MOB Lesson 11 Genesis 18:1-19:38 - Part 4
Nov/11/07 08:53 Filed in: MOB Bible Study
This week we will be wrapping up
lesson 11 in Genesis 19. Please answer questions
14-16 on pages 130-131 for this weeks study. I know
we didn't finish everything last week so we will be
catching up a bit.
One thing I want to note about this study and that
is if anyone thinks that the Bible is a bunch of
made up stories I would contest that with the story
of Lot. It shows a real ugly side of a righteous
man. I mean if this was all made up would we put
this kind of horrible sin as a representative of
someone being a righteous man? The bible is
definitely not condoning what Lot did but is
recording history as accurately as possible. Who's
kind of righteousness should we be following after?
Lot or Abraham? Look at their lives and how each
turned out. I will opt for the life of Abraham and
follow God in obedience instead of trying to flirt
with the world like Lot did.
Here are some Life Application Notes on Chapter 19
and a article on Lot from my Bible Encyclopedia
below the notes.
Genesis 19:1
The entrance of the city was the meeting place for city officials and other men to discuss current events and transact business. It was a place of authority and status where a person could see and be seen. Evidently Lot held an important position in the government or associated with those who did because the angels found him at the city’s entrance. Perhaps Lot’s status in Sodom was one reason he was so reluctant to leave (19:16, 18-22).Genesis 19:8
How could any father give his daughters to be ravished by a mob of perverts, just to protect two strangers? Possibly Lot was scheming to save both the girls and the visitors, hoping the girls’ fiancés would rescue them or that the homosexual men would be disinterested in the girls and simply go away. Although it was the custom of the day to protect guests at any cost, this terrible suggestion reveals how deeply sin had been absorbed into Lot’s life. He had become hardened to evil acts in an evil city. Whatever Lot’s motives were, we see here an illustration of Sodom’s terrible wickedness–a wickedness so great that God had to destroy the entire city.Genesis 19:13
God promised to spare Sodom if only 10 innocent people lived there (18:32). Obviously not even 10 could be found, because the angels arrived to destroy the city. Archaeological evidence points to an advanced civilization in this area during Abraham’s day. Most researchers also confirm some kind of sudden and devastating destruction. It is now widely thought that the buried city lies beneath the waters of the southern end of the Dead Sea. The story of Sodom reveals that the people of Lot’s day had to deal with the same kinds of repulsive sins the world faces today. We should follow Abraham’s example of trusting God. His selfless faith contrasts with the self- gratifying people of Sodom.Genesis 19:14
Lot had lived so long and was so contented among ungodly people that he was no longer a believable witness for God. He had allowed his environment to shape him, rather than he shaping his environment. Do those who know you see you as a witness for God, or are you just one of the crowd, blending in unnoticed? Lot had compromised to the point that he was almost useless to God. When he finally made a stand, nobody listened. Have you, too, become useless to God because you are too much like your environment? To make a difference, you must first decide to be different in your faith and your conduct.Genesis 19:16
Lot hesitated, so the angel seized his hand and rushed him to safety. Lot did not want to abandon the wealth, position, and comfort he enjoyed in Sodom. It is easy to criticize Lot for being hypnotized by Sodom when the choice seems so clear to us. To be wiser than Lot, we must see that our hesitation to obey stems from the false attractions of our culture’s pleasures.Genesis 19:16-29
Notice how God’s mercy toward Abraham extended to Lot and his family. Because Abraham pleaded for Lot, God was merciful and saved Lot from the fiery destruction of Sodom. A righteous person can often affect others for good. James says that the “earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power” (James 5:16). All Christians should follow Abraham’s example and pray for others to be saved.Genesis 19:24
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, we see two facets of God’s character: his great patience (agreeing to spare a wicked city for 10 good people) and his fierce anger (destroying both cities). As we grow spiritually, we should find ourselves developing not only a deeper respect for God because of his anger toward sin but also a deeper love for God because of his patience when we sin.Genesis 19:26
Lot’s wife turned back to look at the smoldering city of Sodom. Clinging to the past, she was unwilling to turn completely away. Are you looking back longingly at sin while trying to move forward with God? You can’t make progress with God as long as you are holding on to pieces of your old life. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters.”Genesis 19:30-38
In this pitiful sequel to the story of the destruction of Sodom, we see two women compelled to preserve their family line. They were driven not by lust but by desperation–they feared they would never marry. Lot’s tendency to compromise and refusal to act reached its peak. He should have found right partners for his daughters long before this; Abraham’s family wasn’t far away. Now the two daughters stooped to incest, showing their acceptance of the morals of Sodom. We are most likely to sin when we are desperate for what we feel we must have.Why doesn’t the Bible openly condemn these sisters for what they did? In many cases, the Bible does not judge people for their actions. It simply reports the events. However, incest is clearly condemned in other parts of Scripture (Leviticus 18:6-18; 20:11-12, 17, 19-21; Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20-23; Ezekiel 22:11; 1 Corinthians 5:1). Perhaps the consequence of their action–Moab and Ammon became enemies of Israel–was God’s way of judging their sin.
Genesis 19:37-38
Moab and Ben-ammi were the products of incest. They became the fathers of two of Israel’s greatest enemies, the Moabites and the Ammonites. These nations settled east of the Jordan River, and Israel never conquered them. Because of the family connection, Moses was forbidden to attack them (Deuteronomy 2:9). Ruth, great-grandmother of David and an ancestor of Jesus, was from Moab.LOT
Lot was Abraham’s nephew and ancestor of both the Moabites and the Ammonites. Like Abraham, he was born in Ur. When his father died, he was put in the care of his grandfather Terah, and accompanied him and his uncle Abram to Haran (Genesis 11:27-32). After the death of Terah, he joined Abram in the journey to Canaan and subsequently to Egypt and back to Canaan.By the time the pair returned to Canaan, their flocks and herds were too numerous for them to live together in a single area. Generously, Abram gave Lot his choice of where he would like to settle; Lot chose the fertile plain of the Jordan, which was like a “garden of the Lord” (Genesis 13:10) before the divine judgment and catastrophe fell on the region. Thus, Lot became increasingly involved with and contaminated by the corruption of the cities of the plain and took up his residence in Sodom.
While Lot was living in Sodom, four Mesopotamian kings (probably of small city-states) defeated the kings of the five towns in the area in battle, and in the subsequent plundering they carried off Lot and his family and possessions. When word of the loss reached Abram, he attacked the invaders and recovered all the prisoners and the loot at Hobah, north of Damascus (Genesis 14).
Subsequently, two angelic visitors called on Lot in Sodom to hasten his departure from the doomed city. The homosexual attack on them illustrated the depravity of the city, and Lot’s willingness to sacrifice his daughters shows how the corruption of his environment was rubbing off on him. As further evidence of the evil influence, Lot was at first unwilling to leave Sodom. His future sons-in-law refused to accompany him, and his wife looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis 19).
The sequel to the story was as sordid as the scene at Lot’s door. His daughters, despairing of husbands of their own, got him drunk enough to engage in sexual relations with them. The result was the birth of two sons, Moab and Ben-ammi, ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites, inveterate enemies of Israel (Genesis 19:30-38).
In spite of his waywardness the New Testament declares that Lot was a “righteous man” (2 Peter 2:7-9), apparently meaning that his faith in God was sufficient to guarantee his salvation. To critics who question the historicity of Lot and the destruction of Sodom, it must be noted that Jesus vouched for both in Luke 17:28-29.