The scriptures are never shy when relaying the truth of sin and its consequences. As such, Lot's life appears as the anti-fairy tale... “they lived tragically ever after”. However, the Bible is unique in another way as well. The story is always much bigger than any one individual and the fallout of one chapter of history. Lot and his lineage are not without hope when we view his legacy from the vantage point of God's generational redemptive plan. Nevertheless, the sadness of Lot's pitiful demise is inescapable in Genesis 19, even as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an 'event oracle' establishing a paradigm of anticipated judgement deserving of the unrepentant. Jeremiah compares the judgement of his people to the destruction of Sodom in Lamentations 4:6. Reminding his readers of the cities of the valley, he continues in 4:11: “The Lord gave full vent to His wrath; He poured out His hot anger, and He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.” Gen 19 serves to illustrate by way of dramatic extremes, the day of reckoning, the terrifying judgements of God, the shameful consequences of sin alongside the tender mercies of our Lord, and the reach of His redeeming power. A wealthy and influential man who once sat in the gates of a well established city has tasted the bitter fruit of worldly comforts, no city can console him now. The empty curses thinly painted gold have caught up to Lot as he finally heeds the angel's first instructions to “escape to the hills”. Here we find him taking refuge in a cave with his daughters...