Chapter 19:4-26 Gen 19:4-11 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." 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  "See now, 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." 9  And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as 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. And you thought your neighborhood was bad. But we hear of things like this on the news all the time. Maybe not so blatantly but still it’s just as bad. Yet the scary thing is, it will be just like this in the last days. Luke 17:28-30 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. And it’s getting just like this now. We hear of date rape, and drugs used to rape women. Not to mention the blatant homosexuality, not just of men but of women also. The bible speaks of this in the book of Leviticus. Lev 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.  Lev 20:13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. And it was not just the older men but also the young men. How old were they? It doesn’t tell us. But the original word for young in the Hebrew is: na'ar nah'-ar Which means: young man / servant / child / lad / young / children / youth So this could have been young men of around 20 down to young children. But it shows us how we affect our families with our own life styles. We sometimes wonder, “How can my child do or say such things?” I remember I got in trouble one time for saying a bad word. And the parents always ask, “Where did you hear that word from?” With the obvious answer being themselves. That’s where I learned the bad language I used to have, and also my bad habits from my parents. Sure in school too, but when your parents talk and do thing that you learn as a child in school, you consider it a normal way of life, even though it’s not. But what about your children? What are they doing? Where did they learn it? Maybe it was from you, before you became a Christian. Or maybe even watching you now and what you do as a Christian. Sometimes the best way to see ourselves and how we are is to watch and/or listen to our children, because they are a reflection of what we do and say. Lot also affected his family with his decisions, and one of those decisions was not a good one, by wanting to give his daughters over to the perverted men of the city. A commentary I read speaks of a possible reason why Lot would give his daughters to these evil men of Sodom. How could any father give his daughters to be ravished by a mob of perverts, just to protect two strangers? Possibly Lot was scheming to save both the girls and the visitors, hoping the girls' fiancés would rescue them or that the homosexual men would be disinterested in the girls and simply go away. Although it was the custom of the day to protect guests at any cost, this terrible suggestion reveals how deeply sin had been absorbed into Lot's life. He had become hardened to evil acts in an evil city. Whatever Lot's motives were, we see here an illustration of Sodom's terrible wickedness -- a wickedness so great that God had to destroy the entire city. Pastor Chuck Smith puts it this way: “Lot's   willingness   to   offer   his   two   virgin   daughters   to   this   lustful   crowd   to   be abused   or   raped   is   something   we   don't   understand;   but,   we   don't   understand   the Eastern   mind.   We   don't   understand   the   social   customs   of   the   East.   In   the   Eastern Culture   a   guest   in   the   home   is   due   your   respect   and   protection.   There   is   a   moral obligation   to   take   care   of   ones   guests.   This   is   still   practiced   in   the   Bedouin communities   today.   He   may   be   your   greatest   enemy,   but   as   long   as   he   is   in   your home   it   is   your   duty   to   treat   him   with   respect   and   courtesy.   Lot   is   a   classical example   of   being   a   host   to   the   guests   and   protecting   them   even   to   the   point   of giving   his   virgin   daughters   to   the   crowd.   Somehow   I   have   to   think   that   Lot   knew these men were "divine" beings.” Either way, we just don’t understand what was going through Lot’s mind. But we can also see it as an example of God willingly giving His only Son to a perverted world to be abused physically by being beaten. And abused mentally and emotionally by the words of blasphemy against Jesus. With the two young virgins we see that God protected them by using the angels to protect them. Whereas with Jesus, God could only sit there and watch His Son being tortured and mocked to the point of death. People read this story of how the angels protected these people and may wonder, “Do we have guardian angels watching over us and protecting us?” Psalms 91:11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. Dan 6:22 "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you." Mark 1:13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Acts 5:19-20 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." So reading these verses it may be safe to say that angels are watching over us. But also looking at the Psalms and Daniel again. It says that the Lord was the one who sent the angles for the protection or ministering. I don’t put my trust in angels, but rather, my trust is in the living God and my Savior Jesus Christ. Remember what the angel said to John in the book of Revelation? Rev 22:8-9 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." So don’t look for angels to protect you, but rather look to the Lord to protect and save you. If He uses an angel, great, if not He will never let you down. Psalms 125:2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. We are surrounded by God, Who better to be your protector. Back to Genesis verse 9 reads: And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as 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. Remember we were reading about how Lot was a righteous man, and we saw how he could be and live in such a wicked place. Reading this verse just reaffirms that to me, because notice the men were saying that Lot moved into their city and was acting like a judge. Does that sound familiar? Do people get mad because they think you are better then they are just because you are a Christian, and they even think you are judging them? They just don’t understand that we are not better then them, nor do we judge them. We just want to be like Jesus, and try not to sin, and we don’t like being in the presence of sin. It would be great if they would also look to the Lord for salvation and desire also to be like Jesus. Only then would they understand our desire for purity. 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 just can’t understand how these men were blinded, but still their lust was so great that they still tried to go after the angels and Lot. But then they were blind anyway to the truth of God’s love. Gen 19:12-14 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 before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." 14  So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and 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. How many were righteous in the city? Six, Four, or two, or was there only one? Is it also possible that Lot had sons also as is mentioned by the angles in verse 12. If so, then why didn’t Lot go tell them. If this is true, then it is possible that they were part of the men who were out there trying to get at the angels. If you rule out Lot’s sons then you could say six if you count Lot, his wife, his two daughters and two sons-in-law. But the two sons-in-laws didn’t go so that would leave only four? We will see. If these were Lots son-in-laws, then why were they somewhere else instead of in the house? Notice it says that Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. In other versions it says that they were their fiancee’s and were not married to them yet. Also remember that the daughters were also virgins as we read in verse 8 which may support this as well. Gen 19:15-16 15  When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, 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 him out and set him outside the city. Lot, What in the world are you doing? The men were blinded last night and here it is the morning and you’re still there? Notice it says the LORD being merciful to him. I read that and can only think that Lot did not want to leave.  Why? Possibly because he thought he could save the people of Sodom from their wickedness. Remember he was a judge in the city, and reading the previous verses it seems he was trying to show them the way to God. Or it is also possible that his heart was growing hardened to the ways of the people and he didn’t feel like they were that bad? Either way, God had made His judgment upon the city and Lot should have not tried to stop God, or prolong His judgment. Sometimes when we get into a rut, God has to grab us by the hand and pull us out of where we are, because it’s just not good for us to be there anymore. Lot did all he could there in Sodom, but he was no longer having an affect on the people. They refused to listen to God’s word being spoken, or even listening to the authorities, which Lot was. The people wanted to just live their own way because it was OK in their own eyes. Just like the world does, and thinks today. Gen 19:17-22 17  So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that 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." 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 your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot 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 (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." 21  And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. 22  "Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. Zoar = "insignificance" “Little” or “small” A city at the southeast end of the Dead Sea grouped with Sodom and Gomorrah as being one of the 5 cities slated for destruction by God; spared at Lot's plea as his place of refuge God had made a refuge for Lot and his family to run to, but Lot wanted to do it his own way. Sounds like the world today. They say, “I don’t need Jesus, I can save myself.” But that is the way of the world. But it’s not God’s way! We all were looking for the truth and the way to God. You may have tried all sorts of religions or ways to be accepted by God. Sometimes we even try to buy our way to God by our giving to the church. We thought or even think now; “If I tithe then God will accept me or love me more.” But there is nothing you can do to make God love you more. He loves you with an everlasting love not based on our deeds but based on His sacrifice of His Son Jesus for us! So don’t try to do things your way, but rather listen to God and what He is telling you to do. Even if it doesn’t seem right in your own eyes, just as going to the mountain didn’t seem right to Lot. But as we will see, that Lot did end up going to the mountain as God originally told him. Gen 19:23-26 23  The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24  Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25  So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26  But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Why was Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt? Remember the angel’s command: 17  So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that 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." (underlined for emphasis) So was she really turned into a pillar of salt? The original Hebrew is: melach meh'-lakh  which means, “salt!” So you could say, yes she was turned into salt. Lot’s wife was not just concerned with the people, but also her heart was towards them more so then the Lord. She allowed the things of this world to have precedent over her life rather then God. Luke 17:30-33 (NLT) Yes, it will be 'business as usual' right up to the hour when the Son of Man returns. On that day a person outside the house must not go into the house to pack. A person in the field must not return to town. Remember what happened to Lot's wife! Whoever clings to this life will lose it, and whoever loses this life will save it.   Lot’s wife was not only looking back, but the original wording indicates that she was going back to Sodom. She was doing what Jesus just spoke about in Luke. Whoever clings to this life will lose it, She was clinging to the things of this world. And as I was thinking about it, it was so bad there in the city that she could have lost her two daughters to the men of the city if the angels did not save them. But still she wanted the ways of the world rather then God. What or who is so important in your life that you are willing to turn your back on God for it or him or her? Maybe there is something or someone that has caused you to take your eye’s off of God and turn your back on Him. Just like the Prodigal Son, his father was waiting for him to return. God is also waiting for you to return to Him, and He will not cast you away, just as the Prodigal son’s father didn’t. But first you have to return!