Good evening from the Panhandle. Wow! Where has the summer gone? Well at least summer vacation for the kids? That and where have the years gone? My baby boy starts Jr. High tomorrow and he stands almost 6 feet tall. I just can't believe it, it seems like just yesterday he was 6 months old and now he is 13.
Lot had grown also. Remember he chose the fertile lands by Sodom and Gomorrah and slowly he had moved from the land outside to living in Sodom. And things did not go well for Lot. I wonder while he was sitting at the gate the night the two angels came if he looked back and wondered how he had gotten to that point in his life?
In
Chapter 18 Abraham had a visit from the Lord and two angles. This
visit was to reaffirm God's covenant concerning an heir. In verses
20-21 the LORD spoke about Sodom and Gomorrah: 20
Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so
great and their sin so grievous 21 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." The
two angels started on to Sodom while the LORD and Abraham stood and
talked. The LORD let Abraham in on His plans to destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah and this troubled Abraham; who's nephew Lot lived in Sodom.
Abraham starts a kind of bargaining process with the LORD. Abraham
starts at 50 righteous men and ends with ten righteous men. The LORD
agrees to Abraham's request and that is where chapter 19 picks up.
CHAPTER
19 AT A GLANCE
I.
It was found, upon trial, that Lot was very good v. 1-3, and it did
not appear that there was any more of the same character.
II.
It was found that the Sodomites were very wicked and vile v. 4-11.
III.
Special care was therefore taken for the securing of Lot and his
family, in a place of safety v. 12-23.
IV.
Mercy having rejoiced therein, justice shows itself in the ruin of
Sodom and the death of Lot's wife v. 24-26, with a general repetition
of the story v. 27-29.
V.
A foul sin that Lot was guilty of, in committing incest with his two
daughters v. 30, etc..
(From
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition,
Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc.)
Gen 19:1-3
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 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."
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, and they ate.
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 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."
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, and they ate.
1.
THE ANGLES ARRIVE IN SODOM (vv. 1-3)
These
two angels, like I said earlier likely, the two that had been with
the LORD and Abraham. The two angels that were sent to execute God's
judgment concerning Sodom and Gomorrah.
The
messengers (angels) sent by Jehovah to Sodom, arrived there in the
evening. Lot, who was sitting at the gate, invited them to pass the
night in his house. The gate, generally an arched entrance with deep
recesses and seats on either side, was a place of meeting in the
ancient towns of the East, where the inhabitants assembled either to
socialize or to transact public business.
While
Lot was entertaining his guests with the greatest hospitality, the
people of Sodom gathered round his house, "both
old and young, all people from every quarter of the town”,
and demanded, with a grievous violation of the sacred rite of
hospitality. And in a most shameless proclamation of their sin,
demanded that the strangers should be brought out, so that they might
(know)
have sexual
relations them.
The
angels did not find ten righteous men let alone 50, they found only
one good man in Sodom. That one good man was Abraham's nephew Lot,
even his own son-in-laws sided with the men of Sodom.
Gen 19:3-22
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. 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."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 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."
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.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 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.
12 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? Get them out of here, 13 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."
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.
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."
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, for the LORD was merciful to them. 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!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 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. 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."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
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. 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."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 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."
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.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 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.
12 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? Get them out of here, 13 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."
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.
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."
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, for the LORD was merciful to them. 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!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 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. 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."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
2.
LOT’S WARNING IS LAUGHT AT (vv. 4-22)
Lot
tried to frantically warn and persuade those of his own family to
leave. But, as the narrative tells us, he seemed unto his sons-in-law
as one who mocked (jested, ASV).
Lot
had acted selfishly and foolishly when he had chosen to become a part
of Sodom, where his children would be soiled by the city's shame.
Though he had attained some measure of prominence among the people,
he had never influenced them toward righteous behavior; and so he
failed to exert moral leadership in the hour of crisis. His own
family, at the end, put no faith in his most urgent warnings. What a
striking contrast between the depravity of Lot and the righteous life
of Abraham! The members of Lot's family were all corrupt. Not one of
them weighed an ounce in the scales of justice and righteousness.
When Lot and his wife and two daughters stumbled out of the doomed
city, God held back the impending destruction until his messengers
could extricate them from the vile grip of Sodom.
(From
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1962 by Moody Press)
Genesis 19:23-25
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24
Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the
LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the
entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the
vegetation in the land.
3.
JEHOVAH RAINED ... BRIMSTONE AND FIRE (vv.
23-25)
It
is well to take this account literally, as recording a definite
judgment of the Lord upon a corrupt people. It was within God's
power to produce an earthquake that would open a fissure in the rocks
to release stored up gas that would explode and throw immense
supplies of petroleum into the air. When all the inflammable stuff
was ignited, sheets of literal fire poured back to complete the
destruction. Searing flames and black smoke must have covered every
area of the city, smothering and consuming every living thing.
(From
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1962 by Moody Press)
Gen 19:26
26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
4.
PILLAR OF SALT (v. 26)
Lot's
wife made some effort to escape the impending disaster. But she let
her curiosity and her inordinate love for the things of Sodom (as
well as for her family, probably) cause her to disobey orders and
look back. It was a fatal act. The woman was fixed to the spot, and
her body became a pillar of salt, covered and encrusted with deposits
from the raining brimstone.
There it stood for many years, a dreadful
warning against disobedience to the specific command of God, and a
mute reminder of the Lord's unchanging character. Someone has said:
"She stood, a silent sentinel to sordid selfishness." Even
to this day pillars and pinnacles of salt are visible in the area
south of the Dead Sea. Jesus, seeking to remind his disciples of the
tragic consequences of loving mere things, cautioned them to
"remember Lot's wife"
(From
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1962 by Moody Press)
Gen 19:30-38
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. 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. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 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.
34 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." 35 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.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
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. 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. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 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.
34 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." 35 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.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
5.
LOT’S DAUGHTERS’ DECEPTION (vv. 30-38)
The
closing chapter in the career of Lot is a pitiful one. It describes
incestuous relations that we would prefer to forget. The two
daughters, brought up in wicked Sodom, stooped low enough to engage
in an act that is unspeakably revolting. The result of that deed was
the birth of two boys, who became the ancestors of the Moabites and
the Ammonites. Lot and his family failed miserably. Disaster,
disgrace, despair, and death are written in their epitaph.
(From
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c)
1962 by Moody Press)
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