Genesis 18
and 19 are fascinating chapters in regards to responses of God's judgment. Almost everyone has heard of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I have read these chapters before many times. However, when I read them yesterday and today, I noticed
things that I hadn't noticed before.
(I love it when God does that!)
In Genesis
18, three men walk up to Abraham's tent.
Two of them are angels and one is Jesus, revealing Himself as a man in
the Old Testament. (Pause for a
minute and think about how cool that is!) They hang out with Abraham. Abraham makes a meal for them and Jesus
prophesies that Abraham and Sarah will have a child. (This is the scene that made Sarah famous for laughing.)
After the
laughing incident, the men got up to leave and Abraham walked with them a
bit. Then Jesus decided to share a
secret with Abraham. He did not
want to hide what He was doing from him.
So Jesus told Abraham about how he was going to inspect Sodom and Gomorrah
to see if it was as bad as He heard it was. Then the two angels left to go to the cities and Jesus
remained with Abraham.
Then Abraham
interceded for the city. Abraham
began asking if God would destroy the city if there were 50 righteous,
reminding God of His character as he asked. Abraham continued (negotiating with the man Jesus) and
eventually got God to agree that he would not destroy the city for the sake of
10 righteous. Then Jesus left, and Abraham went back to his tent.
First
response in story: Interceeding for mitigation of the crisis when God shares a
secret before it happens.
God reveals
things to His servants before He does them.
"Surely
the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the
prophets." -Amos 3:7
My mind is
still blown by the fact that Abraham was negotiating with The Judge / The Chief
Advocate. Wow.
More
responses are revealed in Genesis 19.
The angels arrived in Sodom and recognized that it was as wicked as they
had heard. The angels warned Lot (Abraham's nephew) to take his family and
leave the city. They told him that they were sent by God to destroy the
city. So Lot got up and told his
sons-in-law first.
Second response
in story: Speaking the message of the Lord to the ones who God says to speak
to.
After Lot told his sons-in-law, Genesis 19:14 says their
response was that they thought he was joking. This is not a proper response,
but it is a common response when hearing the word of the Lord from a
messenger. They were so deafened
by the culture around them that when an "alarm" was going off, they
couldn't hear it. It reminds me of
when Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matthew
11:15).
Third
response in story: Thinking it is all one big joke.
Then morning
dawned. The angels told Lot he had better hurry. They told him he should take his wife and daughters and
leave so he wasn't destroyed. And then Lot did the next response in the story. He lingered.
Fourth
response in the story: Lingering instead of obeying quickly.
That is
another common response, yet not a proper response. We linger instead of obeying. Lot was probably feeling rather alone since his sons-in-law
weren't taking him seriously. I'm sure his wife and daughters were pressing
him... "Are you sure you heard rightly? You sure those guys that told you
this aren't crazy? They are going to do WHAT to the city??" And he
lingered... maybe because of possessions, maybe because of relationships. Whatever the reason, he was not obeying
quickly.
The angels
took Lot's hands and the hands of his wife and daughters and led them outside
of the city. I am so glad that God
is merciful to us in leading us even when our initial response is to drag our
feet in responding appropriately.
The angels
told Lot and his family to escape to the mountains. Instead, Lot begged to be allowed to escape to a small
nearby city. He wanted more
security than the mountains gave him.
Fifth
response in the story: Negotiating instead of obeying.
I can't help
but wonder why Lot asked to go to the city instead of the mountains, especially
since he eventually went to dwell in the mountains. It seems to demonstrate just one more instance of Lot's
failure to obey well.
Nevertheless, Lot entered the small city.
Then God
rained brimstone and fire on the Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels had warned the
family before they left, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor
stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be
destroyed." Lot's wife - one of the more righteous few in those sinful
cities - will be forever remembered for looking back. This response cost her life for as soon as she looked back,
she became a pillar of salt.
I have many
questions about this response that I may never have answered...
Why did she
look back? Was it because she
heard the destruction, smelled it, saw the light from behind her? Was she
thinking about her friends or belongings she left behind? If Lot had obeyed the
angels and gone into the mountains instead of the city, would she still have
been able to look back so easily? Why a pillar of salt?
Regardless
of my questions, it is again, a common yet incorrect response.
Sixth
response in story: Looking back instead of obeying and looking forward.
Luke even
reminds the generation of the end times to "Remember Lot's wife."
(Luke 17:32.) Obedience is key.
There is not time to delay in obedience or to disobey by looking
back. We must trust the Word of
the Lord. We must take seriously the Word of the Lord.
Pray and
intercede when God shares His secrets.
Declare the Word of the Lord when He says to. Be cautious not to take lightly the warnings that God may
bring your way. And obey
quickly. Don't linger. Don't try to negotiate into second
best, and don't look back.
Obey. Listen. Be a watchman on the wall.
Have a right
response.
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