The first preacher was Lot, who had settled among the people of Sodom. He had several sons and daughters, some of whom had married men from the city. Two angels from God came to Lot and warned him of the imminent destruction and compelled him to action. “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place!” (Genesis 19:12)

When God tries to teach us a concept, sometimes an example of what not to do can be as powerful as what we should do. Second Peter 2:6-8 shows us this powerful non-example,

“…and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds).”

Lot did go to his family to warn them of the coming wrath, “So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, ‘Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!’ But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.” Lot was unsure, even hesitant to lead his family out. Perhaps he didn’t believe that God would actually do what He said. Or maybe he felt that God would be merciful and relent from the doom He had pronounced. But when the final moment came, the angels even had to grab Lot himself by the hand to lead just him, his wife and two daughters out of the town to safety.

The next preacher was Rahab. She was a harlot in the city of Jericho just a few miles from where Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed. She, too, was visited by two men who warned her of the LORD’s command to destroy her hometown. And the men said to her, “We will be blameless…unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home…And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.” (Joshua 2:17-19) She, like Lot, also went through the city, compelling her immediate family to gather in a place of safety from the battle to come. And when the final moment came, what was her result? How convincing was her message to her family?

“And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel.” (Joshua 6:23)

Rahab believed God’s promises and did not doubt that He would do what He had sworn. She declared to the two spies, “for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” (Joshua 2:11) And she had declared this message fervently to all her relatives, bringing them to the place of salvation.
God has called each one of us to be evangelists and preachers. We don’t have to go to remote foreign lands or stand behind a pulpit to be obedient to His call. For our first and highest priority is to reach those of our own families. We are to compel them to come to a place of safety to preserve their souls from His final judgment on sin. Yeshua has provided that safe haven for us and our families. Only through Him can we and our loved ones be saved.
What kind of evangelist have you been to your family? Have you been like Lot, making only a half-hearted attempt, hesitating to offend those who might reject your message? Or have you been taking your family by the hand and drawing them into your home to hear and watch and pray for the salvation of God? Psalm 78:5-7 reminds us of the importance of reaching our own families with the Gospel,

“For He established a testimony in Jacob…which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them…that they may set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”

Be encouraged! There is hope for your family. God loves you and each one of your family and desperately yearns for them to be with Him one day. Don’t give up on them, even if they seem far from the Lord in their lives! Share the Gospel with them. Teach them around your dinner table about the goodness of the Lord. Compel them to come to church with you. Declare His Word to them that they may soon set their hope in God too.

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