So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed." Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords"! (Gen 19,17-18)

If a politician or a stranger on the street were to say this cautionary phrase to us, we might first wonder if he or she was up to something nefarious. If a friend or a philosopher said the same thing to us, we would probably be tempted to discuss: and why? Are you not wrong? Is it really that serious? Do I really have to do this, and without any further ado?

But if we are told the same thing by a fireman or a paramedic pulling us out of a burning house, we probably won't discuss with him. In that moment, when life is at stake, there is no second-guessing, no questioning, no asking follow-up questions - at that point, it's all about carrying out the order as quickly as possible, and everyone understands that.

Sodom was not yet burning when God told Lot. But it was already near, so near that it was necessary to act immediately and come out quickly to be saved. After all, what future did Sodom hold for Lot after the events of the previous night? Waiting for the blinded mob or their relatives to take revenge on him or for his daughters to be raped?

And here we are at the heart of Lot's problem, as we described last time: now, when he needs to obey and act, he begins to bargain with God instead. For Lot has not learned to obey God in his entire life of faith thus far. He has not put his mind under the rule of God, he has not gained respect for His wisdom, he has not felt that it surpasses him, so he assumes that God's words can be corrected in some way. God was real to him, but not as the sovereign Lord of his life, perhaps more like someone whose opinions are worthy of serious reflection from time to time. Lot did not understand the urgency of the time, that now was not really a time for discussion - into which he ventures at a wholly inappropriate moment. "Not so, please, Lord." Though a believer, Lot was not ready to be saved, and were it not for Abraham's prayer and the coercion of the messengers, it is certain that he would have perished in Sodom.