Genesis 19
v1-3 –the angels come to Lot in Sodom
v4 –the wicked sodomites and Lot’s intercession
v10-11 –Lot protected
v12-14 –the testimony of Lot
v15-16 –Lot brought out of the city
v17-22 –Lot flees to Zoar
v24-25 –the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
v26- Lot’s wife a pillar of salt
v27-29 –Abraham sees the destruction and God remembers Abraham
v30-38 –Lot and his daughters in the mountain
v1-when it says that Lot was in the gate of Sodom, it means he was a judge or had some kind of authority or power there. The gates were kinda like the town square where people did business. Deuteronomy 16:18 says in part “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates” and there is a pretty good depiction of what happens in the gate in the last chapter of the book of Ruth.
v2-3 –in the last chapter we saw the hospitality of Abraham and here we see the hospitality of Lot. Lot had a physical house and rather than allowing the angels to stay in the street like usual travelers would do, Lot strongly persuaded them to stay in his place and again, he took care of his guests.
v4-in this verse we read that all kinds of homosexuals came from all over the city to Lot’s house. No one can say that it was just young people, or that Lot lived in Sodom’s Castro district. God makes it clear that Sodom was a wicked place
v5-knowing here is not in the sense of having pleasant conversation and tea
v8-its strange to us that Lot would protect his guests by offering his own daughters to those men of Sodom. It was a custom in those days that you are responsible for your guests and you were to protect them by all means if they were dwelling under your roof or tent.
v9-10 –that just made those sodomites mad and wanted to get Lot now, but the angels of the Lord brought him back inside safely.
v11-God struck those men blind for what they were trying to do. God knew and had shown that the men of Sodom were evil, and that he had to destroy the city. There is an interesting parallel here. Today, sodomites are so blinded by their sin, that they cannot find the door, Jesus Christ. It wearies them to find Him.
v12-14 —Lot tried to warn his relatives, but because of his life not being very exemplary, he didn’t have much of a testimony to them. If we grow cold for the things of God, people notice and we loose testimony and witness to them, they start disbelieving us when we say that God doesn’t like something or that His wrath is coming. Lot must have been saddened that none of his relatives believed him and we too should be saddened when we are not the best Christian to someone and they suffer for it
v15-16 –the angels, in the morning brought Lot and his family out of the city, “lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city”. We are also told that he lingered, he didn’t really want to go, but God had mercy on him and brought him out so that he wouldn’t be destroyed. Salvation comes from God, and has nothing to do with our own merit
v17-20 –They tell Lot to flee into the mountains but he wants to stay nearby and asks to stay in the “little city” of Zoar. He wanted to stay in a place of his choosing than one which God wanted for him (Matthew Henry commentary). A lot like us, he saw how God brought him out of the city and kept him safe but was afraid to go to the mountain for fear of his life. He felt that he could go to a little city, a place not so bad as the rest. Like us, we resist what God tells us to do and try to go to somewhere not as bad, rather than go to somewhere good.(Matthew Henry commentary)
v21-God would not destroy Zoar because Lot would flee there. It was selfish but God allowed it to happen (Matthew Henry commentary)
v23-interesting to see how when Lot entered the city, the sun was risen, so should it be when we enter a place, that light should shine there (Matthew Henry)
v24-25 –God now sends brimstone and fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. Throughout the Bible we will see references to Sodom and Gomorrah regarding its wickedness (Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:46-56) and destruction (Isaiah 13:19, Jeremiah 49:18, Zephaniah 2:9 etc.) The Bible has nothing good to say about those cities except when Jesus says that they would have repented if they saw the mighty works of God, and that it would be more tolerable for those two cities than others in Jesus’ time (Matthew 10:15, 11:23-24). Jesus also says in Luke 17:28-30 that as it was in Lot’s time, so it shall also be when He comes again. In the passages he says that the time will be unexpected just like the people in Sodom didn’t know when it was going to come upon them. We can learn a lot from this. We should always be aware that God could appear at any time and take us out of the world. We need to be watching and make sure that we won’t be ashamed at that time. Also we can understand from here the fact that judgment is coming, and everyone needs to prepare, whether to live right, or to get saved, we all need to prepare and be ready.
v26- In the same chapter in Luke, chapter 17, we are told “remember Lot’s wife.” Jesus, speaking to those who would be in the tribulation, about His coming, tells them not to look back to their homes (Cross reference. Cf: Matthew 24:16-21). It is also important for us not to look back to what we had before we were saved. We should serve God and keep on plowing (Luke 9:62)
v27-28 –Abraham got up that morning and looked east and saw the smoke ascending up to heaven. This reminds me a bit of Babylon in Revelation 18-19:3. Especially that last verse. I wonder what Abraham thought about when he saw that city, he probably wondered about Lot. There was not 10 righteous people in that city at all, it must have saddened Abraham.
v29-even through Lot fled to Zoar, eventually he did get into the mountains as God originally intended. God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out. We see how God sometimes has a little bit more mercy on the unrighteous because of their relationship with the righteous, and the righteous’ prayer for them
v33-38 –this is one of the many dangers of alcohol. Lot didn’t know much of anything when he was drunk. The Bible says many things about alcoholic wine. It leads to violence (Proverbs 4:17) and poverty (Proverbs 23:21), it is a mocker and deceives many (Proverbs 20:1), perverts judgement (Proverbs 31:4-5) and enslaves the heart (Hosea 4:11). Also in Proverbs 23:29-35 is something of the effects of wine.
So Lot’s own daughters were with child by their father, and the peoples (Moabites and Ammonites) that would come from it would trouble and surround the children of Abraham for a long time in the future.
(Sodom and Gomorrah often used to speak of destruction and desolation from God.
Luke 17:28-29–unexpectedness of the destruction, maybe the wickedness too?
2 Peter 2:7-9–Lot was a just man
God overthrew Sodom in His anger and wrath (Deuteronomy 29:23)
except God left a remnant Israel would have been like Sodom, destroyed (Isaiah 1:9)
Israel called “rulers of sodom” in Isa 1:10 because of their sin
Jerusalem and Judah commit sin in open like sodom (Isa 3:9)
Babylon would be overthrown like Sodom was (Isa 13:19)
prophets of Jerusalem like those in sodom, wicked (Jeremiah 23:14)
Edom to be desolate like sodom (Jer 49:18)
no one would abide in Babylon (Jer 50:40)
punishment of the iniquity of Israel greater than that of the sin of Sodom (Lamentations 4:6)
in Ezekiel 16 starting with verse 46 it is mentioned how that Jerusalem did worse than Sodom did
God overthrew Israel as sodom (Amos 4:11)
Moab and Ammon to be as Sodom and Gomorrah (Zephaniah 2:9)
it will be more tolerable for sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for a city that rejects Christ (Matthew 10:15, Mark 6:11, Luke 10:12)
if works done in Capernaum were done in sodom, sodom would have repented and still been around, but Capernaum didn’t repent and will face a stiffer penalty (Matthew 11:23-24)
destruction of the cities an example to those that would live ungodly (2 Peter 2:6)
Jude 7 says something similar, that they went after stranger flesh and committed fornication, and we given as an example for us
Jerusalem, in the tribulation is a spiritual Sodom (Revelation 11:8)
Except God had a remnant, they would have all been gone, like Sodom and Gomorrah (Romans 9:29)
Gomorrah is always linked with Sodom, not used by itself. Need to be careful of our associations.
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