WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2009                                                       READ: Genesis 19: 12 - 29                                                                                                        

LOT TAKEN OUT OF SODOM

MEMORIZE: ‘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 this city.” And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hands, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him….’         Genesis 19:15, 16

The word Sodom carries a certain connotation. It usually reminds us of a certain kind of immorality. When Lot made his choice to go and live in the plain of Jordan, where Sodom was located, it was because of the fertility of the place, judging that it was well suited for cattle herding. Note is made then, that this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. It is amazing how capable affluence and opulence are in corrupting people. We are reading in our text, Genesis 19: 12 – 19, that, less than twenty-five years after Lot would have been living in Sodom, he with his wife and two unmarried daughters were being dragged out of Sodom, as an act of God’s mercy, before Sodom was punished with judgment, because it had become wicked and full of iniquity before God. This incident is recorded in the Scriptures and intended to serve as a reminder to us, tolerant, inured and broadminded people, that God does punish, and will punish sin (cf. Romans 15: 4; Proverbs 14: 34). God does offer the opportunity for sinning people to repent and stop sinning, thereby, averting the punishment. If we stop sinning, we avert the punishment. If we refuse to stop, to repent, then we face the punishment at the hands of God. God is calling His own people to repentance (cf. 2 Corinthians 6: 16 - 18).

Our text tells us that the men, both young and old, in the city of Sodom, had displayed bad judgment and had displayed their bad behavior while the destroying angels were in Lot’s house. In v. 11, the raging, lusting homosexuals were smitten with blindness, as they desperately sought to break down the door of Lot’s house. In vv. 12, 13, we see how the angels informed Lot that he needed to gather up all the people whom he wanted to have delivered from the destruction that was coming upon Sodom. In v. 14, we are told that Lot went to his sons-in–law and tried to get them to decide to leave Sodom, but they thought it was a joke. More than likely, Lot had not spoken about anything spiritual to them before (cf. 1 Peter 3: 15; Matthew 5: 16). In v. 15, we see how the angels impressed the urgency of the situation to Lot, to get him going. Look at v. 16! Lot was lingering. Why? We are not told. We can guess. The angels overruled him and grabbed his, his wife’s and his unmarried daughters’ hands and brought them “…outside the city.” Is this an object lesson or what? Judgment and punishment on the world is coming for sure. God is going to get His people out of the world, to safety, before He pours forth His wrath, which is still to come. In v. 17, we are told that Lot was instructed what to requiring his obedience. Having been brought outside the city, Lot was now to “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you not stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” It would have seemed that, having escaped from the city, which was to be destroyed, Lot and his family would have been safe. Evidently not! For there in vv. 18 – 21, we are able to see how Lot pleaded to be spared having to live in lonesomeness in the mountains. Look at vv. 21, 22! The city to which Lot is allowed to go, Zoar, was originally one of those scheduled to have been destroyed as part of God’s judgment on Sodom. In vv. 23 – 25, we see how God poured out His wrath upon the people and the land of the plain. What happened to Lot’s wife? What did she not understand about “Do not look behind you!”? In v. 26, we see that she looked behind her and she became a pillar of salt. In vv. 27 – 29, we are able to see how God remembered Abraham as He had planned to destroy Sodom, and extended mercy to Lot for Abraham’s sake (cf. Lamentations 3: 22, 23). Are you safe from the wrath that is to be poured out upon the earth for all the evil and wickedness that is being done? You can be!

PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, thank You for the safety that You provide for us in Jesus. I am taking my refuge in You, LORD. I am turning from sin. I am turning to You, in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.