Tar Pits and Other Treacheries

"Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kinds of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills." (Genesis 14:10 NIV)

I’ve got to tell you, while reading through chapter fourteen for the fourth time this week, I got ‘stuck’ in the bit about tar pits. (pun intended.) Growing up in the Midwest, I haven’t had much interaction with tar pits, but like every eighties kid, I still have a significant fear of quicksand. (Thanks, Princess Bride and Return of the Jedi.)

I truly knew nothing about tar pits, but they sound terrible. Turns out, they are. Down the rabbit hole I went, googling tar pits, people trapped in tar pits, animals preserved in tar pits. There’s some wild stuff at the end of the internet!

Tar pits pull their first victim in unwittingly. Likely only passing through, an animal or person quickly find they can’t lift their feet. The pits are thick, sticky and smelly. The victim gets pinned by a paw or hoof, but quickly, in their panic to pull back, they are sucked in more solidly. They wrestle to no avail. The sun beats down and they don’t sink as quick as you’d think. They bake against the oily griddle for hours as dehydration sets in. When they are looking weak and pitiful, when they’ve given up all hope of escape, the predator makes his move. He may paw at first, unsuccessfully attempting to free the tasty treat. The temptation proves too strong, he succumbs to the tar pit, too. Perhaps not at first, he maybe perches upon his prey and begins to feast, but the growing gore proves slippery and soon he is beside his meal, pinned to the tar like an insect on full display. The two will suffer a long and agonizing death together. Days to die, months to sink into oblivion; a tar pit is a miserable business.

Back to our scripture. As it turns out, when you are associating with the ungodly, there’s a significant risk of falling into a tar pit. The tar pits mentioned in chapter 14 should serve as a stark reminder: when we run with sinners, we may get stuck.

When I consider the path of temptation, I recall the very first psalm. Those opening verses lay the foundation for the book and our lives.

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on His law day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2 NIV)

We may successfully get past the tar pits. In the scripture narrative, there were survivors of this first world war, but look what happens next. Sodom and Gomorrah are raided, their residents taken hostage and their homes plundered.

What about Lot?

"They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom." (Genesis 14:12 NIV)

Lot didn’t just walk or stand or sit with the wicked. He pitched his tent in the shadow of Sodom and ultimately moved into the city. He was kidnapped as a direct result of his association with deliberate sinners. Lot only lived to tell the story because a righteous man ran after him, His hostage and rescue experience still wasn’t enough to wake him up.

Lot would wait until the day of destruction to flee the scene of sinners and he’d lose his wife in the process. We will get carried away with sin until we are carried away by sin. Lot learned the hard way, how will we?

There’s a good deal more to that first foundational psalm. Our avoidance of evil is attached to a powerful promise.

"That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields it's fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers. Not so with the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked leads to destruction." (Psalm 3:6 NIV)

I think of Abram, happy in Hebron, living his life under the oaks of Mamre. I recently learned that Hebron means ‘peace’ and Mamre means ‘communion’. Friend, we find our best life when we learn to live right with God, feet firmly planted upon His path in lieu of our own.

Lord, please help us. Like Lot, we are wooed by the better land, the promise of amenities and excess. Yet, Your warnings about sin and sinners are stark: tar pits, captivity and an agonizing expiration are included in the disclaimer. Please give us the courage to keep walking with You. Teach us personally how peace and communion are found in Your presence alone. May we crave nothing less. Amen.