Lot goes out and speaks to his sons-in-law, who are pledged to marry his daughters. He tells them to leave because the LORD is about to destroy the city. But his sons-in-law think he is joking. The failure of the warning is one of the most sobering moments in Genesis. The man whose righteousness is recognized by God cannot convince his own family of the reality of the coming judgment. His moral credibility, built in a city whose values he has been partially adopting, is not sufficient for the ultimate warning. Matthew 24:38–39 describes the people before the flood who paid no attention until it was too late. The sons-in-law laughing at Lot is the sons-in-law laughing at the preacher of righteousness. The application: the effectiveness of your witness is shaped by the life that surrounds the words. The sons-in-law heard a warning from a man who had chosen to live among them for years — and they could not take it seriously.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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