And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. (Gen 19,27-29)

Abraham returned to the place of his remarkable prayer, where he had last spoken face to face with God. We know that the patriarchs were in the habit of erecting an altar at some of the places of their encounters with God, but we cannot simply conclude that this is always the way to do it because "it is in the Bible." For even Old Testament figures did not always have the correct theology - after all, their lives, if they were positive examples at all, show us the gradual transformation of idolaters in mind or soul (or both) into worshippers of the living God. They commemorated those places for various reasons - sometimes as a reminder of that precious moment, sometimes out of a (maybe rather superstitious) belief that God dwelt in a special way in certain places on earth (while the whole earth belongs to Him Ps. 24:1), and often simply because it was their confession against the deities of the surrounding tribes. The people always erected sacred signs to their idols, especially on the tops of mountains. "Our God is here too," the patriarchs meant to say - and unlike yours, He is indeed alive.

Abraham came back, and it is not wrong for us too to return to the moments when God last visited us. It's worth reflecting on whether it ultimately had the meaning for us that God intended. Abraham went to see what was going on in Sodom because he foresaw its fall. And indeed - he saw its destruction in the far plains. It was like seeing rocket missiles falling on a city where we would have relatives today - his heart suddenly clenched at the thought of Lot and his family. At that moment, he didn't know if he was dying there at the moment. Was he looking to God for an answer? Had he been assured of his salvation? Although the text doesn't say so, we can rightly assume that he did. For we know that God revealed His mind to him as to His friend and told him of His intention to destroy Sodom. If there was anything Abraham needed to know now, it was what would happen to Lot. That was the most important thing concerning Sodom to him, and very likely he was looking to God for reassurance in his spirit.

But "when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow..." This phrase is a unique evidence that God did indeed bring out Lot mainly for Abraham's sake, as we have mentioned several times. - Only eternity will tell how many of those who would not have gone out on their own were saved because of the intercession of God's friends.