When the two angels, sent by the Lord on their solemn errand to Sodom, were inside Lot’s house as his guests, and seemed to be in some danger of being molested by the wicked men of the city, the angelic messengers asked Lot a significant question: “Have you anyone else here?” With what pangs of conscience must Lot have listened to this question! Had he gone into Sodom alone he might have stiffened his resolve to suffer alone the consequences of his downward step; but the truth is that he did have others with him, his wife and daughters, possibly born in Sodom. No one lives in Sodom alone. Each of us exerts an influence, greater or less, on his immediate circle of relations and acquaintances.

Lot’s wife appears to have suffered more damage from the Sodom environment than her husband. The suspicion arises in one’s mind, was it she who pressed Lot into making the decision to go there? We have no means of knowing, but it is possibly the case. It is possible that she reasoned, “There is nothing in these empty hills for the children. In the city, at least, they would find other children, find amusement, and probably be more likely to find husbands. I would also find other women to be friends.”

The two daughters mentioned had either been taken there in childhood, or been born in the city, but their subsequent behavior shows clearly how the pernicious lifestyle of the cities of the plain had corrupted their thinking. Lot could not have considered the consequences of his decision at the time he parted company with Abraham, but the influence of that step on him and his immediate family and their subsequent history was disastrous.