The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Genesis 19:1-3a,
“The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.’ ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we will spend the night in the square.’ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.”
Something I find fascinating here. The two angels that came to Sodom decided they were going to spend the night in the city square. Lot invited them to his home to spend the night but their response was “no”. The text is clear that due to Lot’s insistence they relented, Lot “insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.” Even though they were on a mission from God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot changed a part of their plans through his own insistence. They would still destroy the cities because of the wickedness but it appears Lot was able to change their minds about a secondary issue.
I find it fascinating because my perception of angels hasn’t included the notion they can be persuaded or negotiated with. Here in this passage these angels demonstrate they are subject to the insistence of a man. This isn’t the only part of the story where Lot changed the minds of the angels. As they were leaving town to avoid certain death in the city’s destruction, the angels told Lot to head for the mountains, “Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” Verse 17. Lot’s response is, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared.” Verses 18-20. One of the angels responds to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” Verses 21-22. As we read later, Lot was afraid and left the small town, Zoar, and went to the mountains anyway.
I’m afraid my stifled understanding of angels has been that of beings that are somewhat automatons. Not entirely but I’ve just had a notion that they participated little in making decisions and certainly not of those who could be engaged in negotiation or subject to persuasion. I’m not suggesting they can be persuaded off task they have received from the Lord, but they have been subject to persuasion in ancillary aspects in this account. In this passage I have to say they look to be a whole lot like us, with the exception, of course, of their dramatic and fearful abilities to carry out the Lord’s work. The account of striking the homosexuals blind, the flight of Lot and his daughters and the utter destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah provide an astonishing example of what the Lord does through the angels he sends to do his bidding.
Fascinating stuff!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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