Re’eh “Behold”
Deuteronomy. 11:26–16:17
Isaiah 54:11–55:5
2 Peter 1-3

Righteous Who?

This week I would like to focus not on the Torah portion, but on two words from our reading in the book of Second Peter: "Righteous Lot." Anyone who has spent any time meditating on scripture has had to think about these words. Knowing what we know about the person Lot, it just does not seem that the word righteous should ever be attached to, or even used in the same sentence as, his name. Yet Peter, writing under the inspiration of Elohim, put these two words together.

Lot was given a choice by Abraham to pick where he would live. He took what, in the natural, seemed to be the best of the choices before him and eventually was sucked into living in the middle of Sodom and Gomorrah. This would definitely qualify for the modern day term, "My Bad!" Lot found himself living in the middle of the most written about and most spoken about debauchery of the then known world. We can go back and read about his actions with the angels and his daughters. We read about his wife who did not make it out. We read about his daughters who maybe were not as pure as he thought they were. In all this the scripture calls Lot righteous.

To understand this dilemma, we need to know what it means to be righteous in the sight of Elohim. In simplest terms it means to have right standing. It however does not mean that we will make the right choices. In Lot's case he had a desire to do the right thing before Elohim. There is no record that he ever broke his faith, but his actions kept getting in the way of what we may term today a victorious life. Because he seemed to always allow his natural sight to guide him, his spiritual sight was never allowed to see through the fog his bad decisions had created. In the end his spiritual sight had become so lost in the fog of his surroundings that he did not even realize how far from right his actions had become.

The situation of Lot is one we can relate to in our modern world. We all desire to do what is right, but just how far are we from doing what is truly right? Do we grade our righteousness on a curve by justifying our questionable actions by the standard of the culture around us? I am sure that to the neighbors of Lot, he was some kind of religious zealot. Compared to Abraham though it did not even seem he was part of the same family.

Today, we live in a world that I think would embarrass Sodom and Gomorrah. In America and Europe the cultures are dreaming up ways to sin that those people probably never even thought of. We have media today that are able to not only dream, but also able to propagate their dreams, thoughts and actions instantaneously to the world around them. The question though is just how much of this has vexed, disturbed and taken parts of own souls captive? Are we who are called the Children of Abraham living more like Children of Lot than we even realize? Are the plains of rich, fertile and successful living we are in today a blessing from Elohim, or a sign of spiritual danger to come?

For each question raised I can not tell you I have the answer for myself, much less for you. I know my desire is to live as far away from Sodom and Gomorrah as I possibly can. But are we each in the end kidding ourselves? Have our souls been vexed to the place of "Righteous Lot?" It is a question we each must deal with.

The answers are very clear for us who are living in the culture of Sodom and Gomorrah. The answers lie in our actions. When an angel or messenger from on high tells you or me it is time to leave this place, just how long will it take to make the first step? Will we argue our way to a "Tomorrow Departure" or flee in an instant? Will our gaze continue to be to the future, or will there be a part of us longing to return to the life of the past? In the end, will we be able to flee with spouse and children in tow or will we stand at the edge of the city and watch the flames of the past alone?

Lot and his daughters escaped on that day. But I have a feeling his life was forever haunted with a desire to go back and make changes to wrong decisions he had made. He had not only lived in Sodom, he had allowed Sodom to live in him. For this he paid a great price.

For you and me today, we also live in a world not unlike the one Lot lived in. In many ways it is probably much worse. We can not at this moment change the fact that we live in this world system, but we can make the decision to not allow the world system to live in us. What fellowship does light have with darkness anyway?