The Vexation of the Righteous

Peter's firm description of Lot as a righteous man comes to those who know their Bibles as a surprise. Study the accounts of the man Lot in the book of Genesis and it would be difficult to conclude that he was a righteous man. There is the hint of this; Abraham interceded for Sodom on the basis of a certain number of righteous in the city. The angels went into Sodom and found only Lot and rescued him and his family alone. But everything else we read in the Old Testament regarding Lot makes it difficult for us to identify him as righteous. Yet in the New Testament Peter writes to the church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Lot, according to the Spirit, was righteous and the evidence of his righteousness was this: The sin of Sodom tormented him... it vexed him.