Abraham Father of Faith 7

1
Abraham Father of Faith - 7

• God Overthrows Sodom and Gomorrah

2
Lot Welcomes Two Angels

• Genesis 191-5 MKJV And there came two angels to
  Sodom at evening. And Lot sat in the gate of
  Sodom. And Lot rose up to meet them when he saw
  them. And he bowed himself with his face toward
  the ground, (2) and said, Behold now, my lords,
  please turn into your servant's house and stay
  all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise
  up early and go your way. And they said, No, but
  we will stay in the street. (3) But he urgently
  pressed on them, and they turned in to him and
  entered into his house. And he made them a feast,
  and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (4)
  But before they lay down, the men of the city,
  the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both old
  and young, all the people from every quarter.
  (5) And they called to Lot, and said to him,
  Where are the men which came in to you this
  night? Bring them out to us, that we may know
  them.

3
Different Perceptions

• The angels arrive in human form
• Lot sees them as divine dignitaries, treats them
  with respect and invites them home
• The people of Sodom see them as human strangers,
  and as sex objects simply to be gang-raped
• Righteous people show love and respect and serve
  and care for others
• Wicked people are users and see other people as
  objects, and think in terms of satisfying their
  own lusts and ambitions.

4
Wicked Sodom

• Genesis 196-11 And Lot went out to the door to
  them, and shut the door after him. (7) And he
  said, I pray you, brothers, do not act evilly.
  (8) Behold now, I have two daughters which have
  not known man. I pray you, let me bring them out
  to you, and you do to them as you see fit. But do
  nothing to these men, for this is why they came
  under the shadow of my roof. (9) And they said,
  Stand back! And they said, This one came in to
  stay, and must he judge always? Now we will deal
  worse with you than with them. And they pressed
  hard upon the man, Lot, and came near to breaking
  the door. (10) But the men put out their hands
  and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut
  the door. (11) And they smote the men that were
  at the door of the house with blindness, both
  small and great, so that they wearied themselves
  to find the door.

5
The Immoral End Of A Society

• Societies can reach a point of no return where
  they are
• Violent mob mentality
• Predatory devouring other people
• Immoral group sex, gang rape
• Unnatural homosexual lust for strangers
• Persistent in sin wearied trying to find the
  door
• Entirely corrupted - young and old from every
  quarter of the city

6
Ineffective Lot

• Appeals to conscience do not act evilly
• Attempts to negotiates a compromise I have two
  daughters
• Ends up in grave danger
• Lot fails to realize the irrationality of evil
• Fails to enact proper boundaries
• Is easily intimidated and manipulated
• Lot is weak, compromised and ineffectual
• Cowardice is the sin that leads to all other sins
  once sufficient pressure is applied

7
The Angels Rescue Lot

• Genesis 1912-16 MKJV And the men said to Lot,
  Have you anyone here besides yourself? Bring your
  sons-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters,
  and whatever you have in the city, bring them out
  of this place. (13) For we will destroy this
  place because great is the cry of them before the
  face of Jehovah. And Jehovah has sent us to
  destroy it. (14) And Lot went out and spoke
  with his sons-in-law, who married his daughters,
  and said, Get up and get out of this place, for
  Jehovah will destroy this city. But he seemed as
  one that mocked to his sons-in-law. (15) And
  when the dawn rose up, then the angels hurried
  Lot, saying, Rise up! Take your wife and your two
  daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in
  the iniquity of the city. (16) And he lingered,
  the angel laid hold upon his hand, and upon the
  hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two
  daughters (Jehovah being merciful to him), and
  they brought him forth and set him outside the
  city.

8
God Warns But We Must Believe

• The angels reveal the fate of the city
• Lot being weak dithers about
• His sons-in-law think he is crazy
• The angels have to drag them out of the house
• God warns but we must believe
• God protects us but we must cooperate with His
  protection

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Some Warning Signs Today

• Moral degeneracy
• No moral absolutes
• Gang violence
• Powerful controlling social systems
• Selfishness normalized - the love of many will
  grow cold
• Predatory conscience-less commercialism
• Widespread disparagement of Christianity
• Weak Christian leaders in some denominations

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Zoar

• Genesis 1917-22 And it happened when they
  brought him outside, He said, Escape for your
  life! Do not look behind you, nor stay in all the
  plain. Escape to the mountain lest you be
  consumed. (18) And Lot said to them, Oh no,
  Lord, (19) please now, Your servant has found
  grace in Your sight, and You have magnified Your
  mercy, which You have shown to me in saving my
  life. And I cannot escape to the mountain, lest
  some evil take me and I die. (20) Behold now,
  this city is near to flee to, and it is a little
  one. Oh let me escape there (is it not a little
  one?) and my soul shall live. (21) And He said
  to him, See, I have accepted you concerning this
  thing also, that I will not overthrow this city
  for which you have spoken. (22) Hurry and
  escape there! For I cannot do anything till you
  have come there. Therefore the name of the city
  was called Zoar.

11
More Cowardice

• Lot finally leaves
• Lot does not go to Abraham or to the mountain -
  but to a small nearby city
• Lot simply cannot live without city life
• Lot cannot take the strenuous risky but better
  path of fleeing to the mountain
• Was Lot avoiding encountering Abraham?

12
God Destroys The Cities

• Genesis 1923-26 The sun had risen upon the
  earth, and Lot entered into Zoar. (24) Then
  Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
  brimstone and fire, from Jehovah out of the
  heavens. (25) And He overthrew those cities,
  and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the
  cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
  (26) But his wife looked back from behind him,
  and she became a pillar of salt.

13
Lots Wife

• Lots sons-in-law were killed in Sodom
• His wife gets turned into a pillar of salt
• Looked back delayed fleeing, still attracted to
  the physical comforts of Sodom

14
Abraham Views The Scene

• Genesis 1927-29 MKJV And Abraham got up early
  in the morning to the place where he stood before
  Jehovah. (28) And he looked toward Sodom and
  Gomorrah, and toward all the lands of the plain,
  and saw, and, lo, the smoke of the country went
  up as the smoke of a furnace. (29) And when God
  destroyed the cities of the plain, it happened
  that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of
  the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the
  cities in which Lot lived.

15
Fire Brimstone

• Fire and brimstone rain down from Heaven, in the
  judgment of God
• This is a type or miniature example of the end
  times
• Jude 17 MKJV as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the
  cities around them, in like manner to these,
  committing fornication, and going away after
  other flesh, laid down an example before-times,
  undergoing vengeance of everlasting fire.

16
Lots Daughters

• Genesis 1931-36 MKJV And the first-born said to
  the younger, Our father is old, and there is no
  man in the earth to come in to us in the way of
  all the earth. (32) Come, let us make our
  father drink wine, and we will lie with him, so
  that we may preserve seed of our father. (33)
  And they made their father drink wine that night.
  And the first-born went in, and lay with her
  father. And he did not notice when she lay down
  nor when she arose. (34) And it happened on the
  next day, the first-born said to the younger,
  Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us
  make him drink wine this night also, and you go
  in and lie down with him so that we may preserve
  seed of our father. (35) And they made their
  father drink wine that night also, and the
  younger arose and lay with him. And he did not
  notice when she lay down nor when she arose.
  (36) So both the daughters of Lot were with
  child by their father.

17
Wrong Values

• Lot may have got his daughters out of Sodom but
  he did not get Sodom out of his daughters!
• Expediency, sexual immorality and manipulation
  were still part of their outlook.
• Values stay stuck in our minds and hearts
• We need to be very careful about the environment
  we expose ourselves and our families to!

18
Dereliction

• Sin gives birth to trouble - that long outlives
  any short-term benefit gained from the sin
• Lot went to Sodom a wealthy young man but many
  years later ended up living in a cave and
  committing incest.
• Lot did not create good boundaries in his life
  which eventually led to his ruin
• Having good values is one thing, living them out
  courageously and consistently is another.

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Come Out From Among Them!

• 2 Corinthians 614-18 MKJV (14) Do not be
  unequally yoked together with unbelievers for
  what fellowship does righteousness have with
  lawlessness? And what partnership does light have
  with darkness? (15) And what agreement does
  Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a
  believer have with an unbeliever? (16) And what
  agreement does a temple of God have with idols?
  For you are the temple of the living God, as God
  has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among
  them and I will be their God, and they shall be
  My people." (17) Therefore come out from among
  them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not
  touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you
  (18) and I will be a Father to you, and you
  shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord
  Almighty.