Wednesday Night 2/9/2022
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Don’t look Back, Keep Looking Ahead
Don’t look Back, Keep Looking Ahead
Hope you all are well today, seems like a lot has been happening in the last couple of weeks.
Funerals, people getting sick, some getting better… so much it seems has been happening and you know when we see many of life’s curve balls coming at us, we tend to wonder what we could have changed, what could we have done better, we start evaluating life.
My friends, major life events, death and birth, and so much more often does this....
But sadly in the course of our evaluation of life, you know what happens? We start looking toward the past, we focus back there instead of looking what God is doing in the now and what the future might hold...
I see this a lot....
I want to take us back to an Old Testament passage that warns us of the danger of looking back, looking too and desiring the past.
We are going to look at the issues around Genesis 18 and 19
But lets start with Genesis 19:23-26
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.
Man that is a difficult passage, it is difficult because we see sin being punished and its hard because we forget at times that God’s hates sin, so often we have a soft look at sin and we to often justify it...
Well, its ok for this reason or that reason.... when God’s word tells us plainly it is not ok regardless
So lets look at Genesis 18 and see this thought
1. Abraham receives a Visitors....
Abraham has settled for the time being at a place we know as the Oaks of Mamre. It is close to Sodom and Gomorrah., and just outside of the city in the Bible known as Hebron.
Now while Abraham and Sarah were living there, one day Abraham looks up and he sees visitors at the door of his tent. Three to be precise.
1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth
Now as customary for the day, Abraham greets his guests, but there is a unique statement here in the testimony of Scripture.
The Bible says that Abraham bowed himself to the earth. So he bowed low to the earth, bowing was a symbol of welcome, greetings and to show they were truly welcome in his home.
And Abraham entreats them to not pass him by but to allow him to fix water for refreshment, a food to sustain them. And the visitors agreed to stay there with Abraham, and visit with Him.
Now while there were talking, and visiting together, one of the visitors speaks....
9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Now there are a few thoughts here i want you to see.
A couple things are said here that are important to hand on too.
* The first is the “Lord said” and the second is “Jehovah”...
Why are these words important? The word Lord is the Hebrew word Adonai, and it is derived from the proper name of God, YHWH and the word Jehovah, also means Lord.
What this tells us is the Lord has come down to Abraham… .. but it is not God the Father, YHWH… it is the second person of the Trinity we believe there.. the pre-incarnate Christ who visits Abraham with what appears to be two other divine beings, angels we believe.
The Pre-Incarnate Christ was the special visitor that day in Abraham’s tent, that foretold of Sarah’s soon coming child and the pre-incarnate Christ is the one who tells of Sodom and Gomorrah’s soon coming destruction...
Abraham had a special visitor…
Here is what this tells us The Lord is always present in your life. Remember, He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.
And then secondly...
2. A Prayerful Request.....
2. A Prayerful Request.....
Without a doubt we know that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked, The town itself was know for sin, that was not because of the physical location, but the people and their actions...
And because of those sins, the Lord was going to destroy the city and all that was in it.
As the Lord tells Abraham of His intent to destroy these wicked cities, Abraham I am sure thinks of his nephew Lot… Lot was living there with his family
Look at Genesis 18
17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
Can you imagine with me just how wicked these cities must be....
As Abraham hears of this news, listen to what he says....
in Verses 23-26 Abraham asks the Lord what if there were 50 righteous people in those cities, if 50 could be found would he still destroy them or would He show them mercy?
And the Lord tells Abraham this ....
26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
So the Lord will show mercy for the sake of the righteous…
And here is where you begin to see Abraham’s heart, he goes on to ask.. but what about 40… what about 30, what about 20.... and the Lord continues to share His desire to show mercy for the sake of the righteous...
And finally Abraham says what about 10… if 10 righteous could be found would you spare them...
32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Abraham intercedes for these people…
You see Lot may have lived there, but what about the others? The world was sinful and deserving of punishment, but Abraham knew others beside Lot needed to see the hand of the Lord’s mercy....
What about us?
Our world is touched by sin, cities are full of sinful practice. We often think of some cities as sinful places, dens of iniquities.... What if someone interceded for them?
Should we interceded for them? Should we plead for the Lord to Save them? Should we pray for the inhabitants?
Yes, the answer is always yes… The Lord will have compassion on them if they turn to Him
Oh we need to pray for them....we need to intercede for them
Now just one last thought today...
3. A Glance Backward...
Friends, remember the past is just that, the past. The past often reflects those times when we lived in sin. we cannot forward to keep looking back that way.
Sin is the one thing that that God hates, it separates people from His presence, it ruins lives and it leaves people helpless and hopeless.
And remember what I said, sin always leads to death.
Now lets get back to our passage with Abraham, and his family there in the land.
Now as we begin to look at Chapter 19 we find this truth, the two angels who were with the Lord in chapter 18 now come down to the city. It appears the Lord is not with them on this trip, but the angels come to carry out God’s plans.
Listen to Genesis 19:1 with me...
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
Now Abraham’s nephew, Lot lived in this city, he was a new comer to the place, not having lived there a long time and certainly was not seen as a complete member of the community.
But Lot knew the city was dangerous… Its Like the wrong side of town in bigger cities, it was a dangerous sinful city and Lot still chose to live there.
By living there, it is almost like he was overlooking sin, considering it to be no big deal..
That is a dangerous attitude my friends....
That’s like saying abortion is ok in certain circumstances. Dangerous thougths, dangerous attitudes of the heart.
Now moving on.....
Lot invited them to his home...At first the Angels decline Lot’s request, but eventually they follow him and stay in His home..
And it is not long that the sin of this city is revealed to its fullest extent.
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.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him,
The perverted hearts of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah tells us that men, both young and old surrounded that city hoping to abuse these “men” (the angels) who are strangers in the city, not even knowing or caring who they might be....
Hearing this report you no longer have to wonder just why the outcry against this city was so great.
Now Lot tried to turn these men away, ....., Lot says, men do not ask for this and if you must abuse someone, I have two daughters that have never known a man, i will send out to you… but the men of the city would not even consider it, they wanted the strangers that were in their midst.
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. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.
So as the men of the city hoped to break the door down, the men inside, the angelic beings reached out and brought Lot back into the house with them.
Suddenly, the angels bring blindness against the men.
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.
Now the angels seek to bring Lot and his family out of the city before the destruction and death of the Lord is brought down on Sodom and Gomorrah.
As the angels tell Lot to take himself, wife and family and flee the city, running for the hills to escape destruction… but Lot objects staying the mountains were to far away so he asks permission to run to a near by city , Zoar and be allowed to escape destruction with his family.
And the angels give permission but tells him to go quickly.....
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.”
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.
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.
Lot and his family escape the destruction that was about to fall over those cities. Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed and their inhabitants because of their wickedenss...
But i want you to see this dangerous attitude attitude toward sin...
Lot’s wife looked back.... Looking back is not a bad thing in it self, but they were commanded in verse 17 to not look back.
Looking back expresses desire, a longing for what was left behind...
in doing so her heart was in Sodom and Gomorrah and not with God. And she bore the punishment of her sin.
Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt.
Now think of this… looking back in not bad in itself but looking back is wishing, desire the bad, you want it more than the place God has safely led you too.
Lot’s wife is clearly desired what was there more than God. she was against God. She loved the sin of that place… the ways of that place more than she loved the Lord her God.
We live in a world marred by sin, this world and its people are perverted, awful, sick and full of death....
Do you love the world and what is has more than God?
Or do you love the Lord more than all the world has to offer…?
Then examine your walk and your talk…
Flee the very appearance of evil, let your walk and talk reflect the great God we serve and who loves us!
Lets pray