Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19991024.htm

GENESIS: THE SOURCES OF GOOD AND CALAMITY IN OUR ORIGINS
Part III - God's Ongoing Program Of Countering Man's Apostasy At Babel
I. Round Eight: The FAMILY Tragedies To ESCAPE In Living By Faith In God's Word
(Genesis 19:1-38)
  1. Introduction
    1. Not only are there blessings to gain in living faith in God; there are also troubles to AVOID by it as well.
    2. Genesis 19 contrasts with Genesis 18 on this issue: where Abraham, Sarah and their offspring were blessed for their faith in the Lord in Genesis 18, Genesis 19 witnesses the long-term marital and family tragedies of unbelief in Lot's life. These chapters offer an encouragement and warning on the need to live by faith:
  2. The FAMILY Tragedies To ESCAPE In Living By Faith In God's Word, Genesis 19:1-38:
    1. Following God's uplifting fellowship meal with Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18, God's angels paid a visit to Sodom where Abraham's nephew, Lot had chosen to live with its worldly opulence, Genesis 19:1a.
    2. The horrible results on FAMILY LIFE arising from Lot's choice to live in Sodom in contrast to Abraham's FAMILY LIFE FULFILLMENT are seen in a contrast of these two chapters as follows:
      1. Lot rightly greeted these men as Abraham had done earlier, inviting them into his home, Gen. 19:1b-3.
      2. However, after the meal, the worthless clans of Sodom surrounded the house and demanded Lot release these angels so that they might have homosexual relations with them, Genesis 19:4-5.
      3. Lot was opposed to this, and offered to give his daughters for these men to abuse in place of the angels, Gen. 19:6-8. This suggestion on Lot's part was doubly horrific as these daughters were already spoken for in marriage according to Genesis 19:14. Lot's offer of his daughters for abuse shows how even he had declined in morals by his exposure to Sodom though 2 Peter 2:7-8 said Lot was upright!
      4. The crowd still wanted the angels, and threatened to abuse Lot more than the angels, so the angels pulled Lot into his house and gave the aggressors blindness so they could not find his door, 19:9-11.
      5. God's angels moved Lot to get out of Sodom as they were sent to judge the place for its sin, 19:12-13.
      6. When Lot tried to get his family out of Sodom, his (to-be?) sons-in-law refused to come, so the angels urged him to take his wife and daughters and flee, Gen. 19:14-15. When Lot's family stalled, the angels actually had to grab their hands and pull them out of the line of God's judgment, Genesis 19:16.
      7. After getting them out, the angels urged Lot's family to flee and not look behind, but to get up the high hills to escape judgment. Otherwise, they would face destruction, Genesis 19:17.
      8. Spoiled with the luxuries of Sodom, Lot requested that he not go to the mountains lest something worse happen there, and asked if he might to nearby Zoar on the coast of the Dead Sea, Gen. 19:18-20.
      9. The angel accepted Lot's request and graciously spared Zoar so Lot could flee there, Gen. 19:21-23.
      10. God then rained down fire and brimstone, destroying the whole region, Genesis 19:24-25. Since Lot had separated from Abraham in Genesis 13 due to too much livestock between them for the land to handle, and had since moved to Sodom, Lot then lost all his possessions in this judgment as well!
      11. Lot's wife disobeyed the angels, looking back as she fled, so she was turned into a pillar of salt, 19:26ff
      12. Well, when the fireworks actually fell and Lot lost his wife and possessions, he with his daughters finally fled to the mountains where the angels had first suggested he go, anyway, Genesis 19:30!
      13. While hiding in a cave, the now husbandless daughters got their father drunk and had relations with him to preserve their father's seed, Genesis 19:31-36. The d aughters had also picked up on the immorality of Sodom to the point where they could justify incest to achieve their goals.
      14. The results of this incest were less than desirable, for the children who came of this union became the perennial enemies of Abraham's seed, the Moabites and Ammonites, Genesis 19:37-38.
Lesson: In place of edifying fellowship with God, LOT suffered tension through trying to stay upright in Sodom (2 Peter 2:7-8) let alone the demise of his FAMILY life and family possessions! All in all, Lot's lust for the riches of Sodom cost him dearly in terms of long-term FAMILY trials!

Application: Just as there are family blessings in store for one who, like Abraham, will live by faith in God, there are equally severe family troubles in store for those who, like Lot, put the values of this world ahead of fellowship with God! We do DOUBLY well to FAMILY life to live by faith in God!