Drearyweather
Thanks for your answer. I can agree with a great part of it.
You said:
Any divine command given prior to the Mosaic times constituted as 'law' to those hearing it and incurred capital punishment for non-adherence.
Reading chapter 19, one can read that the angels only were talking to Lot. Whether Lot's wife heard this cannot be known by the information we receive from this chapter. From verse 10 to 12, the angels in the form of men were only engaged in a conversation with Lot. I understand your point here, but we cannot say with certainty that Lot's wife was hearing the conversation between the men and Lot.
Moreover, where does the Bible tell that any commandments before the Mosaic Law applied to all those hearing it? The commandments given to Abraham in chapter 17, the Covenant of circumsision, were not heard by any other persons than Abraham. It applied however to the descendants of Abraham (verse 9), which were not there when God made the covenant with Abraham. I am not sure if this point is completely relevant to what you say, but I just had to think of this.
Furthermore, I would like to point out the difference of the covenant of God with Abraham and the advice of the angels for Lot.
Genesis chapter 17 begins with this:
Verse 1: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him
Verse 9: Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant,you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep
It is very clear that Abraham was aware that it was God talking to him, because he appeared to him.
For the angels that came to Lot, I understand your view that he might have been aware that they were angels. But this is highly doubtful. I am not convinced that Lot was aware of this.
To make a new point, however unrelated to what you said:
Genesis 19:16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
First, God is merciful and led Lot and his family safely out of the city, and just moments later, He seems to have changed His mind 180 degrees and kills Lot's wife. What is merciful about that?
I actually do try to believe that this story has happened the way you describe, but some conclusions cannot be made with the information available to us. I still believe that Lot and his family were not aware that the strangers were in fact angels.