Lot was righteous.
That’s not me speaking, that is The Word of God: “7and [God] delivered Lot, the righteous one, mortified by the filthy conduct of those without Torah; 8for while that righteous one dwelt among them, in seeing and hearing their deeds against Torah, his righteous soul was vexed from day to day.”
Some people today are vexed because of Lot, though they do not understand the depth of the depravity of among which he lived. Their two issues with him are: he tried to give his daughters to rapists; and, he slept with his own daughters.
Let’s deal with the first one: two “Messengers”, [angels, spirit-beings appearing as men] visited him, after having just visited Abraham. Lot was “sitting in the gate”. What most people do not realize is that this means Lot was a leader in the city, a “judge”. This was basically the lower court of the city, and it was a position of high responsibility. Lot had given up his cattle ranging days and become a dweller in the city of S’dom on the plains near what is now the Dead Sea. He is a man of position, probably because he was a fair person.
Lot sees these two ‘men’ approaching, and immediately he knows who they are. He ‘fell down on his face’ in prostration and basically ‘worshipped’, saying “Behold now, Adonai, turn aside, I pray, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your way.” This means Lot’s house was in the wall of the city, likely. He was showing hospitality, which is a Biblical principle. A Torah principle. The two men, whom Lot had just called “My Master”, would not come in, but Lot urged them, so they went inside his house.
Lot made them a feast and matzot: mishteh umatzot: Wine and unleavened bread, as mishteh is celebratory drink, so this was the elements of the Passover meal. It very well may have been around this time of the year that this happened.
After they ate the meal, the men of the city pounded on the door asking for the two men. “Bring them out that we may ‘know them’. This is biblical euphemism for rape.
Lot went outside with them and shut the door behind him. And then he says what most people find to be very tricky. “I pray, do not do so wickedly. 8Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man; let me, I pray, bring them out unto you, and you do to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.”
Their response shows us more that Lot is a judge in the city: “Stand back.” And they said, “This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he plays the judge; now will we deal worse with you, than with them.” And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.”
That’s when the two men inside reach out and grab Lot and pull him back into the house. They blinded the men outside, supernaturally, so that they couldn’t find the door.
But, the hard part to understand for us is that Lot offered up his daughters. This is cruel to the daughters. These daughters were virgins. What is very difficult for us to understand is that Lot was not offering them so that they should be raped, but basically giving them an offer of marriage, because what the men were proposing was utterly perverse and bereft of hospitality to the two men from God. Lot called them “Men of God”, it’s just not seen in the English renderings:
רַק לָאֲנָשִׁים הָאֵל אַל תַּעֲשׂוּ דָבָר
“Only unto the men of God, do not do this thing”.
Lot knew who these men were, and what they were there for, serving them Passover elements, and now praying for the men outside because of what they want: Lot is trying to SAVE THEM. And by offering them MARRIAGE, he is trying to divert their attention away from the sin they are trying to commit.
To a western, modern mind, this is hard stuff. But, Lot did not live in a modern world, where much of the western world has lived under the auspices of “Judeo-Christian” ethics to some degree for many, many years. Our connection to righteous judgment has broken down today, near to the point of where it was at S’dom. But, we still have an understanding of a general consensus of what right and wrong is, to some degree. Lot lived in Kena’an [Canaan]. God had just told Abraham that the sin of Kena’an was not yet complete, but would be in 400 years; but in these two cities, Sodom and Gomorra, the sin was beyond complete, and it was time for the judgement of condemnation and punishment. Lot understood this. He was ‘vexed’ in his righteous soul over their Torah infractions, every single day. He knew this was coming. And God always saves the righteous ones from His wrath.
Another thing Lot knew was the superiority and righteousness of the “Men” in his house. He knew they would not allow anything to happen to his daughters! If it was wrong, he knew they would intervene! Lot was merely showing these men the way of righteousness and giving them one last chance to save themselves. He knew they would not accept his offer, because we already know that he understood the level of sin among his neighbors. But nonetheless, he offered them a relationship that would not incur the judgment he knew their actions deserved. Similarly, God has offered salvation to the whole world, knowing that most people would choose not to hear Him, driven by some petty matter of their own flesh because they love their sin [John 3:18-19], and they won’t take Him up on that offer, which was offered at Passover when Yeshua died and rose again. Some people just always choose to walk in their own sin because they are stubborn.
There would have been no death penalty for accepting daughters offered in marriage. We do not see it as marriage, because of the way we handle those ‘transactions’ today. In antiquity, most people did not have the luxury of romance, and of choosing one’s own spouse. As distasteful as that is to the modern pallet, it is the culture in which Lot, a righteous man, lived. Abraham loved Sarah and was romantic with her. Lot was probably also connected so to his own wife. Isaac ‘sported about’ with Rebecca romantically. Jacob was utterly smitten with Rachel. But most of the ancient world married out of mere necessity and greed. The fathers in Kena’an paid a dowry to the men who married their daughters to make sure that the couple could survive until a young husband got on his feet, and to compel men they thought would take their daughters and be good to them. This was implied in Lot’s offering, but we do not see it. It was customary that the groom give the bride gifts, and that the bride bring property and money to her husband’s home upon marriage: slaves, cattle, real estate, etc. ( Gen. 24:59–61; Judg. 1:14.; I Kings 9:16). When God dictated these words to Moses, he did not have to give the back-story. People of antiquity understood the way of the world then. We do not understand their culture.
It is arrogant for us to look back at Lot and disbelieve God, or count God unrighteous for something that Lot did. But it is merely choosing to be judgmental if we will not even look at the circumstances in which Lot had to operate. What people forget is that the MEN [angels who looked and acted just like men, even eating human, ‘natural’ food] saved the two daughters! And they even tried to save the rest of Lot’s family that did not live in his house with him. This whole mission was a mission of mercy and compassion on the part of the Men sent from God, to save the Righteous AND his family! If any of the men had accepted his daughters, they would have walked out of the city with the two men, if they chose to! “14And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place; for יהוה will destroy the city.” This was a ‘natzal’, a ‘catching away for salvation’ in the midst of a perverse world. This is a picture of our future. Lot’s two daughters who were offered to those men would have saved them, if they chose salvation!
“7and [God] delivered Lot, the righteous one, mortified by the filthy conduct of those without Torah; 8for while that righteous one dwelt among them, in seeing and hearing their deeds against Torah, his righteous soul was vexed from day to day.”
Whatever we think, Lot was trying to work through a very dire situation. And after the fact, God called Him righteous. Lot showed his guests hospitality; he showed compassion for the people who wanted to invade his home and commit atrocities. He tried to contain the situation, and save the very ones threatening him, from annihilation. There is far more to it than we perceive on the surface.