“God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them” (2 Peter 2:6 GNB).
Genesis 19:4-11 chronicles an incident in which men from the town of Sodom attempted to commit a sexual assault against two angelic visitors who were conducting an investigative mission. That attempt (along with Sodom’s history of other criminal complaints) provided those angels with an opportunity to confirm the charges against the city and led to the following action…
“The two men said to Lot, ‘Do you have anyone else here–sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.’
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!’ But his sons-in-law thought he was joking” (Genesis 19:12-14 NIV).
Unfortunately, Lot’s sons-in-law paid little attention to that message. Despite Lot’s efforts to warn them about their need to take God seriously, they opted to dismiss his warning as if it was a joke. But there was nothing funny about the events that were about to occur…
“With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.’ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them” (Genesis 19:15-16 NIV).
Despite everything that had taken place, these angels had to take the members of Lot’s family by their hands and physically escort them out of town. Even though Sodom was about to become a giant smoking crater in the ground, it seems that Lot’s family had grown so attached to the city that they had trouble leaving it behind.
“As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!'” (Genesis 19:17-20 NIV).
So these angelic beings rushed Lot and his family out of town and left them with a specific directive: “Run for your lives or you’re going to get wiped out.”