THE LORD KNOWS HOW TO DELIVER
2 Peter 2:6-9 NKJV
6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
This is a very sobering chapter. Peter was addressing false teachers who were bringing in destructive teachings and even denying the Lordship of Jesus. And He addressed the subject of judgment that will come.
Peter talks about the angels that sinned, referring to the ancient time when a number of the angels followed Lucifer, who we know as Satan. God did not spare them but delivered them to hell and chains of darkness. And God did not spare the ancient world but delivered Noah and his family. And God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah but delivered Lot and his family from the destruction that came on those cities.
The good news in these passages is the fact that God delivered Noah and Lot, two righteous men. Some believers live in fear of God’s judgment, but it’s not the godly that need to fear, for God knows how to deliver the godly. Receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior places an individual within the ranks of the righteous. But imbedded in our passage today is a warning to the righteous. Not a warning of judgment but rather a warning of the oppression that exists in the ungodly world.
Lot was Abraham’s nephew and had learned right living from Abraham. Abraham had a fear of God that Lot was able to observe and emulate. But Lot was thrown off by living inside of Sodom. The scriptures say that Lot tormented his righteous soul on a daily basis by seeing and hearing the way out of bounds behavior of the people of Sodom. He was actually oppressed by the conduct of the wicked. The CSB called it the depraved behavior of the immoral. Lot lived in an extremely ungodly city and was surrounded by behavior that simply was not right. And what he saw and heard impacted him in a negative way.
Lot’s situation is a warning to us today. We are surrounded by a culture that has continued to escalate in ungodly behavior. I am grateful for the number of believers we have in our country, and certain areas seem more impacted by godliness than others. But we are in environments where it is becoming easier and easier to torment our righteous souls by what we see and hear.
Just to create context. When I was growing up, until the time that I entered college, there were only three channels available on television, and the internet had not gone public. The three channels were monitored for material that was considered inappropriate, so there was little foul language and no nudity. That has changed dramatically. The internet has been both a blessing and a curse. The gospel can be spread, and people can now have access to teaching and preaching. But the access to ungodly material has also proliferated. And with people’s number one screen being their phone, access to depraved behavior is even easier. And the material available today has the same effect on us that living in Sodom had on Lot; it torments our soul.
But the Lord knows how to deliver us and will help us out of tormenting situations. We will have to play our part in resisting the lawlessness around us. Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit to help us and strengthen us, and living godly in this present world is obtainable. If we’ll have the heart to live righteously, God will supply the help.
PRAYER
Lord, help me and strengthen me to live godly in this present world. Fortify me on the inside so that my resolve and my self-control grow stronger. I desire to live right before You.