July 18, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Psalm 84-86

Weekly Memory Verse: 1 John 1:9

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Normally on Sunday’s I make a short study, today is an exception because as I prepared this study I was working with a lot of time to kill.  It is still rather shallow, with lots of room for remarks, if you see something that strikes you, write in, I would be glad to post your remarks. I am knocking around the idea of spending a little more time in the Old Testament  and may change the schedule soon.  I may go to one Old Testament book then a New Testament one, completing the entire book before switching, I am enjoying the trot through Genesis.  If you have suggestions, I would be happy to hear them,

Genesis 19:1-11 (NASB95)
¹ Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” ³ Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 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 have relations with them.” ⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. ⁸ “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway. ^[1]

Notice that Lot was sitting in the gate of the city, and intercepted the men before they came into the city.  He also bowed down to welcome them.  However the welcome that Lot gave was not accompanied with the recognition that Abraham had in the last chapter.  In ancient times, the elders of the city would sit in the gates to handle daily business.  They would also welcome any strangers who were passing through.  The mention of Lot could indicate that he was the only one who felt that hospitality was important, or it could be that the other elders of the city were not mentioned because they were not crucial to the story.  

Lot was strongly opposed to their spending the night in the square probably because he was aware that these men would be abused by the inhabitants of the city.  He went out of his way to prepare a feast for the travelers, similar to Abraham's, and prepared bread for them.  Lot's choosing to live in Sodom did not make him unrighteous, although it did color his character.  The actions of Lot demonstrates that he lived and held to the principles that Abraham did. 

Leviticus 18:22 (NASB95)
²² ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 (NASB95)
¹³ ‘If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

Romans 1:26-27 (NASB95)
²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. ^[2]

The question regarding other elders standing in the city gates seems to be answered here.  They did not stand with Lot because they did not want visitors.  The character of the city, both young and old was that they were homosexuals.  The city was characterized by homosexuality, to the point that they were willing to gang rape the two men who were staying with Lot.  He placed himself in harms way by offering his daughters to the men, and pleading with them, placing himself at risk.  The New American Standard translation makes it sound as if the crowd decided to substitute Lot for the Angels.

He obviously felt that he could reason with them and get them to change their minds.  It turns out that they were militant to the point that even after being struck blind, they still would not give up the cause.  In our own country we can vouch for the militant attitudes of the homosexuals.  It seems that as homosexuality increases in our country, their boldness also increases. 

Genesis 19:12-23 (NASB95)
¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³ for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. ¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! ¹⁹ “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; ²⁰ now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” ²¹ He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. ²² “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar. ²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

Luke 17:28-35 (NASB95)
²⁸ “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. ³² “Remember Lot’s wife. ³³ “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. ³⁴ “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵ “There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left.

Matthew 24:15-20 (NASB95)
¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ¹⁸ “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ^[3]

The answer to the number of righteous in the city rested at four, nowhere near the ten needed to save the city.  Lot and his family escaped because the Lord pulled them out of the city before He rained His judgment upon the city. 

One interesting note here, Lot was concerned about going into the hills in order to save himself, and begged to go into the city of Zoar.  A thought crossed my mind as I read the angels exhortation to Lot to run for the hills.  That was exactly what Jesus said that people will do when the end times come.  Things will be so terrible that they will run for the hills.

Look at the difference between Abraham and Lot.  Abraham was told to travel to a new land and God would establish a nation through him.  Abraham went without complaining.  He did not ask God for favors when times were tough, he certainly may not have made the right decision, but at least he made a decision and ran with it.  Lot on the other hand demonstrated that he did not believe God would provide for him, pleading to go to the city because he may starve in the desert.  God was not considered as provider for his life, it is clear that his life was not under divine control.  As a matter of fact, it seems that his belly-aching is tolerated because Abraham prayed for his safety.  The angels had to almost forcibly remove them before they would leave their loved possessions behind.  They literally had to be led by the hand until they were outside the city. 

Genesis 19:24-29 (NASB95)
²⁴ Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷ Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.^[4]

God made it possible for Lot and his family to get away from Sodom without being destroyed.  The only thing I can come up with on the reason that Lots wife was turned to a pillar of salt is because salt was very valuable during the ancient times.  She may have been concerned with the wealth that was left behind.  At any rate, she looked back when God told her not to. 

It is thought that the site of Sodom and Gomorrah is under the Dead Sea.  God rained so much fire and brimstone on the city that it was burned below sea level.  Please note:

“The syntax suggests that sunrise, Lot’s arrival in Zoar, and the fire from heaven coincide. The Lord acts as soon as Lot reaches his place of safety. Lot for his part must have moved quickly, for in the Middle East there is barely half an hour between dawn and sunrise. “Brimstone and fire” are paired in Ps 11:6 and Ezek 38:22 as agents of divine retribution. The Dead Sea area still reeks of sulphurous fumes, and asphalt deposits are found, but what combination of natural or supernatural agents destroyed the towns remains speculative (see von Rad, 220; Sarna, 138, for some suggestions). The narrator stresses that “it was from the Lord.”^[5]

Genesis 19:30-38 (NASB95)
³⁰ Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. ³² “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” 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. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³⁵ So 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. ³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.^[6]

Isn't it interesting that God had directed Lot to go to the mountains, and afterward, Lot saw the wisdom of the direction?  It sounds as if they were living the lives of hermits, separated away from all other civilization.  God had promised to protect Lot while he lived in Zoar, yet he could not trust God to protect him when he was handed a city.  The desperate moves of the daughters reflect the morals that they were raised with. It seems with this new information, that God spared Lot only because Abraham prayed and interceded for him.  His wife had turned to salt because she did not believe the angel’s warning, and his daughters demonstrated the exact nature of the city of Sodom by taking advantage of their father.  I will remind you, the men of the city wanted to take advantage of the angels against their will, the same thing happened to Lot.  The only indication that we have showing us that Lot was righteous was when he accepted the visitors at the city gate.

Deuteronomy 2:9 (NASB95)
⁹ “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession.

Deuteronomy 2:19 (NASB95)
¹⁹ ‘When you come opposite the sons of Ammon, do not harass them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot as a possession.’

Deuteronomy 23:2-5 (NASB95)
² “No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. ³ “No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, ⁴ because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵ “Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. ^[7]

For the record, the Bible includes the names of the sons of Lot, and the peoples that were born of this dubious deed.  God blessed them and protected their land.  Today there are some who justify abortion in various cases such as rape and incest.  Both took place in this story, and God blessed the offspring, it seems as if He forgot their beginning.  One reason that they fell out of favor with Israel was because of the way that they treated them during the Exodus.

I am going to close here, I’ve rambled on long enough.  Comments are always welcomed.

Questions for thought:

1. How were Abraham’s welcome and Lot’s welcome to strangers similar, and how were they different?
2. What does God’s treatment of Sodom and Gomorrah say about how He views immorality?
3. Compare Lot’s reaction to God’s direction with Abraham’s, what can we learn about faith from Lot’s failure to live in Zoar?

Father, as we consider Your word today, put a love in each of our hearts for the word and application of it to our lives.

In Him,

Joe Turner.