Drifting from God

“(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)” (v8).

For years, I drifted through life. I told folks that I believed in Jesus but you had to squint really hard to find any evidence of it. As a result, I got caught in the tide of culture. I was easily swept away by society. Before I knew it, I found myself in a strip club. On Easter Sunday! That’s when God got my attention. That’s how far I had drifted. Lot’s story is not too different. Abraham’s nephew grew up in a God-fearing family. But he apparently didn’t make his faith part of his life. He drifted. He meandered to the point that he was living in the Twin Sin Cities. Yup, we’re talking about Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot may have wandered away from God, but God didn’t wander away from Lot.

Pete lets us know that Lot is a “righteous man” (v8). As a matter of fact, he tells us three times in two verses about it. “Righteous Lot” (2:7). “That righteous man…his righteous soul” (v8). So if Lot was so incredibly righteous, how in the world did he end up living in such a sexually promiscuous place? He must have been doing mission work, right? Not even close. Just like his Uncle Abe, Lot was righteous only because he placed his trust in God. Let’s face it, in many ways, the dude was a train wreck. One night, he actually offered his two girls up to be raped. Later, he slammed on the brakes when the angels tried to rescue his family. Even after his great escape, he got drunk as a skunk and slept with his own daughters. Like I said, he wandered. Lot may have wandered away from God, but God didn’t wander away from Lot.

What he saw day in and day out eventually drove him bonkers. Pete describes how “he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard” (v8). It was torture for Lot to witness that level of filth and perversion on a daily basis. Every. Single. Day. The original text uses a Greek verb (basanizo) that speaks of physical torture. It’s the same word two demon-possessed guys drop when confronted by Jesus.

“Have You come here to torment (Gr. basanizo) us before the time?” (Mt 8:29). The rampant sexual sin that Lot saw disturbed him deeply. Despite drifting so far from God, Lot apparently began to realize just how bad things were around him. 

The citizens of these terrible twin cities weren’t just running a few red lights and taking too many deductions on their taxes. Lot saw with his own eyes and ears a level of evil that’s hard to comprehend. Most of all, sexual perversion dripped from every street corner. These are the real Sin Cities. Amsterdam? Nope. Forget Vegas. Bangkok? Not even close. Sodom and Gomorrah are one big red light district. We’re talking kinky with a capital K. But these places were known for what we now call an alternative lifestyle. Let’s face it. Your hometown has quite a horny reputation when history names a sex act after your city. And Lot was an eyewitness to all of it each and every day. Lot may have wandered away from God, but God didn’t wander away from Lot.