He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.
To be greedy for gain is to bring trouble upon one's own house, while to hate bribes and gifts that corrupt judgment is to live. Lot is the living fulfillment of the first half of that truth. He chose Sodom for pleasure and profit, and in doing so left behind Abraham's altar and the daily sacrifice. He mingled his children with a corrupt and idolatrous people and bound up his interests with theirs.
He remained a just man, vexed day by day by the vile conduct, violence, and crime around him that he was powerless to prevent. Yet the corrupting surroundings weakened his faith. He failed to command his household and keep it free from iniquity.
The trouble that came upon his house was complete, for he was saved at last stripped of his possessions and bereaved of wife and children. He ended dwelling in caves like the wild beasts, covered with infamy in his old age. His daughters had become so morally corrupted that they could not distinguish between good and evil. Instead of giving righteous men to the world, he gave it two idolatrous nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites, enemies of God and of His people, appointed to destruction when their iniquity was full.
The warning is against laboring to be rich and against choosing a home for temporal advantage, for beauty, fertility, or prosperity. Moral and religious influences must come first in the choice. Otherwise children are surrounded by temptation, lax morality, unbelief, and evil associations and are ruined, while the parents themselves barely save their own souls.
To be greedy for gain is to bring trouble upon one's own house, while to hate bribes and gifts that corrupt judgment is to live. Lot is the living fulfillment of the first half of that truth. He chose Sodom for pleasure and profit, and in doing so left behind Abraham's altar and the daily sacrifice. He mingled his children with a corrupt and idolatrous people and bound up his interests with theirs.
He remained a just man, vexed day by day by the vile conduct, violence, and crime around him that he was powerless to prevent. Yet the corrupting surroundings weakened his faith. He failed to command his household and keep it free from iniquity.
The trouble that came upon his house was complete, for he was saved at last stripped of his possessions and bereaved of wife and children. He ended dwelling in caves like the wild beasts, covered with infamy in his old age. His daughters had become so morally corrupted that they could not distinguish between good and evil. Instead of giving righteous men to the world, he gave it two idolatrous nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites, enemies of God and of His people, appointed to destruction when their iniquity was full.
The warning is against laboring to be rich and against choosing a home for temporal advantage, for beauty, fertility, or prosperity. Moral and religious influences must come first in the choice. Otherwise children are surrounded by temptation, lax morality, unbelief, and evil associations and are ruined, while the parents themselves barely save their own souls.