We are familiar with the story of Lot and the ending of his story - he committed incest with his 2 daughters. If we only read Lot’s story from Genesis, we’d be inclined to think he’s not a good man; that he wasn’t a righteous man. But in the New Testament, Peter tells us he was actually a righteous man.

2 Pet 2:7-8
Peter used the adjective ‘righteous’ to describe Lot thrice.
“righteous Lot”
“that righteous man”
“his righteous soul”
In fact, God delivered Lot from Sodom precisely because he was a righteous man. Peter goes further to say Lot was truly a righteous man within. How do we know? He was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. The word ‘oppressed’ is like persecuted. We usually use the word ‘oppressed’ when we’re persecuted. We’re usually not so affected by lawless deeds when it doesn’t personally involve us, because our time is really like the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. There’re a lot of lawless deeds today. What’s wrong becomes what’s right, what’s right becomes what’s wrong. It’s really like the times of Noah. But would we feel oppressed by the lawless deeds around us? We’re usually not so affected when it doesn’t personally involve us.

Many years ago (more than 20 years ago) while the speaker was still in JC, they had their first common test. There was a classmate sitting behind him. He felt someone kicking his chair. “Hon Fah!” a muffled voice called from behind. “What’s the answer to question xxx?” He pulled his chair further up. His classmate continued to try to call him. It was a difficult physics test (so the classmate was quite clever to ask him lol). The classmate tried to ask the girl behind him who gave him a long ethics lecture.

After the test, he gave a preposterous argument. “You are the cause of me feeling down and despondent and crushed because I’m going to do badly for this exam!” The speaker scratched his head: “Huh why am I the cause?” He tried to guilt trip the speaker. Then the results came out and he scored higher than him. The speaker said, “I should be the one feeling despondent and crushed!”

In the world today, certain things are obviously wrong and it becomes right. What’s right can become wrong.

The speaker has seen so much cheating around. It doesn’t affect him much unless it involves him.

Let’s take a look at Lot. He was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. His righteous soul was tormented day by day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.

Do we feel tormented seeing and hearing the lawless deeds around us?

The speaker has seen videos of our church members celebrating weddings of homosexuals.

Lot was oppressed and tormented. He was really a righteous man; he was a good man in his heart. He knew these things were wrong, he didn’t enjoy what they were doing.

Why did he turn out so badly in the end?

Today we’ll take a close examination of Lot’s choice. Lot made a deliberate choice to live in Sodom. If we compare Lot and Noah, Noah didn’t have a choice to live in the wicked world. But Lot had a choice. We’re going to see how one single wrong choice turned out so badly for him. Hopefully this will serve as a warning and lesson for us.

Gen 13:1
Lot had been with Abraham from the very beginning. From Ur to Haran, to Canaan. Lot also went down with Abraham to Egypt during the famine. Here says that when Abraham returned from Egypt, Lot went with him. Many years must have passed. He must’ve learnt how to worship God and how to be a righteous man from Abraham. But now, circumstances were going to separate them.

Gen 13:6-7
They were facing a very practical problem. Both of them had so much possessions, the land couldn’t support them. The land wasn’t just supporting them, there were also the Canaanite and Perezites staying there. There were limited resources so they had to make a choice. Both Abraham and Lot had to make a choice.

As Christians in life, we have to make choices. There’re many choices we have to make in life - what course to study, what job to take up, who to marry. Very seldom does God appear to you to tell you, “Study this subject.” LOL

Even in the Bible, very seldom does God appear in the Bible to tell anyone what the right choice to make is.

In this case, God also didn’t appear to Abraham and Lot to help them make their choice.

What should we do when we are faced with difficult choices in life?

First we look at Lot’s motivation; what was his main motivation when he made his choice in life? This decision is going to have a lasting effect on his life.

Abraham made a choice. His choice was to let Lot make the first choice (v8). Abraham was Lot’s uncle, he could’ve demanded to make a choice first since he was his uncle. But Abraham’s motivation was very different. “Since we are brethren, I would like peace.” So he let Lot choose first.

But what was Lot motivated by? He was a man who wanted to come up on top in life. He wasn’t a man willing to lose out in life. That’s why he didn’t make a counter offer to Abraham: Uncle, you choose first!
Lot grabbed hold of the opportunity Abraham gave him. He chose everything that he saw was good.

v10-11
They must’ve been standing on an elevated ground. Lot lifted his eyes and saw Jordan’s plain was good. It was well watered like the garden of the Lord, like Egypt. So he chose all he thought was good. If you think about it, he’s quite a selfish man. It would’ve been fairer if there was a separation of River Jordan. “I take one side, you take one. Both of us can take it.” But Lot left nothing good for Abraham. He took everything he thought was good.

Abraham was different. When he gave Lot that choice, he was willing to lose out in life. His offer was clearly not advantageous. Because now he would have no part in the land Lot had taken; no good land!

Did Abraham feel bitter? “Wah you’re my nephew and you take all the good land and leave me nothing! I was kind to give you the first choice…split the good land properly lah!” Abraham clearly didn’t feel bitter because to Abraham, coming out on top wasn’t important.

The speaker would like to digress slightly in case we confuse Abraham with someone else: the lazy man. The lazy man may say something like what Abraham’s would say.

“I’m like Abraham! That’s why I don’t study so much. Getting top grades is not important to me!”
“How many can get top grades? Not everyone. That’s why I don’t work hard!”
“Earning a lot of money is not important to me. How many people can earn a lot of money? Very few. Because there’s limited resources in life.”
“How much can the land support me? That’s why I’m willing to lose out, that’s why I don’t work hard!”

Is it true the lazy man is like Abraham? Of course not. Abraham is clearly not a lazy man. If we think about a lazy man, he’s actually someone who can’t lose out in life. Why is that so?

Matt 25:25
Take a look at what the wicked and lazy servant had to say. Why did he not take the one talent and do something with it? Because he was afraid of losing everything. “If I take one talent and lose one talent, I’d have lost everything! The other guy has 5 talents. If he loses 1, he still has 4, he can still recoup his losses. But I would lose everything!”
He’s not willing to lose out. If I put in effort to study and still lose out to those who don’t study as much as me, I won’t just lose out in studies but also in wasting time. The lazy man hence can’t stand to lose out. He can’t stand to lose out, that’s why he doesn’t even try.

The flip side is true. “If I have to put in the effort to work, then I must come out on top. I must make sure I don’t lose out to anyone in life.”

Abraham is very very unique. He’s not lazy. If we take a look at his life we know he’s a very hardworking person. Yet he was willing to make choices that disadvantaged him in life, which is why God blesses him.

Gen 13:14-15
Why did God appear to Abraham NOW? He didn’t appear to him to tell him to give in to Lot. But now He appears to Abraham to tell him he had made the right choice. Because Abraham had a very clear hierarchy in his life. God is more important than his kinsman is made very clear before. Because God asked him to leave his kinsman to go to the land of Canaan. Now it’s clear kinsman is more important than money and everything else. Sometimes we invert this hierarchy. Kinsman is more important than God. Then money is more important than everything else. Don’t care if it’s my wife, husband, brothers, children. When you talk about money, there’s no kinship.

Abraham had a very clear and proper hierarchy in his life. That’s why he’s willing to lose, for the sake of peace with Lot. God would reward him.

Just now Lot lifted his eyes and took everything he could’ve taken. Now God told Abraham to lift up his eyes to look at everything he could see. In life it’s not what WE think winning is that makes us a winner, it’s what God thinks winning is that matters. Abraham who wasn’t trying to come out on top was made sure by God to come out on top. “Everything you see, I am going to give you and your descendants.” He came up on top in the end.

Let’s take a look at Lot’s motivations. He was motivated to come up on top. What did he want to come up on top of?
Gen 13:10-13
Lot saw it was well watered, like the gardens of the Lord, like Egypt. His main consideration was financial, because they were nomadic shepherds. Having pasture and water is crucial. Isaac’s herdsman had to quarrel with the Philistines over the well. Because water was crucial to their survival. The plain of Jordan was well watered. He would have access to both water and pasture.

If we put aside his motivation, were his considerations wrong? If you were offered a better paying job, is there anything morally wrong in accepting it? Obviously not. If you’re thinking of what to study, is there anything wrong with picking a course that gives you better job prospects? (The speaker would often advise students to make sure they can at least get a job in Singapore next time. Don’t study subjects that makes it difficult to find a job in Singapore next time.) Ultimately, whether it’s a high or low paying job, you still have to work. Financial considerations are not wrong in itself.

What then was the problem with Lot? The problem was that it was the ONLY consideration. He did not see beyond the physical dimension of things. All he asked was whether it’ll benefit him financially. He didn’t think about whether it’ll affect him spiritually.

v13 the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. This was the spiritual dimension of things he did not look at.

In all aspects of life there’s a physical and spiritual dimension to things. If we choose a higher paying job, it’ll take so much more of our time that we don’t have time to serve God. If you study a particular degree, what jobs will be available to you in the future? How will these jobs affect us spiritually?

As Christians, we should always consider the spiritual dimension first. Then you can consider the financial dimension. If the choice doesn’t affect you spiritually and also benefits you financially, there’s still a third thing we must do, commit the decision into the hands of God.

Prov 3:6
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your ways. Why must we acknowledge Him in all our ways? Because we’re not in control of our future. It’s foolish to think just because it’s good now means it’ll be good in the future.

Lot thought it was good. Next chapter, war broke out. In a few moments, he lost everything. Next chapter, God destroyed the good land.

We are not in control of our future. None of us know what our future holds. This is an acknowledgement that God holds the future. “Even if it looks good to me, I have no idea and I entrust it in the hands of God.”

Once in university, one of the speaker’s lecturers said, “Ministry of Manpower always doesn’t give good projections. How many engineers, doctors, lawyers you need? Because the university allocates the number of student intakes based on these projections. At that time one of his friend’s commented (and the speaker doesn’t know if he’s right), “If their projection is that there aren’t enough doctors and lawyers, don’t go and study medicine and law. Because everyone will go and study! By the time you graduate there’ll be too many of them. There’ll be a severe shortage of jobs if you go and study now.”

The point is, the future diverges from what you observe now. The speaker isn’t trying to tell us to study medicine or law. No one knows the future. How would you know what to study?

In all your ways, acknowledge Him. And He will direct your paths.

Lot didn’t acknowledge God. But Abraham did. His decision was full faith in the provision of God. Because Canaan is very very different from the plain of Jordan. The plain of Jordan is very special (no one really knows where this plain is today). It’s well watered. The rest of Canaan isn’t.

Deut 11:10-12
The land of Canaan is clearly not like Egypt. Egypt is well irrigated by the Nile. Canaan relies especially on rain from heaven. God said, “If you sin against Me, I’ll withhold the rain.” So to live in the land of Canaan, you need a lot of trust in God. You need to believe God will send the rain. If you live in Egypt, you don’t need faith in God.

Lot chose the plain of Jordan because it was well watered. He didn’t need faith. But Abraham made a deliberate choice to Canaan. He had faith God would send the rain.

After we make a choice, we have to constantly re-examine our choices.

Eccl 7:14
Both the days of prosperity and adversity are given by God. In the day of adversity, we have to consider because God has appointed it. No one will be able to always make the right choice in life. God won’t appear to tell us we made the wrong choice. Abraham also made questionable choices in life. God didn’t tell him he should do that. For example, Abraham went down to Egypt during the famine. God didn’t appear to tell him not to do that. Although God didn’t explicitly tell him he couldn’t leave Canaan, God had explicitly called him to Canaan. Abraham seemed to have favoured the physical over the spiritual. What’s the difference between Lot and Abraham? He re-examined his choice. Where he had fallen, he picked himself up again.

Gen 13:2
He traced his way back from Egypt, to the place he had his tent in the beginning. And there he called on the name of the Lord. He re-examined his choice. He went back to the original place he first called upon the Lord in Canaan. The point is we may not always make the right choice, but do we re-examine our choice?

A war broke out and Lot became a slave. After Abraham rescued him he went back to Sodom. Maybe he thought he was unlucky and just thought: “Ah these things happen in life.” But that’s a secular perspective. For us, we believe everything happens for a reason. It’s clear God was trying to tell Lot, “Whatever you have can be taken in an instant.” Truly, God was going to destroy everything later on. But Gen 14 tells us Lot learnt NOTHING. He didn’t reconsider whether he has made the right choice to come to Sodom. In fact he was fully committed to staying in Sodom. He had a house there. He had found husbands for his daughters. He was not willing to reconsider his choice.

But in the days of adversity we must reconsider. As Christians we must re-examine if we made the right choice, especially in the day of adversity. Is God trying to turn me back to the way He wants me to go?

Finally we see Lot’s end. He lost everything in the destruction of Sodom. He never picks himself up. He was originally living in tents in the fields with Abraham. Then later he went to live in Sodom in the city, in a house. Finally where did he end up? In a cave.

Gen 19:30
From being a sorjourner to a city dweller to a cave man. He could’ve gone back to Abraham. He had nothing so there’s nothing to quarrel about. No herdsmen anymore. Land would be able to support both of them now. But when his life was crushed he didn’t pick himself up. Of course it’s devastating to lose everything in life.

The speaker’s grandfather lost 2 shophouses in a fire in the 50s in 1950s (he was born in 1900). He put all his money in the shophouses and the fire destroyed everything. Devastating. You can imagine you work 50 over years and lose everything overnight. But it was a blessing in disguise because he started reading our Holy Spirit times. Prayed. Received Holy Spirit. Life was very very hard. But life goes on. The speaker’s father had to turn the (?) to make tofu. Row boat for 1h. Cut wood 1h. Come back 1h to feed pigs. Life goes on. You still have to live your life properly.

Take a look at Job. Also devastating losses. But so different from Lot. He was willing to lose. He wasn’t dispirited and crushed.

Lot never returns to normality in life. He stays inside a cave and avoided everyone. This is what happened when he made the wrong choice. His choice to put everything in this world, when he chose to come up on top, when he chose the financial and physical aspect of things over the spiritual. When he chose not to re-examine what he had chosen. What about us? What choices will we make in our lives?

May God help us.