Rescuing the righteous from the wicked
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Rescuing the righteous from the wicked
Rescuing the righteous from the wicked
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
This morning we have read Psalm 1 instead of the Genesis 19, even though that is what we are preaching through today. I don’t want you to be confused, but rather start by showing what God’s word says about the righteous and the wicked.
So many times we have funny ideas about who the righteous and the wicked are. We are talking about those who are saved and unsaved, those inside the church and those outside the church. Those in Christ and those outside.
In the main text we will be in today, we will see God graciously rescue the righteous from among the wicked. In light of everything we heard last week about God being Just to punish the wicked and Just in saving sinners through Jesus Christ, today we look at that punishment.
The judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah in not the first place we see judgement in the Bible. Remember the Flood story when Noah and his family were spared but God destroyed the wicked? So this is not new things we are learning about God, that he will judge the wicked, but there is a reason why it is in scripture if not just to warn people.
In 2 Peter we get a an explanation of what we are to know of God because of these events...
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
So why are there stories like this in scripture?
We have these stories in scripture to
1 - Warn the ungodly of Judgement
2 - Encourage the righteous that God knows how to rescue them
Both points make much of God, whether it is his glorious grace saving people or his magnificent holiness destroying his wicked enemies.
But from 2 Peter we also see that the bible declares Lot was righteous, that he was conflicted living in such a place. We need to read Gen. 19 to get a real sense of just how awful it was for a righteous person to live in such a place. So let’s go to that chapter and start digging in with the thought in mind that God has shown us what it looks like to be righteous in Psalm 1 and in 2 Peter we know what we should be seeing from these stories.
1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Wait, before we get too far into this story, there is some cultural context we need to understand. For a man to sit at the city gate it meant that he was considered to be someone of prominence, this is where elders or principal men sat. This is where justice was administered, it was a very public spot.
If you remember when we talked about Lot before, when Abram and lot separated and then again later, we saw a progression. In Gen 13:10 he was looking down to the valley where Sodom was, and this language meant he was looking with a longing to go there. He picked the most fertile land and was attracted to something about it.
Then in Gen 13:12 it says he “pitched his tents near Sodom”. It is interesting that he was near the city and not in the city, and it is thought that Lot would’ve seen and known the city as a wicked place that he didn’t want to get too involved in.
then in Gen. 14:12 we see Lot is living in Sodom. We do not get an explanation as to why this has changed but it is obvious that he is attracted to something the city has to offer. And now we see him sitting at the gate to the city, finally attaining a place among the people of this city. It is curious how friendly he is with these people who are known for their wickedness.
My point is that Lot is not looking like the Psalm 1 man that we read about to open this message. We know he is a believer but he certainly does seem to be getting involved with a people who are not Godly to say the least. Let’s see what happens.
1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Notice, that Lot bows down and welcomes them. This is just like how Abraham met them in the previous chapter, and it demonstrates his righteousness and hospitality to strangers.
When Lot saw the angels he got up to meet them and offer lodging in his home. At first they declined. They said, “No, we will spend the night in the [city] square” (v. 2). But Lot, who knew the dangers of sleeping outdoors in such a town, insisted, and at last the angels went with him.
And notice what he feeds them. Unleavened bread… this is bread that there isn’t time to leaven. It is unleavened bread that the children of Israel will eat when they leave Egypt and it is unleavened bread that the Lord Jesus Christ uses to turn the passover into a sign of the new covenant in the Lords supper.
Unleavened bread always represents a quick deliverance, I think this is some foreshadowing going on here in this story.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”
Now here is where things get crazy, and here is where language matters. When they say, “bring them out here so we may know them” the literal translation is to know them intimately, they want to have sex with these men.
The picture here is of a perversion, specifically homosexuality, where every man in the city, both young and old are engaged in this. What a horrific scene. It is now that the audience of this story is understanding what was so wrong with Sodom and Gomorrah that it was obvious enough to be known as a wicked place that would be judged.
This is the city in which Lot was an elder at the gate, he knew exactly what would happen if let these angles sleep in the city square, this is what he was trying to avoid.
It is at this point that I must take a moment and acknowledge what many who come across this story don’t want to talk about. Because of this and many other places in scripture, we as a church believe that homosexuality is a sin and not something we can affirm for anyone as an alternate lifestyle.
Now even the language I used to describe this would be considered by many in our culture as hate speech. Yet I must hold the line biblically, and that line is this… That Homosexuality has always been and will always be considered a sin, and will always be considered sinful, and further more it is never ok for God’s people to identify with any specific sinful activity, including homosexuality.
Those who disagree with this stance would need only to read Romans 1 but also 1 Timothy 1 as well as the levitical law in the OT. The bible is never outdated in its thinking and it is crystal clear on this. It is a sin and it is never found to be acceptable for the believer. If you really do not agree you have to find teachers who do spiritual gymnastics to make the scriptures say something else, which some have tried to say the main sin here was inhospitality...
A plain reading of the Sodom story in Genesis 19 is enough to refute any idea that inhospitality was the sole and major sin of the Sodomites.…Here is why: Lot’s offer of his daughters as sexual surrogates shows clearly that the men of Sodom did not simply want to become acquainted with the angelic visitors socially, and indicates that this passage is one of those in which, the Hebrew word ‘yada’ [‘to know’], is used with the meaning of sexual knowledge.
That being said, it is true that in the rest of Scripture Sodom is connected also with a number of other sins: Isaiah 1:9, 10 and 3:9 connect it with blatant indulgence in all kinds of iniquity; Jeremiah 23:14 with lying and adultery; and Ezekiel 16:49 with pride, gluttony, and prosperity combined with the neglect of the poor. But all these texts display the same spectrum of iniquity that Romans 1 describes, in which sexual sins are only part of the larger pattern of corruption in the pagan world.
In the words of Richard Lovelace...
“Sodom was not destroyed because it specialized in homosexuality, but because it was a plague center of every kind of depravity, including pride, sensuality, and injustice. Nevertheless the Hebrew reader would recognize homosexual practice as one aspect of this depravity.”
All that being said, it is not the only sin we stand against, in fact all sin we stand against and all sin is unacceptable for a believer. And we do not HATE people who engage in these sins, nor do we ever encourage people to discriminate against such people.
Now, back to the context if this story, I think we can see that Lot is living amongst a people known for sinful and wicked activity, and it affects him.
Lot may have been greatly compromised by having lived in Sodom, but he was not so far gone as willingly to yield to that.
6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.
It would seem like Lot it trying to encourage these men because he is not so wicked as they are. As if he hasn’t been affected by the culture he lives in yet. He even calls this horde, Brothers… Most translation have him calling them friends. We are meant to see Lot as the lone righteous person that Abraham was contending for with God… But even in his desire to allow wickedness we see he isn’t unaffected by the wickedness he lives amongst.
Look what he does next…
8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
This has quickly become one of the hardest stories to read in all of scripture. So much for his righteous reputation. And while I can hardly defend his actions being a father of three daughters, I need to point out to you that there was certain codes that these people lived by. One of those codes was how they should protect visitors at all costs.
So while this seems so vile, and it is, there is actually something else to consider.
As one bound by the ancient Near Eastern code of hospitality, which required the protection of guests, Lot is willing to risk danger to his own family rather than allow harm to come to his guests.
Would this idea Lot had work? Would this group of men be appeased with this idea?
9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.
Wow , The men of Sodom rejected this offer, ridiculed Lot, and would have abused him. Isn’t it just like the world to turn on even those who have been willing to become friendly with them, yet once they disagree its all over. See there is no bartering with the ungodly, in the end they want what their depraved hearts want and nothing else.
All the sudden Lot was no one to them and they were willing to act violently. This is an ugly scene.
10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
We now see judgement start to come upon these people. and this story serves as a warning...
This is a warning to the ungodly that judgement is coming
This is a warning to the ungodly that judgement is coming
These men who desired evil things were being dealt with in a way that speaks of their true condition… Blindness. for those who are not believers are referred to in the scriptures as those who are spiritually blind, and unable to see the Lord and his salvation.
The re is also a picture here that is one which should remind us of the flood incident, where God shut Noah in the ark and the wicked are left outside. Here, the angels reach out and save Lot and shut him in his house with the wicked groping about outside.
Just as in that episode, here there is a distinction being made between the righteous and the wicked.
Now there are instruction given to the righteous and the judgement will begin soon.
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. 15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
Notice here that Lot was given plenty of time to get going but he hesitated and God being merciful, took him by the hand and brought him out. It seems as though if God doesn’t make the angels take Lot by the hand, he wont get going.
Lot is attached to this place and he is lingering there even though he has seen the evil deeds first hand, it is like he isn’t shocked by any of it.
Again, this story should serve as a warning to those who, may be counted among the righteous, and yet be living amongst wicked people. We should see that if we are not careful with regards to our life, we will be like Lot who not only lives amongst the wicked, but when he knows judgement is coming, he lingered, as though he loved it.
And even if this were the case, notice how much more God is gracious… Notice verse 16, “The Lord being merciful to him”.
In the midst of such an ugly story, we see not much made of Lot’s inability to separate from the wicked, but rather we see how glorious and good God is. He is merciful to Lot.
I think there is something to be said about being Holy and then there is something about seeking God be merciful to his own who at times fail at living according to his holy standards.
In fact none of us would be here if God was not merciful to us, and we should learn to treat others graciously and mercifully, even and especially when we don’t agree or need to carry a message that will be offensive to them.
back to the story, it seems like everything Lot had when he separated with Abraham, all his herds and people with him are not here. God delivers but doesn’t let him bring everything, and it is better to have Lot and his family alive than for them to wait for all their stuff to be secured.
Now the rescue has come, they need to listen to these angels who deliver them, for they are there to destroy.
17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
Ok, they are out, now they must listen, but it will seem as though Lot doesn’t even hear them because he is more concerned now with where he will go.
18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
Now, here we have a request by Lot to the Angels to go to a different city. And while I think a longer study could delve into the physc of Lot and why another city, I think the bigger thing we need to see that the original audience would’ve picked up on is the favor that is shown to these people.
These people shouldn’t be asking anything, they are being rescued, and yet they are treated graciously, and even told to hurry so that they will not get caught in the destruction, for they cannot start until these people are safe. And this isn’t because God can’t destroy the city but because he chooses to deal graciously with his people. This serves as an encouragement to God’s people...
God knows how to rescue the righteous
God knows how to rescue the righteous
God will lead them by the hands, press them to hurry up and even be willing to allow them to make request on the way out. He knows how to rescue us church. He is never a mean angry God. He is Holy and will judge the earth and all on it for their sin, and yet deals with us graciously in Christ.
And yet, there is still the matter of obedience that is required when God’s people are being delivered. This story continues on from warning of those who engage in sinful activity with the world, that judgement is coming, to those whoa re being delivered from the judgement, that they are being treated graciously and yet should not presume on the kindness of the Lord but live in obedience to him. God is holy and he doesn’t play games with people. this message would ring through loud and clear at the conclusion of this story.
23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Judgement came and they were warned, but yet Lot’s wife couldn’t but help to see it. And while it was a simple instruction there was something that she couldn’t shake, a desire to look back. This is in direct opposition to the command the angels gave them in verse 17
17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”
It is here that we see the intense pull from this life to look at all the things you have made and the life you had, when you are being led out of judgement there is a desire that will come and want you to long for all that you did to not be burned up… All that you were to not be destroyed. to look at the times and places you hold memories of and long for them to not go away. And yet this is not how we as believers are to live this life.
We are sojourners here, and heaven is our true home and where our true allegiance lies.
Today, let us look back to this story of judgement and remember that there will come another day of judgement. We have been rescued by the work of Christ, where on the cross, God’s fires of judgement burned for sinful humanity as Jesus died in our place for our sin. We are now those who are saved.
And if you have never experienced this, then today is the day of salvation, where you hear that there is sin that separates you from God and he came in the God man Jesus Christ to deal with that sin and pay fully to God the penalty that you should pay and offer freely the gift of salvation to you, an undeserving sinner. If this makes sense in a new way that it never has before, then stop everything and pray, ask God to forgive you of your sins and make you new.
For those of us who have been made new in Christ, then let us hear the warning, not to look back and long for life to be what we wanted it to be, but to rejoice that if we are saved as ones through the fires of God’s judgement, we have our lives and that is a precious gift worth more than anything this world could offer.
For another day of Judgement is coming… Do you know what kingdom you belong to, and are you willing to lose your life, meaning all that you have built and worked for, for the sake of the kingdom, and in so doing have your life, your eternal life spared? We should approach the Lord’s table today with Christ’ words as a warning to us, that his Kingdom is here and he is coming and yet there will be much judgement on the earth, let us remain obedient to him because he has saved us. Or let us turn to him because we need him to save us.
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
There is a day coming which the judgement we read about with Sodom and Gomorrah will be repeated for the entire earth. You either believe that and put your faith in the finished work of Christ for your salvation or, like Lots wife, you will be looking to the world and longing for your way to be preserved, and yet be destroyed. May the Spirit work in us to encourage us to live for God’s glory and not our own.
For God knows how to rescue the righteous from the wicked, and the day is fast approaching. Let’s pray!