1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the Earth,
2 and said, "My Lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the street."
Lot represents Natural Consciousness that is inclined toward the Spiritual Light. This inclination is symbolized by his invitation to the angels. The angels' initial refusal symbolizes that it takes more effort for the natural consciousness to connect with the Spiritual Forces that make up the Spiritual Light.
3 But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
The strong urging by Lot symbolizes the effort required to connect to the Spiritual Light. The feast symbolizes the feeding of the Higher Aspirations within the Natural Mind that guide consciousness toward the Spiritual Light.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house;
5 and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."
The crowd of men from Sodom that surrounded Lot's House symbolize the evil and degenerate thoughts. These demand that either the Higher thoughts be put out or that they be admitted into the mind to throw them out.
6 Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,
7 and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
The natural consciousness is here refusing to admit the degenerate, negative thoughts into mind.
8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."
What was offered instead is Love and Emotion, but this is conditional upon the evil thoughts not having free reign in the mind of the natural man (Lot).
9 But they said, "Stand back!" And they said, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
This refusal to give the carnal thoughts free reign causes them to become more violent. The judging between the positive\spiritual thoughts and the negative\carnal thoughts are what causes the carnal thoughts to behave worse.
10 But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
However, the spiritual thoughts (inclining the mind back toward the Spiritual Light) rescue the natural man from corruption.
11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.
The Spiritual Thoughts struck the carnal thoughts with blindness so that their efforts became futile. The carnal thoughts eventually degenerate into blind passions which would stop at nothing to attain their ends. It is at this level that it becomes clear they must be eliminated.
12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
13 for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before YHVH, and YHVH has sent us to destroy it."
The natural consciousness is invited to take with him those parts of his mind that are ready for spiritual advancement. Only his two daughters, himself, and their husbands were ready for this.
14 So, Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up, get out of this place; for YHVH is about to destroy the city." But, he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
However, the sons-in-law symbolize the parts of the mind that still believe that there is some good in the carnal thoughts and doubts the existence of the Spiritual Light and it's power.
15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city."
So, the spiritual thoughts inspire the natural man to take his emotions and love and his soul (wife) and leave the carnal thoughts behind. This must be done or the natural man will face the same end the carnal thoughts meet.
16 But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, YHVH being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.
Once consciousness reaches this point, the spiritual thoughts will carry it away from the carnal thoughts. This is a natural process that occurs as part of spiritual advancement. The spiritual thoughts carrying Lot outside the city symbolize the natural man leaving behind his old way of thinking.
17 And when they had brought them forth, they said, "Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed."
Upon leaving behind the carnal thoughts, the natural man gets the urge to advance toward the Spiritual Light and enlightenment at it's highest degree. This advancement must be made or the natural man will meet the same end as his carnal thoughts. Leaving behind this way of thinking is necessary for spiritual advancement.
18 And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my Lords;
19 behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.
20 Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there--is it not a little one? --and my life will be saved!"
The natural man believes he is not ready to take such a step. So, he is allowed instead to open his mind to higher truths to such a degree that seeming negation of the old way of thinking is minimized, but still be blessed with an understanding of Higher Truths.
21 He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
22 Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zo'ar.
The spiritual purification\advancement process cannot continue until the natural consciousness has abandoned it's former way of thinking. The name of the city to which Lot is allowed to flee is called Zoar, meaning, "reduced; made small; lessened" and symbolizes a lesser degree of negation of the old way of thinking, but accompanied by a higher acceptance of the spiritual Truths (higher thoughts). Those who do not feel ready to make the change completely to the higher state of consciousness may choose instead to allow the higher truths to grow within them while still keeping a few of their old habits and beliefs. This state is symbolized by Zoar.
23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
The new understanding of Truth that the natural man learns at this stage is symbolized by the sunrise in Zoar.
24 Then YHVH rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from YHVH out of heaven;
25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah symbolizes the removal of error from human consciousness. This purification process is necessary to prepare Man for Divine Life.
26 But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot's wife looking back symbolizes an attempt to preserve the old habits. Her becoming a pillar of salt is a symbol of this effort, because Salt is a preservative and here corresponds to memory. This desire to preserve the old habits and thus return to them will manifest sometime later unless it is removed through renunciation.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before YHVH;
28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 So it was that, when Gods destroyed the cities of the valley, Gods remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
After the purification of consciousness, a mental review is done and the individual realizes that nothing has really been destroyed, only transmuted. The smoke symbolizes the consciousness of the Light and the inspiration produced by it.
30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters.
When the soul reaches a certain stage of development, the natural progressive quality of consciousness shows a tendency toward spiritual growth. Here, Lot represents natural consciousness in a state of evolution, yet his living in a cave in the mountain denotes that this faith is still in the clutches of Materialism.
31 And the first-born said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.
The feminine forces of natural consciousness (Love and Emotion) reflect the desire to continue their line. However, there is not another male principle on this plane of existence to enable them to do so.
32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father."
The way this is done is to stimulate life (giving Lot wine and sleeping with him). This allows the seed of the old state of consciousness to be planted in the soul by the consciousness. The soul is ultimately symbolized by both daughters.
33 So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father."
35 So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
The fact that Lot was too drunk to realize that he was sleeping with his two daughters symbolizes the negligence of focus on spiritual transformation that allows the old thinking patterns to continue. These same patterns are what the process of spiritual transformation removes if it is diligently practiced, and is symbolized by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
Moab, meaning "From Father", represents the thought that perpetuates body (materialistic consciousness). He is the father of the Moabites, who symbolize the lusts of the flesh...the material cravings of the mind.
38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
Ben-ammi means, "son of my people", "son of my kindred", "son of my tribe", and is symbolic of personal selfishness. It is the belief that one person is superior to another. Macrocosmically, it is Nationalism. It is the belief that oneself, or one's clan, or even one's nation is superior to another. It usually manifests through people trying to prove how superior they are by taking up arms to force others to acknowledge it. This eventually ends in their defeat...be this as an individual, clan, or nation.