot and those with Him. The angels are telling him (and those might not express the urgency) to run and get away before they get swept up in what God is going to do. “But he lingered.” The angels are not going to wait any longer and grab their hands; it looks like they forcibly move them to safety.

Why did Lot hesitate? He could have left long ago; he knew the sin of this area. The evil around him must have grown worse over time. Why did he stay? The way of a fool… God’s mercy included grabbing one like Lot, by the hand, to rescue him despite his foolish actions. In this example, the reminder is clear regarding the consequences of being a fool, of being disobedient, and the importance of following God’s guidance without hesitation. Read on in God’s Word and see the result for Lot’s wife as she looked back.

God’s mercy and protection toward the righteous are evident in this account. For the fool – let it be known that despising wisdom and instruction may lead to one becoming so comfortable with the sin in and around you that you hesitate to leave it behind. Be alert to spiritual dangers and sinful environments. Knowing God’s Word and being willing to remove sin through repentance and getting out of environments that cause sinful behavior is the way of the wise. Choose righteousness!

God still delivers the righteous. It is a reminder that a time is coming when God separates the fool from the wise, the unrighteous from the righteous. It is a warning against moral decay and the effects of being out of God’s will. It should prompt Believers to reflect on their choices and actions, encouraging them to seek God’s righteousness and be obedient!