Our story picks up as the LORD and the two angels got up to leave.

Transcription

1 Genesis Lesson 14 Genesis 18:16-19:38 In our last lesson, we saw the LORD make the explicit promise that Abram was yet to have the child that would fulfill the covenant, and that he would be born of Sarai. Also, he would be born within the year. The LORD gave Abram a new name, Abraham, and he also gave Sarai a new name, Sarah. Abraham means "father of a multitude" and Sarah means "princess." At that time Abraham, Ishmael, and all the men of his camp were circumcised to memorialize the LORD's promise. In the closing scene of the last lesson, Abraham saw the LORD with two others standing outside his camp. He invited them in and prepared an offering of which they ate. After that, the LORD confirmed His earlier promise to Abraham about Sarah having the child. Evidently this was the first Sarah had heard it. Our story picks up as the LORD and the two angels got up to leave. Genesis 18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Abraham had first seen the three "men" during "the heat of the day" (Genesis 17:1), which would be at least past noon, but probably closer to 3 PM. Since then five gallons of wheat had been prepared into bread and a calf had been selected, butchered, skinned, cleaned, and cooked. At the very least, by now it was getting at least close to evening. 1 / 24

2 Genesis 18:17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? What He was about to do was bring judgment on Sodom. Genesis 18:18-19 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him." This was why Abraham was entitled to know. What the LORD wanted Abraham and his children to know was the judgment that would come down on the nearby evil society, the cities of the plain where Abraham's nephew Lot was living. 2 / 24

3 Genesis 18:20-21 Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." This brings up the question. From whom is the outcry? From men who are suffering from the sins of the people of the valley? It has been suggested that like the pre-flood civilization, Sodom and Gomorrah had to be destroyed or their evil would have destroyed the LORD's plan for history. That is saying something about their level of evil, considering some of the civilizations that weren't destroyed. Genesis 18:22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. The LORD undoubtedly acted this out in this fashion to make Abraham and us understand that the LORD never brings judgment without full knowledge of the facts. Of course we know that the LORD already knew the answer at that time just as He always knows the answer to every question even before it is asked. Job 34:21-22 "His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide." 3 / 24

4 Psalms 147:5 "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. " Psalms 139:16b "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." The two angels who had taken the appearance of men went toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham. At this time the Lord had indicated He was going down to Sodom to investigate. In the next chapter only the two "angels" go, but when they got there the LORD had already passed judgment. Why? Because, in His omniscience and omnipresence, the LORD had already been there. The LORD had known already exactly what would happen, and who would be delivered but he allowed the people of Sodom to demonstrate their wickedness to make a point for Lot's sake and for our's. Genesis 18:23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 4 / 24

5 This gave Abraham a chance to appreciate the longsuffering of the LORD. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had been wicked for a long time. Before Lot had moved there over fifteen years before they were already considered very wicked. [a] They must have had a population of at least ten thousand, yet they were not able to count among their number more than four who were "righteous." Considering that Lot was considered "righteous" [b] and how hard the LORD had to work to get Lot to leave that wicked city, it is clear that the LORD was not looking for heroes of the faith, but just for people who were saved. Ten would have saved the city, or about.01% of the population. We should also keep in mind that when Abraham asked the LORD to save the righteous of Sodom, he was really only thinking of Lot and his family. After Lot's father, Abraham's brother, Haran had died, Abraham had treated Lot like a son. When Lot had been carried away from Sodom to be a slave by the conquering armies of Kedorlaomer, Abraham had risked everything to save him. Abraham was still protective of Lot. Genesis 18:24-25 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing--to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" First, Abraham set the limit at.05%. Surely, he must have believed that Lot and his camp would have at least 50 believers. Genesis 18:26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I 5 / 24

6 will spare the whole place for their sake." The Lord agreed to Abraham's request. But then Abraham started thinking. He probably hadn't spoken to Lot in some time. Perhaps some of Lot's righteous men had left Lot in evil Sodom to come back to work for Abraham, so he suddenly thought maybe fifty was too ambitious. Genesis 18:27-28 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." He reduced his safety number by five and the LORD agreed. Genesis 18:29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." 6 / 24

7 He thought again and reduced his number by ten and the LORD agreed again. Genesis 18:30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." Yet again Abraham reconsidered He reduced his number by another ten and the LORD agreed again. Genesis 18:31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." For the fourth time Abraham pondered and decided he hadn't left enough room to prevent the destruction of Sodom and with it Lot and his family. You will notice that Abraham never mentioned Lot in his prayer. He should have just asked the LORD to spare Lot. Instead, again he reduced his number by another ten and the LORD agreed again. 7 / 24

8 Genesis 18:32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." For a final time, Abraham was not sure that a limit of twenty would save Lot from being destro yed with the city. He got the LORD to reduce it to ten. Surely, there are easily ten "righteous" in the city. He was wrong. Genesis 18:33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. Abraham was satisfied and he left without ever asking the LORD to save Lot. One has to wonder how many months he had to wait after the destruction of Sodom before he found out that the LORD had saved Lot anyway. He could have saved a lot of worry if he had just asked the LORD for what he wanted in the first place. Genesis 19:1a The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, [c] and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. 8 / 24

9 These angels had travelled more than thirty miles over very rough terrain in less than an hour. Clearly angels don't have to walk. I suspect that as soon as they disappeared from Abraham's sight they were seen walking up to Sodom. Notice that Lot was no longer living with his herds outside the city as he had originally. He was living in the city of Sodom. The angels found him sitting in the gateway of the city. That was a spot usually reserved for those who were regarded as an elder or leader of the city. [d] Possibly he was granted this honor as a consequence of the whole city being rescued fifteen years before by Lot's uncle Abraham. Genesis 19:1b When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. From Lot's reaction, we have to conclude that he recognized immediately that they were angels. "How?" is one of those questions we'll have to ask in heaven. We do know that they were striking in appearance and probably beautifully dressed. They were also noticed immediately by the citizens of Sodom. Genesis 19:2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." 9 / 24

10 Lot's first invitation could be attributed to his hospitality. Genesis 19:3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, [e] and they ate. Lot's strong insistence that they stay with him indicated that Lot knew how wicked the people of Sodom were, and what would happen if they stayed in the square. He was going to protect them. Genesis 19:4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. This was not a small crowd of a few lay abouts and criminals. It was "all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old." The crowd must have numbered at 10 / 24

11 least a hundred. It indicated the depth of moral decay and depravity throughout Sodom. Genesis 19:5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." The perversion of homosexual rape is on parade here. That is why homosexuality is often identified with Sodom. [f] In the Mosaic Law just plain homosexuality was considered so poisonous to the survival of Israel that it was a capital crime. [g] However, homosexuality was merely the outgrowth of their root sin as Ezekiel tells us: Ezekiel 16:49-50 " Now this was the sin of your sister 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." Genesis 19:6-7 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 11 / 24

12 Knowing who his guests were, perhaps Lot's proper response should have been something like: "I wouldn't advise it." Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." Considering Lot's blatant disregard of his daughters' honor and even their lives at this time, it is perhaps not strange that a few months later those daughters had no scruples about taking advantage of him when he was drunk (verses 32-36). Genesis 19:9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. Remember, the entire populations of Sodom and Gomorrah had been delivered from slavery to Kedorlaomer because Abraham had come to rescue Lot. Now they were ready to rape and kill Lot because he wanted to deny them this. 12 / 24

13 Genesis 19:10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. This act probably could only have been accomplished against such large numbers with supernatural power. Genesis 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The LORD blinded them so that they could not even find the door that was right in front of them. I think that probably they might have also been a little frightened finding themselves blind and helpless in a crowd of men as ruthless as they were. Genesis 19:12a The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here-- sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? 13 / 24

14 When Lot had gone down to Sodom more than fifteen years before his herds had been so large that there was no room for both Abraham's flocks and his flocks and Abraham's men and his men were fighting. At that time Abraham had over 300 men. Lot, must have had at least 100. Now he evidently had none that belonged to him. It is not strange that they had all left Sodom, considering how the Sodomites were prepared to treat the angels who the considered strangers, and what they threated to do to Lot, who they called an alien. Genesis 19:12b-13 Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." Notice here that the angels (messengers) who looked like "men" said "we" are going to destroy this place. Evidently the LORD gave these angels the power to bring this about, just as angels also will be instruments of judgment in the Tribulation. Genesis 19:14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 14 / 24

15 Evidently the crowd had dispersed enough by then. Lot was able to get out (he must have thought) at some peril to his own life to warn his prospective sons-in-law. Genesis 19:15 With the coming of 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." After failing to persuade his sons-in-law Lot returned to his house. By that time it was almost dawn. Genesis 19:16 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, [h] for the LORD was merciful to them. Even then, Lot and his family could not bring themselves to leave their home. The angels had to grasp them the hand to drag them out of the city. Perhaps this shows better than anything that the LORD had known before what would happen and what was needed. Four people 15 / 24

16 needed to be dragged out of the city. The two angels had four hands with which to drag them. Genesis 19:17 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!" All during this time nothing had happened to Sodom yet. Lot and his family were told to flee to the mountains. Genesis 19:18-19 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Lot was still not accepting what was happening. He evidently didn't quite yet believe that fleeing was really necessary. He also didn't understand that if the LORD had taken the trouble to send two angels to rescue them He would surely provide what was necessary for them to survive the trip to the mountains. If he hadn't asked to stop, perhaps his wife would have been spared. 16 / 24

17 Genesis 19:20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." Lot asked one of the angels if he could stop in a small town nearby for safety although he had already been told that safety was in the mountains. Genesis 19:21-22 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar). [i] The angel Lot was speaking to granted Lot's request. Genesis 19:23-25 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. 17 / 24

18 Lot had reached the shelter of the city and had probably had taken shelter or sat down to rest after their flight of four or five miles. Only after he had reached it did the angels release the judgment. Genesis 19:26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. The way this is usually pictured is that Lot's wife was fleeing with the other three and the two angels and then turned around to look back. Clearly instead, they had reached the shelter of Zoar and were probably inside. Lot's wife made the conscious decision to come outside and look back at the city where she had left her beautiful home and belongings. Another question is "Why a pillar of salt?" Probably because the land she looked back at longingly became covered with salt and became a waste. Because she could not let go of what was a spiritual wastleland and about to become a physical wasteland, [j] she became a pillar of salt representing the waste she made of her own life. Genesis 19:27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he 18 / 24

19 had stood before the LORD. Meanwhile, back at Abraham's tent, Abraham saw the destruction. Genesis 19:28-29 He looked down toward 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 where Lot had lived. One has to wonder when Abraham found out that the LORD had saved Lot. One also has to wonder why Lot didn't flee to Abraham. Perhaps he was ashamed. Genesis 19:30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. Instead of going west to the mountains where Abraham lived, he fled to the mountains east of 19 / 24

20 the valley. Genesis 19:31 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. Like their father Lot, they didn't trust on the LORD to provide their needs. For that matter they were not too unlike Abraham and Sarah in the matter of Ishmael. Genesis 19:32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father." Strictly speaking, the Law of Moses had not been given yet, so we do not really know if this was forbidden at this time. We know from the Book of Job (written before the Law of Moses) that many provisions of the Law were understood from the beginning. However, in Genesis, brothers married sisters, Abraham married his half sister, and Jacob married two sisters. All of these acts were later forbidden by the Law, yet were evidently not forbidden [k] at that time. Thus, we cannot say absolutely that this was forbidden at that time. So I can't see any reason to make a big point of Lot's "sin" on this point in this story. Genesis doesn't. 20 / 24

21 Genesis 19:33-36 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. Both daughters got pregnant by their father. However, the LORD materially prospered both sons of Lot. Genesis 19:37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; [l] he is the father of the Moabites of today. Moab was the people that occupied the land just east of the Dead Sea. The were the people that occupied that land when Israel came out of Egypt. The LORD forbade Israel to go to war with them when Moab blocked their way into the land. The LORD told Israel to go around although it meant a detour of hundreds of miles. Later Moab was the people who hired Balaam to curse Israel. Of course, Ruth, the great grandmother of David was a Moabite. 21 / 24

22 Genesis 19:38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; [m] he is the father of the Ammonites of today. [n] Ammon occupied the highlands across the Jordan from Israel. Amman, the capital of Jordan today, gets its name from their forefather. Israel was also forbidden to go to war with the Ammonites when they entered the land, although Ammon later went to war with them. Many of the people of modern day Jordan are descended from these two babies. [a] Genesis 13:12-13 "Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD." [b] 2 Peter 2:7b "He (the LORD) rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men." [c] The Hebrew word here is br<[&, {eh' rev} which means twilight from a root meaning "the darkening." [d] The city gate was where trials and legal decisions were usually rendered by the leaders. (Genesis 23:10, 34:20, Deuteronomy 21:19, 22:15, 25:7, Joshua 20:4, Ruth 4:1,11, Job 29:7). 22 / 24

23 [e] This is the first indication in the Bible that there was a pre Mosaic Law understanding of the ritual importance of unleavened bread. [f] For a long time homosexuals have been called "Sodomites." [g] Leviticus 20:13 " If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." [h] Possibly making them invisible to the Sodomites. [i] "Zoar" means "small.," a town to which Lot and his daughters fled from Sodom (Gen. 19:22, 23). It was originally called Bela (14:2, 8). It was located on the south-east side of the Dead Sea (Deuteronomy 34:3). It is referred to by the prophets Isaiah (15:5) and Jeremiah (48:34). Its ruins are still seen at the opening of the ravine of Kerak, the Kir-Moab referred to in 2 Kings 3, the modern Tell esh-shaghur. [j] Deuteronomy 29:23 "The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur--nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah." [k] In the first few generations of the human family they were absolutely necessary. [l] "Moab" means "seed of the Father." [m] "Ben-ammi" means "son of my kindred." 23 / 24

24 [n] Although the LORD destroyed the valley, the LORD honored the promise of Abraham to Lot's descendants by giving the hills west of the Dead Sea to his descendants. 24 / 24