“And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.”
My Notes
What Does Genesis 19:14 Mean?
Lot warns his sons-in-law: get out of Sodom. God is about to destroy it. Their response: they thought he was joking. The word "mocked" (tsachaq) means to laugh, to jest — the same root as Isaac's name. But here the laughter is dismissive. Lot's warning is treated as entertainment.
The sons-in-law's disbelief isn't based on ignorance. They know Lot. They married his daughters. They live in the same city. But the warning of imminent destruction sounds so absurd — the city is functioning normally, the streets are busy, life goes on — that they laugh. The normalcy of the present makes the prophecy of the future seem ridiculous.
Lot "seemed as one that mocked" — he appeared to be joking. The most urgent warning of his life was received as comedy. The gap between the reality (destruction is hours away) and the perception (everything seems fine) was so vast that truth sounded like fiction.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What warning have you dismissed because the current situation seems normal?
- 2.How does the sons-in-law's laughter mirror how people respond to warnings about Christ's return?
- 3.Why is amused dismissal more dangerous than hostile rejection?
- 4.Is someone in your life sounding an alarm you've been treating as a joke?
Devotional
Get out. God is going to destroy this city. And they laughed.
Lot's sons-in-law heard the most urgent warning a person can deliver — escape, run, the fire is coming — and they thought it was a joke. The city was fine. The economy was running. People were eating and drinking and going about their business. And this man says destruction is imminent? Hilarious.
This is the most dangerous form of unbelief: not hostile rejection, but amused dismissal. They didn't argue with Lot. They didn't investigate his claim. They laughed. The warning was so incompatible with their experience of reality that it registered as comedy.
Jesus used this exact moment as a picture of His return (Luke 17:28-30): people eating, drinking, buying, selling — and then fire. The normalcy is the deception. Everything seems fine right up until it isn't. And the person who warns about what's coming "seems as one that mocked."
The sons-in-law died in Sodom that night. The joke they dismissed was the last warning they received. The laughter was their response to the only thing that could have saved them.
Who in your life is sounding an alarm that you're dismissing as a joke? What warning have you laughed off because the current situation seems normal? The normalcy of the present is the worst predictor of the future. Sodom was normal the night before it burned.
Don't laugh at the warning. The person who sounds crazy might be the only one telling the truth.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And Lot went out,.... From his house, after the men of Sodom were gone from it, and before the morning, very probably…
- The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah 9. גשׁ־<הלאה gesh-hāl'âh, “approach to a distant point,” stand back. 11. סנורים…
We have here the preparation for Lot's deliverance.
I. Notice is given him of the approach of Sodom's ruin: We will…
married his daughters Better, as R.V. marg., were to marry, as Lat. qui accepturi erant. This seems more probable than…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture