Genesis Sermons (written)

Genesis 20:1-18
Walking in the Land of the Philistines

Introduction: Today we get to look at an exciting story about Abraham which, on the surface, seems to mirror a previous story when he went down to Egypt. Until I started typing this sermon, I’d never noticed the differences, but there are a lot.

In fact, the entire story – from beginning to end, is different and serves a different purpose in our understanding of why things are the way they are – even in the world today, such as with the modern nation of Israel. I’m glad to have learned this.

Text Verse: Psalm 34:15, 16 – The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. ¹The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. “Because God’s eyes are on the righteous and because His ears are open to their cry  we should give Him all the glory, honor, and praise He is due and so … May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. That Which Has Been

¹ And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

In Chapter 18, Abraham petitioned the Lord for the people living in Sodom. He asked the Him to spare the city if 50 righteous could be found, but he eventually reduced his request to 10. However, as we saw in the next sermon, Sodom was destroyed, but Lot and his family escaped. Right afterwards, we read this in Chapter 19 –

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

This, for all intents and purposes, is where we pick up today in Chapter 20. We know this because our first verse today says, “And Abraham journeyed from there to the South…” In other words, it’s implied that we’re to go back to before the account of Lot in Chapter 19, as it was an interlude in the life of Abraham.

The narrative thus jumps over Lot completely in its terminology.  Let me remind you about the interlude. Lot and his two daughters moved to the mountains where the daughters got him drunk. They became pregnant with sons who would lead to Jesus.

One came through Ruth the Moabitiss and the other through Rehoboam the son of Solomom. His mother was from Ammon. Now the narrative returns to Abraham where we’re told that he journeyed from where he had been staying in Mamre to the South.

God inserted Lot’s account, as He has done several times already in Genesis, for us to look deeper into it and understand that He is the God of the chosen line leading from Seth to Noah to Abraham and later to Isaac, Israel, and the twelve tribes, leading to Jesus.

But He is also the God of those outside this chosen line and He will use people from all groups and nations – not only to lead to Jesus, but to be used in the furtherance of the gospel now – a picture of the Church age. So much for racism! God is no respecter of persons and this is a lesson we’re to see here.

With today’s return to Abraham, we see him move from where he was off toward the South. Several reasons have been suggested for his move. One is that he couldn’t bear to look toward the place where Lot had lived and which is now destroyed.

Another is that the ties he had to Hebron were weakened by the destruction of Sodom. Another is because of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters would actually weaken his righteous testimony.

These don’t make any sense – especially the last one since we just noted that the story about Lot and his daughters is only an interlude and that the narrative about Abraham actually skips over it. So there are two more possibilities.

The first is that his move will take him to a place of better pastures and living for his tribe, or secondly that Divine Providence is leading him there. Actually, these combined make the most sense. In Genesis 12, Abraham moved toward the South and eventually to Egypt because of a famine.

But famines come by the Divine Hand. This move, like the last, is God directing His chosen servant, Abraham, to teach us more about what He Himself is doing in human history.

I believe this particular move is to set in motion events which will eventually lead to establish fixed markers of Israel’s rights to the land. Remember, it is the son of promise who will inherit the land and through him Israel’s rights to the land will be secured.

God is working through all people to secure rights as sons of Abraham through faith, but He is working through the chosen people to establish land and other rights of the people of Israel. This is why we see both a main story and then interludes as well.

The place where he moved to is called Gerar, and is said to be between Kadesh and Shur. Kadesh was mentioned in Genesis 14:7 and Shur was mentioned in Genesis 16:7. If you look at a map, it’s kind of between Gaza and Beersheba; a rich, well-watered land.

² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.”

This is the same thing he did in chapter 12 when he was in Egypt and it results in exactly the same thing happening. Pharaoh took Sarah, and now Abimelech the king takes her again.

I’m not going to repeat my thoughts on Abraham’s actions from that sermon, but if you want to watch it, I defend why this wasn’t – as almost all commentators claim, “sinful” and “lacking faith.” The Bible never rebukes Abraham for what he did, in either account, and therefore what God hasn’t called into question, we need to determine why and not call it into question as well.

Here is one commentary which reflects most scholarly sentiment –

“Fear of the people among whom he was, tempted him to equivocate. His conduct was highly culpable. It was deceit, deliberate and premeditated-there was no sudden pressure upon him-it was the second offense of the kind. It was a distrust of God every way surprising, and it was calculated to produce injurious effects on the heathen around. Its mischievous tendency was not long in being developed.” (Jamieson-Fawcett-Brown)

The shallowness of commentaries like this neglects to take into account two things. The first is that Abraham is never noted as anything but a man of faith throughout the entire Bible. Never, in any context, is he noted as lacking faith or being rebuked by God.

Secondly, in chapter 14, he had overthrown the 4 kings of the east. With his military prowess and noted name in the region, it was those around him who would fear, not him.

^{2 (con’t)} And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

Sarah is now about 89 years old and Isaac is expected to be born within the next year. With her in the king’s household this could be problematic. We have to note here though that it doesn’t say she was beautiful like it did in Genesis 12 at Pharaoh’s house.

Because it doesn’t, the reason for Abimelech taking her is probably to align himself with Abraham, not because he wanted a beautiful wife. He may have even taken her without telling Abraham as the terminology seems to indicate later.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

It is God, or elohim, the Creator mentioned in Genesis 1:1, who comes to Abimelech, and He does it in a dream. He is expressing himself as the eternal power which is prior to the creation and He who formed man. In this expression of himself and in the next 3 verses, we’ll learn a bit about how God deals with men.

Coming in a dream is something that happens throughout the Bible and when it happens, there is no doubt who controls the dream or who is speaking. When God speaks we should have no doubt who is communicating with us. Remember that as you read your Bible.

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?

This verse and one to come are put here specifically to let us know that the child to be born to Sarah in the future came from Abraham and not from anyone involved in her time away from his camp. He hasn’t come near her since she was brought into his harem.

In his response he says, “Lord” using the term “Adonai.” In other words, he has knowledge of the true God. Not just one of many gods, but rather the One true Creator who is also active in the world since the creation.

“Adonai, will you slay a righteous nation also?” Why would he say this? Anyone? He said this because Sodom had just been destroyed. The sulfur was still stinking in the air and the smoke was still billowing out of the furnace.

He is making a contrast between Sodom and his own city and he is basing it on having an assumption that they had done nothing deserving of God’s wrath like the people of Sodom had, including in this matter as we now see…

⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

At some point after his arrival in the area, Abraham must have met with Abimelech and introduced his “sister” to him. It was probably right then – and for the purposes of an alignment with Abraham – that Abimelech decided to take Sarah.

To this point there wasn’t any fault because they both spoke the truth and Abimelech took Sarah, as he says, “In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands.” He tells God that he is guiltless.

II. The Lord’s Eyes are upon the Righteous

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.

In this verse, God, through the Bible, calls Himself Ha-Elohim, or “the God.” Verse 3 simply said Elohim, verse 4 Abimelech called him Adonai – the word used when speaking to God in a personal manner, and now it says, “And the God said to him in a dream…”

Only after Abimelech calls Him as Adonai does it say, “the God.” This then is noted in distinction to any other false god. There is one God and Abimelech understands this. This verse, like so many others in the Bible says, “So much for all religions being true.”

There is one God and there is one way to acknowledge Him. He isn’t Krishna, He isn’t Buddha, and He isn’t Allah. He is “the God” and He kept Abimelech from sinning against Him by keeping him from touching Sarah.

In other words, God’s plans and God’s purposes are being carried out and nothing can thwart them. When we sin against God, it is because of our free-will choices which He has factored into His plan, but if a sin would interfere with that plan, then He keeps it from happening, either actively or passively, the result is the same.

⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

This the first time a person is called a prophet in the Bible, but it’s not the first person in the Bible to be said to hold the gift of prophecy. That would be Abel as Jesus says in Luke 11. In other words, Abimelech would already understand what a prophet is and how he would operate.

God uses a prophet several ways. Two include – 1) He may use a prophet to speak of the future concerning what He intends, or 2) He may use him like a car. The driver of a car is in control of where and how it moves. Ultimately, God is in control of what happens, and Abraham is the vehicle through which He will act.

In this case, the first recorded use of his prophetic office is not going to be of him speaking to men about God, but rather to God for men. He will pray to God for Abimelech. Abraham’s offices of priest and prophet are joined together here – a foreshadowing of the work of the great Priest and Prophet, Jesus.

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.

Abimelech “rose early in the morning.” I hope you see the destruction of Sodom being referred to here. It was destroyed as the sun rose and Abraham had gone “early in the morning” to watch. It is as if Abimelech knew what was coming if he didn’t do something immediately.

He called them in order to make sure that nobody, and I mean nobody, touched her and probably because some of them told him to take her in the first place. Otherwise, there would be no reason to even consult with them. Let’s go on to verse 9…

⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.”

Some scholars look at this as a rebuke of Abraham because of the wrong thing he did. But the Bible doesn’t even imply this and after the previous verse, we can see how stupid that would be. God has just threatened them and protected Abraham. Only a fool or a knucklehead would turn around a rebuke Abraham.

The plural “us” is used – “what have you done to us” because, as the Bible shows time and time again, the wicked actions of the king brings wrath and judgment on the whole kingdom. That’s a good lesson to remember in the upcoming elections. If we continue electing the same wicked party that aborts babies and condones the sins of Sodom, we will be asking the same question pretty soon.

This is no rebuke but a plea of innocence done in a very pious way. They’re are terrified and want to know what they’ve done to have Abraham set them up like this. They’re speaking to him in a manner similar to how Jeremiah spoke to the Lord once.

“O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. (20:7)

Jeremiah wasn’t rebuking the Lord and Abimelech wasn’t rebuking Abraham.

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

Because of the supposed deception, Abimelech really wants to know why. Just imagine yourself, standing on the precipice of a piece of property that a friend sold you. He never said anything about a cliff that was in the process of collapsing and you wonder what you did to deserve him treating you like this.

Abimelech is standing at his own precipice. He’s seen the giant pit in the ground which was once Sodom and he doesn’t want this to happen to him too. “Abraham, why did you do this thing?”

III. Thus She Was Rebuked

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.

I said earlier that the people of the land would fear Abraham and not the other way around. This seems to make that sound wrong, but if you think it through, there is a difference between raiding someone unexpectedly instead of when they’re prepared for battle.

If they knew Sarah was his wife, they might abduct her or kill him and take her as a symbol of the victory over him, and by doing this his clan would be subject to them. This is going to be proven correct in a few verses.

As far as why he told them she was his sister, Abraham is as direct as an arrow in the heart, “…surely the fear of God is not in this place.” He’s been in Canaan long enough to know that polytheism, and idolatry were the norm. When this is true, there is no fear of the true God because there is a reliance on the false ones. Abraham knew this and spoke accordingly.

¹² But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

It is astonishing to see how much confusion and misrepresentation there is on this single verse. Let me read it to you again… This is very clear. Sarah is the daughter of Terah, Abraham’s father, but she had a different mother.

Nothing could be clearer. But in order to try to alleviate a supposed wrongdoing by marrying his sister, Jewish, and later Christian commentators have said that Sarah is actually Abraham’s niece, not sister. This is because the law forbids marrying a sibling.

There are two problems with this – first, this is prior to the Law and so that doesn’t apply. It’s putting the cart in front of the horse. Secondly, it’s not at all what the Bible says. Sarah is Abraham’s sister – the daughter of his father, but of a different mother.

A second major problem that people find here is directly with Abraham. They find both fault and sin in him by only telling that she is his sister and not his wife. This elevates intent above reality and it also requires disclosing something that could cost him his life. Keeping the knowledge hidden is more important.

There are many examples of outright lies being told in the Bible in order to preserve life, but they’re condoned and noted favorably. I’ll give you one of many examples from the book of Joshua –

Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶ (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) (2:4-6)

Despite the lies, the Bible commends her for what she did, just as it does on numerous occasions. “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” Hebrews 11:31

There is a priority in everything we do and there is a hierarchy of standards which we must submit to. The saving of life is more important than the telling of a lie in order to save that life. In the case of Abraham, he didn’t even lie; He merely hid something.

There is a good life application here and one that we should stop and note. Faithful people have, in the past, lied and committed acts against oppressive governments and yet they were in the right. Think of those who hid Jews during the Nazi regime. Think of our own founders when they rebelled against the tyranny of England.

We need to contemplate and evaluate these things against the Bible so that we know how to act. If you don’t think we need to know and be ready for these things in our lifetime, you haven’t opened your eyes to where this nation is heading. If the left gets their way in the next four years strong moral choices will have to be made and unless you know the Bible, you won’t know what to do.

¹³ And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

I’m going to give you an interesting note about this verse, which you may or may not care diddly about, but which to me is one of the great joys of going through the Bible in detail. This is one of only a handful of times in the entire Bible where the term “elohim” meaning “God” is used in connection with a plural verb.

You see, your translation reads, “…God caused me to wander…” but the Hebrew says, “…the god’s caused me to wander.” It is plural, not singular. There are now two questions – “Why did he say ‘the gods,’ and why did your Bible translator say ‘God?’”

The premise of the Bible, from the first sentence to the last is that there is one God. This is unmistakable. And so either Abraham is speaking about the Trinity, or your Bible translator thought he was, or this verse isn’t speaking about God at all. I prefer the latter.

Abraham, just two verses ago, spoke of God with a singular verb –

“I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place,” meaning there is one God and He is the true God. And so what he is saying here is that “the gods” meaning “the false gods” of Mesopotamia, caused him to move from his father’s house.

God, the true God, in order to establish Abraham called him away from the false gods. Abraham is the material cause; Abraham’s faith is the formal cause; getting Abraham away from the false gods was the efficient cause; and a relationship with the true God for him and his generations is the final cause.

And so, based on that premise, he explains why he said that Sarah was his sister. The true God has actively called him to wander away from the false gods, but the false gods passively necessitated this. In order to preserve his life, he asks Sarah to say that she is his sister because there are false gods all over Canaan too.

¹⁴ Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.

Seeing that God, the true God, is on Abraham’s side he gave Abraham these gifts. Exactly the opposite of what happened in Egypt happens here. When the same thing happened there, the gifts came first as a payment for Sarah.

But here, they come afterwards. Why? In order to establish an alliance with him, which is exactly what he thought he would get when he took Sarah into his home in the first place. The proof of these things is found in the next verse…

¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”

When Abraham was in Egypt and similar events occurred, Pharaoh sent Abraham away from them – back to Canaan. But here he offers him not only to stay, but to choose any place he wishes.

These two accounts seem the same when you read them, but when you study them closely, they are exactly the opposite from beginning to end.

The contrasts are to show the providential hand of God in his dealing with Abraham and how He is setting up the borders of the land now and establishing a permanent marker in the Land of Israel which exists to this day, 4000 years later.

Just for a moment, I’d like you to consider this. God is using these real events, full of real people, to ensure that His chosen people will rightfully have access to the land of Israel – that He has given it to them. And this didn’t just happen the day they crossed Jordan with Joshua, nor did it just arbitrarily happen again in 1948.

Instead, God has worked, since the first man on earth to secure this line of people and to bring them to this land. If He has done this for people He knew would reject Him, not once, not twice, but continuously for thousands of years, don’t you think His plan for we who have accepted Jesus is just as marvelous and binding?

I know I get long winded in sermons and often I pass on details that some people might find tedious, but in the end, every word which is here is given to us by God to show us how absolutely in control He is of all things. And thus, His promises to you are stronger than if they were set in concrete. Remember this as you struggle through your pains, sorrows, and losses.

In the end, they are a part of what He is doing and are intended, whether you realize it or not, for your good and His glory. Stand fast in this and be secure in your faith in Him and His word.

¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.”

There are a certain number of words and sentences scattered throughout the Bible which are extremely hard to interpret, much less translate. If you read 10 Bibles, you will get 10 different translations here, unless one copies another. But there are a few things easy to note.

The first is that Abimelech said to Sarah, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver…” He calls him her brother, not her husband. In other words, he is saying that it was incumbent upon her to tell the truth once she was taken by him. Abimelech is placing the blame on her, not on Abraham.

And he gives the money to Abraham, not her. This payment is kesut enayim – a covering of the eyes. It is a way of having everyone involved overlook the entire situation. This is not a vindication of her actions as the Bible translates here. Abimelech is basically saying “The matter is over; let’ forget about it.”

^{16 (con’t)} Thus she was rebuked.

It is Sarah who was rebuked. Abimelech disapproved of what she had done, but in order to get the matter resolved and forgotten, the money was paid. This is certain, because the money is brought in when speaking to Sarah about the situation. Abraham was given sheep, oxen, and male and female servants and his choice of place to live to cover Abimelech’s sin of having Sarah in his harem.

Once she was taken, it was her obligation to tell the truth about Abraham – that he was not only her brother, but also her husband. Instead of her doing it, God intervened. According to the Bible, the wrong appears to fall on Sarah, not on Abraham.

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Once again, the term ha-elohim or “the God” is used. Abraham prayed to “the God.” This was his job as “a prophet” mentioned back up in verse 7 – “…he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live.”

This explains what that means. He would die literally, but probably also in the sense that no children would be born to him if he didn’t restore her to Abraham. Once he prayed for them, they were able to bear children and his name would live on.

This means God had taken away the ability for conception to occur, not prevent actual child-birth. When it says the Lord closed up all the wombs, it meant that they couldn’t even conceive. This could have been an affliction in Abimelech, or the women, or both.

For all we know, they may have developed some type of venereal disease, or tumors, or something else that kept them from being able to come together. And this is how God kept him from uniting with Sarah as it said way back up in verse 6. God kept him from touching her because he was physically unable to do so.

Finally today, we have to mention that the very last verse we just read says the Lord, Jehovah, is the one who took this action. For the first time in this chapter, the divine name is brought in to show that He is the God of the work of salvation of humanity.

This malady on the people came about to prevent any hindrance of the plan of salvation by having Isaac come from Abraham through Sarah. It was then healed by Him when it was resolved. Now His plan could go forward with Isaac’s birth from Sarah and Abraham.

Once again, let me give you something to think about with this. God did all of this, even keeping these people from the ability to procreate, to protect His plan to bring Isaac and thus Jesus into the world. Every detail is minutely handled by a loving and observant God so that the Savior of you and me would come – and without whom we would be eternally condemned.

You see, without Jesus, there is no hope – no hope at all. What happened to Sodom and what would have happened to Abimelech and his kingdom, is what would have happened to us as well. But in these two stories is a picture. The first is of the unrepentant life of sin – this is Sodom and its destruction – a picture of hell.

The other is of restoration and alliance with the people of God – this is Abimelech and the mercy he received – a picture of our restoration through Jesus. Let me explain how you too can receive escape from the first and find entrance into the second…

Genesis 21:1-8 – (He Brings Laughter and Laughter is His Name)

Walking in the Land of the Philistines

Abraham journeyed to the South
And dwelt between Kadesh and Shur
There he did speak with his mouth
That Sarah was his sister, so his safety he would procure

And so Abimelech king of Gerar
Came and took Sarah from her tent
But God said to him by night, “A dead man you are”
Because you took her as yours, and this I will prevent

You see she is a man’s wife
And now you’ve jeopardized your own life

But Abimelch hadn’t come near her
And he said, “Adonai will you slay the righteous nation too?
Did he not say, “She is my sister?”
And she “He is my brother,” otherwise, I would’ve said “adieu.”

In the integrity of my heart this has come to be
And in the innocence of my hands this has happened, you see

And God said to him at night in a dream
Yes, I know you did this in integrity of heart
For I have withheld you from sinning, thus I did deem
That you would not touch her, right from the start

Now therefore restore the man’s wife
You see he is a prophet who will pray for you to live
But if you don’t, it will be the end of your life
You and all who are yours, for her your life will give

So Abimelech rose early in the morning
And told all his servants of God’s stern warning

And the men were very much afraid
And they wanted the wrath of God to be stayed

Then Abimelech called Abraham and said right to him
What have you done to us, how have I offended you?
That you brought on me and my kingdom such a great sin
You have done something that you certainly shouldn’t do

What did you have in view that you have done this thing
It is enough to make my head hurt and my ears to ring

Abraham said, “I thought, surely the fear of God isn’t in this place
And they will kill me on account of my wife
But she truly is my sister, it wasn’t a lie from my face
She is the daughter of the father who also gave me life

She isn’t the daughter of my mother though
And she became my wife, yes this is so

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander
From my father’s house to wherever I would go
That I said to her when we travel here or yonder
That in kindness to me she would say, this is my brother – it’s so

Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and servants too
And gave them to Abraham and restored to him his wife
And Abimelech said, “See my land is set before you
Dwell where you find comfort and happiness in your life

Then to Sarah he said, Behold I have given to your brother
A thousand pieces of silver, to him and not another

This is a covering for the eyes
Of all who are with you and before everybody
Because of this unhappy guise
Thus she was rebuked because of deeds kind of gaudy

So Abraham prayed to God and He healed the king
And his wife and female servants could once again bear
For the Lord had closed up all the wombs, yes He did this thing
Because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, in this matter He did care

And so the Lord watches over all His chosen people
His adopted children he cares for so tenderly
We can shout out His praise from every roof and every steeple
Oh Yes! My God cares so much… even for me.

Thank You for Your guiding touch upon my soul
Thank You for Your hand upon my brothers and sisters too
We can see that You are completely in control
And so we shout aloud our praise, O God, praises to You

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 19:27-38
A “Lot” of Mistakes?
Rethinking the Time in the Cave

Introduction: How many of you here today have ever made a mistake? Anyone? Now, how many of you here have made a mistake which involved disobeying God? Anyone? Ok, how many of you have disobeyed God since you became a Christian?

Now let me ask you, despite having made a mistake, and it having involved disobeying God, and it happened after you became a Christian… did anything good come out of what you did?

Maybe you had a child out of wedlock. Well, that was probably a mistake, certainly in disobedience to God, and maybe even since you became a Christian. But did good come out of it? Do you love the child? Has he or she become a Christian? Would you trade that child for anything on earth?

I bet if you think through all of the crummy, disobedient, and evil things you’ve done in your life – even in your life as a Christian, you’ll still be able to find something good that came out most of it. This is how God works.

However, Preacher Charlie is NOT telling you to be disobedient to God so that good may result. Paul warns us of that attitude in Romans 3. What I am saying is that God is aware of our limitations and already knows where we will fall even before we do.

You see, even when we are disobedient, God can and does bring good out of evil. Today, we’ll look over something that almost every Bible scholar in history has found sinful. If that is true, then God made something good come from it.

If, as I believe, that’s not correct, then we have another example of people living by faith in what they believe and which ultimately brings about an amazing sequence of events leading directly to the Messiah.

There are times as you read the Bible you might ask, “Why is this story here at all?” Can someone please explain to me what the relevance of this is? Today may be one of those stories. And because we can’t figure out why it’s there, we find reasons to find the bad in the story, even when good may be hidden deep within it.

If it’s in the Bible, it leads to Jesus… even when it involves incest, drunkenness, and possibly wrong thinking. Let’s review this story which is so covered in these things that we close our eyes and try to hide from them as we read through it…

“Oh God, I would never do that. Thanks for the lesson of how not to act.” But this isn’t at all what we’re to learn from this… as we’ll see in the next hour.

Text Verse: Romans 11:33-36 – Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?” ³⁶ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Yes, all glory to this wise and wonderful Creator! And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. A “Lot” of God’s Mercy

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

Just one day earlier, the Lord and the two messengers arrived to announce the coming birth of Isaac. After their meal and assuring Sarah that a child would come through her, the Lord told Abraham of His intent to go to Sodom, determine its state, and destroy it.

Before He left, Abraham received a promise that if 10 righteous people could be found there, He would spare the entire city. It was probably a very sleepless night for Abraham, wondering if Lot had met even the most basic example of being a faithful witness to his wife, children, and six others.

If he simply had 9 converts the destruction would have been averted. But Abraham seemed to know better because he got up early in the morning and went to the exact spot where he had met and talked with the Lord. From that spot, he could overlook the entire region to the south where Lot lived. It seems his fears about Lot were well founded…

²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

If you go to Israel, this spot overlooks the entire region to the south just as is described. God had chosen a time when Abraham would be living at this particular location to destroy Sodom.

The lesson is one for Abraham and the record is also given as a lesson for us. Sin will be judged and it will come at a time when God’s people can see that judgment first hand. The Bible presents many acts of judgment against both Israel’s enemies as well as against disobedient Israel herself.

September 11 wasn’t done in a corner. It came on one of the nicest days of the year. That wasn’t by chance, but by the hand of God. If you pay attention, things like this seem to always happen on nice clear blue days. As great as God’s love is for His people, so is His hatred of sin and rebellion. It’s a lesson we shouldn’t forget.

Imagine what Abraham thought. Unlike a volcano or an earthquake which is an unplanned event, he was seeing something that he had been foretold would happen. There was no doubt that this was an act of God. We can debate the significance of 911, but there was no doubt in Abraham’s mind about this.

He must have been upset for Lot, thinking he was dead, upset at Lot for not being able to drum up nine righteous people, and sad about Lot because he was his relative and friend. Looking at the smoke must have been a sad, sad moment in this guy’s life.

The term for furnace used here is kibshan and it’s only used four times in the Old Testament. The only other time it’s used in a similar manner is when the Law was received at Mount Sinai –

Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Exodus 19:18

The New Testament has one such example as well. A time is coming when the judgments of God will come upon the world. In one of them, the very pit of hell will be opened –

Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. ² And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Revelation 9:1, 2 COMMENT

²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

This verse uses the term “God” or “elohim” rather than “Lord” or “Jehovah” to describe the one who administered the judgment, even though when it was actually happening it said that it was the Lord who did it. The difference between the uses of these two terms is who is mentioned in this verse – Abraham.

God is the judge of all the earth, and He is elsewhere described as a consuming fire, but He is also a friend of the righteous. And so God remembered His friend Abraham and rescued Lot in the midst of the overthrow. There is no contradiction because the Lord is God and God is the Lord. The terminology changes for our benefit and understanding of God’s nature.

II. Not a “Lot” of Choices

The narrative now changes focus. Lot is still the center of attention as he was during the preceding verses, but judgment is no longer coming… it has come.

³⁰ Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.

Lot has been reduced from a man with a wife and daughters, a seat among the judges, and a vast amount of wealth and servants, to a man with two daughters and no more than he could carry.

On the night before Sodom’s destruction, he was told to take his family and head for the mountains. Instead of doing this, he asked to be allowed to enter the little town of Zoar. What he should have done in the first place he failed to do. Now that he’s been given refuge in Zoar, he is afraid to dwell there even though the Lord granted him to do so, and so he moves to the mountains.

Both of his choices show an unwillingness to simply take the Lord at His word and to be obedient to that word. And so off he goes to a cave to live with his daughters. It doesn’t say why he was afraid to live in Zoar, but several possibilities come to mind.

First, he may have figured that its destruction was coming sooner or later and they were spared only because he asked for it. He may have thought this was temporary. He also may have been worried about the rising of the waters.

Because the topography changed, the Dead Sea had replaced the fields of the area and the rising waters may have seemed to be a threat. And third, he might have feared because the people of Zoar may have actually thought that the judgment of Sodom would follow Lot to them – as if they thought he were the cause of it.

Whatever the reason, Lot decided to do what he had been told in the first place and move to the mountains.

About this, Adam Clarke says – “Foolish man is ever preferring his own wisdom to that of his Maker…”

³¹ Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.

It’s just Lot and his two daughters in the cave. When the older daughter says “there is no man on the earth to come in to us” there can only be a few options as to why she would think this. The first is that they believed the destruction of Sodom had killed everyone on earth and they are the last two left to carry on the human race.

This is a popular opinion, which covers almost every commentary available, some going back thousands of years. But, it’s not likely because they had lived in Zoar and there were people there when they left. Plus, even an idiot can look in the distance and see the destruction was isolated.

A second option is that because they were the only survivors of an entire group of people who were destroyed by God, no one would want to be associated with them. This is more likely and it reflects the attitudes of people all over the world – “I’m just not good enough. God hates me and everyone else will too.”

A third option – the one that I favor – is that “no man on the earth” has nothing to do with availability but rather accessibility. It is a general term, not a specific one. Lot moved to the mountains which are not a place where people would normally live. These mountains and the surrounding areas are especially inhabitable. Because of this, there are no guys coming by for lunch.

When I drove around the US a couple years ago, I drove past houses that were so remote that I wouldn’t pass another house – going 70mph – for an hour. I’d see children playing in the yard and I thought “how are they ever going to meet someone to marry. Imagine before there were roads and cars!

These two girls are like them. They are so removed from anyone else that they cannot imagine ever meeting a man. And so they devise a plan to have children, even if they can’t have a husband…

³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him,

The very fact that they want to get dad drunk first tells us that they know their father wouldn’t agree to this, but it also tells us that there certainly were other men on earth, and they knew it. If not, they would have simply told dad what they wanted and why.

In the previous verse, the daughter said “our father is old.” Not only are there no other men around, but dad may kick off at some point too before he could get married again. If so, then his name will die out. This is surely what she’s thinking because…

^{32 (con’t)} that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”

And here is a second proof that there are men available, but just not accessible. They have a distinct purpose in what they’re doing. It is “to preserve Lot’s lineage,” not the human race and not their own heritage.

Without the ability to trace our lineage, we lose touch with the very marker which God has identified us with. In the Bible, this marker comes through the father. If you heard the sermons on Genesis 10, The Table of Nations, you can understand this.

What’s really important here is that the word for “lineage” is the Hebrew word zara. This means “seed.” These girls want to preserve the seed. Why? Because they believe that what they are doing is saving the line of the Messiah. Think it through…

They are from the line of Shem, Noah’s son in the line of promise. They are from the line of Haran, Abraham’s older brother and they’d have every reason to believe that because he is the oldest brother that he the one in the Messianic line, and Lot is his son.

And now they see that they’ve been miraculously saved from Sodom. Their conclusion is that this was God’s will to keep Lot’s seed alive as it led toward the Promised One the Messiah.

This idea stands even more likely because they were virgins even though they lived in an especially wicked place like Sodom. They had lived pure and upright lives and were saved because of this. This isn’t mere speculation either. We’ll see in a little while that the very names they give to their children bear this out.

What we need to do is look at exactly what the girls said – ūn·ḥa·yeh me-avinu zara (oon ha yeh may-aveenu zara)

This verse has two possible translations –

1. “And we will make the seed of our father alive.”
2. “And we will live from our father’s seed.”

Although most translations use the first, the second, when taken in the overall context of the Bible makes much more sense. The only other time the word nehaya is used in the way the girls are using it is in 1 Kings when speaking of animals that were running out of hay and dying. In order to revive them, they needed to find food.

Although this might all sound tedious, what’s happening with these two girls is as important as any doctrine found in the Bible and it points directly to the work of Jesus. It’s not at all what most people think – that a couple of girls were lonely and wanted children for themselves. Think it through…

The Bible teaches that we are dead in our sins, but that Christ makes us alive. He is the one who revives our dead spirit. And this is what the Bible teaches from the first pages of Genesis all the way to the very last page of Revelation.

The coming Messiah would restore life, eternal life, to fallen man. Eve knew it as we noted in a sermon about Cain and Abel. And so did every faithful person since then. In anticipation of this, the daughters said, “So we may live from our father’s seed.”

This isn’t speaking at all about carrying on their name. It is speaking about being born again through the coming Messiah. In support of this, ancient Jewish writers interpret this to be speaking of the Messiah because they aren’t speaking about a son, but rather the seed, the same seed found back in Genesis 3. And what is this seed? It is the Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

These two girls honestly believed that they were a part of the Messianic line. If you doubt this, hold on for a few more minutes.

And as a side note, there was no law at the time to forbid what they are proposing. Abraham, who is of the chosen line and living at the same time as them married his own sister. This is something the law specifically forbids, but at this time, there was no law. Here is what the law says concerning Abraham’s type of marriage –

The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. Leviticus 18:9

As Paul says in Romans 4:15, “Where there is no law, there is no transgression.” Therefore, what they have done – these two girls, cannot… cannot be counted as sin just as Abraham marrying his own sister also cannot be counted as sin.

³³ So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

I have to be honest here, if the Bible didn’t say this, I would never believe it. It takes the responsibility entirely off Lot by saying he didn’t know when she lay down or when she arose.

The act is placed completely on the daughter. But if someone is so drunk that that they don’t know what’s going on, they are also usually to drunk to perform any other actions as well. Like I said, if the Bible didn’t say this, I couldn’t believe it.

³⁴ It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”

Daughter number one did her thing and so to make sure that dad’s line will continue on, daughter number two does the same thing the next day. Once again, the action is placed solely on the daughters.

³⁵ Then 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 only thing that Lot might be blamed for is getting drunk, but even that – when taken in the context of the Bible – is a dubious accusation. In fact, Proverbs says this –

Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to those who are bitter of heart. (31:6)

Lot is old and perishing and he is also certainly a soul who is bitter in heart. Fault, from a biblical perspective is not to be found where most people try to find it. He is an old man, in a cave with his two virgin daughters, and with no evil intentions toward either of them.

Later in the Bible, Lot is termed “righteous” and so the fault that so many try to find in him and what he’s done is simply not there. What is evident is the foreknowledge and providence of God in the story. This is as clear as any other passage in the Bible.

Both of these girls were virgins, both had sex and became pregnant on the first try to a drunk man, and both of them had males to carry on the name of the family. You will not find a clearer account than this for seeing that what occurred did so in order to meet God’s purposes and plans in the unfolding pages of redemptive history.

We can look back on these verses and see two sides of a coin. The first is that God gives us instructions to do things and He does so for very good reasons. He has our best intent in mind and His direction is exactly right for the situation. Think of Bible directives and how your life has gone just right when you’ve obeyed them.

God placed you in a particular place and time and reminded you of His word to demonstrate to you that following His way is best and that the outcomes will always be successful and happy.

However – and this may sound contradictory at first – when we don’t follow God’s word, we make mistakes which cause us grief, sadness, and loss. But despite this, God knew the choice we would make before we made it and therefore it must fit into His plan – even though it was based on disobedience.

This would be Lot’s life summed up in a nutshell. It would also be most of our lives most of the time – either as individuals or as a nation. We don’t obey God’s word and we have grief, sadness, and loss, but in the end it is worked out for what is ultimately good.

Here is where the other side of the coin is seen. Lot moved to a wicked city – something that if he inquired of the Lord would have been met with a “Don’t do it.” Lot never converted anyone in Sodom, which directly led to Sodom’s overthrow. Something the Lord wouldn’t approve of.

Lot didn’t head straight to the mountains as the Lord had told him to do, but instead he looked for another option. He didn’t follow the Lord’s recommended path. And later he left the city and moved to the mountain, even after the Lord allowed him to live there.

We could probably find 20 more things that Lot did wrong and we can look back on our own lives and find a million things we did wrong as well. And yet, good came out of what was bad.

III. A “Lot” of Joy

So here we have this story that is interesting, it’s dramatic, it’s enticing, and maybe even alluring in some way, but it’s just a story about an old man who has a couple of daughters and off to the mountains they go – to live in a cave and do what is both inappropriate and unjustifiable for reasons that only make sense when we try to force the narrative… right?

Bad mistakes – our lives are filled with bad mistakes and we have to live with the results of those mistakes whether we like it or not. Isn’t that why this story is in here? Two young ladies who will have to spend the rest of their lives regretting their bad choices? Isn’t God mocking them, even today, by letting the whole world see how stupid and naughty they were?

³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

Both girls had sex for the first and maybe only time in their lives – with a drunken man, who is their father. Both of them got pregnant and now have to suffer the shame of it for all of eternity… right? We can laugh at these two and show the world through sermons about how immoral and stupid they were. God must think so… it’s why the story is included here after all. Isn’t it?

³⁷The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

Oh! A bouncing baby boy… The older daughter has a son and she calls him Moab. The name comes from two words – mi which means “who” and ab which means “dad.” In modern language we’d call him “Who’s your daddy?” And the answer comes from the story itself and so it has another meaning – “From father.”

This daughter of Lot is letting the world know that the son is the result of inbreeding. This is obviously not something one would want known unless there was a very good reason behind it.

³⁸ And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Oh, another bouncing baby boy – probably born at the same time as Moab, maybe on the same day. Lot’s a busy doctor in his little cave… The younger daughter has a son. His name comes from two words too. Ben simply means “son.” Benjamin, for example, means “Son of my right hand.”

The word am means people. When am is postfixed with the “i,” which is the letter yod, it becomes “my”… “my people.” And so Ben-Ammi means “Son of my people.”

Again, like the older sister’s choice of name, this daughter of Lot is letting the world know that the son is the result of inbreeding. Again, clearly not something one would want known unless there was a very good reason behind it.

But both of these girls are proud of their accomplishment, even if they’re not proud of the deed behind it – getting Lot drunk. They both have a bundle of joy and they both believe that their son may be an ancestor of the Deliverer promised 2108 years earlier when God spoke to Adam, Eve, and the serpent in the Garden.

They have preserved the line, they have baby boys who they wouldn’t trade for all the gold in the world, and there is dad scratching his head and wondering what the end of it all will be.

As I said at the beginning of the sermon, maybe in your life you’ve done something which is clearly wrong. Maybe it’s been since you were a Christian, and maybe it was in direct disobedience to God. Can it still work out for good? The answer is “Yes.”

Let’s not diminish what we’ve done wrong though. Sin is sin and sin has consequences. Sometimes those consequences can affect our health, such as drugs; our relationships, such as adultery; and maybe even cost the life of us or someone else, such as getting shot when we hold up bank. But in any or all of these, God can work through our evil to bring about good.

How do I know? Because the Bible proves it, even in the account of these two daughters. You see, in the book of Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus, we read this in Chapter 1, verse 5 –

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth… Matthew 1:5

Ruth, if you’ve ever read the story, is from Moab. She was brought into the covenant people and eventually became the great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus, the Lord.

And what about the other daughter? What is her mark on history? Two verses down in the same genealogy we read this in verse 7 –

Solomon begot Rehoboam,… so what, right?

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon is in Jesus’ genealogy as well. And guess what we learn about him in the book of 1 Kings…

And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. 1 Kings 14:21

Naamah the mother of Rehoboam, was from the line of the second daughter of Lot. The Ammonites came from her son Ben-Ammi.

Clans from both of the sons born to Lot through his daughters became great enemies of Israel. In fact, Solomon is rebuked for having married women from these countries because they stole his heart away from the Lord and led him to worship false Gods.

But despite this, women from both tribes, the Moabites and the Ammonites, became ancestors of Jesus. Think about it… The Lord of all creation is descended from a man named Lot and from both of his daughters when each of them was united in incestuous sex.

Mention Haran and Iscah…

And if that isn’t amazing, wait as the Bible unfolds. Jesus descends from another incestuous union, and also from an adulterer and a murderer, and from many other men and women who were filled with flaws and weaknesses. Jesus isn’t calling the perfect to His family – He’s calling you.

You see, He can even take the evil in our lives and turn it out for good. If He can do this in a plan which started 2108 years earlier and took another 1896 more to be realized, He can do it for you too.

No matter how stupid your past mistakes, no matter how terrible your future mistakes, no matter what anyone else on earth thinks about you, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, you are His child and you are forgiven, free, and recorded in the Book of Life.

Yes, mourn over your sins, turn away from them and be obedient to the Lord and I can assure you that your life will be far more rewarding and pleasing to Him. But, stop beating yourself up over past mistakes and know that despite them, God has a plan and a purpose for you which has already figured them into the equation.

Despite your flaws, failings, and fumbles, He has accepted you and He will never forsake you. Through Jesus Christ He has cancelled out the evil and turned it into good. So be of good cheer.

Salvation call…

NEXT – Genesis 20:1-17 (Walking in the Land of the Philistines)

Beauty From Ashes

Abraham got up early in the morning
To the spot he had stood with the Lord
He wondered if Sodom heeded the warning
And had accepted God at His word

He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the plain
He saw smoke like a furnace, God – His wrath did not restrain

He destroyed all of the cities, but He remembered Abraham
And He sent Lot out of the midst of the overflow
When He overthrew the cities with a bang and a bam
God protected His righteous, the one He did know

Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains
And both his daughters were with him too
He was afraid to live in the city by its streets and its fountains
And so off to a cave in a hill he withdrew

Now the firstborn daughter said to the younger one
“Our father is old and there is no man around to marry
Come let us get dad drunk and by him we can have a son
And his seed through them we will be able to carry

So they got their dad drunk with wine that night
And the firstborn went in and lay with her father
Even though she knew what she did wasn’t right
She went through with it, no caring nor bother

The next day she said, “See, last night I laid with dad
Now it’s your turn to do the same as I did
We’ll give him wine to make his heart glad
And so both of us through him will have our own kid

So the younger lay also with her father Lot
And he didn’t know when she lay down or when up she got

So both the daughters by their father were with child
And today we look at this story as if it were wild

The firstborn named her son Moab, meaning “Who is your father”
And the younger named hers Ben-Ammi – “Son of my people”
And though this story many people it does bother
It is something to be taught beneath the church steeple

You see, these three – Lot and his two daughters
Became great peoples like the spreading of waters

And eventually through them came the Savior of the world
Through them came Jesus as God’s great plan has unfurled

Have you done something so wrong in your life?
Maybe been a drug addict or a prostitute
Have you committed adultery on your husband or wife
Is the hurt in your heart painfully acute

Let God use what has happened in the past
To bring Him glory now through an obedient life
The good things that can come will for eternity last
When Jesus as His bride calls us His wife

Great is our God therefore let’s give Him great praise
And let us live our lives for Him, all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 19:12-26
The Destruction of Sodom
Wake up America

Introduction: Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather off the California coast for several days. As night fell, the captain noticed the patchy fog and decided to remain on the bridge. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light. Bearing on the starboard bow.”
“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain asked.
The lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant the battleship was on a collision course with the other ship.
The captain called to the signalman, “Signal that ship. You are on a collision course. Advise you to alter course 20 degrees.”
Back came the answering signal, “Advisable that you change course 20 degrees.”
The captain said, “Send another message. I am a US Naval senior captain. Change course 20 degrees.”
“I am a Coast Guard seaman second class,” came the reply, “Change your course at once.”
The officer was furious. He spat out, “We are a battleship squadron. Change your course 20 degrees.”
The flashing light replied, “I am a lighthouse.”
The squadron changed course.

Today we’re going to see how heeding or failing to heed warnings can affect the course of one’s life, the course of an entire city, or even the course of history itself. It’s funny to joke about battleships and lighthouses, but when eternity is at stake, the humor fades…

Text Verse: But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude –5-7

Eternal fire, along with all of its associated pains is real. Hell is real and the Bible has given us examples of it to show us both how to avoid it and what the consequences are for not doing so. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Pay Heed to What’s Important

Throughout history, there have been records of people being warned about coming tragedy which have been completely ignored – and this, for a host of reasons – stupidity, arrogance, disbelief, and denial among other things. The tide of wars has changed, empires have collapsed, space vehicles have fallen back to earth, lives have been lost – all because of unheeded warnings.

On April 15th, 1912, the Titanic sunk in the Atlantic after hitting an iceberg. The captain of the ship, Edward J. Smith, slid to the bottom with it, even after receiving several warnings about ice. The Bible is full of such unheeded warnings as well.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place!

Although this isn’t standard operating procedure with God, there are times when He saves people out of a coming calamity. When King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah the prophet to inquire of the Lord about the fate of Jerusalem, Jeremiah proclaimed doom upon the city in graphic detail – every type of disaster that was coming upon the city and the people.

But in a demonstration of mercy, He also gave this word to Jeremiah – “Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. ¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.”’ Jeremiah 21:8-10

Many of us have known or heard about someone who had a feeling they should skip a plane trip, stay home instead of going out with friends, or having some other urge that leads them away from a disaster that otherwise would have ended them. Although this doesn’t always happen, it shows us that God is in control of the details and everything that occurs is because He directs it.

¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

I’ve lost favor with quite a few people over the years because I stand on the biblical truth that disaster never occurs apart from God’s will. After the planes struck the twin towers on 911, several noted preachers stood up and said it was judgment on America.

Of course, the news media ate them alive and over time they either partially or completely retracted their stand. But they were right at the beginning – 911 was judgment upon sin, as are all tragedies. Calamity comes to either remove sin or protect from sin.

Not all our tragedies are because of sin, but some come to save a person from even worse. When a child dies, for all we know, God looked through time and saw that death was far better than what otherwise would have happened. We simply can’t know what God knows and what we perceive as evil may have a very good reason.

The Bible shows very clearly that judgment upon Sodom was directly the result of their sin. And the authority ascribed to the judgment by the messengers was clear – “the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” “Yes, but – we’re different than Sodom. 911 wasn’t a judgment on us! It was because of the wickedness of Islam.”

And so we close our eyes and fail to see the truth of what’s happening. Of course 911 was an act against America by Islam, but that has nothing to do with the root cause of it. If we were living rightly, no power could come against us. Who is it that protects the righteous and judges the sinner?

And the method and means of His judgment is as varied as the outcome of the judgment itself. Nobody who believes in an all knowing God disputes that He is aware of everything that occurs. This is the meaning of Omniscient… He knows all.

But when something catastrophic happens, we suddenly forget this truth and say that God surely wouldn’t allow that – as if this all-knowing God let something slip. But Amos knew better –

If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?(3:6)

Disaster was to come upon Sodom and disaster came upon America. Sodom was destroyed and America was given the grace and the chance to repent just as wicked Nineveh was when Jonah was sent to them… but of course we haven’t. Does anyone think God stopped watching? Do you think God isn’t still warning…

The Titanic’s first warning came from another passenger ship called the “Caronia.” On the morning of April 14^th, Captain Smith posted the message on the bridge before leading a religious service for the first class passengers. The second warning came in the afternoon from the “Baltic.” Smith showed it to Joseph Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line. In the evening, a warning made to another ship was overheard by the crew, and later, two more came in from other ships, but they were ignored by operators distracted by personal messages coming in for passengers.

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

The most important news that these men would ever hear in their lives was met with disbelief. “Judgment? Here in Sodom? The flood was a myth and there’s no Lord. I’ve taken philosophy and evolutionary science and I can assure you you’re wrong. We’re heading to the bar, come with us and drink it off Reverend Lot.”

Many years ago, Billy Graham was writing a book and his wife Ruth was looking it over. She had just finished a section about the degradation of America’s morals, the corruption of religion, and the abuse of the blessings God has granted us and she turned to Billy and said, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

I heard him mention this in one of his crusade messages. He, along with many others, have led the call to repent and turn from where we’re heading. The late Chuck Colson was another prominent voice. These men, along with pastors and preachers have been calling out, but nothing is turning the tide.

September 11^th worked for about 2 months, but then it was forgotten and since then we’ve only gotten worse. We elect politicians who are openly gay, we watch television which promotes gay life, we throw money at gay musicians, Christians openly post on Facebook about their Starbucks coffee of the day, knowing full well that they are prominent supporters of the cause.

On Saturday, 18 August 2012, the democrat party’s platform committee endorsed gay marriage for the first time and called for the repeal of the federal law that recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman. And yet,,, about ½ of our nation will vote for barak obama and many more will support lower level democrats for the congress, senate, or state and local offices.

But every democrat who runs does so on this platform. One cannot separate their vote for a candidate from the platform. To vote for a democrat, any democrat, is to implicitly support this platform.

And abortion… it’s easier to get an abortion than to have knee surgery. Since Roe vs. Wade was upheld by the Supreme Court, 50,000,000 lives have been destroyed by abortion in America.

Almost 4000 will die by abortion today, and in the short time that we’re meeting here on the beach 300 will die… little arms and legs being torn off of little bodies before being sucked through a vacuum cleaner for disposal in a landfill. And we turn our eyes towards barak obama and cheer on our national leader.

The warning from the angels rings today – “Get up, get out of this perverse place; for the Lord will destroy this nation!” The midnight cry was heard in Sodom and it will be heard again someday at the coming of Christ for His bride. Those who are left will receive the judgment of God upon their unrighteousness.

On the evening of April 14th, Captain Smith attended a private dinner party. While the captain rubbed shoulders with the wealthy diners, the crew overheard a warning from the “Californian.” After dinner, the captain had a conversation with his second officer, Charles Lightoller. It isn’t known what they discussed. The captain went to bed without giving orders to change course.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”

Four people…only four. Abraham had asked the Lord to spare the city if ten righteous could be found – not even half that came out alive. At dawn, when the city’s eyes were heaviest and the smell of the previous night’s debauchery still hung thickly in the air, Lot is urged to get his family up and move. Punishment is coming…

¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

Amazingly, Lot lingered. He halted in his steps as the men implored him to move. The Bible doesn’t tell why, but if we go back to chapter 13 we’re reminded that he was a man of wealth. He had flocks and herds, tents and servants. He had so much stuff that he and Abraham couldn’t live together.

He was also a judge in Sodom. Lot had many things, he had status, and he had position, but he had little of value. He hadn’t converted a single soul nor even convinced one person that their wicked life was wrong. He probably lingered out of remorse – both for the loss of his stuff and for the loss of those he failed to talk to. Lot would be, from this point on, a lonely and broken man.

You know, Jesus really is coming back. Why would you bother listening to a sermon if you didn’t believe that? If you’re here, then it’s because you either believe the Bible or are curious about it. Either way, this book says that Jesus is returning and His return is imminent.

That means there is no moment when He couldn’t come. And so it could be at any second. When He arrives, there won’t be any lingering or thought. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye. So if you have work to do before then, I suggest you get it done.

That coworker you’ve been meaning to talk to about Jesus… the time is coming. Your family member that needs to hear again… the time is coming. The neighbor you wave to every morning… Jesus is really coming.

¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”

The words from the men’s mouth are emphatic – “Escape for your life!” Here there is only destruction and death and there is only one means of escape.

This is so similar to what Jesus told the Nation of Israel in a prophecy about what is coming in the end times. After the rapture, when the entire world is gathered to destroy them, the Jews who are willing to heed will need to be ready –

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

II. Mercy from the Lord

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords!

Depending on what translation you use, the answer that Lot gives is either directed toward one or two – Lord or lords. And it is either God or man – Lord meaning Jehovah or lords meaning angels.

If you read the King James, it has the divine name, if you read the NIV it indicates two, but the divine name is footnoted as possible. If you read the NKJV, it indicates two. Pay attention to your footnotes, study the differences, and make your conclusions.

Based on what previous verses say, as well as verses ahead, it is the Lord – Jehovah, who is the likely addressee. He has appeared with the other two now in order to bring vengeance upon the sodomites. Our text verse today from Jude indicates this as does the great passage of God’s judgment from 2 Thessalonians 1 –

⁶ since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, ⁷ and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, ⁸ in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, ¹⁰ when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

Yes,,, it is the Lord and He really, really is angry at sin and He really, really will come to destroy sinners. The Lamb is also the Lion.

¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.

It was probably a very long and sleepless night for Lot. He also has his daughters, his wife, and whatever stuff he had grabbed on the way out the door. When he looked at the distance to the mountains, he was probably overwhelmed. Abraham is 99 years old and Lot is older than Abraham. His old body couldn’t take the stress.

When I was driving around the US, there were times that mountains would jut right out of the ground toward the sky many, many miles in the distance. I remember thinking to myself how tough it must have been on people first settling the land. The flatlands below the mountains would hold in the heat and were often devoid of any shade or water.

This is the way it is where Lot is as well. Although the plain of the Jordan at that time was well watered, as you got away from the Jordan, it would be parched and miserable. Along with the sleepless night and stuff to carry, he couldn’t imagine facing another ordeal like this. And so he begs for mercy once again…

²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

Instead of a long and tedious flight to the distant mountains, which would include a trek up them as well, he asks the Lord for divine mercy on himself and his family. While doing this, he’s actually calling for mercy on a town that was set for destruction.

It was a one of the cities allied with Sodom during the war mentioned in chapter 14 and was probably similar in its customs, culture, and worship. However the Lord – who knows the future – also knew that this request would be made before it was asked.

Thus there is a demonstration of mercy even in divine judgment – apart from the righteous. A portion the wicked would be spared. Maybe this was God’s way of giving Lot a chance to tell the people of that town about Him after failing to do so in Sodom.

²¹ And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

Before this, the city was called Bela – meaning “Destruction.” Ironically, the very name it held was the thing it didn’t receive. From this time on it would be known as “Little” instead of Destruction, “Zoar” meaning “Little” – the little town which received the Lord’s mercy.

James tells us this about the petitions of a righteous person – “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Lot fervently petitioned the Lord and the Lord responded, saving an entire city. Zoar will remain not only for a while, but would still exist over 1000 years later at the time of Jeremiah.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.

Early in the day, at the time of the rising sun and at the same time that Lot enters Zoar, we read a most interesting verse – “v’Yehovah himtyr al sedom v’al amorah gophrit v’esh me-eth Yehovah min ha’shemayim”

The thought is that “Jehovah caused it to rain from Jehovah.”  No distinction is to be inferred between the hidden and the manifested Creator. The Lord who is seen on the earth is the Lord who calls down judgment and He is the same Lord who sits enthroned in heaven, sending down that same judgment. Interesting, isn’t it…

We look at pictures of Jesus cuddling animals and we sing songs about God loving all the children of the world, but the same Lord who really cuddles cute little fluffy beings and who blesses little children is the same Lord who looks with wrathful eyes at the wicked sins of men – men who try to hide or men who openly flaunt their debauchery.

Both are exposed to His ever-seeing eye. People who look too intently on one aspect of Jesus – like His love while disregarding the others are only deluding themselves. The same type of destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah will be used on the unrepentant world someday – fire and brimstone – an eternal swim in the Lake of Fire.

These Old Testament pictures are given to us for warnings of what lies ahead.

²⁵ So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

This is the end of all wickedness. Though men become rich, powerful, or famous, it is worth nothing when destruction comes. The book of Lamentations details the destruction of God’s own people because they rejected Him. All alike are bound under sin and all alike will be judged – either be in oneself or in a substitute.

And only one Substitute will satisfy the wrath of God – that of His only begotten Son. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of God, but it is inevitable. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, the plain was destroyed, and the all the inhabitants of the cites – all of them, young and old, male and female, wealthy and slave – all of them were destroyed.

Along with this, the lush and well watered land surrounding the Jordan, with all its trees, fields, and crops was laid waste. Go there today and all you will see is heat, ruined land, undrinkable water, and shimmering mountains in the distance.

The people and buildings that are there now are entirely at the mercy of a supply line bringing in food, water, and provisions. Without that, it would be a miserable place left for only the hardiest animals and reptiles which call the area home.

Even bleaker than this is the prospect, and eventual reality, of the torment of hell. God has given us these examples as warnings and He has also provided the avenue to true life – overflowing with an abundance of Water. And He asks each of us to choose life and come to the Water of that Life… come to Jesus.

III. The Unheeded Warning

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

One of the seemingly incredible stories from the Bible… this is on par with a donkey speaking and a prophet riding a chariot to heaven. And yet, it is what happened. Lot’s wife, possibly named Iscah, became suitable seasoning for curry or maybe goat stew.

For whatever reason, be it out of curiosity, the memory of secret sins pulling her back, or sadness at the loss of possessions or friends, she turned back to look. The divine warning had been given and it was rejected.

In today’s church, such a person would be called an apostate. This is a person who has made a profession of faith, lives among the righteous, and who probably even acts like a believer, but they never truly believed. When they called on Jesus, they were crossing their fingers, or maybe their toes, and lying in their heart.

Maybe you’re just like her. You come out to Church on the Beach, you post nice things about Jesus on Facebook, you may even wear a cross – but inside, you just don’t believe. Your eyes are looking back at the world in longing and your thoughts have never really fixed on the Lord. Today would be a good day to change that.

If you go to the area where she was crystallized today, there is a pillar called Lot’s wife. It isn’t really her though. One intellectual soul determined the amount of erosion on a pillar of salt based on the wind and rain conditions of the area and determined that she would have melted back into the earth many centuries ago.

Capt. Smith was awakened by a member of his crew after the ship scraped an iceberg. At 2:20am on 15 April 1912, Captain Edward J. Smith sunk with his ship – taking along 1516 others – precious human souls with him – into the watery deep.

Divine warnings are posted along life’s highway. Some are more easily noted than others, but they’re there. The Bible says that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows forth His handiwork. It tells us that His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that we are without excuse,

Just like the warnings for Capt. Smith, God warns us through His creation, through His prophets, and through the cross of His own Son. How many warnings do we need to show us that God really, really is angry at sin? But we turn around and ignore the signs.

I mentioned Billy Graham a while back. Recently, he posted a prayer letter on his website which he addressed to “deceived America.” Will his words go unheeded? If so, we will find an unhappy ending to our American experiment. Here’s what he said–

“Some years ago, my wife, Ruth, was reading the draft of a book I was writing. When she finished a section describing the terrible downward spiral of our nation’s moral standards and the idolatry of worshiping false gods such as technology and sex, she startled me by exclaiming, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

She was probably thinking of a passage in Ezekiel where God tells why He brought those cities to ruin. “Now this was the sin of . . . Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before Me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen” (Ezekiel 16:49–50, NIV).

I wonder what Ruth would think of America if she were alive today. In the years since she made that remark, millions of babies have been aborted and our nation seems largely unconcerned. Self-centered indulgence, pride, and a lack of shame over sin are now emblems of the American lifestyle.

Just a few weeks ago in a prominent city in the South, Christian chaplains who serve the police department were ordered to no longer mention the Name of Jesus in prayer. It was reported that during a recent police-sponsored event, the only person allowed to pray was someone who addressed “the being in the room.” Similar scenarios are now commonplace in towns across America. Our society strives to avoid any possibility of offending anyone—except God.

Yet the farther we get from God, the more the world spirals out of control.My heart aches for America and its deceived people. The wonderful news is that our Lord is a God of mercy, and He responds to repentance. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh was the lone world superpower—wealthy, unconcerned, and self-centered. When the Prophet Jonah finally traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning, people heard and repented.

Proverbs 16:18 says that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. What we need to do is to let go of our pride, shun our haughty nature, and with humility and remorse petition the Lord to be merciful upon us for our many, many sins.”

Thank you Billy. Now let me take two more minutes of your time to explain again, as I have so many times before, about the work of the greatest Jew of all – the Lord of Creation, Jesus…

Next Week’s sermon – Genesis 19:27-38 (A “Lot” of Mistakes? Rethinking the Time in the Cave)

The Wages of Sin

The messengers said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here?
Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, anyone in this city
Take them out of this place!  For its destruction is near
Because the outcry against them has ended the Lord’s pity

He has sent us to destroy it, and this we will do
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law
But they just laughed him off thinking he had a loose screw
And so sadly Lot made his withdraw

When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry
“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters… you’d best scurry

Lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city
Because the outcry against it has ended the Lord’s pity

But he lingered, so the men took hold of his hand
And the hands of his wife and his two daughters also
The Lord was merciful to him and gave the command
To get away before on Sodom destruction would blow

“Escape for your life! Do not look behind you as you flee
Don’t stay anywhere in the plain. In the mountains there is safety

Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords!
Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight
You have increased your mercy through your life saving words
But I cannot flee to the mountains… man I’ve been up all night

See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one
Please let me escape there until the Lord’s destruction is done

And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing
I will not overthrow this tiny little city
Hurry! Escape there, for I cannot do anything
Until you arrive there. Yes, I will show pity.

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar
It received the Lord’s mercy and there Lot went
But when the sun rose and Lot had gotten that far
The Lord’s wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah was to be spent

Then the Lord rained from heaven brimstone and fire
On Sodom and Gomorrah came the wrath of God
Everyone in the city was consumed in the pyre
Because by wickedness all the people had trod

So He overthrew those cities and all the plain
And all the inhabitants who resided there
Never would they be rebuilt, no never again
Because the people wouldn’t the Lord’s name declare

But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt
With no one to blame, it was only her fault

What about us living today?
Will we turn from our grievous sin
Can our land repent and God’s wrath allay?
Or is it too late, have we done ourselves in?

With the Lord mercy can be found
If we will humble ourselves from city to city
But if we don’t turn our hearts around
The outcry against us will end the Lord’s pity

Oh sinful land turn once again to Jesus
Let us give him honor and praise
When we do, He will show mercy on us
And we will walk in His light all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Genesis 19:1-11
Destruction is Coming – Shadows of the Rapture

Introduction: One of the most disputed doctrines to be found in the Bible in modern times concerns the rapture of the church. There are those who deny it will even occur.

They take clear and concise passages from the Bible, which simply can’t mean anything else, and they close their eyes to them, run from them, hide from them, pooh pooh them, belittle them when analyzed as they should be, and they laugh at those who believe them just as they’re written.

And then, of course, there are those who believe in the rapture because of these same clear and concise passages, but they dispute over the timing of it. Will the rapture happen before the antichrist is revealed or after?

Will it happen before the tribulation period, in the middle of it, or at the end of it? Will there be a partial rapture? Will there be several raptures? Will this happen or will that happen? People argue, people fight, people cry “heretic” at those who disagree. It’s a mess and it causes many to wring their hands and worry about the issue to the point of exhaustion.

People spend their time reading and quoting the Left Behind series rather than reading and quoting their Bible. Why? Because Left Behind is so much easier to read and someone else’s opinion is a safe refuge from the overwhelming complexity of the Bible.

And of course there are those that take passages entirely out of context, and they apply them to the rapture. I’m sure you’ve heard this one a million times used in conjunction with rapture verses –

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

This isn’t a rapture verse and it can’t be applied to it. The truth of what is said may apply to the rapture – that we simply won’t know the timing of it, but this is not a rapture verse. Having said that, like most things in the New Testament, there are often pictures of what is coming in the Old. The rapture is such an event, and it’s found in a rather unlikely place. Today we will discover it.

Text Verse: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Revelation 4:1

Yes, there is a Door standing open in heaven and its access is granted through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Who is Righteous Among You?

Last week, we saw the Lord’s intentions head to Sodom because of the outcry against it. After this, we witnessed Abraham’s concern for the righteous within the city and his appeal to the Lord to spare it if just 10 people could be found. Today, we will discover whether that low, low number was actually attainable or not…

¹ Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening,…

The two men who were with the Lord and who met and dined with Abraham last week are the two who have now arrived at Sodom. Twice the Hebrew word used to describe these two is malakim or angels.

These two are being sent on a duty as messengers. In other words, it is describing their office, not specifically their nature. Because of this, whether they are actually angels or just divine messengers of some other sort cannot be fully determined.

Its evening time and it’s probably still hot out. When these same two came to meet Abraham, he was sitting by the door of his tent and it said it was “the heat of the day.” The time of year had Abraham sitting by the tent door to catch a passing breeze and the same is probably true with Lot because verse 1 continues with…

^{1 (con’t)} and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.

The gate and walls of ancient Middle Eastern cities were usually built out of stone and the gate normally had an arched entrance with deep recesses on each side. In these recesses, they built seating where people could relax, conduct business, guard if necessary, judge cases, etc.

These recesses would be in the shade and catch any breezes coming through, just as Abraham did at the door of his tent. In Lot’s case, he was probably a judge of Sodom. We’ll get this from what somebody says to him later. On other occasions as we get through the Old Testament, we’ll see that the elders and judges spent their time at the city gates.

Along with being a judge, he was probably also a nice guy who figured that anyone coming to into the city at evening time would need a place to stay. Sitting here like this might have been his daily habit. He could sit and watch the world pass by and wait on strangers while his family was whipping together dinner.

^{1 (con’t)} When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

When Abraham fell on his face before the Lord, it was in respect and humility and as a sign of worship. What Lot is doing here is the same, but without the worship. There are plenty of examples of people bowing down in front of others without indicating worship.

Let’s look at one from 1 Samuel, where David meets his best friend in the fields before he flees from King Saul so you can see –

“As soon as the lad had gone, David arose from a place toward the south, fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down three times. And they kissed one another; and they wept together, but David more so. ⁴² Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘May the Lord be between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants, forever.’” So he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.”

What Lot is doing by bowing to the two men who show up at the gates of the city is esteeming others better than himself and showing humility, even to strangers. This is exactly the same thing we’re asked to do many times such as in the Philippians 2 –

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

² And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

Lot doesn’t just greet the strangers with humility, but he offered them his home and hospitality as well. He’s demonstrating his own righteousness in the presence of complete strangers. Because of the time of day, these guys wouldn’t have had time to walk to any other city and they wouldn’t be safe sleeping on the open road.

This means that they’d sleep in Sodom. But this would be just as dangerous because the people of the town were especially wicked. To ensure their safety, he offers his home. Something similar happened in Luke 24 when two of the disciples met and talked with Jesus on the road, but didn’t know it was Him –

²⁸ Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. ²⁹ But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.

It’s generosity like this that the Bible asks from us. It’s tough to do though because the world is so full of wicked people that you never know if you’re inviting in an angel or a mass murderer. However, the Bible asks us to stand firm and even explains why –

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.

³ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

I want to show you another set of verses from 2 Samuel 15 which is similar to this, but then point out the differences too –

After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ² Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” ³ Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.” ⁴ Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” ⁵ And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him. ⁶ In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Lot was genuinely concerned about the people he was inviting to his home. There was no selfish ambition and there was no thought of getting paid for his efforts. He was simply a nice guy taking care of strangers.

On the other hand, Absalom met people at the same location – the city gate, but instead of being a nice guy, he had an agenda. He intended to overthrow his own father and steal the kingdom for himself. In the end, it cost him his life. On the contrary, Lot’s actions will save his life.

When the Lord comes at the rapture, He will save all of the righteous, just like Lot. Those left behind will face terrible times as the world spins into chaos and destruction. People have a choice to make about Jesus and that choice has real consequences. Lot made a feast for his guests and the Lord is preparing a feast for His. The question is, “Will you be joining Him?”

II. In a World of Wickedness

⁴ Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ⁵ And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”

I thought of the world we live in now when I got to these verses. It’s about bedtime and it says that “both young and old” came together. The sin of Sodom is so great that even those too young or too old to participate still came so they could watch. The people from every part of the city wanted to join this perverted party.

What these people are proposing is an offense of the deepest perversion and disgrace found in humanity. It is the sin for which Sodom is still known. Paul cites this depravity as that which occurs when people have completely suppressed the knowledge of God. There is nothing left but animal sense and yet even animals aren’t so disposed.

And yet… and yet… and yet – it is this perversion which the democrat party of the United States of America has added as coming under the protection of its party platform. The day barak obama was sworn into office – not even five minutes after that act, the homosexual agenda was placed as a priority on the home page of the White House website. I know because I checked personally.

The judgment of America will partially be meted out because of the sins of Sodom. This perversion, along with abortion and a refusal to support the nation of Israel will be judged unless we, as a nation, stem the unholy tide as it rolls across this land. Election year 2012 is as important as at any time in our national history.

It’s true, today, we may not openly gather in the streets to rape every stranger that comes around, but young and old alike – perverts from every dark corner of the cities and towns of the world – can sit at home and peruse any form of filth they want, right over the internet. The porn business in America alone is valued at around 15 billion dollars a year.

Those who sit at their computer or TV and watch porn are no different than those who came to watch in Sodom. Without an audience the actors would be left to their own devices, but the more people who come out to watch, the more depraved will be the actions of those who are involved. How much more so when our president and our congressional leaders march at the front of the parade of perversion?

⁶ So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!

Lot, in an act of true bravery, puts himself between the visitors and these perverts. He could probably do this because of what happened in the past when there was a battle between the kings of the east and the king of Sodom. When Sodom was defeated, Lot was taken captive but Abraham rescued him and all the people of Sodom and destroyed the armies of the east.

Because of this, they were probably scared of harming Lot in any way and they also may have felt a debt to him. Had this battle not occurred, there is no way he could have faced the crowd as he did.

The custom of many of the people of the Mid East hasn’t changed for thousands of years. When a person is invited into one’s home, it becomes the highest responsibility to care for them and tend to them. Lot felt this responsibility towards the two men because they had come under his roof and therefore under his protection.

He will do absolutely everything possible to see to their care and safety, even by putting his own life at risk first and even at the expense of his own family as we’ll see in verse 8…

⁸ See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

Lot offers his two virgin daughters in exchange for the two men and to this day he is hated by feminists, chastised by theologians, and thought ill of by Bible readers of all sorts. John Wesley says this – “…of two evils we must chose the less, but of two sins we must chose neither, nor ever do evil that good may come of it.”

Unfortunately, people don’t think things through and they go straight to emotions – “Oh, the poor girls!” The people were going to do harm and violence regardless of what Lot did. One thing is sure, evil was going to ensue. No matter what, he knew this and so he did the most logical thing one could expect – he offered his daughters.

Why was this logical? First, they were already engaged to men of Sodom as we’ll see next week. If they accepted the offer, there would be strife within the crowd, and possibly save the girls.

Second, because they were his daughters, it would hopefully get the crowd to reason through Lot’s offer and feel ashamed at their own actions. There is no proof that he actually would have given his daughters over to them.

Third, the girls were part of Abraham’s extended family and so they would have to reason, before actually doing anything, that the man who destroyed four kings with their armies lived just a couple miles away and would be merciless in his destruction of them.

And finally, these people were perverts – homosexual perverts. An offer of women would be contrary to the very nature of the rule of the mob that he was facing. In all, Lot’s decision is by far the best course of action for the safety of all involved – including his girls.

III. Shadows of the Rapture

⁹ And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.

This verse takes us back to verse 1 where Lot was at the city gate. He acted like a judge here because he was a judge at the gate. It is very probable, although not stated, that he was appointed a judge after Abraham defeated the kings of the east. This was an awarded position based on his relationship with his uncle. Whether this is the case or not, he sat in the gates and was noted as an authority.

But the crowd is no longer interested in set authority and has determined to cast it off. And so they do exactly what I said a moment ago, they reject his offer of the women. They are not only perverts, but they have become unreasonably violent by the conduct of their wicked lives.

The translators of the Geneva Bible make this comment about living too close to sin, as Lot is, “Nothing is more dangerous than to live where sin reigns: for it corrupts all.”

This is a lesson Lot learned the hard way…

¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

Lot is brought into complete safety, away from the wickedness of the people, and into the presence of the Lord. We don’t know this yet, but the term used for someone he speaks to later indicates that it is the Lord there with him behind the door. Once Lot is pulled in, the door that was open is now shut.

¹¹ And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

The type of blindness, or as the Hebrew says it “blindnesses” – is the word basanveriim and is found in only two accounts in the Old Testament. The other time it’s used is in 2 Kings 6:18 –

“So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.”

The blindness they are experiencing is a peculiar sort that has much less to do with the eyes than it does with the mind. The heads of the people in Sodom, just like those with Elisha in Dothan, were confused and their thinking was clouded. It’s a state of blindness which is more mental and spiritual than physical.

We know this because Elisha led the army of Syria all the way from Dothan to Samaria and they followed him. The people of Sodom grope for the door, even though it’s still there… right there… they can’t find it. In other words, the very thing they’re intent upon finding is the thing they can’t see.

It is as if they see a door and they find thorn bush, and when they see a thorn bush, they think it’s a door.

Have any of you seen how today’s verses picture the coming rapture? Let’s stand back and look at the whole scene as if it were the time before Christ comes and compare what we see with how the Bible describes that glorious day when we are called home.

Here is how Peter describes the wickedness of the world which will receive God’s judgment. In these verses, he tells about the righteousness of Lot. Notice, as I read, the similarity between the state of Sodom and the world which our liberal progressive leaders are rushing us towards –

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 2 Peter 2

As you can see, the state that Sodom was in is the state of today’s world. And later in that same epistle Peter says this about the destruction of the people he just described and about the hope of the believer. Remember these concepts are made in comparison to Sodom before and after its destruction –

“¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

In the time of wickedness which preceded destruction, Lot was physically snatched back through the door by the angels and rescued by them from the people’s evil intent. And this is exactly how Paul describes our coming rescue in 1 Thessalonians 4 –

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

The word Paul uses for “caught up” in the passage I just read is harpagesometha (har pah ge sah may tha), or in it’s more recognizable form harpazo. It means to seize or carry off by force, or to snatch away. This is exactly the picture we were given when the angels in the house seized Lot and pulled him behind the door and into the presence of the Lord.

If you remember, after Lot was pulled to safety, the door was shut and no one could open it. All outside were excluded from safety. Now listen to how Jesus explains this same concept to the church of Philadelphia and the result of being left out of His safe protection, just as Sodom was –

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

There is an hour of trial coming upon the whole world and the world will be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people, but we are promised safety from this, just as Lot was. Here is how Paul describes it in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 –

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. ⁸ But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him

We are not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Christ. And in his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul explains the timing of this and what will occur after that moment. Listen carefully and see the amazing parallel to what occurred in Sodom.

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Lot was pulled through the door to safety and only after that were the people given blindnesses or basanveriim in Hebrew. Remember how I explained it then. This was a mental or spiritual blindness, not a physical one.

This is exactly what Paul says will happen again. The world will be given a “strong delusion” so that they will believe the lie. They will look for the door and they will find a thorn bush. They will see a thorn bush and think it is the door… In reality, they will search for God and find the antichrist. They will see the antichrist and think he is God.

And what is the door that Lot was pulled through? It was the same Door that we will be pulled through. Do you remember today’s text verse? Just prior to the tribulation, in Revelation 4:1 as the church age is ending, John saw a Door opened in heaven.

As he looked a voice called out to him “come up here” and to the presence of the Lord – just as Lot was pulled into the presence of the Lord. What door did he see? In John chapter 10, Jesus Himself explains what the Door in Sodom’s time was and Who the Door in the future is –

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

You see, everything points to Jesus – Old Testament and New. All people are either moving toward the Door or they are alienated from it. There is a spiritual blindness which covers the eyes of the people of the world, but when we call out to Jesus, the blindness is replaced with sight; darkness is replaced with light; condemnation is replaced with salvation; and death is replaced with life.

There is a time of evil coming upon the whole world and when the call is made for the righteous to come home to glory, there will only be suffering and death for those left behind. Isaiah tell us so –

Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. ⁷ Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt, ⁸ And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames. ⁹ Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. ¹⁰ For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. ¹¹ “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. ¹² I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. ¹³ Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger. ¹⁴ It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land. ¹⁵ Everyone who is found will be thrust through, And everyone who is captured will fall by the sword. ¹⁶ Their children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; Their houses will be plundered And their wives ravished.

Jesus holds the keys to life and death in His hands. We have a choice to make before that great day of wrath comes and I hope and pray you will make the right one before it arrives. Let me tell you how you can…

Next Week – Genesis 19:12-26 (The Destruction of Sodom – Wake up America)

Safety Behind the Door

Two angels came to Sodom late in the day
And Lot was sitting in the gate of the city
When he saw them he rose to meet them on their way
And bowed himself to the ground not caring if he got gritty

And he said, “My lords please turn into your servant’s place
Spend the night, yes… and wash your feet
Then you may rise early, just offer me this grace
After the night you can again hit the street

And they said, “No, we will spend the night in the open square.”
But Lot insisted strongly, “No, please don’t sleep out there.”

Then he made them a grand old feast
There was lots of food and drink and bread without any yeast

Now before they lay down to catch a little sleep
The perverts of the city, both young and old gathered at the place
Everyone from the town came, every single creep
To commit acts which are a complete disgrace

“Where are the men who came to you tonight?
Bring them out so we can abuse them, don’t put up a fight

But he went out through the door and the door was shut behind
And he begged, “My brethren, don’t so wickedly act.”
I have two virgin daughters if you have the mind
Let me bring them out to you, with them please interact

Do nothing to these men for they are under the shadow of my roof
I am obliged to their safety and my daughters are the proof

And they said, “Stand back.”
You came here acting as a judge
Now it is you we will attack
Against you we now bear our grudge

So they pressed hard against the man Lot
And came near to break down the door
But the men pulled him inside to their safe spot
And closed out the wicked perverts who outside cussed and swore

And they struck the men at the doorway with blindness
Both small and great became weary trying to find the door
But Lot was protected because of his righteous kindness
And he would be safe from them; they would bother him no more

A day is coming for the righteous walking in this wicked world
To be pulled into safety through the glorious Door
When at the rapture God’s beautiful plan is unfurled
We will be in the presence of the Lord from then and forevermore

Yes, it is through Jesus that our future is assured
It is through His shed blood that we are eternally secured

And so we praise You our precious King
And to You alone all our praises we sing

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 18:16-33
Proclaiming Righteousness

Introduction: Sodom and Gomorrah are the Bible’s prime example of ungodliness and of God’s judgment on sin. Today we’ll look at events prior to the judgment on those cities. These events center on Abraham and his visit from the Lord and we will see how our action or lack of action as individuals can affect the society in which we live, even to the point that the judgment of God is necessary.

Every one of us who is a saved believer in Jesus Christ has responsibilities to others around us. Abraham exercises his responsibility by petitioning the Lord on behalf of His people. And we’ll look into what Lot may or may not have done to fulfill his responsibility as a member of the society in which he lives. Only in the weeks to come will we see if he fulfilled his duties or not.

Text Verse: Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; ¹² Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. ¹³ For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth. Psalm 96:11-13

The Lord is the Judge of all the earth and when He judges it is in absolute righteousness. The Bible proclaims that despite being a loving Creator, which He is, He is also holy and will not look favorably upon the sins of the people. Let us understand this and remember to view sin for what it is – a violation against His perfect nature, and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. An Outcry against Sin

Before we look at today’s verses, we should consider what leads up to them. Let’s review when Sodom and Gomorrah are first brought into focus and how Lot ended up there.

Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. ⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” /// Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. ¹³ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. Genesis 13:5-9 & 12&13

In chapter 14, the 4 kings from the east engaged the 5 kings around Sodom in battle and took Lot captive. Abraham followed after them and defeated them and rescued Lot. After that time, Sodom isn’t mentioned again until today’s verses. Everything else has dealt with Abraham in one way or another.

In the first verses of chapter 18, which we looked at last week, the Lord appeared with two others and ate at Abraham’s tent and then confirmed what he had already been told, that Sarah would have a son and he would be born within the next year. Now that this meeting has ended, we come to today’s verses.

¹⁶ Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom,…

The meal is done and the promise of a son in the coming year is behind them. Sarah laughed about it in a mocking way and after that, she was caught in a lie. All of this was to show us that nothing is outside of the power of God and nothing is hidden from Him.

This is important to understand because of what lies ahead. By coming to Abraham before going to Sodom, the account is placed in the Bible chronologically and it allows us to understand more clearly the somewhat confusing things which lie ahead.

As they rise it says they looked toward Sodom. This is stated to show Abraham, and us, that judgment is coming. The very last words spoken about Sodom in chapter 13 were, “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.”

Because of their wickedness and the fact that they weren’t wiped out by the invading armies in Chapter 14, the Lord will now have to act personally. What isn’t accomplished by the hands of man will now be tended to by the Lord.

This is an indictment on all sin in all societies and at all times. Man has been given the authority to judge the affairs of each nation. When those affairs are handled properly, the nation purges its sin and remains free from the Lord’s destructive judgment.

However, when a nation fails to prosecute and sentence wickedness, the Lord will step in. This was true with Israel, it’s true with nations today, and it will be the case with the one-world government which is coming. If we don’t judge sin, God will.

America has tasted judgment in several ways in the recent years – financially, through terrorism, and in famine, plague, and natural disaster, but we’ve failed to humble our hearts and prosecute the sins of the people. Paying attention to what lies ahead for Sodom will allow us to see what the result of what the same sins in America will be.

^{16 (con’t)} and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.

This is kind of an unwritten rule of humanity which is found in people around the world, Abraham went along with the three as they headed off. We do this for a number of reasons. 1) We want to make sure people are heading on the right road.

2) We may want to extend the visit as long as possible like in the Ephesians did with Paul in Acts 20 – “And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, ³⁸ sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.”

3) We may have things we want to show along the way, such as “These are my flocks.” “This is where my servant fell and broke his leg.” “There’s a beautiful spring of water right on the other side of that hill… is that where you spoke to Hagar?

4) We may want to be a part of what’s coming and not be left out. This happened to Peter when he was asked to go to the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. Some of the people he stayed with came along as witnesses – “On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brethren from Joppa accompanied him.” (23)

5) We may do it as a sign of respect for a person – “Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, ⁶ who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷ because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.” 3 John -5-8

In this universal tradition of sending others off, Abraham went along with the men as they departed.

¹⁷ And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸ since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

Although stated in the form of a question, “Shall I hide?” it is meant in the form of an affirmative statement, “I shall not hide.” This type of question is found throughout the Bible and is commonly spoken by us today. It is rhetorical and it is a way of getting us to think through the issue at hand. Amos, speaking the word of the Lord asks a beautiful set of such questions –

“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? ⁴ Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? ⁵ Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? ⁶ If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?”

The answer to each of these is obvious. After asking them, Amos follows up with another thought which completely and fully explains the Lord’s intent to tell Abraham –

“⁷ Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

Abraham is identified as a prophet in Genesis 20 and so this is to be taken as a rhetorical question. He is a prophet of God and a part of the Lord’s plan for bringing in the Messiah. He will become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. And so the Lord includes him in what’s coming.

But there are more reasons as well…

¹⁹ For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

The Lord personally chose Abraham to be the father of all the people of God – both physically and spiritually. By showing him what He is about to do, the Lord is instructing him in the severity of keeping the way of the Lord and in doing what is right and just.

He is going to use the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as an object lesson of what it means to turn away from these things. It will be a permanent memorial concerning the punishments which come from violating the righteousness of God.

It will also serve as an eternal reminder to God’s people about the fate of those who are ungodly. It has been 25 years since Abraham entered Canaan and the people of Sodom were already there and known for their wickedness at that time.

He was told earlier that he couldn’t possess the land of Canaan because the wickedness of the Amorites hadn’t yet reached its full measure and that it wouldn’t do so for 430 years. However, the destruction of Sodom was coming because it had. God’s patience with this particular group of people had ended.

Two things are happening at once. The first is the Lord revealing His intended actions to an upright person and at the same time showing him why He is taking the actions in the first place. This two edged sword is perfectly noted in Proverbs 3:32 –

For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord,
But His secret counsel is with the upright. Proverbs 3:32

And again, in the book of Hosea, at the time prior to the exile of Israel, the Lord reminds the people of these things in hope that they will remember, believe, and repent

Who is wise? Let him understand these things. Who is prudent? Let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right; The righteous walk in them, But transgressors stumble in them. Hosea 14:9

²⁰ And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,

What is the sin of Sodom? Pretty much everyone but sodomites agrees on what it is, but the Bible is clear on it. We’ll look at it in detail when we get to the next chapter, but yes, it is centered mainly on homosexuality and sexual perversion which is a crime against the natural order which God intended for His creatures.

It also involves, according to Ezekiel, gluttony, laziness, and an unwillingness to help others in need. These are the grave sins for which the outcry is made. If you don’t see America written all over these sins, then you’re not looking. Day after day for years, porn has been the number 1 search on internet search engines.

Our president and approximately one half of our nation’s leaders, represented by the democrat party openly support the gay agenda and it has become one of the party issues in their 2012 platform. They have sent openly homosexual members to congress and they have flaunted their perversion in the daylight.

They’re demanding these rights for out military and in our schools. They are leading us to the sure and complete destruction which we rightly deserve for closing our eyes and electing these vulgar and perverse people with this twisted agenda.

We’ve become gluttonous and fat in this nation and our appetite has become unrestrained. Instead of moderation, we look to pills to take away pounds. Instead of work to keep healthy, we go to doctors for more pills, paying for them with welfare checks.

And not helping others in need…? We’ve killed unborn children to the number of 50 million… and we turn a blind eye. We’ve elected a president who once voted “in favor of legalizing infanticide,” by voting “to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion process.” What is coming upon Sodom will be coming upon America unless we turn from our ways.

The Bible says, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.” We are heading right into the same destructive Force which met with and destroyed Sodom.

Yes, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great… how much more is it crying out against us in the land which has a Bible in every home and a church on every corner. With great knowledge comes great responsibility and surely great judgment.

²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

We read an interesting parallel in Genesis 11 at the time of the Tower of Babel. It says, “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.”

The Lord is again descending to the level of man to test and see the situation. It is as if He is stepping off His throne, even in the presence of Abraham, to make His determination. And this has nothing to do with whether He already knew the situation of Sodom or not – He did.

This act of justice is for the sake of Abraham and is a lesson of instruction for judges of the future. We are to personally inspect a situation to determine a matter before judgment and not go by word alone. The Lord has set the example in judicial proceedings.

II. The Judge of All the Earth

²² Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

The result of what is coming is inevitable and Abraham seems to know it. The two men who were with the Lord have turned toward Sodom and will carry out the sentence. He’s already been there and he knows the wickedness of the place.

And so he “came near” to the Lord. This is a defining moment in the Bible because it is the Bible’s first hint of a prayer to the Lord.

In the 73^rd Psalm we read this –

But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works. (28

Abraham is drawing near to the Lord in order to petition Him and to understand and declare all His works. There is only one hope in his heart and that is Lot’s personal testimony. We won’t know about it until we get to the next chapter, but by what Abraham says in the coming verses, we can guess he already knows.

Now he speaks to the Lord as if he were a free-born son in the house – openly and frankly, and he will continue to do so through the entire conversation. And yet he will do it with an air of humility. The book of Hebrews says this to the believer when speaking of our interactions with the Lord –

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (4:16)

I have no problem with people quoting this and trusting in it. It is an admonition to every believer that we should have the confidence to enter the throne of God’s grace in our time of need. But as I’ve told people many times in the past, we need to be on our face once we get there.

One of the most appalling and arrogant things that I hear Christians say, and I hear them say it all the time is “I claim.” “I claim something in Jesus’ name.” – be it a Porsche or healing, be it financial help or someone’s salvation. We have no right to claim anything except that which the Bible speaks of and the Bible doesn’t use the word “claim” …ever for such things from God.

Abraham’s boldness mixed with humility is the appropriate measure of how we too should conduct our affairs in the presence of the Lord. Let’s watch as he speaks to his Creator…

²⁴ Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

There are actually five cities that are included in the account. Sodom and Gomorrah are simply the principle cities of this group of five, and Sodom is especially noted because it’s where Lot is. Could there be an average of ten righteous people per city?

If there are, then he is reminding the Lord that destroying the cities would destroy the righteous with the wicked. This is a problem and a question that not only fills the entire Bible, but also the minds of almost every person who has ever lived. “Why do bad events happen to good people?”

It is something that Job deals with. It is something that Habakkuk deals with. It is something that Paul speaks about and it is struggled over and debated the world over. There is a wrong view to God’s justice which says there is a law governing fairness which is higher than God and therefore it is binding on Him.

In essence He must act in response to the law itself. When we believe this, we make our appeal to the law. Our prayers to, or our comments about God, reflect this. This is wrong.

The correct view is that God is the standard of justice. He is the Creator and therefore He is before His creation. Therefore anything about Him simply is – it doesn’t change, it doesn’t increase or decrease. His power is used in conjunction with His own moral perfection. Therefore, whatever God does is fair – whether we understand it or not.

When we see this, we make our appeal directly to Him and not to the standard which stems from Him or to which He is subordinate. This is what Abraham has done. He has appealed directly to the Creator, though he doesn’t fully understand the situation, he knows the Source of the justice and he acknowledges it accordingly.

Non-Christians and confused Christians don’t understand this concept and therefore they blame God for adversity, tragedy, and trouble. But the one who knows God’s character and His nature stands on the assurance that what occurs is perfectly just and fair.

Isaiah understood this as he penned these words –

The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away, While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil. ² He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness. (57:1-2)

There is one thing lacking in Abraham’s understanding of the pending judgment – apart from imputed righteousness, there is none righteous, no not one. Abraham may be making a plea based on a faulty premise. Man is fallen and inherently unrighteous and therefore whatever judgment falls on Sodom is deserved.

III. Pondering Lot’s Witness

I hope you’ll pay particular attention to this point and I hope you’ll see yourself and your own testimony all over it – either meeting the needs or seeing that you don’t. If you don’t I hope you will endeavor to do so in the future.

²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” ²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸ Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

Abraham is now facing a dilemma. He was counting on there being 50 righteous people there. But he already knew the wickedness of the place. It was morally bankrupt. However, Lot had moved there and he was a follower of the one true God. He had a large camp with many employees under him too.

We know from 2 Peter that Lot was a righteous man. So he obviously wasn’t only a follower of the Lord, but also one to share the news about Him, right? He must have convinced 49 people about the path of righteousness. But… maybe not.

Lord, I am dust and ashes, but let me speak again. Dust and ashes is a reference to two concepts about the human being. First that we came from the dust when the Lord created us. Second, that we are ashes – beings deserving the judgment of fire in the presence of pure holiness. From dust we came and to ashes we deserve to go.

“I am dust and ashes, but what if there are only forty five?” You see, he’d been around Lot enough to know that he might not have told his sheepherders about the Lord. Lot was a busy guy and so Abraham realizes that he can’t count them in, so he’d better lower his number to forty five? And the Lord agrees – not for 45.

²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

Abraham thinks it through again and he says to himself, “Hmmm, I never saw Lot talk to any of his camp’s kitchen staff either. I don’t think there’s a single believer in the group.” “Lord, what if there’s only forty instead of forty five? And the Lord agrees – not for 40.

³⁰ Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

“Hmmm,” he says to himself the fourth time, “I never saw Lot give one family sermon in front of his harvesting crew. In fact, all ten of them cuss like the dickens and they drink beer all night. I’d better not trust in any of them either. Lord, what if there’s only thirty instead of forty? And the Lord agrees – not for 30.

³¹ And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

Abraham is running out of employees. He’s considered the shepherds, the camp cooks, the harvesters – Lot hasn’t talked to any of them. He’s been a backslider since he and Abraham separated more than 20 years ago.

The last time he visited Lot’s homestead, even the maids in the house were drinking and going out with the locals till all hours of the night. He can’t count on them either. Instead of being in church on Sunday morning, they’re sleeping in from hangovers. Lord what if there’s only 20? And the Lord agrees – not for 20.

³² Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

Well, he can’t count on any of the hired staff and he’s at 20. After thinking about it, if he hasn’t talked to any of his own staff, then he probably hasn’t talked to any of his neighbors either. Lot has proved to be a major disappointment in his witness.

This leaves only four people in the house – Lot, his wife, and two daughters. The two daughters are set to be married and surely Lot would make sure they would marry godly men. That’s six people. And those men would be godly because of godly parents.

They would have raised them properly and punished them when they did wrong. Yes, there must be those four godly parents for those two godly boys who to marry his two godly daughters. Lord, what if there are only 10? And the Lord agrees – not for 10.

Six times Abraham pleads with the Lord and six times he sees the consequences of being a faithless witness for the Lord. Five cities stand in the face of destruction because one man failed to open his mouth and speak out.

I hope each person here is seeing themselves next to Lot in the mirror. We’re heading for judgment and there’s only one way to avert it – speaking out. And even that probably won’t do at this point. The most we can do is pull those we meet out of the fire.

Are you willing to go to heaven while those around you are destined for hell? There really is an eternal consequence for your lack of witness. As Matthew Henry says to you – “Though sin is to be hated, sinners are to be pitied and prayed for. God delights not in their death, nor should we desire, but deprecate, the woeful day.” We need to witness and pray that they may be saved.

³³ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

We all have questions of the Lord and almost always the answers are found in the pages of the Bible. When they’re not, Abraham and others have been used as examples of how to interact with Him and what is and isn’t appropriate in our dealings with Him.

“I claim salvation for those in Sodom.” “I claim that this destruction be averted.” Never, no never, speak those words again in the presence of Your Creator! Have a little humility…

Let’s remember today’s account and know that when things are troubling us, we have a right to question the Lord about what is happening and how it will be handled. But in the end, we need to remember that He is God and we are man. Abraham never claimed diddly from the Lord, but trusted that what the Lord determined was ultimately right and just.

His decisions concerning a matter are infinitely wiser than our hopes about it and so let’s remember to trust His decisions and His counsel as a just and righteous Judge. If anyone here has never understood their need for Jesus who is the Mediator and Advocate between God and man, let me explain this to you…

Next Week – Genesis 19:1-11 (Destruction is Coming – Shadows of the Rapture)

The Outcry against Wickedness

The men rose and looked toward Sodom
And Abraham went with them, to send them on their way
And the Lord determined to reveal his intentions to him
Even if Abraham in this would find dismay

“I have known him and instructed him in the life to lead
And this pertains to his descendants too
They shall keep the way of the Lord surely and indeed
To do righteousness and justice all generations through

And the Lord said, “Because the outcry is so great”
And because their sin is very grave
I go down to Sodom and Gomorrah, I will not hesitate
To see whether the rumor is true, of how they misbehave

Then the men turned and went toward this task so grim
But Abraham stood still before the Lord, waiting to talk to Him

“Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked also?
I am sure this won’t occur, tell me it is not so

“Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city
Would You also destroy the place and not spare it for them?
Far be it from You to do such a thing, it cannot be
Destroying the righteous with the wicked, like tearing a cloth with one hem

“Far be it from You! It can’t be so in my sight
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what’s just and right?

So the Lord said, “If for fifty righteous within the city,
Then I will spare the place – for their sakes I will show pity

Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now
I who am but dust and ashes have spoken to the Lord
Suppose there were five less than the fifty somehow
Would You destroy all for lack of five?” Tell me your word

So He said, “If I find there forty-five
The people of the city will remain alive

And Abraham spoke yet again and this he said,
“Suppose there should be forty found there?” What will you do?
I will not do it for the sake of forty instead
I have spoken and you know My word is true

Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak
Suppose there should be only thirty found there?
“I will not do it if I find thirty. Though the number is quite weak”
Abraham, I can see how much you care

“Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord
Suppose that only twenty should be found there?”
“I won’t destroy for the sake of twenty. Thus you have my word”
But this number is getting pretty low, it will end just where?

Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry
Let the Lord show kindness and favor to me”

I will speak again but it will be only once more
I have already spoken so many times before

Suppose ten should be found there?”
And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
For ten righteous souls the city I will spare
Yes, I will do it for them… Abraham, I’m glad you asked again

So the Lord went His way after speaking
And Abraham returned to his place
His curiosity was certainly piquing
What would befall the cities that lay south of his place

If you wonder about how the Lord deals with us
He is righteous and He is also just
To save us from sure destruction He sent His Son Jesus
Yes, He is completely fair, in this all souls can trust

Hallelujah and Amen…