BBBI - 2018.3.14 - Gain or Loss: The Choice Is Ours (Gen. 19:1-29)

Introduction

Get Attention:

In telling Lot to escape to the mountain, the Lord wanted to turn a city-boy into a mountain man. Throughout Scripture, the Lord continually calls His people to the mountains…

• With Abraham, who was ready to sacrifice his son in obedience to the Lord’s command, He calls us to Mt. Moriah, the Mount of Devotion.

• With the Israelites, who gathered to receive His commandments, the Lord calls us to Mt. Sinai, the Mount of Instruction.

• With Moses, who viewed the Promised Land, He calls us to Mt. Pisgah, the Mount of Vision.

• With Elijah, whose prayer brought down fire from heaven, He calls us to Mt. Carmel, the Mount of Passion.

• With Peter, James, and John, who beheld the glory of the Lord, He calls us to Mt. Hermon, the Mount of Transfiguration. [Jon Courson, Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 82.]

Raise Need:

In gaining great worldly influence, Lot had lost all influence and spiritual power, even over his own family, v. 14. Choose between the Word and the world. No heart can mature two crops. [Keith Brooks, Summarized Bible: Complete Summary of the Old Testament (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 8.]

Orient Theme:

Lot shows us the true cost of worldliness.

State Purpose:

1. He chose his own way in life (Genesis 13:1–13).

2. He persisted in his own choice (Genesis 14:1–16, 2 Peter 2:6–8).

3. He suffered the consequences of his wrong choice (Genesis 19:1–38).

Main Thought:

No Christian can find his pleasure and profit in the world and at the same time bear effectual testimony against the world. [Brooks, 8.]

Sub-Introduction:

Connecting Context:

Lot, as seen in Genesis 13:2–13; 14:1–16; 19:1–38; and 2 Peter 2:6–8. By combining these passages, we see a tragic example of a man who walked “in the counsel of the wicked,” who stood “in the way of sinners,” and who sat “in the seat of mockers.”

Background/Intro Material:

This chapter in Scripture is not for those with weak hearts and stomachs. B. H. Carroll said of this chapter to his students, “I want you to barely look at what is too foul for public speech. Read it alone … this last sin of Sodom which gives a name to a sin, ‘Sodomy.’ ” Leupold said, “There is hardly a more horrible account anywhere on the pages of Holy Writ. Both the degeneracy here described as well as the catastrophic overthrow of the cities involved are calculated to startle by their lurid and gruesome details.” Then Leupold adds a note about Luther’s view of the chapter, “Luther confessed that he could not read the chapter without a feeling of deep revulsion.” Griffith Thomas also spoke of the awfulness of the sin recorded in Genesis 19. He said, “This is one of the most terrible chapters in the Bible and is a reminder of the hideous possibilities of sin.”

As unpleasant as Genesis 19 may be, it, however, needs to be earnestly studied and pondered. Especially today does it need to be earnestly studied and pondered, for it is exceedingly applicable to our day—particularly in two ways. First, it is a chapter which shows the hellish, foul character of homosexuality and God’s great condemnation and wrath upon it. In our day of increasing acceptance of this filthy conduct, which acceptance is evidenced by frequent marches exhibiting it and exalting it, by legislation protecting it, and schools teaching it, our land needs to heed the warnings of this chapter better than we are or else grab for fire and brimstone proof umbrellas because we will need them. Second, this chapter reveals, in the conduct of Lot, the pathetic performance of a worldly Christian. This nineteenth chapter of Genesis, which will give us the rest of the history of Lot as it is recorded in the Scripture, is a history of how sordid a believer’s behavior can become when it is given to worldliness. We need to study this chapter in order to help us avoid Lot’s worldly ways which, unfortunately, are very popular and accepted today in Christendom. [John G. Butler, Lot: The Worldly Christian, vol. Number Ten, Bible Biography Series (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 1994), 68–69.]

I. We Can Choose Our Own Way in Life

A. By Making Our Plans Independently of God, As Lot Did (Gen. 13:12-13; 2 Pet. 2:6-8):

Genesis 13:12–13 KJV 1900

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

State Point -

The course of his life is one long slide downhill. The first step in his fall is found in Genesis 13:10, where we are told that he “looked” toward Sodom. This was no casual glance. It means that he looked with longing. He was not content with the life God had given him on the mountain with Abraham, the life of one living in tents. He wanted the more exciting life of the city. And besides, the city was situated near the best land, and he wanted the best land for himself.

Second, we are told that he “pitched his tent toward Sodom” (Gen. 13:12). If we had asked him at this time why he was living near Sodom and not in it, he would have explained that Sodom was a very wicked city and that he did not want to get too involved in its life. He did not want to become wicked.

Lot is next seen “dwelling in Sodom” (Gen. 14:12). There is no explanation of this change, but the fact is ominous. Like a moth attracted to the flame, Lot had been unable to hold his distance and was now within the very place God would destroy.

Finally, we find Lot even attaining some kind of prominence in the city, for that is what “sitting in the gate” implies (Gen. 19:1). This is where the elders or principal men sat. It was where justice was administered. If many of our modern churchmen had been there, they would have congratulated Lot that he had successfully thrown off his fundamentalist past and come of age as God’s man for Sodom. But Lot was nothing of the sort. He had abandoned a high calling and was now the precise opposite of the upright man of Psalm 1. He had walked in the counsel of the wicked, stood in the way of sinners, and sat down in the seat of mockers. His delight was not in the law of the Lord, and he was certainly not meditating on it day and night. He was not a tree planted by rivers of water; his leaf was withering; his work was not prospering. He was dangerously close to being like the chaff that the wind drives away. [James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1998), 620.]

Validate Point -

The utter worthlessness of all this success is manifest. The man who attempted to compromise with principle was hated of Sodom, had lost his personal peace; his testimony was paralyzed, and he was utterly unable to influence the city toward righteousness. He was delivered from the threatening of the city by the angels whom he was attempting to defend. [G. Campbell Morgan, The Analyzed Bible: The Book of Genesis, vol. 9 (New York; Chicago; Toronto; London; Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1911), 126.]

[Apply Point] -

Although three men had appeared to Abraham in chapter 18, only two go to Sodom because the Lord Himself does not enter into the city. Why? Psalm 66 tells me that if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. That is, if I am purposely, rebelliously, intentionally, arrogantly holding on to sin, when I pray, the Lord won’t hear my prayer; He’ll not come into my city; He’ll not enter in to my situation.

You see, even though the sin to which I so stubbornly cling was paid for completely on the Cross of Calvary, the Lord loves me so much He says, “I love you too much to let you go on your merry way day after day as though there’s nothing wrong because if I did that, you would continue in that sin, and that sin would destroy you. Consequently, you won’t feel My hand. You won’t sense My presence—not because I’m not there, for I will never leave you, nor forsake you—but because your spirit senses something is not quite right.”

When I feel as though my prayers bounce off the ceiling, it’s not because the Lord is angry with me or mad at me, disappointed in me or turning away from me. Rather, it’s an indication He’s lovingly giving to me that something’s not right.

The angels went into Sodom—but not the Lord. [Courson, 80.]

B. By Disregarding the Associations that Result from Our Plans, as Lot Did (Gen. 3:12-13; 2 Pet. 2:6-8):

2 Peter 2:6–8 KJV 1900

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

State Point -

“They entered into his house.” The entrance of God into a house does not secure anything, but reveals that there is something there with which God has affinity. It is never our merit God looks at but our faith. If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand. [Oswald Chambers, Not Knowing Where (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1996).]

[Apply Point] -

What was Lot’s problem? Was it that the people of God can never live in cities? Can they never have positions of leadership in the secular world? Not at all! Lot’s problem was twofold. First, he had gone to Sodom with wrong motives—to benefit from its ungodly way of life, not to convert it. ...Second, Sodom was a very wicked city. So Lot’s moving there was like a Christian’s moving into a brothel or into a business run by organized crime. It was no place for a righteous man to be. [Boice, 621.]

Transition: Not only will the Lord allow us to choose our own way in life (that leads to destruction), He also allows that:

II. We Can Persist in Our Own Way in Life

A. By Disregarding the Voice of Conscience, as Lot Did (2 Pet. 2:6-8):

State Point -

Genesis 19:16 KJV 1900

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

While he lingered. Lot was the Pliable of the earliest Pilgrim’s Progress. ~ f. b. meyer. [D. L. Moody, One Thousand and One Thoughts from My Library (New York; Chicago; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1898), 15.]

Explain Point -

"Not so, Lord"

LOT said it (Gen. 19:18). The angels of the Lord had bidden him flee to a mountain to escape Sodom. Instead, he asked to be allowed to escape to the little town of Zoar. It was only a little place, he reasoned. God graciously granted his request, but later he had to flee to the mountain after all, and the man who did not have room enough in the whole country when he was with Abraham ended in what Matthew Henry called a "hole in the hill."

This strange, puzzling man, righteous at heart, was never truly separated from the world unto God. Although he had the root of the matter in him, he pitched toward Sodom, and although he got rich there and sat in the city council, he paid for his folly in the morals of his daughters and seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. He never was in the perfect will of God and his life was keyed to that note of rebellion: "Not so, my Lord."

The number of those who walk in his ways today is legion. They choose their own refuge instead of God's best; they start out to profit themselves instead of to please Him; they live in the Sodom of this age, doomed to judgment; and when it comes, they cannot give it up altogether but still hold out for Zoar. We call them "worldly Christians" in our churches, but at heart they are rebels, for the friend of this world is labeled in the Book "the enemy of God." The main trouble is not that they dance and play cards and are in the theatre on prayer-meeting night. The deeper trouble is inward rebellion against the will of God: "Not so, my Lord."

But our phrase occurs again, this time in the New Testament. Peter sees the vision of the vessel filled with beasts, fowls, and creeping things. He is bidden, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." Peter objected: "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." The voice replies: "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."

Lot was not separated enough. Peter was too separated. He had yet to learn that "every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." He was a Jew and his ceremonial convictions had to be converted to grace by a special revelation. You will remember that his attitude showed up at Antioch.

Peter was an honest Jew and there was some reason for his argument. But today there are those who have fallen for the "Touch not, Taste not, Handle not" heresy and in their reaction against worldliness have gone too far in separation. They move about in an air of superior sanctity, in Pharisaic pride—holier-than-thou hypocrites of a sad countenance appearing unto men to fast. Satan is clever: if he cannot lure the believer into Sodom with Lot he takes him to the other extreme and gets him into "a shew of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body" which only satisfies the flesh. Such poor souls frown on all wholesome and normal pleasures and receive him that is weak in the faith to doubtful disputations. They also are rebels against God's perfect will, also arguing, "Not so, Lord."

Much as we need separation from Sodom, we dread almost as much this overseparated brother who leans over backward. It is usually easier to convert a man out of Sodom than out of self-righteousness. The prodigal son is not so hard a case as the brother who stayed at home. Our Lord could win publicans and sinners, but of the Pharisees He said, "Let them alone." Peter was no Pharisee, he was honest, and God led him into the light, but in this day of grace we err as greatly as Lot when we argue in legalistic overseparation, "Not so, Lord." In either case, we are rebels against the perfect will of God. [Vance Havner, Rest Awhile, Come Ye Yourselves Apart and Rest Awhile, Vance Havner Bundle (Fleming H. Revell Company, 1941).]

[Apply Point] -

Warning Angels.—The Bible, the Holy Spirit, friends, Providence conscience. [D. L. Moody, Notes from My Bible: From Genesis to Revelation (Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1895), 21.]

To each of us God says:

“Since by its fruit a tree is judged,

Show me thy fruit, the latest act of thine!

For in the last is summed the first, and all,—

What thy life last put heart and soul into,

There shall I taste thy product.” [Marcus Dods, “The Book of Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible: Genesis to Ruth, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll, vol. 1, Expositor’s Bible (Hartford, CT: S.S. Scranton Co., 1903), 51.]

B. By Disregarding the Warnings of God, as Lot Did (Gen. 14:1-16):

Explain Point -

Genesis 19:9–11 KJV 1900

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Doing his best, Lot has jeopardized his daughters, enraged his townsmen, and finally required rescue by those he was trying to protect. The angels’ visit has shattered the uneasy peace in which he has lived too long. The rare word for blindness probably indicates a dazzled state,33 as of Saul on the Damascus Road. The same word recurs in 2 Kings 6:18, also in a context of angels. [Derek Kidner, Genesis: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 1, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1967), 145.]

Transition: It's dangerous to choose our own way apart from God, and nothing but stupid pride keeps us persisting in our own way, which sadly means that:

III. We Can Suffer the Consequences of Our Own Evil Way

A. By Losing All We Hold Dear, as Lot Did (Gen. 19:15-16, 30-35):

Genesis 19:15–16 KJV 1900

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

Explain Point -

Lot’s wife by her death proclaims that if we crave to make the best of both worlds, we shall probably lose both.[Marcus Dods, “The Book of Genesis,” in The Expositor’s Bible: Genesis to Ruth, ed. W. Robertson Nicoll, vol. 1, Expositor’s Bible (Hartford, CT: S.S. Scranton Co., 1903), 53.]

The overwhelming of Lot’s wife as the molten materials of the explosion rained down on her is physically nothing remarkable; but in the context of judgment it captures in a single picture the fate of those who turn back (cf. Heb. 10:38, 39; Luke 17:31–33). [Kidner, 146.]

Hebrews 10:38–39 KJV 1900

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Luke 17:31–33 KJV 1900

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

[Apply Point] -

Awfulness of Sin. It constrained the Lord to come down from Heaven to deal with it (chap. Gen 18:20-21). The cry of Israel in Egypt brought the Lord down to deliver. The cry of Sodom brought Him down to destroy. The cry of the world's need brought Jesus our Lord from Heaven that He might deal with it. When God comes in grace He deals with sin, putting it away by the sacrifice of Himself. When He comes in judgment He deals with the sinner, putting him away. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). [Dr. James Smith and Robert Lee, Handfuls on Purpose: For Christian Workers and Bible Students, n.d., Ge 19:27–28.]

B. By Losing Our Character, as Lot Did (Gen. 19:1, 6-8, 30-38):

Genesis 19:1 KJV 1900

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

Genesis 19:6–8 KJV 1900

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

State Point -

You might get Lot out of Sodom, but you'll never get the Sodom back our of Lot and his family!

Worldliness is not a matter of physical geography but of heart attitude (1 John 2:15–17). Lot’s heart was in Sodom long before his body arrived there. No doubt he got his first love for the world when he went to Egypt with Abraham (Gen. 13:1, 10), and he never overcame it. [Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Obedient, “Be” Commentary Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1991), 80.]

Validate Point -

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.—Genesis 19:14.

Genesis 19:14 KJV 1900

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

THE Saviour tells us they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building; all went on as usual. Sodom was never more prosperous than now. There is no sign of a coming judgment; no sign that Sodom is going to be burnt up.

The sun shone as brightly the day before its destruction as it had shone for years. The stars perhaps were glittering in the heavens as brightly as ever, and the moon threw her light down upon the city; but Lot’s sons-in-law mocked him, he couldn’t get them out. I see him going through the streets with his head bowed down, and great tears trickling down his cheeks. Ask him now about his life, and he will tell you it has been a total failure. He goes back to his home; and early in the morning the angels have to take him almost by force, and hasten him out of the city. He could not bear the thought of leaving his loved ones there to perish, while God dealt in judgment with that city.

Is not that a fair picture of hundreds and thousands at the present time? Have you been trying to accumulate wealth even to the neglect of your children, so that to-day they are lifting up their voices against your God, and against your Bible, and against you? They do not care for your feelings; ate they not trampling them under their feet? Perhaps many of the parents have gone to their graves, and the children are now squandering what their parents gathered. What an example we have in the case of Lot, and how it ought to open the eyes of many a business man, and cause him to see that his life is going to be a total wreck if he takes his children into Sodom’s judgment when the judgment comes. [D. L. Moody, The D. L. Moody Year Book: A Living Daily Message from the Words of D. L. Moody, ed. Emma Moody Fitt (East Northfield, MA: The Bookstore, 1900), 213–214.]

[Apply Point] -

Between Lot and Judas there is an instructive similarity. Both had sufficient discernment and decision of character to commit themselves to the life of faith, abandoning their original residence and ways of life. Both came to a shameful end, because the motive even of the sacrifices they made was self-interest. Neither would have had so dark a career had he more justly estimated his own character and capabilities, and not attempted a life for which he was unfit. They both put themselves into a false position; than which nothing tends more rapidly to deteriorate character. Lot was in a doubly false position, because in Sodom, as well as in Abraham’s shifting camp, he was out of place. He voluntarily bound himself to men he could not love. One side of his nature was paralysed; and that the side which in him especially required development. It is the influence of home life, of kindly surroundings, of friendships, of congenial employment, of everything which evokes the free expression of what is best in us; it is this which is a chief factor in the development of every man. But instead of the genial and fertilising influence of worthy friendships, and ennobling love, Lot had to pretend good-will where he felt none, and deceit and coldness grew upon him in place of charity. Besides, a man in a false position in life, out of which he can by any sacrifice deliver himself, is never at peace with God until he does deliver himself. And any attempt to live a righteous life with an evil conscience is foredoomed to failure. [Dods, 52.]

Conclusion

Summary/Review:

The most important mountain to which God calls us is to Mt. Calvary, the Mount of Crucifixion, of death to self. As is our tendency, Lot was fearful to make such a journey. [Courson, 82.]

God Wants You To:

Choose gain over loss - let's be the Lord's Mountain Folks in our heart! "If I come to the mountain, I'll have to die..." that is, die to self, Gal. 2:20 - crucified with Christ; except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone...

Much gain comes, and we bear much fruit when we die to self.

In light of Lot, remember, no Christian can find his pleasure and profit in the world and at the same time bear effectual testimony against the world.