Bible Studies

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It was the statement that Jesus made in the book of Luke when He said, “Remember Lot’s wife,” that grabbed my attention! (Luke 17:32)I noticed there was not a question mark after that statement, but a period. Then verse 33 read, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever LOSES HIS LIFE WILL PRESERVE IT. So I read and re-read the Scriptures surrounding Lot and his wife, and the circumstances that then existed. I could not seem to find anything too much different than I had before, until finally I did begin to see these circumstances in a totally different light than I had previously. I began to see Lot through the eyes of a mother and I was horrified by him! The whole thing started when two angels were on their way to Sodom to see if the people had done altogether according to the outcry that was against them. (Gen.18:21)

Genesis 19:1—Now 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 before them. (2) And said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “NO, but we will spend the night in the open square.” (3) But HE INSISTED STRONGLY; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (4) Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, ALL THE PEOPLE FROM EVERY QUARTER surrounded the house. (5) And they called to Lot and said to him “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them CARNALLY.”

I find it interesting to hold these Scriptures up to the light of some found in the New Testament! Romans 8:5—For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be CARNALLY MINDED is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (8) So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

So in light of this, it looks like we could be having quite a little spiritual problem going on here. I know, the Scriptures in Gen. make it sound like they meant to know them carnally in a literal sense of the word! Yet remember, it was not just the men of Sodom who had gathered, but ALL THE PEOPLE from every quarter. Now as I read these next few Scriptures, I began to become really angry and upset with Lot.

Genesis 19:6—So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, (7) and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! (8) I have two daughters WHO HAVE NOT KNOWN A MAN; please, let me bring them out to you, AND YOU MAY DO TO THEM AS YOU WISH; Only do nothing to these men, SINCE THIS IS THE REASON they have come under the shadow of my roof.

Excuse me! THEY DID NOT even want to come under his roof. In fact, they had said NO, and it was only due to his STRONG INSISTENCE that they even agreed to come in. Now, what kind of a father would push his two virgin daughters out and say, “Here, take them, and do with them as you like?” If in fact we are to believe that it was really meant in a sexual sense, then why did HE NOT GO HIMSELF? If we pay close attention to the people’s reaction, we will find that they were not too pleased with what Lot had to say!

Genesis 19:9—And they said, ‘STAND BACK!” Then they said, “This one came to sojourn. AND HE KEEPS ACTING LIKE A JUDGE; now we will deal worse with you than with them” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. (10) But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and SHUT THE DOOR. (11) And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with BLINDNESS, BOTH SMALL AND GREAT, so that they became weary trying to find THE DOOR.

I find it a little interesting to view these Scriptures in the light of those found in the gospel of John. John 10:1—Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by THE DOOR, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (2) “But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. (3) “To him THE DOORKEEPER OPENS, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and LEADS THEM OUT. (7) Then Jesus said to them again “Most assuredly, I say to you, I AM THE DOOR of the sheep. (8) “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Well unfortunately for these people, THE DOOR HAD NOT AS YET BEEN HUNG. (Hung on the cross that is!)

There is a little written in the book of 2 Peter 2:4, which might shed a little more light on this subject. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; (6) and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them to destruction, MAKING THEM AN EXAMPLE to those who afterward would live ungodly; (7) and delivered RIGHTEOUS LOT, (I wonder if the writer got mixed up and meant SELF RIGHTEOUS LOT?) who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked (8) for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds.—(9) then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. LET’S SEE WHAT KIND OF A DELIVERANCE THAT LOT REALLY GOT!

I cannot find within the Scripture anywhere, where Lot intervened for the people, in fact the Scripture say, “The outcry against them was so great.” So unlike Abraham who had pleaded with God, “Saying, “Suppose there were 50 righteous , would You then destroy it, and God said NO. Abraham pleaded with him down to even just 10 righteous people, and God said He would not destroy it if even 10 were found. For some reason, perhaps Abraham’s faith was only good for 10 at that point, but I believe that God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah just for Abraham, if he would have asked. I find it rather odd however, that if Lot were so righteous, that there could not even be found 9 others who would qualify so that God would spare the city. Counting heads we have 1. Lot, 2. Lot’s wife, 3. and Lot’s two daughters, who had not known a man. My goodness that only makes four and no more.

Now this next statement by the angels really says something to me about Lot! Genesis 19:12—then the men said to Lot, “HAVE YOU ANYONE ELSE HERE? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and WHOMEVER you have in the city—TAKE THEM OUT OF THIS PLACE! (13) “For we will destroy this place, BECAUSE the outcry AGAINST THEM has grown great (sorry, no intercession here except for Abraham’s!) before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to DESTROY it.”

Looking at this situation in the light of Ezekiel 22:30, I still feel that intercession is what God desires. “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, THAT I SHOULD NOT DESTROY IT; BUT I FOUND NO ONE. (31)THEREFORE I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath.

Here is what Lot did! Genesis 19:14—So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters; (Comment: Were these the same two daughters who had not known men or were these other daughters that the Scriptures failed to mention?) Lot said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law HE SEEMED TO BE JOKING. I don’t really know if this means he was not acting serious, or if they did not put much faith in what he had to say, or thought he was joking for other reasons. One can only speculate, because there is not really very much to go on. Why, didn’t he get everyone he could get, to leave with him? After all the men had said, and WHOMEVER you have in the city—take them out of this place.

He must have had some time to talk to people, and the Scripture sure doesn’t mention him asking for any time to talk to anybody. The Scripture goes on to say, Genesis 19:15—When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, arise take your wife and your two daughters who ARE HERE, (Leaving speculation that perhaps he had some who were not there, after all he just did not seem to care much about his daughters.) lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. (16) and while HE LINGERED, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought them outside, then he said, “Escape for your life! DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU NOR STAY ANYWHERE IN THE PLAIN. ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS, lest you be destroyed.” (comment: Right away Lot was obedient? NOT! Listen to what he said;) (18) Then Lot said to them, “Please NO, my lords! (19) “Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased MERCY which you have shown me by saving my life: BUT I CONNOT ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS, lest some evil overtake me and I die. (20) “See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one: Please let me escape there and my soul shall live.” Maybe Lot did not look back, but he sure did not escape to the mountains, like he was told he should! The men however, agreed to Lot’s request, and they could do nothing until he arrived there.

Genesis 19:26—But his wife looked back BEHIND HIM, and she became A PILLAR OF SALT. My goodness, what is going on! Remember in the book of Matthew, Jesus was teaching His disciples, and at one point He said, “You are THE SALT OF THE EARTH.” (Matthew 5:13) If she be being A PILLAR becomes a sort of MEMORIAL for this site, then why Lord did she not become a BIG CINDER? That seems like it would be a lot more fitting! After all it rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. It is interesting to look at this in the light of something we read in the book of Samuel. 1 Samuel 2:8—For THE PILLARS of the earth are the Lord’s, and He has set THE WORLD upon them. Perhaps in her looking back BEHIND HIM, she began to remember what he had done by shoving their two daughters out to be mistreated, and the fact that he vexed his poor soul about the wickedness more than trying to teach them about God. Maybe she too was wondering why he left so many behind and didn’t try to get more to leave with them. One can only speculate, but I feel it is certainly something to think about!

Lot’s deliverance ended up being very sad as it were anyway. Now there are only the three of them, Lot, and his two daughters. Genesis 19:30—And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. In essence, on two different occasions the daughters got their father drunk and lay with him so that they might preserve the lineage of their father. Well this they did, thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. In verse 37 it says, the firstborn bore a son and called his name MOAB; he is the father of the MOABITES TO THIS DAY. (38) And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name BEN-AMMI; he is the father of the people of AMMON TO THIS DAY.

I just have one question! Was the situation that Lot was now in, any better than the one he just left? It seems to me like it was much worse, because now, he was the victim of some of the very things which he had vexed his soul about. And what about HIS LINEAGE? Well THE MOABITES and THE AMMONITES were a very troublesome people, let’s read a couple of things written about them.

Deuteronomy 23:3—“An AMMOMITE or MOABITE SHALL NOT ENTER THE ASSEMBLY OF THE Lord; even to the tenth generation NONE OF HIS DESCENDANTS SHALL ENTER THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD FOREVER.
(Note: God however, who is one who relents from doing harm, is a merciful God and we see Ruth, a MOABITE who is an ancestress of Christ. (Ruth 4:17)

Zephaniah 2”8—I have heard the reproach of MOAB, and the insults of the people of AMMON, with which they have reproached My people, and made arrogant threats against their borders. (9) Therefore, AS I LIVE, says the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, Surely MOAB shall be like SODOM, and the people of AMMON like GOMORRAH—what did it profit Lot to lose the whole land to gain his own Soul? Well I for one am certainly not going to follow lot, and take it on the lamb. I am going to follow the Lamb, and INTERCEDE FOR THE WHOLE LOT.

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