“Lot was a Righteous Man”

 The story of “Yinney the Sloth who needed to Poo” is going great and will continue, but I have felt led of the Lord to take a small break and share some thoughts I’ve had relating to the Yinney story, Predator Cities, and Predator People.

The nephew of Abraham, Lot, has always intrigued me. By his own choice he found himself living just outside the gates of a predator city, and he was very involved with that city, even choosing to sit at the gates. Which was a strategic place to be, where the powerful and rich usually had some kind of presence, keeping tabs on what was coming in and out of the city, and political power.

Lot had a very questionable history of walking with the Lord. When Abraham, his uncle, who had been good to him in so many ways, gave Lot a choice of which land to take, he took the best for himself and left his older uncle with the worst! Hardly seems like the Christian thing to do.

Soon we find he has made his home outside the gates of a very wicked city called Sodom, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, and he sits at the city gate. When two angels show up to see how bad the city has become, he persuades them to stay at his house and not enter the city. Sodom and Gomorrah were definitely predator cities full of the kind of people who want to eat you! (I’m not talking cannibalism, but murder, rape, thievery, and sin of every kind was rampant.)

He even ends up offering his two virgin daughters to the angry mob who confronts his home desiring the visitors be handed over. Things were different back then, but I do find it somewhat surprising when II Peter 2:7 says: “But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man …”

II Peter 2:9 tells us he was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he heard and saw day after day. Now I hate to say it, but I have experienced the same thing here in America. Perhaps the whole world is becoming this way. Lot chose to live near Sodom. He had a choice, but do we? Or are we stuck in this Lot situation with little choice in the matter? Admittedly, it’s very hard.

This is one reason I’m so interested in Lot, his story, and the details of his rescue. I am convinced we are more and more surrounded by a world turning into Sodom and Gomorrah. Are there things for us to learn from Lot? Important things? Jesus speaks of Lot when speaking of the last days. (Luke 17:28) We do know that angels were very heavily involved in the rescue of Lot and his family. Are we mindful of our angels?

So we see that Lot was surrounded by wickedness, even by his own choice, and his soul was tormented by what he heard and saw every day, and yet somehow he remained a righteous man in the eyes of God. So I guess we can too! That’s encouraging.

The other night I went to a video store looking to rent a good movie. This is a perfect example. I could choose not to watch movies or TV, but I have not and I entered this gate of my own choice, just like Lot?

If you want an example of how far the mind of man can sink into depravity, just look at the awful movies some people are making and a certain percentage of our society love to watch. Hate, violence, sex, violence, murder, sex, gore, violence, dark grossness, sorcery, violence, revenge, stealing, sex, nudity, violence, gore, darkness, wickedness, sickness, depravity, and more violence.

Now folks, even if you’re not a religious person, it’s pretty scary to think of a growing population of people out there, who love things of that nature. Perhaps you are not a predator. You just want to live and let live. You’re a wonderful person who simply wants to go on a date with the person you love, have a nice meal out, see a good movie, but we have to be aware all these other people are out there too, and who knows what they might do? Even if we don’t believe in God, is that the kind of world we want to live in? But without God, how can we even say what is wrong? How can we say there is a normal, or a standard? And if society as a whole sinks far enough, eventually anything becomes your truth, your right, your delight.

This is also the story of Yinney. Every seven days he needs to leave his tree, go to the ground and poo! All he wants to do is poo in peace! But there are predators down there. It is the most dangerous thing he does.

I ended up renting a movie called “The Bookshop”. That movie would probably bore a lot of people to sleep, but I found it most interesting and left me with much to think about. I love a movie that leaves me thinking. But it was slow moving; the hopes, dreams, and interaction between characters was the glue that held you. Nobody was murdered, but there were predators, and a dream did get murdered. We can be attacked and die in many ways.

This one old lady and her husband, but she wore the pants in the family, they were definite predators, but they used money, manipulation, politics, and power to get what they wanted. Unfortunately for this one peace-loving lady with a beautiful dream, she got in their way. Her lovely dream got in their way.

This paragraph: spoiler alert! This lady was brave and fought back, but she did not have the teeth and claws they had. She became their victim. She loses everything! (But her life.) And as she is sailing away in sadness, the movie projects forward something beautiful is still born out of the sacrifice she made. We just never know.

So let me say this, predators may not know it, but they never win in the end. All us God-fearing and God-loving people? WE DO WIN! And it can be seen even in the present, not just one day in heaven. The predators will never admit it, but theirs is a very sad and empty life. LOVE really is the only way to live and be happy. We win every day. I was so happy I actually found a good movie that strengthened my spirit man, rather than attacking it. That movie was a win in my book.

In “Part 2” of this article I want to look more at the details of Lot’s rescue. I’ve seen the trailers of movies I can’t believe anyone would want to make or watch. Those people are out there! They are a growing population! If the Church don’t get her act together, we will be in the days of Lot as prophesied! It won’t be pretty! Only the predators will be loving it until they realize, that those who eat others, eventually get eaten themselves, and it is a horrible way to die, that is the sting of death! Think about it.

But if I am right about the last days growing all around us, then Lot is someone we would do well to consider. His story has much to offer if we are the kind of person who like being “prepared”. It may not be pretty, but God does know how to deliver his people. That is what God’s word says. But do we know?