Two weeks ago we looked at Genesis 18 which highlights the relationship between God and Abraham. A relationship that the Scriptures describe as a friendship. That chapter was all about the righteous, the godly, and the friend of God.
This week’s chapter stands in sharp contrast to the previous chapter. Chapter 19 of Genesis focuses on the ungodly, the unrighteous, the enemies of God, whom God would destroy in dramatic fashion.
And this is one of those chapters that my kids call the “rated- R” parts of the Bible. The judgment that God brings down on Sodom and Gomorrah is because of their extreme sexual perversion, mainly their homosexuality, that was rampant in their society. Of course, we get the modern word sodomy from this infamous city’s name because their reputation identified them as a homosexual culture.
Now we won’t be getting into the biblical reasons of why homosexuality is wrong. But if you want to study that on your own, check out these following passages that clearly show that God sees homosexuality as perverse, abominable, unnatural, and outright sin. You can go to:
Leviticus 18:22, 29, 20:13, Romans 1:26, I Corinthians 6:9, and I Timothy 1:10.
These two cities could have been the most wicked cities that the earth has ever seen. But remember who chose to live there? Our old friend Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Abraham gave him a choice as two where to live and grow his family and his business. Lot chose to live close to the wicked city of Sodom and eventually moved right into the city.
Think about this for a moment. Lot chose to move himself, his family and all his workers right into a city typified as a sexually deviant city. Something you can’t isolate yourself from.
On a trip to Washington D.C. the hotel I was staying at happened to be right at the edge of the gay district in the downtown area. The group I was with and I went looking for a grocery store one day and walked right into the heart of the gay district. And nobody had to tell us that we were in the gay district. It was sick. I didn’t want to be there for five minutes. I can’t imagine living there with my family.
But Lot was more worried about making money even if it meant living in a depraved environment. And as we’re going to see, his compromise with the ‘world’ had terrible affects on him and his family. But you know what the strange, and even tragic, truth is? Lot was a believer in God. Lot actually had faith in God.
[Read II Peter 2:6-8.]
Lot was a believer. But Lot’s faith seemed to be extremely week as he compromised himself with the ‘world or the ‘ungodly way of life’ as he lived amongst the Sodomites. Well lets pick up the story of Lot and see where his life in Sodom has taken him. The account starts with the angels that were with God and Abraham making their way to Sodom.
[Read Genesis 19:1-3.]
There’s several things we need to note about Lot here.
- judge, (v9)
- hospitable
- embarrassed by the city
- feared for the men’s safety
But like we said before, Lot’s personal compromise with the world would not only affect
him, but it would affect everyone around him. So the first thing we see is:
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect his guests
[Read Genesis 19:4-5.]
When I read this it gives me a mental picture that’s horrifying. The Scriptures set the scene very clearly. Men of all ages, from all areas of the city, from all socio-economic situations, had one thing in common – their animal-like desires for homosexual relations. And I say animal-like because the text gives the impression that they were going to forcibly take these visitors and have their way with them.
You can see why Lot didn’t want the men to stay in the courts of the city. Lot’s choice to live in such a wicked place put his guests in danger. But not only that:
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect his judgment
[Read Genesis 19:6-8.]
Doesn’t this just make you spittin’ mad? I mean, to give up his daughters to these animals for the sake of being a good host? Now even though that might have been the polite thing to do back then, there’s a huge line that was crossed when you offer your own children to be gang raped for the sake of hospitality.
Lot was so entrenched in the sick culture of the place where he lived that he couldn’t think straight. His compromise with the world affected his judgment even when it came to taking care of his own daughters. But guess what, this angry mob wouldn’t be satisfied with Lot’s offer. So now we see:
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect his own safety
[Read Genesis 19:9.]
Lot’s in serious trouble here. Even though he’s an important official in the city, and even though he tries to appease them with his daughters, he’s now in danger of being violated and probably killed once they were done with him. (It goes to show you, you just can’t reason with people like this!)
Now remember, Lot is a man of faith. Not a great man of faith, but a believer. And God loves His children. So we see the gracious hand of God reaching out to help Lot.
The angels graciously protect Lot from the ‘world’
[Read Genesis 19:10-11.]
Lot is in serious trouble here so the angels quickly open the door and pull Lot back in from the crowd. The men whom Lot tried to protect were now protecting him.
The angels caused blindness to come upon the angry mob that confused them as they continued to try and get into the house. And we get the impression that they kept trying to get in until they got tired out and gave up. Probably well into the night.
Meanwhile, the angels told Lot what was about to happen and gave them the plan as to how he and his family could escape God’s coming wrath upon that place. So we’ve seen how the angels protected Lot from the world. Now we’ll see how:
The angels graciously protect Lot and his family from the God’s judgment
[Read Genesis 19:12-25.]
Can you see the scene in your mind’s eye? It’s early in the morning, probably right before the sun peeked over the hills, and the angels tell Lot that it’s time to go. Only Lot, his wife and daughters were there. They probably didn’t get much, if any sleep the night before. The family was having second thoughts about leaving their city, their home, their jobs, and the daughter’s fiancée’s that had refused to come. They hesitated so much so that the angels each grabbed an arm and led them out of the city like a parent leads his kids away from danger.
As the cities were being destroyed behind them Abraham watched from the hill tops.
[Read Genesis 19:27-29.]
God had answered the requests or the ‘prayers’ of Abraham from the previous chapter concerning Lot and his family. I know it doesn’t tell you from this, or any other text that Abraham knew of Lot’s safety at this moment. Surely he would know of it later because of the nations that would come from Lot. But I wonder if Abraham’s friend God would let him know of Lot’s safety? Anyway, Abraham watched as God did what He said He would do.
So Abraham and his family are safe. But only for a moment. You see, the family was out of Sodom, but Sodom wasn’t out of the family.
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect his wife
[Read Genesis 19:26.]
She just couldn’t help herself. Even though the angels told them not to look back, she was so oppressed by the wickedness she lived in she couldn’t help but turn back to see it all go away. Maybe she regretted leaving, maybe her fondness of the lifestyle was so alluring that she hoped it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. But she rejected the angel’s warning, looked back, and died becoming a pillar of salt. A monument if you will of her sin.
Lot’s affinity with the world had cost him almost everything. His home, his business, his daughter’s fiancées’, his wife. All he had left were his daughters – for now.
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect his daughters
[Read Genesis 19:30-36.]
I get the impression here that this wasn’t just a one time thing. That this was something the daughters did until they got pregnant. Sick isn’t it? Even unthinkable. Why in the world was their logic so corrupted? Well look where they grew up. In their culture sex wasn’t something sacred and precious reserved for a husband and a wife. Sex was recreational in their world – the only world they ever knew.
And remember how Lot offered them sexually to the angry mob to save his guests? You know the girls knew what their father had done. Remember, this wasn’t some peaceful negotiation between civilized men. This was a shouting match in the early evening though the front door of the house! So by seeing this the daughters were taught by their own father that sex was just something you did for many reasons other than an expression of love between a husband and a wife. Lot’s compromise with the world’s way of doing things affected his daughters in a horrible way.
[Lacy at BBV story.]
Lot’s unholy union with his daughters affected his daughters in much the same way. Their emotional baggage would probably be something they’d have to deal with the rest of their lives. But the affects of Lot’s compromise with the world still wasn’t over. Finally we see:
Lot’s compromise with the world would affect Israel
[Read Genesis 19:37-38.]
The Moabites and the Ammonites we born in that cave. These would become two of Israel’s worst enemies over the years. Even their names reflected the sin in which they were born. (Moab, “from father”, Ben-Ammi, “son of my kinsman”)
I don’t think Lot ever dreamed of how far reaching the effects of his sin would be. But the ripples of his compromise with the world just kept on going and negatively affecting everyone around him. Could this have been avoided? Did it have to turn out this way?
[Read I Peter 2:6-8, I John 2:15-17.]
We must resists cozying up to the world’s ungodly mentality and way of doing things. Because when we compromise our faith, it affects ourselves and those around us in profoundly negative ways.
[USF girls story.]
Follow the way of faith like Abraham. Avoid the way of compromise like Lot.
