The Vexation of the Righteous

Part Two

2 Peter 2: 7-8

...and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed (vexed) by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented (vexed)his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds...

There has been much coaching in the last days on just what we ought to think and feel and take note of in response to the recent redefinition of marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2 Peter 2:7,8 God directs us to a proper response. There Peter teaches about the vexation (torment) of the righteous. Peter points out that Lot was a righteous man and directs his readers attention to Lot's grief over the sin of his city.

Peter's firm description of Lot as a righteous man comes to those who know their Bibles as a surprise. Study the accounts of the man Lot in the book of Genesis and it would be difficult to conclude that he was a righteous. There is the hint of this; Abraham interceded for Sodom on the basis of a certain number of righteous in the city. The angels went into Sodom and found only Lot and rescued him and his family alone. But everything else we read in the Old Testament regarding Lot makes it difficult for us to identify him as righteous. Yet in the New Testament Peter writes to the church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Lot, according to the Spirit, was righteous and the evidence of his righteousness was this: The sin of Sodom tormented him... it vexed him.

It is Lot's reaction to this sin that Peter emphasizes to a church living in a society that had many of the same elements of evil within it. Peter says that Lot found the sin of his community a great irritation to his spirit. This was his righteous reaction... - irritation - weariness - burdened - tormented - vexed.

When one lives in a morally compromised environment the tendency is to slowly build up a resistance to expressions of evil; To become seared and desensitized to sin. The tendency for all is to come to terms with even the most disappointing expressions of moral failure; to put it out of their minds or put it in the least offensive light for their own comfort's sake. This is not what Lot did. Instead we read not only that the sin of Sodom vexed him but unless he should be at ease in its midst Lot vexed himself before that sin. Lot tormented himself. He didn't let himself become okay with what he heard and saw. He didn't come up with a plan to conceal his disapproval. In Genesis 19:9 as Lot attempts to dissuade the men of Sodom from sexually forcing themselves upon his guests and they respond in a way that tells us the manner of Lot among them, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them (NKJV).” Do you see this? Lot is judging. He has been judging their behavior as sin. He has set himself against their conduct in no uncertain terms and they know it and they resent it.

How do we know that Lot was righteous in his age? He was vexed by the filthy conduct found in Sodom and he wouldn't let himself make peace or come to any point of acceptance with its sin.

What Lot didn't do in his vexation

What Lot didn't do was reevaluate his position on this sin. He didn't attempt to find a more agreeable term for it. He didn't seek to come to an understanding or agreement regarding it with those among whom he lived who may have practiced it or advocated for it. He did not engage with them in a dialogue of equivalent ideas on the subject.

Both Paul andPeter wrote some 4000 years after the time of the destruction Sodom. They do not reassess the meaning of words or look for a new social construct for this sinful behavior. In their day the sin of Sodom had long before come into pronounced prevalence in Roman society. Nero will be-head Paul and crucify Peter. Nero, the emperor of Rome, had a male wife named Sporos. The historian Suetonius tells us that Nero entered into this same sex marriage, "with all the usual formalities of a marriage settlement, the rose-colored nuptial veil, and a numerous company at the wedding." The Roman historian Cassius Dio tells us again, "All the Greeks held a celebration in honor of their marriage, uttering all the customary good wishes, even to the extent of praying that legitimate children might be born to them."

Peter calls it, 4000 years later, as Lot saw it for himself, "filthy wickedness." Now 2000 years since the proper label has not changed nor has the righteous response.

Those who direct us to take a new look at our Bibles and to reconsider that we have missed the point and that somehow, on some level, God actually affirms this behavior are denying the clarity of God's written Word. They are suggesting that the average person, reading his or her Bible, is so shrouded in human prejudice that he or she can't grasp the meaning of the text. Or they are suggesting that the text of God's Word is not clear enough to understand without great training and the exertion of their enlightened minds. This is all a subterfuge for their own deceitful hearts and the wisdom of this age that is swallowing them up. There is only one proper response to this sin by those who are righteous - to be vexed.

Notice also that Lot was not tormented or vexed by the people of Sodom so much as by their actions. "...vexed by their filthy conduct." Lot along with Abraham didn't set their irritation upon individuals but upon the individual's sin. We find Abraham pleading for the deliverance of these Sodomites in spite of their sin. Abraham is found pleading that there might be preservation for them because of those righteous who may live among them. These two things can live in one heart -- a direct irritation and torment for wickedness and a desire for the wicked to turn from their sins. God says, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezekiel 33:11)