Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.”
(Genesis 19:30)

Lot got to Zoar before the judgment started. They witnessed the judgment. And then Lot ran away from Zoar. He got to where HE wanted to be and then changed his mind. Was it because he didn’t feel safe there? Maybe. Was it because he saw they were just as ungodly as Sodom and figured it was only a matter of time before judgment struck? Maybe. Did Lot think that Zoar wouldn’t protect him like Sodom had because of his relationship with Abraham or because of his riches? Maybe. Whatever the reason was, Lot left the city that he wanted to go to and went to where God had told him to go through in the first time. Lot had been rich. Flocks, possessions, money, and a whole family. Now he was living in a cave with only two daughters left. Delayed obedience had cost Lot everything.

Lot didn’t go to Abraham. He never sought Abraham’s help. Perhaps he was embarrassed. Embarrassed that he failed to teach his family his true values. That he hadn’t kept apart from the people and values of Sodom. That he hadn’t held to the values of his youth. It is all speculation. All we know is that Lot never went back to Abraham.

The sage Ramban writes: ‘FOR HE FEARED TO DWELL IN ZOAR. Rashi wrote, “Because it was near to Sodom.” This is not so. Rather, since it was one of the places upon which destruction had originally been decreed and it was only by Lot’s supplication that the angel exempted it because Lot could not make his escape to the mountain on that day, Lot now thought that the angel would no longer extend his request, for he now had sufficient time to make the escape to the mountain. This was why his daughter said, And there is not a man in the earth, for she thought that with her father’s departure from Zoar the city was destroyed.’

The sage Steinsaltz writes: ‘Lot ascended from Tzoar and lived in the hills, and his two daughters with him, because he feared to live in Tzoar. Lot had stayed in Tzoar on the first night, but he was afraid to remain there, as it was one of the cities of the plain that had originally been intended for punishment. As Lot suspected that its destruction had been merely delayed due to his presence and request, he felt anxious. Therefore, he eventually ascended into the mountains, as the angel had originally instructed him. And he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.‘