Here World Take My Children

Here, World, Take My Children

William [Bill] W. Hall, D.D.

This is the contemptible proposal Lot made in Gen. 19:8 to a perverted mob in Sodom when he offers to prostitute and sacrifice his daughters to them in order to secure social custom, pragmatic peace, and personal gain. "I have two daughters which have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." How could any parent, especially Christian, (II Peter 2:6-8) ever make such a proposition? Let us see how Lot came to his tragic hour, and how he developed such a mean and selfish character causing such a wicked proposal.

The destruction of Sodom and the surrounding cities is a picture of coming final judgment. We may expect conditions then to repeat themselves now in increasing measure until the final judgments begin to fall. Those conditions include Christian parents with hearts and attitudes like Lot.

History

According to Gen. 11, Lot went with his grandfather Terah and uncle Abraham from Ur after his father Haran dies. En route to the land of Canaan, they dwelt in a place called Haran where Terah died. From there the Lord called Abraham on to Canaan, promised the land to him, and promised to make of him a nation and a blessing to all nations. Lot went along as one of the family. Perhaps he was already married and had some children by the time they reached Canaan. In Gen. 12:10, Abraham went into Egypt because of a famine, and Gen. 13:1 says when Abraham left Egypt, Lot was with him. Following the sojourn in Egypt, Abraham was very rich (13:2). Lot had accumulated some possessions also (13:5). While the riches did not turn Abraham's heart from the Lord, Lot acquired a taste for money and the fleshpots of Egypt.

As a result of increased possessions there was strife between their herdsmen (13:7,8). Rather than having strife, Abraham suggested they separate and generously offered the first choice of territory to Lot (13:9). Lot could have asked to settle the strife and stay with Abraham, or he could have asked counsel from his godly uncle. At least, he should have gone to Abraham's altar (13:4) and called on the Lord, asking for divine direction. But Egypt (type of the world) was already established in his greedy heart, and he saw the well watered, money making acreage of the lower Jordan valley with cities, including Sodom, where he could sell his products (13:10). God, who sees not as men, saw a place filled with men who were sinful and wicked (13:13).

Sodom suited Lot even if it did not suit God and, "he pitched his tent toward Sodom" (13:!2). Satan always decorates the road to ruin and makes it attractive, so Lot unwisely moved his family toward Sodom and finally into Sodom (14:12). Lot's children were at that crucial age when they needed spiritual guidance and examples. Had Lot made the right choice, his wife and children could have been led in paths of righteousness with godly standards and goals. Instead, Sodom filled their hearts.

In Gen. 14, Lot did have a special warning from God and an opportunity to leave Sodom. When enemy kings captured and took Sodom captive, Abraham, with 318 of his loyal servants, rescued them. Instead of leaving the city, Lot moved back and even used the incident to further establish himself in the city. Gen. 19:9 indicates Sodom tolerated Lot as a judge and reprover, perhaps because his uncle had delivered Sodom.

Lot had a very "democratic" home. The children "did their own thing" while Dad was busy making money and securing his position. Mrs. Lot even encouraged the children to follow every fad and style. They made friends with the wicked and accepted their morals, and it is amazing that two of the daughters were still virgins! The godly precepts of Uncle Abraham were almost forgotten, and their teachers were sex-crazed liberals. Two of the daughters had married wicked men, and the sons mentioned in 19:!2 were also lost.

Notwithstanding the presence of the compromiser, Lot, Sodom became more wicked and depraved until the Lord tells Abraham in Gen. 18:20 that its sin cried out for judgment. In answer to Abraham's prayer, the Lord agreed that He would spare Sodom if He could find only ten righteous people in the city. Since Lot had not won his family, there were not even five righteous in the city--perhaps only backslidden, carnal Lot was saved (II Peter 2:6-8).

In Gen. 19, the two angels the Lord sent to inspect Sodom and warn Lot, arrived and met Lot at the city gate, where legal matters and business were transacted. Lot, knowing their danger of molestation and death, insisted that the angels, who appeared as men, go to his home. Deep in Lot's nature was the customary habit of hospitality, and to this tradition he would sacrifice everything, even his own children.

After the meal, a mob of perverts from every part of the city surrounded Lot's house demanding the strangers. The fires of unnatural lusts burned unrestrained in both young and aged, indicating the proportions of this society's wickedness. They forgot hospitality and decency in their display of depravity. This was the moral filth in which Lot had chosen to rear his family.

Lot stepped outside to face the mob, called the wicked "brethren" and pled the laws of hospitality and the protection of his house. When this failed, he offered his two virgin daughters as substitutes for his guests! Lot sacrificed holy standards on the altar of established tradition. He had no right to do wrong, even to protect a guest. He could not have known the mob would refuse his offer and insist on their perversion with his guests. The mob threatened Lot, then rushed him with the evident purpose of raping Lot, then the two guests.

The angels rescued Lot, smote the mob with a type of blindness, then announced God's judgment on Sodom. Lot was given an opportunity to go and warn his married daughters and their husbands, but he had been such a poor testimony, they thought he was joking. After this failure, the angels urged Lot to take his wife and virgin daughters and flee the city, and when they were reluctant to leave, the angels forcefully evicted them--"the Lord being merciful" in answer to Abraham's prayer. Lot had so cursed his wife with his materialism that in disobedience to God she looked back to what she loved and was turned to a pillar of salt.

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their wickedness. Only Lot and his daughters were delivered. His girls were our of Sodom, but Sodom was not out of them. They got their father drunk on successive nights and both conceived by him. Lot fathered both the Moabites and the Ammonites, the ancient enemies of Israel, by his own daughters.

Application

Almost anyone would condemn Lot for offering his daughters to that perverted mob, no matter the custom that provoked it. But parents, including Christians, are doing the same thing today saying, "Here, world, take my children." Customs, social, business, and peer pressure are more important than purity to the modern parent (Titus 1:15).

Parents allow their children to listen to any kind of godless music and view every kind of filth on the televisions screen. Every kind of immodest and inappropriate dress is allowed because it is stylish. Parents do not want to be too strict or called fanatics by either their children or their friends so there are few restraints concerning dates, friends, habits, entertainment, etc. Again and again their practice says, "Here world, take my children!"

Fathers and mothers are too busy or detached to have family devotions and communication with their children. There is little desire or opportunity to manifest parental love in "training up a child in the way he should go (Prov. 22:6)." Here, world, take my children!

Most parents have no place for a Bible believing church in their family schedule where salvation and holy living are taught. Some who do attend a good church will leave when they are offended at some Bible standard or strong message. Here world, take my children.

Parents send their children to school where evolution, free sex, and "one worldism" are taught or even to a prominent religious school where there are no standards and little restraint. The bribe is a better job, a bigger church, an education which will conform you to the world. Here, world, take my children.

If discipline is necessary in a good Christian school, instead of thanking the leaders for their love and concern for the child, some parents are furious and pull the child out of the school. What does this do to the child? It can only cause weakness of character for a lifetime! Here, world, take my children.

Modern day Lots are losing their wives and children to materialism and immorality. They prefer a well watered plain that looks like Egypt (the world). They make decisions based on material gain and social custom instead of seeking first the kingdom of God. They choose a good place to water their cows, even if it destroys their children. Here, world, take my children. I don't have the time, dedication, character, or will to rear them for God.

Contrast

Instead of, "Here, world, take my children," you could say, "Here Lord, take my children." God said of Abraham, "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord . . ." (Gen. 18:19). No wonder he is called the "friend of God."

Heb. 11 repeats, "by faith Abraham . . . " three times. It is never said, "by faith Lot pitched his tent," or "by faith he sat in the gate." Abraham walked by faith, Lot by sight. Abraham was a man of worship and prayer. No altar of Lot is mentioned, and his only recorded prayer is, "Let me escape." Abraham "looked for a city . . . whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10). Lot went to a city built by wicked men and destroyed by God.

The "strife" in Gen. 13 manifested Abraham's faith and generosity, but Lot's greed and worldliness. Abraham could see the "well watered plain" as well as Lot, but with a "single eye" and purified affections, he let God make his choice. Lot with double vision (James 1:8) tried to serve God and mammon and got a vexed soul and a vain life. Abraham is a hero of the faith; Lot was saved (II Pet. 2:6-8) "yet so as by fire."

They started together on their course but reached different goals. Abraham was favored and his family blessed because he chose, like Noah and Enoch, to walk with God instead of the wicked world's system. Lot was not content with the Lord and tried to find contentment in the world, but his nest was abruptly broken up and he lost his family.

Abraham taught Isaac in a tent away from the system, saying, "Here Lord, take my life and my children." The lines fell to him in pleasant places. Lot, in Sodom, taught his children saying, "Here, world, take my children." Who made the right choice? What choice will you make?

This article is from a sermon Evangelist Hall preached in Greenville, S.C. in June, 1988.

Reprinted from Balance, a publication of the School of Education, Bob Jones University. Used with permission of Dr. James Deuink, Ed. at Bob Jones University.