W. Austin Gardner
- Mar 11, 2021
- 7 min read

Losing your Children’s Respect

Updated: Mar 12, 2021

Genesis 19

Losing Your Children's Respect

Genesis 19:12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. 14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

1. Lot’s earlier life, he started out well

He walked with the man of God

Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Lot must have been interested in God’s call on Abraham’s life

He wanted to go
He left everything
He took a stand in his family to go with Abraham

We know he was saved

II Peter 2:7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

He was just Lot
He hated the sin he saw around him
He wanted a different lifestyle

2. What got Lot off track

Genesis 13:1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

Did Lot worship God from his heart like Abraham did?

Maybe Lot wasn’t a fully committed believer and was just there when Abram worshipped, “with him”
Abram is mentioned calling on the Lord but Lot is not mentioned

Genesis 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

Lot had also gotten rich and money begins to divide the two men

Genesis 13:5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

Not enough land for the two to be together

Genesis 13:6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

Did Abram miss a chance to invest spiritually instead of being worried about money?

Genesis 13:8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Did Abram make a mistake separating himself from Lot at this point in his life?

Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Should Lot have said that he preferred to have less money and more of God and stayed with Abram?

His money and material goods made him walk away from the man of God
He chose the material over the spiritual
He took steps towards the world and worldly success

Genesis 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Lot had learned to want financial power and freedom
He had been to Egypt and seen what the world had to offer

Lot chose for himself with little consideration for God and holiness

Genesis 13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

Lot was headed towards Sodom

Genesis 13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Sodom was a wicked place in God’s eyes

Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Money and comfort became more important than his relationship with God

He slowly rose to prominence in the world

Genesis 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

3. God loved Lot even when he was doing wrong

Genesis 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

God sent His angels to seek out Lot

The angels warned Lot of what was to happen

Genesis 19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

Lot is given the opportunity to get out with his family

Genesis 19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

The angels forcibly remove Lot from danger

Genesis 19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

4. The tragedy of this story is that Lot has now lost his testimony in his family and with his children

Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

Does that mean they never saw him worshipping God?

Did he never talk about God and what he was doing in his life?

He obviously never discipled anyone else

Genesis 19:12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

Was there sin in his life?

He had a place of leadership in a wicked city
Birds of a feather flock together
Did he have a tendency to drink and get drunk?

Genesis 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

5. What failures might be obvious in your life also?

You might have failed to express to your family how you love God more than what this world can offer

Genesis 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20 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.

He hated he had lost all of his material goods
He wanted to be with people
He felt safer in a little town like the last, not in the mountain with God
He knew what was best for him
He didn’t want God to dictate to him

He had not shown much concern for the spiritual lives of his children because when he decided to talk the spiritual talk, they thought he was crazy