July 29, 2001 Genesis 14
¡§Captive to sin¡¨ pt. 2
INTRODUCTION
The Arizona highway patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.
The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.
It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a Jet-Assisted Take-Off unit. JATO units are solid-fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for takeoff from short airfields. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.
The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:
The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 miles per hour and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional twenty to twenty-five seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.
The Chevy remained on the striaght highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15 to 20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater three feet deep in the rock.
Most of the diver¡¦s remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.
1. Lot was a righteous man. (2 Peter 2:7-8)
By that, I don¡¦t mean that Lot was someone who lived a good life. Everything that we know about Lot speaks of the fact that he cared only for himself. He took the opportunity to get the best of his uncle Abram, who had been like a father to him. He put his family into jeopardy in order to be in a place where he could achieve financial and political power. He did not follow God¡¦s law in his own life, and was certainly not going to declare God¡¦s truth to someone else for fear of losing some opportunity to profit financially from his relationship with this person.
The only sense in which Lot was righteous was in that fact that he had, at some point in his past, established a relationship with God. He had placed his faith in God as the truth-teller, the creator of the universe and the only one who could forgive him of his sins. He was what we would call today, a Christian. And he was like many Christians today. He was on his way to heaven, but he was making the most out of sin while he was here on earth.
2. Lot was a carnal man. (1 Cor. 3:1-3)
Lot had never grown up in his faith in God. He had gotten to a certain point, and then something had stunted his growth. He was a spiritual dwarf. He had his minds on things of the world rather than on spiritual things. He was like a spiritual baby whose only concern was where his next meal was going to come from and who was going to clean up all the messes that he made.
3. Lot was a troubled man. (2 Peter 2:8)
Because Lot had a righteous soul but was living in sin, he was miserable. He was trying to have the best of two worlds. That prevented him from being able to enjoy either one. He felt all twisted inside. He had a continual knot in his stomach that just would not go away no matter how he tried to get rid of it.
A man was looking out his window one day, and he noticed a group of birds sitting on a high-tension electrical cable near his house. He knew that there was a huge amount of voltage going through that cable, and yet the birds felt no ill-effects to sitting there. He wondered what would happen if he reached up there and grabbed hold of that cable. Before he had a chance to try out his little experiment, he remembered something that he had learned back in high-school. The reason that the birds were not hurt was because they were touching nothing but the cable. He, on the other hand, could not reach the cable without being connected to something else that was touching the ground. The reason that the electricity would hurt him is because he was trying to grab hold of something high in the sky without letting go of his world below.
Lot was like that man. He wanted the high-powered cable in the sky, but he also wanted the life on the ground. Since he could not let go, he was suffering greatly.
What causes a person to live in the midst of a situation that is tormenting their very soul? They have no peace. They are void of joy. They can¡¦t sleep at night. They are sickened and saddened by what they see and hear, but they keep looking and listening. Why? Had the king of Sodom chained Lot in a prison cell? No, but Lot was still a prisoner.
That brings us to our 4th description of Lot and the events of Genesis 14.
4. Lot was a bound man. (Genesis 14:12)
When Lot made his decision to leave Abram behind and go down to the well-watered plains of Jordan, he had no idea that he was stepping into a real international incident. The kings of the 5 cities in that area had been paying tribute to Chedorlaomer for 12 years. Chedorlaomer was the king of Babylon. Chedorlaomer got a cut of everything that happened in Sodom. In the 13th year, these kings that surrounded Lot decided that enough was enough. They weren¡¦t going to pay anymore. When other cities all throughout Canaan heard that the kings of the Jordan were defying Chedorlaomer and weren¡¦t going to pay tribute anymore, it gave them confidence to do the same thing. So the whole area revolted. Sounds like a scene from one of the Godfather movies. One local merchant decides to stand up to the mob and not pay protection money. Others are emboldened to do the same, and soon, a whole city block is standing up to the mob.
Chedorlaomer, like any good godfather, knows that he can¡¦t let this slide for fear of losing the respect and fear of all the nations around him. So in the 14th year, he gathers his forces and comes down to attack the people. He successfully conquers all the little guys, one at a time, so that they will no longer be a threat. And then, the last group he goes after is the group that started the problem to begin with ¡V those kings in the Jordan valley. They draw up their battle lines ¡V 4 kings against 5. (vs. 8-9) The next thing we read in verse 10 is that the kings of the Jordan were routed. They¡¦re running all over the place to try and get away. It¡¦s like the battle was so short that it wasn¡¦t even worth mentioning. Some run off into the hills; others, while trying to get away fall into tar pits and get trapped there. Where¡¦s Lot? He¡¦s back in Sodom carrying on business as if nothing is the matter. All his expectations are that his new friends will be able to protect him. He¡¦s so confident of their ability to protect him that he doesn¡¦t even go to the battle [¡§living in Sodom¡¨] Little does he know, that his new found friends have been defeated, and he is doomed to slavery for the rest of his life.
As Lot is being led off in chains toward Babylon, I imagine that there were a lot of thoughts going through his head. Thoughts like, ¡§How did I ever get myself into this mess?¡¨ We don¡¦t realize how far we are from God sometimes, because we move away gradually. The glitter and gold of the world serves to draw us, albeit slowly, away from God¡¦s presence. Mike Yaconelli writes in the Wittenburg Door that he lives in a small, rural community. The area has lots of cattle ranches and every once in a while a cow wanders off and gets lost. If you ask one of the ranchers how a cow gets lost, chances are he will reply, ¡§Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on the tuft of grass right next to the hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.¡¨ Maybe we haven¡¦t created a flagrant separation from God, but it is possible that we have ¡§nibbled¡¨ our way right out of the green pastures God has provided for us. The means may differ, but the result is the same.
The verse says, ¡§They took Lot.¡¨ Stripped of his wealth, Lot is lead away in chains. He is brought under the control of a system that represents the kingdom of darkness. May I suggest that this wasn¡¦t the beginning of Lot¡¦s captivity? Lot was a prisoner before Chedorlaomer took him captive. His chains then were much more comfortable than the chains he wore now, but they were no less real. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German poet and philosopher said, ¡§None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.¡¨ Those who wear iron cuffs are aware of their bondage, but those chained by silken cords are worse off. They are bound and do not know it. Iron chains and silk cords produce the same results.
It¡¦s a lot easier to bind someone with silken cords than it is to bind them with iron chains. Silken cords are comfortable and at times even fashionable. They give the wearer a feeling of still being in control. The first drink that a drunk took was fun. It made him part of the crowd. The first cigarette that the smoker lit up made her feel like she had grown up even though it made her sick. The first lottery ticket that they purchased was fun and exciting. But who was to know that all these things that looked so good and so fun and so harmless and so part of what it was to be alive were going to become a ball and chain that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. You give them what they want, tell them what they want to hear, and they will respond in kind. Give the teenager popularity, and he will do what the crowd does so he can continue to be a part. Give the lonely housewife the love she needs and she will reciprocate. It is called compromise, and it is one of Satan¡¦s most successful weapons. People will compromise their convictions and morals to get what they want. And then they will be in bondage to the very things that they thought could set them free. That¡¦s where Lot was. He thought his relationship with Sodom would set him free from the restrictions of living with his family. But he was worse off than he had ever been before.
5. Lot was a delivered man. (Genesis 14:16)
Lot thought that his life was over. But then he saw something in the night. He saw one of his servants manage to get out of his chains and head off into the night. He hoped beyond hope that he would go and find his uncle Abram. But even if he did find uncle Abram, there was no reason that he should expect Abram to come to his rescue. The last time that they had anything to do with Abram was to take advantage of him. Abram could easily say, ¡§He made his bed; now let him lie in it.¡¨ There was no reason for Abram to come to Lot¡¦s aid, and lot¡¦s of reasons for him to stay away.
But that servant did find Abram, and Abram did come to Lot¡¦s rescue. He risked everything against all odds. A little over 318 men against the armies of 4 cities!? Abram traveled all night, from the bottom of Canaan to the very top edge. They would have been tired when they got there. But they attacked as soon as they got there. And they were successful! The kings were defeated, all the stuff was recovered, and Lot was rescued. Once again, someone else cleaned up the mess that he had made. There was nothing that Lot could have done to secure his own freedom. And there was nothing that Abram wasn¡¦t willing to risk in order that Lot might be freed.
That scenario sounds awfully familiar to me. That¡¦s my story too. That¡¦s the story of every Christian. We were imprisoned to sin and Satan, and there was not a thing that we could do about it. But then Jesus risked everything, traveled a great distance, and came to our rescue. It cost us nothing. It cost him everything. Now, we¡¦re free.
But we¡¦re not free to live however we want. We have been set free to choose who we will serve. Before Jesus came along, we had no choice. We were born into slavery much like the Israelites were. When the Israelites were living in Egypt, they had no choice about who they were going to serve. They were slaves to the Egyptians. But once they were set free, Joshua came to them with these words: ¡§Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve¡K¡¨ (Josh 24:14-15) Freedom does not mean free to live however I want or do whatever I want to do. It means that I am free to serve.
When Paul wrote to the church at Rome, he dealt with people who figured that since they had been set free from the penalty of sin, they could live however they wanted to. Then, if they got into too much trouble, they could just come back to God for forgiveness, and start the whole process all over again. Paul said that it doesn¡¦t work that way. He said in verse 2 of Romans 6: ¡§We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?¡¨ And then, in verse 18, he says, ¡§You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.¡¨ We are either a slave to God or a slave to sin. We have to make that choice. God gave us the freedom to make that choice. Whoever we choose will determine the course of our lives. ¡§Don¡¦t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey ¡V whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness?¡¨ (Romans 6:16)
Lot, now freed from Chedorlaomer, had a choice to make. Abram had removed the iron chains from Lot¡¦s wrist, but he could not lift the silken cords from Lot¡¦s heart. Lot was bound to Sodom by his love for himself and his love for the world.
6. Lot was a stupid man. (Genesis 19:1)
When I talk about someone who is stupid, I¡¦m speaking of someone who just cannot learn or who refuses to learn in spite of all the opportunities that they are given. Speaking of stupid, Gomer Pyle (ya¡¦ll remember him?) used to have a saying: ¡§Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.¡¨ Why did he say that? ¡V because after the first time, a person should be smart enough to figure out how to keep himself from being outsmarted again. Lot was not that kind of man. He saw many things that should have turned him around and clued him in to what was going on.
Lot saw in Sodom that¡K
„h ¡Ksin could not protect him. Lot had originally gotten involved in the city of Sodom for financial gain but also so that he could have the protection of the city against any foes who would seek to attack him. But the first time that Lot in Sodom faced an enemy, he was left unprotected.
„h ¡Ksin would betray him. When Lot and the rest of the citizens of Sodom were being taken off to Babylon, do you know what the king of Sodom was doing? He wasn¡¦t working on a plan to get Lot and the rest back. He wasn¡¦t going to other cities to try and get more soldiers for a rescue attempt. He was hiding.
„h ¡Ksin would entrap him.
A poor country preacher was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought. ¡§How could you do this?!¡¨ he exclaimed. ¡§I don¡¦t know,¡¨ she wailed, ¡§I was standing in the store looking at the dress. Then I found myself trying it on. It was like the devil was whispering to me, ¡§Boy, you look great in that dress. You should buy it.¡¨ ¡§Well¡¨ the pastor persisted, ¡§You know how to deal with him! Just tell him, ¡¥Get behind me Satan!¡¨ ¡§I did¡¨ replied his wife, ¡§but then he said, ¡¥It looks great from back here too.¡¦¡¨
Sin can be fun, and we can laugh about the messes that we get ourselves into. But sin can also be deadly.
The carcass of a sheep was floating down Niagara River. A giant eagle lit upon the carcass and began to pick out the eyes. Finally the carcass began to enter the rapids of the mighty falls and was about to go over. All that time the eagle was unconscious of any danger, but just as the carcass was about to make the fatal plunge over the falls, the eagle awoke to the danger. He spread forth his mighty wings but his talons had become fastened in the wool of the sheep and would not let go. The mighty bird fluttered and screamed but the carcass pulled him over the falls to his death." How like so many who unconscious of the danger, day by day are becoming entangled in the meshes of sin that will destroy their lives on earth and torment their lives in hell.
„h ¡Ksin would not benefit him. All that Lot had gained by taking advantage of the kindness of uncle Abram was gone in an instant. Lot and all his stuff was taken captive. Everything that he had gained through sin was pulled away from him.
Lot saw in Abram that¡K
„h ¡Krighteousness could protect him. Abram had a small army, but with God¡¦s blessing, he defeated a foe who was much larger than himself. Lot didn¡¦t need to always be looking out for his own interests, cheating others and compromising with sin in order to keep himself safe. Keeping him safe, protecting him and blessing him was God¡¦s job. It was too big of a job for Lot. Living a righteous life is the safest, most secure, kind of life that there is. What safer place could there be than resting right in the middle of God¡¦s hand?
„h ¡Krighteousness would sacrifice for him. Abram had nothing to gain by entering into this war between the cities of the plain and Chedorlaomer. He was putting it all on the line. He even called in other allies who had even less of a stake in the outcome of this whole thing. They didn¡¦t even know Lot. Abram put his new relationships at risk. But he risked it all because someone he loved was in trouble, and because it was the right thing to do. Righteousness will do that. Righteousness will put it all on the line when someone is in trouble. That¡¦s what Jesus did.
„h ¡Krighteousness would free him.
A man who drank heavily was converted to Christ and lived victoriously for several weeks. One day as he passed the open door of a tavern, the pungent odor drifting out aroused his old appetite for liquor. Just then he saw this sign in the window of a nearby cafe: "All the buttermilk you can drink -- 25 cents!" Dashing inside, he ordered one glass, then another, and still another. After finishing the third he walked past the saloon and was no longer tempted. He was so full of buttermilk that he had no room for the thing that tempted him.
Dwight L. Moody once demonstrated the principle like this: "Tell me," he said to his audience, "how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?" One man said, "Suck it out with a pump." But the evangelist replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter it." Finally after many suggestions, moody picked up a pitcher and quietly filled the glass with water. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate sinful habits, but rather by allowing the Holy Spirit to take full possession.
At this moment in his life, Abram had a big decision to make. Here, the king of Sodom was offering him all the possessions of 5 cities combined. It was an offer that no one in his right mind could turn down. Lot was listening. He listened while Abram received Melchizedek¡¦s blessing and as Abram rejected Bera¡¦s offer. Lot watched as Abram took 10% of everything that he had recovered and gave it to king of Salem. And then, he gave all the rest back to the kind of Sodom for him to distribute it back to its rightful owners. Lot must have looked on with amazement and wonder. Here was Abram¡¦s chance to get even with Lot for trying to cheat him for included in all that stuff was the increase that Lot had seen because of his decision to come down to the well-watered plain of the Jordan. Here was his chance to teach a lesson to the king of Sodom and take everything that he had. Here was his chance to become one of the most powerful and one of the richest men in all the world at that time ¡V the wealth of 5 cities in one man¡¦s bank account. But he turned it down. Why? Because he was not in bondage to his own desire for wealth and power. He was already full of the blessings of God. He was free from the control of things of this world. He knew the truth, and the truth had set him free. He knew that God had created all things, and God alone could and would provide him with all that he would ever need.
„h ¡Krighteousness would benefit him. When Abram gave back everything that he had recovered, that meant that Lot was going to get all his stuff back, minus the 10% that had been given away. Lot had no right to expect that. But it should have taught him that he needed to be around righteous people. He should have learned that the wealth that uncle Abram had gained did not come from stabbing others in the back or from raiding the holdings of his neighbors. It came by honest dealings with people and the blessings of God on his righteous lifestyle.
But after seeing all that, Lot still chose to go back to Sodom. ¡§As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.¡¨ (Pr. 26:11) As a cleaned up pig, when given the opportunity, jumps right back into the mud, so a sinner, who doesn¡¦t understand the price that was paid for him to be cleaned, will go right back to the mess that he was in before he was delivered.
As Abram rode into the distance, Lot thought about all that happened. It hadn¡¦t cost him anything to be delivered from his enemy. But it would cost him everything to be free from Sodom. And if he ever got into trouble again, uncle Abram would just rescue him again. So Lot turned and went back to Sodom. His wife would not leave it. His oldest daughters were engaged to men in Sodom and the weddings had already been planned. He had a business to tend to, and he needed to check on his house.
¡§If a man would be my disciple let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.¡¨
It¡¦s easier to remove brass chains than it is to deliver a man from silken cords. Lot was stupid. He was like a dumb sheep lead to the slaughter.
CONCLUSION
He knew he had it in his bosom, but apparently he did not know the deadly potential it carried within itself to suddenly strike and slay him. Consequently, tragically, the Florida school boy quickly died that day! Perhaps it was because of its beauty or its deceitfully docile, friendly behavior when he touched it. Whatever it was that enticed him to do so, when he saw the Coral snake lying there in the sun, he gently and carefully picked it up and put it in his shirt pocket, close to his heart. While he rode the bus to school, ran into his classroom, and studied arithmetic and reading, the snake nestled there in his pocket quietly.
Then came recess time, but even during a ball game, when the boy "batted and ran the bases," still "the snake slept peacefully," there in his pocket. However, after the bell rang ending recess, as the children were "lined up at the door of the school building, one classmate gave the boy a shove, pushing him against the child in front of him. When their bodies collided the snake struck, emptying its gland of poisonous venom. The boy screamed and fell to the ground struggling for breath. In a short time, the boy was dead in spite of all efforts to revive him." (quoted portions and story from an article by E. Cunningham, Herald of Holiness 8/15/86)
¡§Father thank you for delivering me from Chedorlaomer! It is good to be free from the iron chains that bond me. I am, however, suspicious that there are silken cords around my heart. Please help me to leave Sodom and it¡¦s flattery. Please strengthen me so that I can break these comfortable cords that keep me from following your Son.¡¨
