The Life of Abraham: Doom, Destruction, and Divine Intervention (Genesis 18:16-19:38)

vote with your Bible in your hand

and come pray with us next Sunday night @ 5

some sins are conspicuous—standing out, clearly visible (1 Tim 5:24)

Adolf Hitler’s hatred of Jews resulting in 6 million murders (Holocaust)

Joseph Stalin even worse 6 million - 20 million killed

whew!!! our sin is a whole lot harder for people to detect

did Hitler and Stalin get away with grievous sin?

do we really get away with sin that is less noticeable (pride, greed, lust)?

will God only judge sin at the end of time, or does He judge sin even now?

how far does one have to go for God to judge sin this side of eternity?

does there come a point where God does not let the pollution of sin continue?

YES according to 2 Peter 2

sinful angels

Flood

Sodom and Gomorrah

Israel and Judah (Jeremiah and Ezekiel)

America is not exempt!

America seems to be a parable of Romans 1:18-32

Judgment Day is coming

is there an escape from God’s wrath?

The Life of Abraham: Doom, Destruction, and Divine Intervention

consider Sodom and Gomorrah from a high level

which means there may be little details you hope I explain but probably will not (self study—ESV Study Bible) Wednesday class in gym classroom

but it will give us more time

so we can consider Sodom and Gomorrah for today and our eternity

18:16-33—God’s encounter with Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah

pew Bible # 15

18:16-21—God’s plan to let Abraham know about impending destruction

18:22-33—Abraham’s plea to God

intimacy with God

blessing to nations (intercessory prayer)

asking God to be gracious if even 50—45—40—30—20—10 righteous (not perfect, but no major defect) people

not. even. 10…not. even. 5

19:1-22—corruption & grace revealed

19:1-11—the evil in Sodom

hospitality of Lot mirrors hospitality of Abraham (beginning of chapter 18)

homosexuality

great perversion of God’s design—manifestation of sin in Sodom

result from “suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18)

sodomy—English language

Lot willing to face mob…alone

offer 2 daughters

appalled

yet emphasizes how committed Lot is to protecting his guests

blindness

angels struck men with blindness

didn’t go home

but kept groping for door

really???

physical blindness indicates spiritual blindness

divine judgment is suppose to induce repentance

not doubling down on the sin

Romans 1:18-32

exchanged glory of God for idolatry

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts

God gave them up for dishonorable passions

Romans 1:26–27

God gave them up to a debased mind

blank slide

19:12-22—Lot’s family offered escape

Lot’s family offered escape

and turn it down

judgment day is coming but surely it is not today

how many people live like this today that are hearing this message

Lot does not leave because of his righteous obedience

but due to God’s gracious intervention

19:16

Lot adjusts God’s command

Zoar instead of hills

doesn’t obey without question but asking favors with Judgment Day coming on Sodom and Gomorrah

should just be happy to escape

instead of asking for better living conditions

nevertheless

God shows mercy

“Divine grace is the ultimate basis of salvation, not human righteousness.”

it’s God’s compassion on display, not Lot’s righteousness

19:23-29—Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed

God remembered…Abraham??? (19:29)

key theological point

“Lot was not saved on his own merits but through Abraham’s intercession.”

Lot’s wife…and daughters

their love for Sodom was stronger than Lot’s

Lot’s wife forfeited the God-offered salvation by looking back

identifying herself with Sodom and not those escaping

her sin would have further consequences

19:30-38—Lot’s incestuous conception with 2 daughters

almost certainly would not have happened if Lot’s wife would have been around

irony

pathetic irony

angels have rescued Lot and his virgin daughters from the Sodom mob

only to sacrifice their virginity and their father’s honor when there is no actual danger.

Moabite and Ammonites would be neighbors AND ENEMIES of Israel

Lot’s life at a glance

Lot, the rich rancher who had so many flocks and herds that he had to separate from Abraham

now finds himself and all his possessions fitting in a cave

Lot’s life didn’t end like it started

yet Peter (2 Peter 2) in the NT calls Lot righteous

righteous aren’t perfect, but without major defect

but…

agreed to live in Sodom

hesitant to leave

got drunk (not once but twice) and had sexual relations with (not 1 but both) daughters

how is Lot righteous?

Abraham prayed for God to spare if 10 righteous

God didn’t spare Sodom and Gomorrah

but He did spare Lot (hint that Lot was righteous)

hospitality to the angels mirrored Abraham’s hospitality

but went further in his aim to protect angels from the mob

would have been easier to hand over angels to the mob

instead of facing the mob…alone

much of Lot’s righteousness is when he is considered with Sodom as the backdrop

we are prone to judge Lot from the safety and comfort of our society built on Christian principles

Lot lived in a city that was a cesspool of sin and deviation

not 1 group (like-minded church) to encourage him in trusting God

not 1 friend to strengthen him in his faith

he was alone

Lot wavered and doubted

but clearly Lot was VERY DIFFERENT from the rest of Sodom

and this is why God rescued him

fast forward 4,000 years

homosexuality is a hot button today

wasn’t in 1950s, wasn’t really in 1990’s

but groundwork for where we are has roots going back hundreds of years (Carl Truman books)

controversial in our society

becoming more and more accepted & celebrated

LGBTQ+ agenda

pressure for churches to embrace due to pressure of the culture

why you see rainbow flags in front of church buildings

not celebrating God’s promise to never flood earth again (Gen 9)

but to celebrate the diversity of sexual perversion

BUT homosexuality has never been part of God’s plan

was a sin in Gen 19

was a sin in Lev 18:22, 20:13

is a sin according to Rom 1:26-27

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

it is one thing to be a Christian and to struggle with same-sex attraction

and another to act on that attraction

unfortunately our society is promoting the very thing God says is sin (homosexual behavior/acts)

homosexual behavior is to be avoided

as much as heterosexual infidelity is to be avoided

sexual relations are ONLY to be in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (period)

there are no exceptions in the Bible

no sex before marriage

no sex outside of marriage

all of your sexual urges are to be focused on 1 (your covenantal spouse)

God has created sex a beautiful thing INSIDE the covenant of marriage

anything else is a distortion of God’s design and sin (period)

yet homosexuality is contrary to nature (Rom 1:26)

and one who continually acts out on homosexual urges indicates one is not saved (look at text)

BUT homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin

1 Corinthians 6:11

God’s wrath has been seen throughout history

2 Peter 2:4-10 pew Bible # 1208

sinful angels

Flood

Sodom and Gomorrah

also Jerusalem

Ezekiel 16 more corrupt than Sodom

Jan Halls in FB Bible reading group

58 times—You will know I am the Lord

Ezekiel 6:5, 7

Sodom and Gomorrah a paradigm of divine judgment:

any nation, Jewish or gentile, can expect such treatment if it flouts God’s standards and spurns His call to repentance

but these have only been glimpses of His unrestricted wrath to come on Judgment Day

Jesus refers to Sodom

Matthew 10:15 “Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

there is more to come

God’s judgment has been restrained

Judgment Day is coming

Romans 2:6 “He will render to each one according to his works:”

defined

so easy to think Judgment Day isn’t coming because we don’t see black clouds in the sky

since it is far away, then act like it is not urgent

so shortsighted

you cannot escape from God’s judgment

Great White Throne judgment

Rev 20:11-15 pew Bible # 1233

resurrection of everyone that has ever lived

ALL—great and small

you will stand alone, responsible for your own actions

then final judgment rendered

divine gavel hammered determining where spend eternity

not weighing good actions vs. bad actions

but whether your name is in the book of life (Lamb’s Book of Life)

but you can take refuge only in Christ

the cross is a place of love (Jesus as substitute—we had no hope)

but the cross is a place wrath (Jesus as substitute—only sacrifice that will due)

God didn’t overlook your sin

He paid for your sin by punishing Jesus for it (DEATH)

either Jesus took the wrath of God you deserve for your sin

OR you will endure the wrath of God you deserve for your sin for eternity (HOLY, HOLY, HOLY God)

Hebrews 9:27–28

1 Thessalonians 1:10

saved by grace through faith

do you believe all this to be true?

your sin deserves judgment

Jesus, God the Son, endured the judgment

God accepted His sacrifice by raising Him from the dead

repent and believe

The Life of Abraham: Doom, Destruction, and Divine Intervention

unbelievers

turn from your ways and turn to Christ while there is time

believers

remain faithful in this wicked world

God will judge it one day

so do not be stained by the world

so do not be a friend of the world and an enemy of God

plea for God to save the lost just as Abraham did for Sodom

1. present Teresa Crume (Courtney Jackson’s mother)

2. remember to pray for our team going to east Tennessee