Lot Hesitates

Genesis 19:16-22 - When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

Was Lot just not very bright or was he just not very wise?

1. He chose to settle in the land near Sodom and Gomorrah because it was good for his animals. But it was near Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. He lived in Sodom even though he knew how bad the place was. He could have pulled up stakes and moved elsewhere.
3. He offered his daughters to the men of the city to spare the visiting angels (in human form) on the night before the cities and surrounding areas were destroyed. Points for protecting the visitors. But lose the game for offering your daughters!
4. He understood the area was going to be demolished. He even warned his sons-in-law. But he hesitated just before it was about to happen and had to be physically yanked out of town. Did he have that nice of a house?
5. He complains he can't make it to the mountains. How does he know that?! So he asks to go to a place closer to ground zero! What?!

The people of Zoar owed him big time, but I wonder if either side ever realized it.