Genesis 19:15–16 With the coming of dawn, the angel urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your 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.

God’s heart has always been to rescue mankind and maintain fellowship with each of us. When he lovingly formed Adam with his hands and breathed his breath into him, God called his masterpiece “very good”. But Adam sinned and since then, in contrast to God’s love, our desire seems to be to get as far away as possible from God.

In Genesis 18 we see Abraham, the friend of God, pleading for the life of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who had completely rejected the ways of God. He probed the heart of God, starting with a request for him to spare the city if fifty righteous people could be found, then he gradually reduces the number to ten. God agrees that if he finds ten he will spare the city for their sake. Abraham was struggling with the same thoughts we are confronted with today – Will God sweep away the righteous with the wicked? “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

In Genesis 19, Abraham’s nephew Lot is given every opportunity to get out of the city with all his family members to escape the coming judgment. Lot tried to persuade the two young men engaged to his daughters to flee with him but they just laughed at him. Lot himself, his wife and daughters had to be dragged by the angels kicking and screaming to leave this place because they had become so attached to it. His wife so longed after it, she disobeyed the order not to look back and became a pillar of salt. What a tragedy!

God is first merciful, but he is also the Judge of all the earth. Jesus has told us he will return and although some scoff at the idea and considers it too long delayed to be true, the reason is that: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). Don’t put off turning to God for mercy.