| from judgement? Or, was his judgement just slightly different than those who perished in Sodom and Gomorrah? In every case, Adam and Eve, Cain, Ham, Ishmael, and Lot there has been a separation from what God intended as good for man. In a word they were exiled. Abraham wandered through what became the promised land while Lot was relocated east of the Jordan in the mountains and beyond into present day Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. We must not lose sight of the fact that Lot overnight stepped from a life of luxury and prestige into one of being a nomad in an alien land, a widower. Do you think that Lot would have been thankful for his deliverance? And even if Lot, from time to time saw justice in what had happened, what memories would his daughters carry forward? Again, I am sure we see the creation of family lore and hatred, to be passed from generation to generation. This lore and hatred would not be kind to Abraham or the God of Abraham. Instead, I am sure it would see them as the villain's, who were responsible for all the hardships experienced by the Moabites and the Ammonites. It is no wonder that there is a continuing history of strife between the children of Israel and the children of Moab and Benammi ( Ammon ), even to the present day. How does this story apply to us, and Christianity today? In the first place, we see that Lot was unwilling to make a total commitment to either side, the world or God. He placed high priority on his personal popularity. He would have fit very well into today's society. He thought, since he had the appearance of being a 'good man', that was all that was required by God, ( easy believism ). His existance truly was veiled as his name implied. I am extremely fearful that a considerable number of modern day Lot's have been generated by not being told how great a commitment they were making when they decided to follow Jesus. They have been led astray through fragmented scripture, and just like Lot, they try to live in both worlds, and fail to please God by leaning whichever way the wind blows. That may be the way to survive in the world, but it is certainly not the way in God's presence. We 71 _______________________________________________________________________________ can not walk with God that way because he doesn't walk that way, and we drift out of fellowship with God, off God's path. I am becoming increasingly convinced that God requires contextual precision from us in understanding and following His word. II Peter 2 has told us that it is better to not do it at all than to not do it right. But as we have seen with David, man can return to God's path, never again straying, and stay in fellowship from there on. It is not too late to start studying God's word in context. 72 _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ |
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