Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ 2 Samuel

[Crazy Painter]

It's informative.

> When it comes right down to it, he caves in to their demands for a sexual victim. What does this mean? I don't understand 'a sexual victim'. I always wonder if Lot really had no ideas about what his daughters did to him in the cave? If he knew, why does the bible say the contrary?
He somehow stood apart from the citizens of Sodom, and yet not too far apart.

Lot's behavior manifests that his belief is not as firm as he said.

> What he is suggesting is a horrid Catch 22 compromise.

I'm puzzled by 'a horrid Catch 22 compromise'.

> As Jean Valjean said in Les Miserables, "If I speak, I am condemned; if I stay silent, I am damned."

The proverb said whoever corrects a mocker invites insults. What is the best way to solve this problem? Move to another place?

> By calling Lot "righteous," Peter is not equating righteousness with blamelessness.

So in other words, righteousness is a result of God's rescuing. Anyone who reconstructs connection with God through Jesus can call himself the righteousness, is this what Peter means?

[jimwalton]

> Lot's behavior manifests that his belief is not as firm as he said.

Agreed. Lot's faith is tenuous at best.

> I'm puzzled by 'a horrid Catch 22 compromise'.

It's a lose-lose situation. No matter what he does, it will be wrong and he and his family are in trouble. He has behaved so compromisingly for so now, now he's painted in a corner, looking for a good option, and there isn't one. He can hardly make a good decision at this point.

> The proverb said 'whoever corrects a mocker invites insults.' What is the best way to solve this problem? Move to another place?

He should have preached righteousness, and if there was no response, yes, move to another place. Jesus told His disciples, "If they don't accept you or your message, wipe the dust off your feet and go to the next town." Yep. Fish or cut bait.

> So in other words, righteousness is a result of God's rescuing. Anyone who reconstructs connection with God through Jesus can call himself the righteousness, is this what Peter means?

We're not to see Lot as totally bad. He must have somehow distinguished himself since he was sitting in the gateway of the city, which was usually the place for the town elders—the wisest men in the city (see also Gn. 19.9 where he's acting as judge, trying to stave off their horrific proposal). He also shows that he had some conscience in persuading the visitors not to stay in the town square, but instead invited them back to his house. So they guy wasn't a total loser. And he does believe the angels and obeys them. Those are all to his credit.

But he was an elder in a rancid town, so that doesn't say much. His sons-in-law laughed off his warning, which doesn't speak well for him. His wife was more devoted to the city than to him, and later in the chapter both his daughters rape him (but then, he had offered them to be raped. Yeesh.) For sure, Lot is no saint. But God must have seen enough inside him to count him worthy to be rescued. Peter does say that Lot was distressed by the lives of the filthy men around him, and yet we know that Lot didn't do all that was necessary to preserve his relationship with God and ultimately his family either.

[crazy Painter]

Today is a little tough for me. But after reading the last paragraph, I feel hope to come back again. Just like Lot, I also did wrong decisions and did not act well. Sometimes I even bring some trouble to the people around me. But everything is in God's hand. He still can find righteousness in me. Although I am not perfect in other's eyes, I can find favor in God's eyes.

Thanks a lot.

> He should have preached righteousness, and if there was no response, yes, move to another place. Jesus told His disciples, "If they don't accept you or your message, wipe the dust off your feet and go to the next town."

"Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master?" (Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet )

Totally agree. Maybe because of laziness or being afraid of uncertainty, some of us have a craving for comfort which stops us from moving from the wrong place.