90
From Eternity Past
those whom he held dearest on earth seemed more than he could bear.
It was hard to forsake his luxurious home and all the wealth of his
whole life, to go forth a destitute wanderer. Stupefied with sorrow,
he lingered. But for the angels, they would all have perished. The
heavenly messengers took him and his wife and daughters by the hand
and led them out of the city
In all the cities of the plain, even ten righteous persons had not
been found. But in answer to the patriarch’s prayer, the one man who
feared God was snatched from destruction. The command was given
with startling vehemence: “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee,
neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be
consumed.” To cast one lingering look upon the city, to tarry for one
moment from regret to leave so beautiful a home, would cost their
[102]
life. The storm of divine judgment was only waiting that these poor
fugitives might escape.
But Lot, confused and terrified, pleaded that he could not do as he
was required. Living in that wicked city, his faith had grown dim. The
Prince of heaven was by his side, yet he pleaded for his own life as
though God, who had manifested such love for him, would not still
preserve him. He should have trusted himself wholly to the divine
Messenger. “Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little
one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall
live.” Zoar was but a few miles from Sodom, and, like it, was corrupt
and doomed to destruction. But Lot asked that it might be spared,
urging that this was but a small request. His desire was granted. The
Lord assured him, “I have accepted thee concerning this thing also,
that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.”
Again the command was given to hasten, for the fiery storm would
be delayed but little longer. But one of the fugitives cast a look back-
ward to the doomed city, and she became a monument of God’s judg-
ment. If Lot himself had earnestly fled toward the mountains without
one word of remonstrance, his wife also would have made her es-
cape. His example would have saved her from the sin that sealed her
doom. But his hesitancy caused her to lightly regard the divine warn-
ing. While her body was on the plain, her heart clung to Sodom, and
she perished with it. She rebelled against God because His judgments
involved her possessions and children in the ruin. She felt severely
dealt with because the wealth that had taken years to accumulate must