Why did Lot decide to move to Sedom? Chazal sharply criticize this decision, describing his settlement in Sedom as moving away from God (see Rashi, 13:11). The Torah itself issues a somewhat subtle condemnation of Lot's choice of residence by reminding us in this context, "And the people of Sedom were very evil and sinful to God" (13:13). But what was Avraham's nephew thinking? Had he really deteriorated so drastically to the point where he fell prey to the sinful temptation of the depraved society?
A hint to understanding Lot's decision may emerge from the Torah's illustration of the Jordan River Valley as Lot gazed thereupon while considering settling there: "like the Garden of God, like the land of Egypt…" "Garden of God" clearly refers to Gan Eden. What about the region of Sedom rendered it comparable to Gan Eden and Egypt? The conventional interpretation views this comparison as focused on agricultural prosperity: Sedom, Egypt and Gan Eden all benefited from constant water sources, in contrast to the hills of Eretz Yisrael, which depend on rainwater. (See Bereishit 2:10, Devarim 11:10-11). However, the focus on God - 'the garden of God" - may give rise to a different interpretation.
Gan Eden is characterized not only by constant, effortless availability of food and other comforts, but by the harmonious coexistence of the physical and spiritual. Man lived together with God until he failed to maintain the strict standards that such an intense man-God relationship demands. Banishment from the garden meant not only back-breaking labor to till the land, but also God's distancing Himself from man.
When Lot observed the material comforts and luxuries of Sedom, he may have very well considered the possibility of turning it into a Gan Eden. True, Sedom resembled the land of Egypt, the moral emptiness of which he had just experienced with the abduction of his aunt, Sarah. On the other hand, perhaps Sedom retained some redeeming quality that afforded it the potential of becoming a Gan Eden, a place where physical indulgence and spirituality live hand-in-hand. Obviously, Lot was wrong. Only through Avraham's merit did he escape the destruction of Sedom (see 19:29). Apparently, he, too, deserved the same fate as the iniquitous city.
It is often difficult to distinguish between "the garden of God" and "the land of Egypt." Lines between good and evil become obscured and our eyes desensitized to the parity between the two. Particularly in a culture that worships the god of tolerance and openness, there remains little room for healthy taboos and necessary discrimination between right and wrong, sacred and profane, and righteous and corrupt. Lot may have allowed Sedom's redeeming qualities to blind him from the city's defining characteristic of corruption. The lesson to learn is that when making any decision throughout life, we must ensure to carefully discern between the "garden of God" and the "land of Egypt," and not to naively ignore the corruption that unfortunately abounds in our society.