God of Justice; God of Mercy

Psalm 66:1-4, 16-20

Psalm 66:1–4 NIV

1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.”

Psalm 66:16–20 NIV

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. 17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; 19 but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. 20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!

1 Timothy 2:1–6 NIV

1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

James 4:1–10 NIV

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Introduction:

Someone is knocking on your door in an urgent manner. You answer the door and find a police officer there. He is agitated and he informs you that fire is about to overtake your home. You must move swiftly to get your family out to safety. What do you do? Do you only grab your family and leave, or do you linger to try to gather things you value to go with you. Perhaps they are family photos, or objects of monetary value.

In some cases, folks have done neither. They have chosen to die with their belongings, such as the old man on Mt. St. Helen’s. His home and lifestyle were more important to him than his life. Some try to water down their home to try to protect, all the while, the time for their safe escape is slipping away.

Today’s event is a case such as this. It is a moment of divine judgement. Two righteous men are involved in this judgement. One finds himself a part of the judgement because he has compromised himself for the better things in life. The other righteous man is outside the judgement. He has not compromised his faith for the things of the world and now as a full covenant partner with God, he is able to intercede for the other man. His intercession saved the other man from death.

Abraham and Lot. Both came from Ur to Canaan. Both believed in God. Yet, Lot was never willing to fully commit himself to God like Abraham did. He selfishly chose the fertile valley near Sodom for himself when Abraham offered him first choice of the land. He would have been aware of the tales of Sodom, but he probably figured he could stay out of the sin of Sodom, yet take advantage of the wealthy commerce found there. So, he pitched his tent near Sodom.

But over time, it became more appealing to live within Sodom. There he could cast off a tent for a house. There he was able to be quicker to take advantage of the business. He did not participated in the “sin” of Sodom, but he was not above associating with them for profit.

By the time of today’s event, not only does he live in the town, but we find him at the center of leadership at the gate of Sodom. This infers that he was a man of some prominence. However, his affluence has gained him no influence as we will see today. He would have suffered the same judgement with all the rest except for one man. His Uncle Abraham loved him and interceded on his behalf. His uncle’s intercession saved his life.

This account in history is found in Genesis 18:16-33.

At the beginning of this chapter, God and two of His angels are traveling during the heat of the day. Abram saw them and invited them for a mid-day meal. Abram honors God with a feast far beyond the norm and God announces that by this time next year, Sarah will have a son as was previously promised. Today’s passage takes place after some conversational exchange on this subject and the meal is through. I will now read starting with verse 16. Please stand with me in honor of God’s word.

Genesis 18:16–33 (NIV)

16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.” 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” 29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

Pray

I. God of Justice; God of Mercy

When we left off the week before last, God had just “cut a covenant” with Abram and changed Abram’s name to Abraham. A covenant relationship is a serious one. Marriage is a covenant relationship, however, today it does not receive the respect it is meant to carry. The blood covenant, like the covenant of marriage unifies the partners. What is mine is yours. What is yours is mine. It carries with it a sense of respect and love for the covenant partner. One does not act out of selfish concern but for the benefit of the partnership.

To break a blood covenant was to call down a curse of death upon oneself. That was the point of the walk of death through the dead animals during the covenant ceremony. Perhaps if marriage partners saw divorce this way we would see fewer divorces. However, those who have experienced divorce have also experienced the curse of divorce. Unfortunately, even the innocent suffer when their spouses divorce them against their will. But I do not want to talk about divorce today, but about the benefits of blood covenant.

If you are ever in a fix, you will want a friend like Abraham to pray for you. Abraham demonstrates for us in this event...

A. The Power of Righteous Intercession (Genesis 18:23-33)

Abraham is the man God has chosen to produce His holy people through. As such, Abraham is to teach his children the ways of God. God sets us up to understand this when He says, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” This conversation between God and Abraham is a teaching moment for Abraham and it is recorded for us. Sodom and Gomorrah are about to become a lesson to all mankind regarding the outcome of sin. Look at what Jesus’ disciple Peter wrote regarding this matter.

2 Peter 2:6 (NIV)

6 ...he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

As God shares what is about to happen to Sodom, we find Abraham interceding for the people of Sodom.

Genesis 18:23–24 (NIV)

23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?

It breaks our heart to watch innocent people harmed when dealing with the wicked. We see this in war. As armies battle the enemy, often times many innocent people are harmed in the battles.

Right now we are distressed to see so many innocent people being killed and harmed in Afghanistan. If you watch the U.S. news channels, you do not get the full picture, however, if you watch national stations you will hear that there are piles of bodies quickly stacking up due to this sudden withdrawal by our president. Women are being raped and carried off to be sex slaves to the Taliban soldiers. Christians are being threatened, hunted and some have already disappeared, which probably means they have been murdered or imprisoned.

In light of our current events, we can identify with Abraham’s concern over any innocent folks living in Sodom. We can feel Abraham’s distress and desire to intercede for them.

And so Abraham does and even to a point that we expect God to become impatient with him, but God never does. I believe that God’s heart is warmed by our concern for others. We are doing what God would have us to do, when we care so much for others that we uphold them in prayer.

If you think about it. Abraham’s prayer is not a very wise one, because if God agreed not to destroy Sodom, the evil would continue and many more innocent people would suffer. The wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah was so great, that scripture says God heard the outcry. This is not that people were crying out in prayer. It was the cries and screams of the people being harmed. We often equate the sin of these cities with sexual sins, but they went far beyond that. I suspect the wickedness of this city rivaled the pre-flood world.

The fact that God heard the outcry from people tells us that God loves people. They do not have to be His chosen people in order to be heard by God. God hears the cries of all humankind. He created us all. He loves us all.

1 Timothy 2:1–4 (NIV)

1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

So God listens and when the conversation is completed, God promises to withhold judgement if there are only ten righteous people in the city.

If you have people in your life that you are interceding for, allow this historical event to give you peace. God is listening to your prayers. He takes your prayers seriously. He listens and hears your prayers. Not only does God hear our words, but God knows our hearts. We see this in God’s answer to Abraham’s prayer. God answered the heart of Abraham’s prayer and...

B. God Answers the Heart of Our Prayer (Genesis 19:1-16)

We often do not know exactly how to pray. We see this in Abraham’s prayer. He begins by pleading on behalf of 50, then quickly changes it to 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. He either felt satisfied with 10 or was afraid of pushing his luck further and tempting God’s wrath. In either case, Abraham stops at 10. However, God knew that what weighed the heaviest on Abraham’s heart was his nephew Lot. I am not saying that Abraham didn’t care about anyone else. I believe all good people suffer when innocent people suffer, but family always has first place in our heart.

Aren’t you glad that God is not legalistic about such things? He could have said, “there were less than 10,” and then done away with everyone, Lot included. But God is not like that. God knew that Abraham’s plea was with Lot foremost in his mind. God may not have answered Abraham’s prayer as stated, but He did answer the heart of Abraham’s prayer by saving Lot and his family.

It wasn’t easy. Lot was a righteous man as we learn from 2 Peter, but Lot was not living a very righteous life. Lot was living for the things of this world; wealth, comfort, status and so forth. He was focused on a life of luxury which is what drew him to the city to begin with. The need for such things was so strong that he hesitated when he was told to go and the angels literally had to take him and is family by the hands to get them out. When Lot failed to act, God in His mercy acted.

Genesis 19:16 (NIV)

16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.

I do not believe that the angels of God were acting on Lot’s behalf. He certainly had not done anything to deserve their intervention. However, they acted on Abraham’s behalf. This was God answering the heart of Abraham’s prayer.

This can give us so much peace. If you, like I, have loved ones you are interceding for, you need to remember this event. I trust God, but do not always trust my loved ones to make wise choices. However, I can uphold them in prayer and trust that God will act in their best interest on my behalf. This gives me peace and a greater desire to be faithful in my prayer life.

At this point this sermon, we have two things to be grateful for; The fact that God listens to our intercessory prayer with great patience and understanding, as well as the encouragement that if we do not pray exactly right, God will answer the heart of our prayer on behalf of those we love.

But this event provides a grave warning as well. It is a...

C. Warning to the Contaminated Righteous (Genesis 19:15-26)

There are many people like Lot. They wear a contaminated righteousness with their focus on the things of this world rather than a real desire to serve God. I would hate to speculate on the percentage of those that call themselves Christian who fall into this category.

Abraham was satisfied with a humble life among the plains. However, Lot was after the best that money could by. He pitched his tent near Sodom. Then he took up residence within Sodom. He would have had full knowledge of the wickedness of that city by then. He and his family were considered righteous because they believed in God, but there seems to be no real evidence beyond that. Oh, they evidently didn’t participate in the wickedness, but neither did they speak against it until this particular night when Lot tried to protect these angelic men from harm. However, his idea of right and wrong were so compromised that he thought he was doing a good thing by offering his virgin daughters to the rape gang in place of the men.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, God sends his angels in the form of men to investigate the situation. Not that God needed any proof. He already knew. However, God was doing this for Abraham and Lot’s benefit. When they arrived that evening, Lot puts pressure on them to come stay in his home for the night instead of sleeping in the town square as was the custom of the day by many strangers. However, Lot knew it was not safe to do so in Sodom because of its wicked inhabitants. The angels hesitate but Lot insists. So the angels finally accept Lot’s invitation. As night falls, the town’s folk seek out these strangers for the sake of sexual pleasure. In other words, they wanted to gang rape these two men. Lot steps outside his door and tries to reason with the men to no avail and he finally offers his daughters for their pleasure instead. If Lot thought this would please God, it shows just how out of touch Lot was with God.

To get the full scope of how prevalent this wickedness was, you must look at verse 4.

Genesis 19:4 (NIV)

4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.

All the men…young and old. You can imagine the horrors that took place in that town and why the out cries were so loud. 2 Peter gives us a bit of detail.

2 Peter 2:7–12 (NIV)

7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

??(Television usually portrays sex in an animistic way with people tearing their clothes off, etc…)

Lot was considered righteous, but he found no peace in God’s rescue. The contaminated life he lived took a toll on him and his family.

His daughters lost their husbands. (Sons-in-laws, but not married yet since his daughter’s were virgins. What manner of men were they? Were they in the crowd?)

His wife, hesitant to leave her home and belongings looks back and is turned to salt. (You can only help someone so far…).

Lot is hesitant to flee to the mountains. (Is he so fat from easy living he feels unable to get there or is it the lack of luxury why he seeks to go to Zoar (Little Sodom). (God in mercy held back some of the judgement by not destroying Zoar).

Lot remains on the mountain instead of seeking Abraham. (Is it fear that holds him back or guilt?)

Jesus warns of a day much like what Lot is experiencing. It is found in Matthew 24:15-18

If you were called upon to turn your back on all you own and walk away, would you be able to do so? It is an important question, because if you have any hesitation, you need to evaluate if you are holding too tightly the things of this world, because sooner or later, you will have to give them up. Look at what Paul says in 1 Cor 7.

1 Corinthians 7:29–31 (NIV)

29 What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

Now, Paul doesn’t mean to neglect your wife or work or anything like that. What he means is, life as we know it with the worldly view of possessing and possessions will one day be replaced with the life of the kingdom. Kingdom life will not be about possessing things or accumulating things. So, the things we possess today, we need to possess lightly, ready to give them up at a moments notice. The day will come when we will have to do so.

We do not want to be like Lot, so contaminated by the world that we fight against God when in His mercy He tries to save us. If we do, we may find ourselves turning, without thought like Lot’s wife, and then it will be too late for us. God tried to save her, but her heart was with her things, not with God.

But this event demonstrates to us that...

D. God is Both Just & Merciful (Genesis 19:29)

Genesis 19:29 (NIV)

29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

This final part of the story should give us peace. You see, God is a just God and must in time punish the wickedness of our world. However, God is also a merciful God who seeks to save. None of us deserve it (Lot certainly didn’t), but God is gracious and seeks any reason He can to save us.

Abraham lived for God. Lot believed in God but did not live for God. Lot was saved from that judgement, but I am not sure if Lot was saved from final judgement. The scripture does not tell us that part and beyond his time in the cave, we know nothing more. Perhaps he wizened up after that. The question is, what kind of life do you wish to live? One blessed by God as Abraham experienced, or a luxurious one by your hand that will eventually fail as Lot experienced?

Conclusion:

Originally, I had planned to skip this event in Genesis. However, I began to realize that we are in days like the days of Sodom. Look what Jesus said in

Luke 17:22-35

Luke 17:22–35 (NIV)

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 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 also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

It is interesting that the event of Sodom’s destruction was soon followed by the celebration of the arrival of the son of promise. Sarah gives birth to Isaac. God has began his work through Abraham to bring about a special people; His people through whom God will bless the whole earth. Jesus will be born a Jew. He will live, die and then resurrect from death providing us a means of salvation and eternal life.

I believe we are living in another interesting time. I believe a time of judgement is beginning to take place like no other time before. This can be frightening and disconcerting to us. Especially as U.S. citizens. I suspect we live to much like Lot. We have been blessed and lived to the fullest measure of our blessing. Now we are soft and the coming struggles may feel overwhelming to us. However, we should not be fearful. We need to hold our wealth and comforts lightly and learn to rest on God for our day-to-day provisions. If we do not, we may end up like Lot or even worse, Lot’s wife.

We need to be diligent in our intercessory prayer. God’s word says this is a time when many will fall away. I also believe it will be a time when other’s will come to believe. However, there will be persecution these will face to do so. But, never discount the power of your prayers! Abraham is our example. And we need to remember that we too, will soon be rejoicing over the arrival of a promised Son. And when we receive Him, we will know that the hard times will all be behind us.

Pray

Numbers 6:24–26 (NIV)

24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’