AOC

The Anglican Orthodox CommunionOFFICE OF THE PRESIDING BISHOP

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GENESIS STUDY: Chapter 19 (Part II)

In this lesson we will read of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for unmentionable sins, and the escape of Lot and his two daughters by the mercy of God.

The Destroying Angels warned Lot and his wife not to look back at the destruction of the wicked city.

Why do you suppose that warning was given?

Is there any cause to believe that Lot’s daughters had been corrupted by there associations with the sinners of Sodom?

Were there any righteous in Sodom besides Lot?

Was either of the five cities of the plain saved? If so, why?

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. Gen 19:17 (KJV)

The command of the great Angel was to flee to the mountain – for us, that is the Mountain of God. But Lot has the audacity to bargain, even in the face of so great a danger, with the Angel.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Psalms 121:1-2 (KJV)

And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:  Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. Gen 19:18-20 (KJV)

Zoar is the city which Lot cites. It is also a wicked city, but smaller than the others; so, Lot desires to go to a city of just a trifle lesser sin than the one from which he flees.

Dead SeaThis is the location of Sodom & Gomorrah

City of Zoar

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.  Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Gen 19:21-23 (KJV)

The Hour of the Devil is the Dark and Midnight hour, but God does all things openly. The sun is risen at Zoar when Lot enters the city – the very last sunrise the people of Sodom and Gomorrah will ever see.

24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. Gen 19:24-25 (KJV)

It is unlikely that such violet destruction had ever been experienced in a city before.

Perhaps the same destruction awaits Nations and people who commit the filthy sins of the flesh of Sodom (Sodomy).

Contrary to the Angel’s warning, Lot’s wife looked back.

Can you imagine why?

Lot’s Wife

Could it be that Lot’s wife had grown very fond of the wealth and society status she had enjoyed in Sodom despite the wickedness of the people and society?

She remembered her beautiful vases, classy home and furnishing, her maid servants, her prestige, her wonderful wardrobe…… so she was drawn back to the place from which the Lord had offered escape.

This is much like you and me. We come to Christ with an excited and happy heart. But then we find that some old sin that was so appealing to us is luring us back to the old, ugly Jerry, Betty, Charles, Dennis, Roger, etc. So we halt and look back. At that moment, we have fallen back from God and toward sin.

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Gen 19:26 (KJV)

Salt-Stone figure Considered by locals To be Lot’s wife.

Once we undertake to follow the Lord, all of our faculties must be directed to that decision:

No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62 (KJV)

Overlooking ZOAR

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: 28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. Gen 19:27-29 (KJV)

How did Lot merit saving from the destruction at Sodom?

Was he saved on account of his own faith, or was it by virtue of the faith of an intercessor?

Who was the intercessor in this case?

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. Gen 19:30 (KJV)

Even though Lot had requested to go to Zoar, and the Angel had given permission, Lot doubted that the same power that had preserved him from the destruction at Sodom could preserve him in yet another wicked city.

He wound up in the same mountain to which the Angel had at first directed him.

We should never question God’s will regardless of the doubts and fears our own wills press upon us.

Lot and his Daughters

Can you offer any explanation for the deviant behavior of Lot’s daughters below?

And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. 33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Gen 19:31-33 (KJV)

34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, 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 perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. Gen 19:34-36 (KJV)

The sinful mind is incapable of understanding things that are spiritual. But even the common folk of the pagan nations do not stoop to this kind of perversion.

While it may have been true that there was no man by whom they could bear children (children were very important for a woman to have in those days due to security needs), the means they chose was totally unacceptable to God.

I believe these women had lived among the most sinful and perverted people on the planet from their youth, and saw not much wrong with such a sinful act as they committed. Lot, too, must have been vexed and influenced by such perverse sin for he had offered these daughters to the men of the city earlier.

37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. Gen 19:37-38 (KJV)

The two sons born of this fornication became the cursed nations of Moab and Ammon. They have plagued the Children of Israel from the Wilderness until today. Ammon is the current capital of Jordan.

Next we will study of yet another example of Abraham not staying put where the Lord has led him. Genesis 20.

After these sordid affairs, there is no further mention made of Lot except for brief references to the fall of Sodom in the New Testament. (Luke 17:28-29, 32; 2 Peter 2:7)

There is even no mention made of his death. It is a common belief, unsupported by Scripture, that Abraham cared for Lot and his daughters after the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.