This week’s reading: Genesis 19:1-38
Hi Friends,
We left off last week with the two Angelic beings making their way down to Sodom to see if the outcries against them were indeed sinfully grievous. It is certainly not that God did not already know, but He was using this situation to give Abraham the opportunity to intercede for any righteous people that lived in those lands, and that is exactly what Abraham did. The heart of this Saint would cause him to be bold in bargaining for his nephew, Lot, and his family, as well as anyone else that might have chosen to follow his God because of his witness. As I said, Abraham negotiated down to whether there were 10 righteous people living in these two cities, so that God would not destroy them. But listen to God’s verdict:
“With the coming of the dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.’ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!’” Gen 19:15-17 NIV
Wickedness. Sadly, evil is contagious. As I hinted in previous articles, when Lot chose to take the land that seemed more plentiful, he did not know the problems his decision would bring. After being rescued by Abraham from being taken captive by the enemies of Sodom, (see Gen 14:1-24) it seems like Lot did not keep in contact with his uncle. Since they were now living separately, we can see that Lot did not take part in performing the sign of the covenant, which was circumcision. (see Gen 17:1-27) But since the Bible calls him righteous, we can understand that Lot must have had a heart for the God Abraham was following. (see 2Pe 2:7-8) Thank God, our entrance into Heaven is not based on our works or character, but fully founded on the saving work of Jesus and His Immaculate Nature. But just like with you and me, this doesn’t mean Lot did not make some poor choices, nor was he immune to the wickedness that existed around him. We can see in this week’s reading that his moral compass was a bit skewed, and this is most likely because he lived for quite some time among the sinful inhabitants of Sodom. It is part of our fallen nature to want to compromise and assimilate with those around us, for good or bad, so what happens next should shock us, but not be a surprise. “Shock” because it clearly seems so very wrong. Yet not “surprising” because of the sinful attitude of those who lived around Lot. To his benefit, like Abraham, Lot did value hospitality highly as we read that he was sitting in the gateway of the city in the evening, most likely to see if there were any strangers who needed a safe place to spend the night. We also hear that Lot would not take “No” for an answer as he urged these two travelers to come stay in his home. (see Gen 19:13) And that’s when things get a big wonky. After these Angels had a bite to eat and before they rested for the night, the men from Sodom surrounded Lot’s home and demanded he hand over these strangers so that they may have their way with them. This is when Lot goes outside to the townsfolk and offers his own two virgin daughters instead. Okay, I get that Lot had provided for the two travelers’ safety in his home, but seriously!?! Again, I get he is trying to talk some sense into this mob, but really? This is the first sign that Lot had indeed become influenced by the wickedness around him. Now let’s take a moment to reflect on our own lives, shall we? Least we condemn Lot for being an imperfect human, just like we are. In the heat of the moment, have we said or done things that are most likely not loving towards our own family? Have we ever been subject to a wrong idea to solve a problem that really only caused more problems? Have we ever thrown someone we care about “under the bus,” as the saying goes? I believe this is Lot’s state of mind here, and if it wasn’t for these Angels saving him, he very well may have become the victim of the men’s vile intentions. I am in no way making excuses for Lot’s twisted reasoning, but I know all too well, not one of us humans are perfect…except of course for our Perfect Lord Jesus. When we read horrific accounts like this one in the Bible, we can quickly see the terrible effects of sin on our world, and in the fallible human heart. And the amazing thing is that God never shies away from revealing this depraved human nature. This is one of the many reasons we can count on the authenticity of the Bible. If the writers were just telling the story of humanity, then they would have certainly cleaned up ugly and filthy narratives like this entire chapter. But since the Bible is not about humans, but centers on the Love and Grace of our Creator God, we should be aware of the depths of evil we humans too often plunge into, all for the sake of satisfying our own sinful appetites. Sex, money and power seem to be what too many humans run after, and even Lot here forsakes his fatherly duty just to gain control of this crowd. He tries to sweet talk them by calling them “friends.” (see Gen 19:7) He attempts to give them alternatives to attacking these strangers under his care. (see Gen 17:8) And he allows sin to distort his own right thinking, and holds the expectation of hospitality to be put above his role as a loving father. (again see Gen 17:8) Oh when we choose to be a part of this sinful world, we too quickly, and easily, fall prey to sin too.
Those who choose sin are blind. In order to rescue Lot from the growing angst of the gang outside, the Angels pull him back into his home, and strike those outside with blindness. But this is the truth about all humans when we sin: we are blind to God’s righteousness. We think we have the right to do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, for as long as we want. This is a lie, most especially if we are born again believers of Jesus. And still too many in Church continue to make excuses for our sins. We falsely think we are not hurting anyone. But my Friends, we are grieving God’s heart. (see Eph 4:30) Yet we feel like God understands so sin is not that big a deal, right? After all, we are living under Grace, aren’t we? I will allow St Paul’s words to dismiss that lie, go read Romans 6:1-14. The problem is we still want what we want, more than we want what God wants for us. We still want darkness, while God desires for us to be holy. In this sense “holy” does not mean acting perfect all the time, because we are children who are still learning to walk in Faith and to be obedient to God. But “holy” does mean we are to be different than those around us. When the whole world is freely and willingly living in some kind of sin, we are to be grieved by our sin, repentant of our sin and running to God for help to overcome our sin. Praise God this is not a matter of Salvation…but it can be. Perhaps not our Salvation, but that of those who are watching us. Again God is not expecting perfect children who will never fall into sin, either from ignorance, weakness or even temporary stubbornness. But there is a huge difference between sinning because we are being the imperfect child of God that we are, and purposely, rebelliously, unrepentantly sinning, thinking there is nothing wrong with what we are doing. I am sure these men of Sodom did not think they were doing anything wrong either. They were used to having their way all the time, so what’s the big deal? They too wanted what they wanted, and got angry with Lot when he refused to allow the vile things they wanted to happen. As per usual with those who are in open rebellion, they try to turn things around making Lot the bad guy, and begin calling him judgmental. (see Gen 19:9) Have you ever had someone do this to you? You are sincerely trying to help them with a sinful attitude or habit, but they begin with the “judge not or you will be judged” line of false reasoning. We just heard an incredibly powerful teaching from Frank Turek at our congregation this weekend, where he mentions this form of incorrect defense. Jesus never says we cannot judge anyone. It would be foolish for us to see someone snatch someone else’s purse, but not be able to say, “That was wrong.” God is a God of Justice Who expects His children to discern between right and wrong, for crying out loud. What Jesus was commanding us to do was to make sure we are aware of our own faults and flaws before we are tempted to act all “holier than thou” towards others. He says we are to first take the plank out of our own eye, THEN we may take the speck out of our neighbor’s eye. (see Mt 7:1-5) First, we look at ourselves and work with God to heal our brokenness and deliver us from our sinfulness…but then, after having gotten help from God, we are to help others become more holy too. We do this mostly by leading them to God and His Word so they too can work with God to be set free. What really struck me was when Mr Turek said, how come people do not have a problem when we compliment them? That’s a judgment too, right? So the problem, he said, is not that we are judging, but rather that those we are attempting to help, just don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to change. They still want what they want. Sadly, this is to be expected from the lost, but even more distressing is that it is happening too often with those who claim to be Christians too. Where is our humility when others are trying to help us become more like Jesus? Where is our repentant heart when we are confronted with our “speck”? Where is our burning desire to be holy when we are convicted of our shortfalls? Sin blinds us to our own immaturity and imperfections. “I’m not the one with the problem, they are!” we pridefully declare. And when we believe this lie, we stay blind. The inhabitants of Sodom were wicked and prideful and sexually immoral people. This is not me being judgmental. This is me speaking the truth, because this is what God says about them. Next time we get too comfortable with our sin, when someone has the courage to point it out to us, or when the Holy Spirit Himself convicts our heart about it, I pray we will humbly fall into God’s waiting and forgiving arms, and allow Him to open our sight. As we work with Him, we will become increasingly free of the bondage that keeps us from being a more accurate reflection of our Holy, Holy, Holy God…and our lives will become more and more abundant as we do so.
Run far from sin. Lot and his family had gotten used to living in the land of the Canaanites, and dare I say, liked it so much that, even though they saw all the sin around them, they really did not want to leave their home. The Angels warn Lot of what God is going to do and he…he runs for the hills! No, sadly that is not what he does. The Bible says he hesitated. (see Gen 19:16) Yes, first he went to his potential sons-in-law to see if they would escape with the family, but they too were extremely steeped in their life in Sodom and just laughed at Lot. (See Gen 19:14) So that means there were only four righteous people in that whole land, because God does bring down His righteous judgment on these people. Recall how Abraham had hoped there would be at least 10 righteous people there, (see Gen 18:32) but only Lot, his wife and two daughters are taken out of the city…and even Lot’s wife looks back because she just doesn’t want to let go of all she had there. And that heart attitude causes her to be swept away in the same punishment as the wicked. (see Gen 19:26) The Bible teaches us not to flirt with sin because it is very deceptive and ends up imprisoning us, instead of setting us free. Sin never fulfills, but only leaves us wanting more…and more…and more. What the Bible does tell us to do, over and over again, is to flee from sin. Flee means to run away from a place or situation of danger. Danger. Do we see sin as dangerous? I am returning to the idea I was speaking about before because I really think the Church needs to get serious about the deadliness of sin. Again, once we are born again, our eternal destiny is sealed in Christ, praise God! (see Eph 1:13) But will we live this earthly life, dead? That means we will not make any lasting, positive, godly changes in us, those around us, nor in this fallen world. This is not why we are being saved, my Friends. We are to become more and more like Jesus, Who is still changing this world for the better! Are we doing this Church? Or have we chosen to assimilate instead? When this world demands that everyone has a right to be whoever they identify with, to have sexual relations with whoever they feel like being with, to worship Self over God, are we agreeing with them? And let me remind us that silence can be misunderstood as agreement. And here we go again, I can hear it, “Stop being judgmental, Diane.” I’m not. I’m being obedient to God’s Word. Not being hateful or unloving, but gently pointing others to Jesus Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (see Jn 14:6) And please don’t fall for the lie that Jesus never said anything about sexuality. First, Jesus is God, so if it was talked about in the Old Testament, then Jesus said it. Second, Jesus affirms the marriage between man and woman, and since sex was only for the marriage, He supports that intercourse was only a sacred gift to be enjoyed between a married man and his wife. And here’s the other lie, “Don’t get political because Jesus never did.” Who was the number one person Jesus rebuked in the Bible? The Pharisees. And they were not only the religious leaders of the Jews, but also their political representatives. Their major problems with Jesus was that he was stirring up God’s people, and these religious were afraid they were going to lose their political position with the Romans, who let them have their way so long as they kept the peace. My Friends, I know this is a very difficult chapter and there are so many real life issues we must contend with in it, but if we continue to bury our heads in the sand, what can we expect? Where was the Church when the powers that be took prayer out of schools? Where is the Church when the elite start taking out Biblical statues and sayings out of our courts? Where are we Church now that school boards are furthering worldly agendas to our innocent, and easily influenced children, who are taught to believe whatever their teachers tell them? If there was ever a Time to stand up and speak God’s truth, then it is now. First, we must deal with our own sinfulness in the Church…working with God to take out our own planks. But then we must point out the speck in the world’s eyes too. It seems like Lot was burdened by the sinfulness around him, but did he try to make any godly difference? Unlike this corrupted little family, we must run from sin or be swept away with it.
The sinfulness spreads. After hesitating to leave their home, and after Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt, Lot and his two daughters make it safely to a town near by. Listen to what Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary has to say, “Return not to sin and Satan. Rest not in self and the world. Reach toward Christ and heaven, for that is escaping to the mountain, short of which we must not stop.” Lot bargains with the Angels, moaning that fleeing to the mountains was just too far for him to go. (see Gen 19:17-22) But he rethinks this compromise when he sees the devastating destruction God brings upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He does end up running to the mountains and hides out in a cave with his two daughters. Then “One day the older daughter said to the younger, ‘Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father.’” (Gen 19:31-32) So here’s the thing, she knew it was wrong because she says they have to get their father drunk first! But when we grow up in a culture that compromises on what is right, we can quickly make excuses for doing the wrong thing. Yes, continuing the family lineage was important, yet they could have talked to Lot about going somewhere to get them husbands, couldn’t they? There had to be other options available for these two girls. And look at the consequences of their sinful choices: the older sister becomes the mother of Moab, through whom the Moabites come from, and the younger is mother of of Ben-Ammi through whom the Ammonites emerge. (see Gen 19:36-38) If you are not familiar with the Bible, this might not impress you, but those two nations become great enemies of the Israelites throughout their history. When we as parents allow for sin in our lives, or excuse it in the world, what are we teaching our children, and what doors of opposition are we opening up to them? Listen, this Genesis 19 has been very convicting to me personally, and that’s a good thing! Conviction is meant to draw us closer to God so He may change us for the better. Remember there is no more condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ…now and forevermore. (see Ro 8:1) So no guilt here! Condemnation pushes us away from God…that is not what God ever wants for us. But conviction? We all need it, and it is God’s Love and Grace that brings conviction into our hearts. God wants better for us than the death sin brings. Sin steals our peace, kills our joy and destroys our witness to others. This is the enemy’s agenda, all day, every day…but Jesus has come. (see Jn 10:10) Question is: does that make a difference? Good Lord, it should! If you are still wrestling with the same sin you were buried under when you came to Christ, please O please, flee from the sin and into the waiting arms of God. Read His Word. Study His Word. Then work with the Holy Spirit to apply His Word and be free! If you have already begun to 1- be aware of and 2- with God’s help, have at least begun to remove the plank in your own eye, then please O please, help someone else who may be blind, to see the truth too. The truth is God loves us. The truth is God desires to save us. The truth is God wants us to reflect His Holiness to others, so they too may experience His Love and Salvation. Sinfulness does spread…but praise God, so does His Love and Grace. Let us be the ones spreading the news.
God is always watching for our safety. I do not want to forget Abraham in this week’s reading. Gen 19:27-29 are powerful for us to understand. Listen to God’s Word: “Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities were Lot had lived.” (Gen 19:27-29) Abraham did what he could and God remembered His righteous friend and saved Lot because of him. When we choose to pray for others, we just might bring someone to Christ so they too may be saved. This is the power God grants every believer. Do we take advantage of this privilege? I pledge to make some more changes in my life that will prioritize being repentant of my own sin, lovingly helping others with their sin and covering everything in prayer, trusting God to do what only God can do, save us all. Do you want to make that commitment too? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
