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We are continuing our character studies in the Bible in the perspective of an abuse survivor. We are covering this week, patriarchs Abraham and Lot. We explore such questions such as: Abraham’s treatment of his wife Sarah, Lot offering up his virgin daughters to an angry mob, an example of female sexual abuse in the Bible, and the timeless question: Is God loving and merciful in the Old Testament?
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Abraham and Lot
[00:00:00] [00:00:33] Everybody, how are you guys doing? What’s up? Come on in. Coming to you from Winkler Living Room. I have successfully completed my first surgery this past week. It went really well. Better than I anticipated. Everybody was wonderful at the hospital and I have no pain or, [00:01:00] um, postprocedure bleeding. [00:01:02] And so I was very happy about that. And I do have another surgery coming up on Tuesday. Tuesday will be doing surgery on my right foot. [00:01:13] And then when that’s healed up, most likely the end of July, we’ll be doing my left foot. And [00:01:21] so I will be on bedrest for two weeks starting on Tuesday. I have spent the last week or so trying to get all of the garden and the yard done. So Brian doesn’t have much to do. I do have a neighbor who’s a master gardener, and she’s gonna come in and check things to make sure that nothing’s dying out there. [00:01:46] Brian will be watering. You can do the watering without any problems. And, uh, my neighbor’s also bringing us some food, some leftovers. So Brian does not have to cook every night or [00:02:00] they’ll just make breakfast in the morning and, uh, we’ll have something to reheat at night. That’s a big blessing. And my Bible study group, they gave me some gift cards to Uber Eats and a pizza joint nearby, and that’s a blessing. [00:02:17] Super big treat. I think my parents will be over to visit with some food as well, and so I am ready to go. Ready to get back into exercise, get back into being without pain. [00:02:30] So anyway, I will have a podcast episode next week from my living room or the bedroom. So please pardon the, uh, the sound next week because I will not be in my studio. I will be on a laptop in the living room with pillows propped up under my feet or, I’ll be in the bedroom, which we have one of those adjustable beds where the head or the feet, are adjustable. [00:02:58] So that’s what’s going on [00:03:00] here. I appreciate your prayers. I have nothing to worry about. I’m in good hands of the best surgeons in the world. [00:03:08] So a blessing and a praise this week is that I finally have my website back up and running. it’s been a long, hard road. And finally my, webmaster Etana from Society Jazz, got it up and running. And I don’t know a lot about the technical side of this business. That’s why I hire her to do it. [00:03:36] She had to do a lot of stuff manually and uh, yes, that cost me a pretty penny, but it was worth it to be able to not have to start from scratch in creating my website. [00:03:50] Everything is there. My, my store, my music is there. My podcast episodes are there, all of my services. [00:04:00] so go and check it out, look at some previous podcasts that might interest you. Listen to some music. Go on my YouTube channel. [00:04:09] Talk to me on social media. I’ll be sitting here by myself. Well, Brian will be sleeping most of the day, so you wanna keep me company? If you wanna chat, wanna talk on Zoom, [00:04:20] I’d be glad to sit and chat with you, get to know you guys better. So what’s going on with the show today? Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed Scott Distler from last week. I certainly enjoyed him being on the show. [00:04:38] If you didn’t listen to it, please go back and listen to his interview. He’s out there helping pastors and leadership in the church to get through those terrible tough times in ministry. [00:04:53] I have been in Genesis in my personal Bible reading. Now, I [00:05:00] know that we have done some stories already about some people at Genesis, like Abraham and Hagar. [00:05:09] Uh, we are going to do a couple more stories from Genesis, and if you’re new here, You’re kinda wondering, well, why are you doing Bible stories on an abuse podcast? Well, that’s a very good question. The reason why I am doing these studies, these character studies is because when we go through abuse, the first thing that usually happens is that we throw the Bible out and we are angry and mad at God for what happened to us. [00:05:42] We throw God out. We don’t want anything to do with God. And most of us go through that period where we have no idea why. Why we went through the abuse and did God cause the abuse? Where was he during this? [00:06:00] Does God condone the abuse? And [00:06:02] it’s fine to deconstruct your faith, whereas you’re trying to find out who God really is, the real God, not the one that’s manufactured by, uh, maybe our church or society. We’re trying to find out who the real Jesus is, who is the real God? What is the truth about what happened to us? And there are a lot of stories about abuse in the Bible. [00:06:32] When I started this series, I realized there was a lot more than I thought when I prepared the lessons for this podcast, I’m thinking, [00:06:42] Would this story be helpful to talk about and yes, I am a Bible college graduate. I have a degree in the Bible. I am not a scholar, but I am coming alongside with you to learn. And to discover and [00:07:00] explore what the Bible says. I’ve been through those times when I questioned a lot of what I believed in, what was taught to me. People would say, oh, well the Bible says this, and I find out later through. Searching the Bible for myself a little bit further, that that’s not really what the Bible says. [00:07:24] And [00:07:25] so we’re going through and talking about these stories. [00:07:30] It’s okay to have questions about your faith. It’s okay to not understand everything about the Bible. I’ve been a Christian since I was 13. I don’t know everything about the Bible. I am still learning. Um, there are passages in scripture I still don’t understand. I don’t think I will understand until I get to the other side of eternity. [00:07:54] And so I’m gonna say that upfront to you, when we’re doing these character studies, [00:08:00] they’re not always gonna be happy-go-lucky endings. They’re not always going to be, the answers that we want. God has his own ways and his ways aren’t our ways. He is God almighty, we are his creation. And so we do the best we can to take the context of scripture and learn what God has for us and not reject God. [00:08:26] Um, if you’re somebody that wants nothing to do with God and you’re not up to exploring or talking about the crisis of your faith. This probably isn’t the podcast for you. My podcast [00:08:41] we’re gonna acknowledge you have a crisis of faith, but we’re going to move forward together and talk about the questions that we have, and the we’re gonna do the best we can, but we’re not going to become atheists. That is not what this podcast is about. [00:09:00] That’s not what I’m about. [00:09:01] So telling the folks that are new about that upfront, [00:09:05] if there’s a story in the Bible that you want me to go through to study and talk about on this podcast, send me a message, my email, social media, you can comment on the blog post on my website. I will take those stories and study them and do them on the podcast. [00:09:25] uh, some of ’em, I’m really considering not doing because they’re are so rough and I don’t know the answers. But I’m working on it. I’m working through those. [00:09:36] And if you’ve been listening, I appreciate you listening. If you have something to add to the conversation, Contact me. I’d love to hear what you have to say. You have something, a different viewpoint on what we’re talking about here. [00:09:52] As long as it’s in a respectful manner. [00:09:55] With all that being said, what are we gonna talk about today? [00:10:00] Talking about Abraham and Lot. So I have my Bible in front of me and I’m going to go through a little bit of review. I’m sure lots of you have questions. So Genesis, let’s do a quick, quick recap of what goes on in Genesis. What’s the story? We have the creation of the world. We have the creation of man and woman. [00:10:24] Chapter three, we’ve got the fall of man chapter four. We’ve got Cain and Abel the first murder. Five, it talks about Adams, descendants to Noah. Chapter six is talking about increasing corruption on the earth. That’s Noah and the flood. [00:10:44] Chapter six, seven, and chapter eight is God’s Covenant with Noah after the flood subsides. Then chapter nine, you’ve got Noah’s Descendants. Chapter 10 Nations descended [00:11:00] from Noah. We’ve got the Tower of Babbel in chapter 11. Where everybody is scattered and they speak different languages, and we’re coming up to where I’m at in my story. [00:11:15] Chapter 12 is the call of Abram. Abram, and Sarah in Egypt. [00:11:20] We’re gonna start at 12. In 13 and we’re going to talk about Lot and Sodom and how Abraham Intercedes for Lot in Sodom. And then next week we’re gonna go into, The sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. and we had already gone through the birth of Isaac and the story of Hagar, if you wanna go back and listen to that, it’s a really important passage of scripture [00:11:49] and so. [00:11:50] So basically with Abram, this was before he was called Abraham. Abram and Sarai have have been called [00:12:00] to go to Canaan and God’s gonna give them this land. [00:12:05] So chapter 12 of Genesis. Now, the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And him who dishonored you. [00:12:27] I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went, and as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him, Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Hiran Abram. And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot his brothers son in all their possessions that they had gathered. [00:12:50] And the people that they had acquired in Hiran and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. [00:12:56] Abram tells the Egyptians [00:13:00] that Sarah was his sister. Now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to Sojourn there where the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that you are a beautiful woman in appearance. [00:13:19] And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake. When Abraham entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful, and when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. [00:13:49] And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house, and for her sake, he dealt with Abram and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female [00:14:00] servants, female donkeys, and camels. So he’s done this more than once in his lifetime. He will do this again. He tells the Egyptians that she is his sister because this was actually a thing that would happen in the Near East cultures, [00:14:21] if, the Pharaoh or the king wanted the woman and she was married, they would just kill the husband. Problem solved. If she was single, she would be with her father or her brother, and so they would take her to marry, but they would be good to the family, the father or the brother, because now they are in-laws. [00:14:46] And so Abram thinks this is a good idea, but something really terrible happens in chapter 13. [00:14:54] Okay, so verse 17, but the Lord afflicted Pharaoh into his house with [00:15:00] great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister? So that I took her for my wife. [00:15:17] Now then here is your wife. Take her and go. And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. [00:15:28] But can you imagine how terrifying that was to Sarah, who was taken by this Pharaoh to be his wife, probably another wife? [00:15:40] Uh, that it must have been terrifying. Thankfully, the Lord stepped in because that would’ve turned out very badly. So you’re finding out what kind of person Abram is, and we’ve talked about this before, that the Bible records things as they are, [00:16:00] as they happen, uh, without condoning things. [00:16:04] We just see a history of when had happened. Good, bad, and the ugly, and that’s something you need to keep in mind. Just because it’s in the Bible doesn’t mean that God is condoning the behavior. Abram makes a lot of mistakes. In fact, all of the patriarchs we have talked about. [00:16:25] And most of the kings make a lot of terrible mistakes. [00:16:29] Chapter 13, so Abram and Lot separate. So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that had in Lot with him into the Negeb. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold, and he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and AI to the place where he had made [00:17:00] an altar at the first. [00:17:02] And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. And Lot who went with Abram also had flocks and herds and tents so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together, where their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and they were strife between the herdsman of Abram’s livestock and the herdsman of Lots livestock. [00:17:27] At that time, the Canaanites and the Perrazites were dwelling in the land. Then Abram said to Lot, this is in verse eight. Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsman and my herdsman, for we are kinsman. Is not the whole land before? You separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot, [00:18:00] lift it up his eyes. [00:18:01] And saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and Lot Journeyed East. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan. [00:18:30] A Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. [00:18:36] So we’re gonna stop here. [00:18:38] So Uncle Abram and his nephew they’ve got too much livestock and the land can’t support them. So Abram, lets Lot have his first choice of Grazeland, and so Lot chooses the area near Sodom. And [00:19:00] Abram goes towards And most scholars would say that. Sodom was very rich in resources, water, and fertile land at the time. So he apparently got the better end of the deal as far as beauty and valuable resources to raise herds. [00:19:24] But, [00:19:24] Choosing the more beautiful luscious lands, near a wicked town isn’t always the best choice as we’re gonna find out here. Now, most of the time when you hear a sermon on this particular passage, it’s usually talking against homosexuality. We’re gonna do a little bit different slant on this because we are, an abuse podcast. [00:19:53] So gonna talk more about those sorts of things more than the [00:20:00] homosexual aspect. Okay? Uh, so we’re in verse 13. Now the men of Sodom were wicked great sinners against the Lord. Now most people would say that homosexuality was their, sin. Perhaps, but I dare venture to say that there were more sins besides homosexuality, in this town. [00:20:26] I’m sure that there was drunkenness and stealing and adultery and, cheating people in business. I am sure there’s more than one sin going on as is. We haven’t talked about Noah. I don’t think I’m going to do a study on Noah, but in the days of Noah, there was only evil continuously, according to the Lord. [00:20:52] And that is why the Lord destroyed the world and sent a flood. Let’s go on to verse [00:21:00] 14. The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him. Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are northward and southward, eastward and westward for all the land that you see. [00:21:14] I will give to you and your offspring forever. I’ll make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted, arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, or I will give it to you. So Abraham moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre. [00:21:39] Which are Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. [00:21:44] Okay. Now, in chapter 14, probably just going to summarize this, but Abram has to rescue Lot because he was kidnapped by the surrounding. Nations. [00:21:58] So the surrounding [00:22:00] kings of neighboring nations made war with, Bera, king of Sodom. Bersha, king of Gomorrah. Sinab of all these joined forces in the valley of Siddom. [00:22:17] I’m not gonna read all this. There’s a lot of really, hard to pronounce names, which, I don’t really feel up to pronouncing all of those. You can read the passage for yourself who the war was against. but I’m gonna continue in verse 11. So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom, Mora and all their provisions and went their way. [00:22:43] They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom and his possessions and went their way. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the Oaks of Mamre, the Ammorite brother of [00:23:00] Escal and Ener. These were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. [00:23:17] Then he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants defeated them and pursued them to Hobah north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions and brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions and the women and the people. [00:23:36] Okay. So Abram has some friends and he has some men that were trained in battle that could go and rescue his nephew. [00:23:45] But seems to be getting into a lot of, predicaments lately. [00:23:50] So after this war, [00:23:52] verse 17 is basically talking about Melchizadec coming in blessing Abram. [00:23:57] So I’m just gonna basically [00:24:00] summarize chapter 15. [00:24:01] He is reminding Abraham. God is reminding Abram of the covenant that he’s promising after these things. The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, oh Lord God, what will you give me? Where I continued childless and the heir of my house’s Eliezer of Damascus, and Abram said, behold, you have [00:24:33] given me no offspring and a member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. This man shall not be your heir, your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven and number the stars if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. [00:24:58] And he believed the [00:25:00] Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. [00:25:04] He, made a sacrifice to the Lord there. And so that’s a summary of that. It’s very important to remember this promise about his offspring. Because we’re going to need to remember that next week for talking about the sacrifice of Isaac. Chapter 16 is a story of Hagar, which we have already done a episode on. [00:25:30] Go back and listen to that. [00:25:33] So we’re gonna talk more about, Lot and his, being in Sodom [00:25:39] but before that, Abram and Sarah received some visitors. So we’re on chapter 18. And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. As he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold three men were standing in front of him.[00:26:00] [00:26:00] When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, oh Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought. And wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves. [00:26:25] And after that, you may pass on since you have come to your servant. So they said, do as you have said, verse six. And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, quick. Three seahs of fine flower, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tender and good and gave it to the young man who prepared it quickly. [00:26:53] Then he took curbs and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and [00:27:00] he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said, where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, she is in the tent. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year. And Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. [00:27:16] And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah, so Sarah laughed herself saying, After I am worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure? The Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I’m old? [00:27:44] Is anything too hard for the Lord? Yet the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, she’ll have a son, but Sarah denied it saying, I did not laugh. For she was afraid. [00:28:00] He said, no, but you did laugh. Then the three men set out from there and they looked down towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. [00:28:11] The Lord said, shall I hide Abraham from what I am about to do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation? All the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him. I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he had promised him. [00:28:40] Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. And their sin is very grave. I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. [00:28:57] Okay, so [00:28:58] what are we reading [00:29:00] here? The three men are angels sent by the Lord. And they’re getting a little hospitality from Abraham and Sarah. And if you’re noticing now that I am now pronouncing it, Abraham and Sarah, um, I skipped the part where, his name was changed and Sarah’s name was changed. [00:29:22] In case you were not familiar with that passage. [00:29:25] But again, they are reminding Abraham of the promise that [00:29:31] Abraham and his descendants will become a mighty nation. And I mean, you can’t really blame Sarah for laughing. She’s in her nineties. [00:29:43] And obviously she isn’t gonna have a baby outside of the intervention of God. Was the same with Elizabeth. If you remember in New Testament, John, the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, and she had [00:30:00] john the Baptist at a very old age, and, Zechariah did not believe the angel when the angel said that he was going to have a son in old age, so he wasn’t able to speak until his son was born. [00:30:17] This is kind of the same thing. Sarah’s having a hard time believing that next year she is going to be pregnant, and apparently the angels overheard her laughing, busted, and the angels are calling her out. You did laugh. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Um, I think that’s just human nature, that you’ve been waiting for a son for so long and you haven’t had one. [00:30:46] Those of you have suffered the pain of infertility. You know what she’s probably feeling. When you finally get pregnant, sometimes you can’t believe it. That’s what some of my friends who have[00:31:00] gotten pregnant after a very, very long wait. so the angels are here to scope out Sodom and the question the Lord, asking the angels, should I tell ’em or not? [00:31:13] I tell Abraham that I’m planning on destroying the city, and so here comes Abraham is going to intercede. He’s going to try. [00:31:23] We’re gonna go to Genesis chapter 18. When Abraham intercedes for Sodom. [00:31:30] So the men turn from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city, will you then sweep away the place and not spirit? For the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it far, be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the [00:32:00] wicked so that the righteous fair as the wicked far be that from you. Shall not the judge of all the earths do what is just? [00:32:10] And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous in this city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. [00:32:19] And [00:32:20] this is God Almighty. He’s speaking to, the creator of Universe and he is interceding for the people And he is thinking that there’s a lot of righteous people in that city, and he’s finding it unfair that the innocent are going to die alongside the wicked. It’s a very natural response. Uh, unless you’re a psychopath, you don’t want innocent people to die. [00:32:50] But Abraham tries the Lord. He’s very blunt, far be it from you. [00:32:57] I probably wouldn’t talk to the Lord that [00:33:00] way. Uh, [00:33:01] But I guess he is realizing that his nephew is there and that he does not want his nephew, his family, to perish along with the wicked. I guess we’ll give Abraham a little bit of slack here. Verse 27. Abraham answered and said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. I, who am, but dust and ashes, suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. [00:33:30] Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45. There again. He spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there. He answered.[00:34:00] [00:34:00] I will not do it if I find 30 there. He said. Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered for the sake of 20. I will not destroy it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again. But this once, suppose 10 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 10, I will not destroy it. [00:34:32] And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, when Abraham returned in his place. [00:34:39] Abraham is testing the Lord. Kind of like when you got your five year old asking 50 questions. [00:34:47] But we are seeing the mercy of the Lord here. The Lord is promising based on Abraham’s request. Mercy for the 10 who are [00:35:00] found there. [00:35:00] So again, we’re talking about God Almighty, God of the universe, our creator. And the Lord knows people’s hearts. We don’t. We like to think we do, don’t we? [00:35:15] But [00:35:16] the Lord knows what kind of wickedness is in that city, more than one kind of wickedness. I am sure. And God knows who are the righteous, living by faith, who are His, and he acts in that manner. He acts as he sees fit, and that [00:35:37] May not sound like music to your ears. That may not be the answer you wanted to hear. Again, a lot of these stories are not happy stories. [00:35:48] Yes, God is love, and even in the Old Testament as God is depicted as a vengeful God, a fire and brimstone God, God is very [00:36:00] loving and merciful in the Old Testament. If you just look for it. Lord is merciful to spare these 10 and we’re gonna see here, there’s gonna be even less than 10. [00:36:11] And we saw examples of God’s mercy in the previous character studies as well. God is always waiting for people to repent of their sin. And some people choose not to repent, [00:36:28] but God is a holy God who cannot tolerate sin in his presence, and he is also a loving God. He is going to give you a way out of it. He’s gonna provide a way of redemption. And that is through faith. Through faith in God and his. Plan of salvation. [00:36:49] And by the way, this is before the law of Moses even existed. So Abraham was, was saved by his faith. His faith was kind of as righteousness. [00:37:00] We read that just a few minutes ago. [00:37:02] So our salvation is not based on the things that we do. Let’s move on to the unpleasantness in the next chapter. Chapter 19, two Angels came to Sodom in the evening and lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When lot saw them he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, my Lords. [00:37:28] Please turn aside your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, no, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house and he made a feast. [00:37:51] And baked unlevened bread and they ate. The gates of the city, [00:37:57] it says in my commentary, the gate of an [00:38:00] ancient city was the center of communal activity. The place of the market, and of meetings of elders. [00:38:08] So this is the place to be, and it’s customary to invite strangers into your house. It was a form of hospitality and these two visitors, two angels, they were in the town square and they preferred to be in the town square rather than lodge, which I find very interesting. Uh, maybe they knew who Lot was. [00:38:36] Maybe they knew his family or his soon to be family. Maybe they thought, well, we can take care of ourselves. [00:38:45] We are the messengers of God. And we’ll see. They certainly can take care of themselves, but they humored Lot and came into his house and, ate with Lot. [00:38:59] And this was [00:39:00] in the middle of the night because verse four it says, but before they lay down the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house. Now it’s pretty scary. Every man in town. Young and old surrounding that house. That is terrifying. I don’t know how big this house was. [00:39:25] Doesn’t say, I don’t know how big this village is. [00:39:29] And they called Lot. Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. And on the surface, that doesn’t sound too, too bad come out, we wanna meet them. But the original language of the word know means to know somebody sexually. So pretty much the context of this is bringing them out here so we can abuse them. [00:39:56] Six. Lot went out to the man at the [00:40:00] entrance, shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers do not act. So wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you and due to them as you, please only do nothing to these men where they have come under the shelter of my roof. [00:40:22] Um, yeah, this is disgusting as it sounds. He has been in Sodom for long enough to have married and long enough to have two marriageable daughters, [00:40:38] and they were going to marry [00:40:43] Men of Sodom. It doesn’t really say if these future son-in-laws are believers in the God of Abraham. Um, Probably not based on the context we’re going to read here shortly, but who is disgusting enough[00:41:00] of a father to throw his daughters out onto the streets to be abused by these men of the city. [00:41:07] The whole city [00:41:08] where? Where in the world are their fiances? Being, betrothed in those days was as binding as marriage. So where were these two future son-in-laws? They don’t hear them speaking up at all in this passage, which is, uh, it just grinds my gears. disgusts me. Verse nine, but they said, stand back, and they said, this fellow came to Sojourn and he has become the judge. [00:41:46] Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man Lot in Drew near to break the door down. [00:41:55] So these men of the town are treating Lot as an [00:42:00] outsider. He’s a sojourner. He doesn’t really belong here. He just kind of pitched his tent here one day and decided to stay. He is not really one of us. [00:42:11] Because Lot is telling them don’t do so wickedly. Don’t abuse the guests in my home. [00:42:18] So they’re trying to break the door down, trying to squish, [00:42:22] I guess. Um, press hard against Lot. [00:42:25] I’m not sure what that entails. I don’t think I wanna know. The angels had to intervene here, verse 10. But the men reached out their hands and brought lot into the house with them and shut the door, and they struck with blindness. The men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, [00:42:46] so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. [00:42:49] Then the men said to lot, have you anyone else here, son-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in this city, [00:43:00] bring them out of this place where we are about to destroy this place. Because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord. And the Lord has sent us to destroy it. [00:43:17] So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his son-in-laws to be jesting. [00:43:34] So [00:43:34] um, the son-in-laws to be did not believe Lot. They thought he was joking. Nobody’s gonna destroy. Nobody’s gonna destroy the city. God isn’t gonna destroy the city. I’m of the opinion that these future son-in-laws were not believers. [00:43:51] He had no fear of God whatsoever, [00:43:54] so they wouldn’t leave. Verse 15. As morning [00:44:00] dawn, the angels urged Lot saying up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, let you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him. [00:44:20] And they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills unless you be swept away. [00:44:35] Lot hesitated in leaving. Maybe he was waiting for his son-in-laws to change their mind, I don’t know. But he wouldn’t leave and the angels had to physically take. Everybody out doesn’t really say what the girls were thinking or where they were on this decision, but they were [00:45:00] taken by the hand out. [00:45:01] Escape to the hills. Verse 18 and Lot said to them, oh no, my Lord, behold your servant has found favor in your sight. And you have shown me great kindness in saving my life, but I can’t escape to the hills lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to and it is a little one. [00:45:24] Let me escape there. Is it not a little one, and my life will be saved? You said to him, behold, I grant you this favor also that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly where I can do nothing until you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the city was called Zoar. [00:45:45] So the angel is giving Lot another favor, the angel is telling them to go to the hills far away. But doesn’t think he can run that far. He’s afraid that he is [00:46:00] going to be destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah. So they’re going to zoar nearby city. [00:46:09] Verse 23, the sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar, or then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities. And all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. [00:46:32] But lot’s wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. [00:46:38] Okay. We don’t know anything about Lot’s wife either. Was she from Sodom and Gomorrah? Maybe. A believer? Maybe. We don’t know if she was a believer, but she turned around and looked at the destruction [00:46:57] and became a pillar of salt. [00:47:00] Maybe she was sorry that she had to leave that city. Maybe that was her home where she was born. I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t want to go into the hills. She didn’t wanna go to Zoar. [00:47:12] I don’t know why she looked back, [00:47:15] but now she is gone. [00:47:18] I don’t even see a name for lot’s wife. Interesting. [00:47:23] So what did Abraham see? It took at verse 27, and Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the valley, and he looked and behold the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lott out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which lot had lived. [00:47:59] [00:48:00] So remember, God promised not to destroy the city for 10 people. So who did we have? We had Lot and we had his two daughters. We have his wife, his son-in-laws would’ve been six if they came, [00:48:18] so there wasn’t even 10 in the city. [00:48:21] And the plot thickens here. This is an example in the Bible of sexual abuse of a man by a female. We did a two-part study on Joseph who was abused by Potifer’s wife trying to rape him. And, um, unfortunately [00:48:41] this is disgusting too. [00:48:42] It was disgusting when threatening to throw his daughters out to the men of Sodom to do with what they pleased. Uh, and it gets worse. [00:48:55] So at verse 30 now, lot went up out of Zoar and lived [00:49:00] in the hills with his two daughters when he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters, and the firstborn said to the younger, our father is old and there is not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth. [00:49:19] Come let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him that we may preserve offspring. Offspring from her father. So they made their father drink wine that night, and the first born went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she laid down or when she arose. The next day, the first born said to the younger, Behold, I lay with, behold, I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine tonight also. [00:49:58] Then you go in [00:50:00] and lie with him so that we may preserve offspring from our father. So they made their father drink wine also that night and the younger arose and lay with him and he did not know when she lay down. Or when she arose. Thus, both the daughters of lot became pregnant by their father, the first born for a son and called his name Moab. [00:50:31] He is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also born a son and called his name Ben Ami. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. Okay, so as I’ve just said, this is gross. Who would rape their father? The thoughts that are going through my head is Zoar’s a town. It’s a [00:51:00] small town, but these daughters are talking like they’re the last two people on the planet, which. [00:51:08] Maybe it’s their mindset that they have, feeling sorry for themselves. Scared, who knows? But obviously they’re not the last people on the planet because they were in Zoar. Where did they get the wine? Zoar was not filled with just women. [00:51:24] Um, I’m sure there was a warm body and Zo are to breed with, if that was what they’re worried about. Uh, I mean, yes, they lost their future husbands to the destruction of Sodom. Perhaps they were mourning that, [00:51:41] but they, they both came up with this crazy plan. We’re not gonna have any descendants. So we’re just gonna go in and rape our father. Um, they, they must have had a lot of wine. You gotta be really, really [00:52:00] drunk to be swindled twice into having sex with your daughters. So again, where’d to get all the wine? [00:52:07] They got it in town. They had to have. Where did they get food? Where did they get water? He got it in town. So [00:52:15] then we’ve talked about this before. Yes, A man can be raped by a female. A man can be stimulated in order to have sex, even when they’re drunk, even when they don’t want to. Even when, their brain is not cooperating, it’s just a bodily response. [00:52:36] And even these two women knew what to do to get impregnated by their father. Uh, so yes, that’s pretty gross. And this is wrong. Now, this is before the law of Moses when there were laws against incest, but it still was wrong. [00:52:55] It still is definitely wrong. And so it does mention [00:53:00] the Ammonites. And the Moabites are the descendants of Lot And his two daughters. [00:53:06] So after that unfortunate event, we’ll just mention what Abraham is up to before we close for the day. [00:53:16] , Abraham and Abemilech. [00:53:18] We have an encounter. We’re in chapter 20, verse one. From there, Abraham Journeyed towards the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kish and Sure. And he so joined in Guar and Abraham, said of his wife, she is my sister, Abemilech, king of Guar sent and took Sarah. But God came to a Abemilech in a dream by night and said to him, behold, you are a dead man because the woman whom you have taken for, she is a man’s wife. Now [00:53:56] Abemilech had not approached her, so he said, [00:54:00] Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, she is my sister. And she herself said, he is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands, I have done this. Then God said to him, in the dream, yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. [00:54:30] Therefore, I did not let you touch her. Now then return the man’s wife for he is a prophet. So that he will pray for you and you shall live, but if you do not return her, know that you will surely die. You and all who are yours. [00:54:47] Didn’t I tell you that this was going to happen again? Oh, we just read this in a few chapters ago. It’s almost exactly the same situation, and he, he does this little stunt again, [00:55:00] verse eight. So Abemilech rose early in the morning and called all of his servants and told them all these things, and the men were very much afraid. [00:55:09] Then Abemilech called Abraham and said to him, what have you done to us and how have I sinned against you? That you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin. You have done to me things that ought not to be done. And Abemilech said to Abraham, what did you see that you did this thing? Abraham said, I did it because I thought, there is no fear of God at all in this place and they will kill me because of my wife. [00:55:42] Besides. She is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, although not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And then when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, this is the kindness you [00:56:00] must do me Every place we go, at every place to which we come say of me, he is my brother. [00:56:07] Abemilech took sheep and oxen and male servants and female servants and gave them to Abraham and returned Sarah, his wife, to him and Abemilech said, behold, my land is before you dwell where it pleases you to Sarah. He said, behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you. [00:56:35] And before everyone, you are vindicated. Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abemilech and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of a Abemilech because of Sarah Abraham’s wife. [00:56:54] Okay. As I’ve said before, these patriarchs of the faith [00:57:00] are flawed individuals. They make a lot of mistakes. They are, [00:57:05] Dare I say abusive men. Sarah had to endure this sort of, stunt more than once [00:57:14] and, you know, terrifying, I’m sure of being taken by Abemilech to be his wife. [00:57:22] Again, [00:57:28] The Bible reports these stories as they are, and we may look at Abraham and lot and say, oh, we are not as bad as those guys. We would never do that. We would never do these horrible things. Well, maybe we would. Maybe we wouldn’t. There may be other. Horrible things that we have done, but all sin separates us from God. [00:57:54] All sin is displeasing of the Lord. [00:57:59] We [00:58:00] have a sin, nature. It is in our nature to sin, and we have to choose not to sin. To follow the Lord. [00:58:09] We have to follow the Lord and choose to obey him regardless of the cost. It’s not always easy to do what is right, and we certainly can look down at our noses at the patriarchs. We’ve messed up more than once and think that we’re better than they are. We’re not. We’re not. We look into our hearts and it is a heart issue. [00:58:34] We can see that we need God’s mercy. We need God’s grace, and God has enough grace for us. Amen. You might be listening and thinking, God could never forgive me. I’ve done, fill in the blank, this horrible thing. I think that God includes these stories of these imperfect people because when we really [00:59:00] mess up and God still forgives us, if we ask him for it, if we repent of our sin and turn the other way, God still forgives us. [00:59:13] God gives grace to the Old Testament patriarchs. To the New Testament characters. Um, the New Testament is the same. Look at all the people that the Apostle Paul killed. Now, he thought he was doing God’s work, but he murdered all those Christians. You know, Peter denied Christ three times. How can you, deny somebody that you. [00:59:40] Lived with, slept right next to you, were taught by him. You saw all of his miracles, all these things, and you deny him. I mean, that’s, that’s a pretty big club. Even God, even Jesus forgave [01:00:00] and restored them to ministry. Peter had a wonderful, ministry and so did Paul. Started the early church and many people were saved and added to the Kingdom of God, [01:00:15] and so I hope that, Doing these character studies that you might understand a little more about what is, what is happening, what’s the context? [01:00:27] God isn’t condoning anything. He’s reporting. He’s giving us lessons for us to learn. you don’t study history, then you’re bound to repeat it. That is the old saying. Just the same in the Bible. Whether we like the stories or not, we need to read and learn these things so we don’t repeat them, [01:00:50] I would never fill in the blank. Well, there are other things that we would do. [01:00:58] Well. We’re gonna hear a little [01:01:00] more about Abraham. We’re going to go through when Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice next week. I almost didn’t do this study because it’s really hard. It’s not an easy Bible study at all, but. We’re gonna be brave and we’re gonna walk through it and see what kind of lessons that we can learn. [01:01:27] So I hope you join me. I will be, sitting with my foot propped up and, going through these passages because I’m committed to being here for you. I’m committed to bringing you content even when I’m laid up from surgery. What else am I gonna do? Right? I hope to see you next week. God bless you, and enjoy your week. [01:01:50] Take care. Bye for now.