Genesis 19:6 Commentary and Bible Study

Now there are a lot of things about Lot which show him to have become very weak, but in this he showed remarkable courage. Out of a sense of honour and concern for the welfare of his guests he went out of his front door alone to face the mob and reason with them. He shut the door behind him showing his intention to keep his guests safe. It is a fearful thing to face a mob, to stand in the way of those who are hellbent on attaining some evil goal. Mere words can seldom hold back such people, but Lot was determined to try. His house was surrounded and what could he do to defend himself if the mob decided to force their way in?He appeals to them. He did not expect them to be so extreme, and so possessed in their attitude. My dear townspeople, ‘do not so wickedly.’ He has enough courage to address the mob and attempt some rebuke of them, but he addresses them with soft words: ‘I pray you.’ He has underestimated the degree of evil of the city. But then he has been living there for some while, and this is what happens. If a believing man goes into such a place for gain, for trade, for his business, for his profession, and accommodates himself to them; even if he does not imitate their worst behaviour, nevertheless begins to be tolerant of it, he will gradually become less shocked, less appalled, because he is knee-deep among them, and so being there and getting used to it all erodes away his own values. Lot finds himself saying to them, ‘My dear brethren, don't do this, please’, completely misreading the degree to which they are obsessed by their evil intentions.