Tue, May 5, 2009
Genesis 19 LMAP Notes
God will punish all who do not live according to His Commandments, but will save those who trust in, rely on and follow Him!
"1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 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. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [a] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
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. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [b] please! 19 Your [c] servant has found favor in your [d] eyes, and you [e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [f] )
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
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." Genesis 19:1-29 NIV
Pasted from
L = Sodom, Gomorrah, Zoar, Admah and Zeboiim (Genesis 14:2) are thought to be at the southern end of the Dead Sea, or maybe under the Dead Sea today. There happens to be five cities that have been dug up by excavation at the southern tip of the Dead Sea, but it has not been confirmed that these are the same five cities mentioned in Genesis 14:2.
-Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom means that he had become one of the leaders of the city.
-Lot strongly asks the two angels to stay with him, 1) because that was the good thing to do in the culture of the day and 2) Lot knew the dangers of staying on the streets overnight
-We can see that homosexuality was very common and accepted in Sodom, and that Lot wanted nothing to do with it. 2 Peter 2:8 confirms this.
-Just because the story mentions Lot offering his daughters as replacements does not condone it or make it right. It was wrong of Lot do to that.
-Notice that Lot does not resort to violence against the evil men, but rather tries to persuade them from their evil ways. When the evil men continued, it was the two angels who rescued and supernaturally protected Lot.
-As they are escaping, Lot pushes his luck and asks the angels to change their plans and let him stay in nearby Zoar instead. The angels mercifully allow it. Basically, Lot was afraid that he could not run fast enough to escape the coming punishment. The problem is, it means that he did not trust in God enough for protection.
-Lot's wife still desired her home and possessions, and that caused her to look back, which was a direct disobedience to a clear command. Luke 17:31-33 confirms this. Just as Adam and Eve clearly disobeyed God in Eden and paid a high price, so did Lot's wife. (Tradition said that she turned into a statue of salt, and that that statue survived until at least 165AD. Nowadays, it is nowhere to be found, though some think it still exits.)
M = The messages here are:
1. God hates sexual sins (which is having sex with anyone other than your spouse), and will punish a society if it condones and promotes such behavior.
2. Lot was considered righteous, not because he was a perfect person, but because he relied on God. See 2 Peter 2:7, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 4:13, Romans 10:2-4, Philippians 1:10-11, Philippians 3:8-9 and Hebrews 11:6-7.
3. Even though Lot was righteous (by having faith in God), he still made lots of mistakes (moving to that city in the first place, offering his daughters to the evil men, not trusting in God's plans, etc. And even though he made all these mistakes, he was still rescued, because God loved him and considered him righteous.
4. God must always come first. For Lot's wife, God did not come first, and she died forever because of it.
A = The application questions we can ask ourselves are:
1. Are we behaving the wrong way when it comes to sex? As youth, this not typically a problem, but we must be very careful and prepared as we get older and the temptations come.
2. Do we have faith in God and rely on Him to take care of us? If so, God will protect us! Are you letting God protect you?
3. Even if you have faith in God and rely on Him, and He is protecting you, you will still make mistakes. Those mistakes are not OK, and there will be repercussions (bad results) because of those mistakes, but God still loves you. What mistakes are you making right now in life that you need to stop doing?
4. Is God first in your life? If not, you will die forever in the Lake of Fire. But if you put God first, then you will escape punishment and live in Heaven forever! What things in your life compete with God?
P = This story is an example of what is going to happen at the End Times. God will destroy the evil world, who chooses to live wrong sexually and continually disobey Him. But those who are righteous (i.e. those who trust in and follow God) will be delivered from that punishment. So make sure you are relying on Him and following Him, and encourage your friends to follow Him as well, so that they also will escape the punishment.
Taking matters into your own hands will just cause problems. Let God sort your details and problems out.
"30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [g] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [h] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today." Genesis 19:30-38 NIV
Pasted from
L = Sometime after the destruction (probably not too long), Lot and his two daughters leave Zoar and head to the mountains west of there, where God had originally wanted them to go!
- The daughters were righteous, because they trusted in God, but they still made mistakes like their father. Their intentions may have been good (they wanted to continue the family line, which is a good thing), but they went about it in the wrong way. Notice that Abraham took matters into his own hands concerning his heir (and the problems that came from that). Notice Lot took matters into his own hands and decided to go to Zoar. And here, his daughters do the same thing. They take matters into their own hands, thinking it a good thing, and yet problems arise. We can guess that these were not evil women, not lustful, because they named the children after the father. "Moab" means 'from my father'. "Ben-ammi" means 'son of my people'. So they really did feel they were doing a good thing, but deep down realized it was wrong (since they had to get the father drunk to let it happen).
- As with Noah, we see the dangers of getting drunk. It was not an excuse for Lot to give. What he did was wrong, no matter how you look at it. So getting drunk and doing something stupid stills means you are responsible for that action.
- Later on, in Deuteronomy 2:9 and 2:19, we see God protecting the descendants of Moab and Benammi, allowing them to keep their land. But We also see in Joshua and Judges, the Moabites fighting with Israel. Remember that Ishmael's descendents are the Arabs, who often fight with Israel, but God still protected Ishmael and loves the Arabs. It's the same here with the Moabites and Ammonites.
M = The message here is 'stick to God's Plans; He knows better than you'. Taking matters into your own hands will only cause problems.
A = What plans has God given you that you are trying to change or take matters into your own hands?
P = not applicable here.
"1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 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. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry [a] his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
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. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [b] please! 19 Your [c] servant has found favor in your [d] eyes, and you [e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [f] )
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
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." Genesis 19:1-29 NIV
Pasted from
L = Sodom, Gomorrah, Zoar, Admah and Zeboiim (Genesis 14:2) are thought to be at the southern end of the Dead Sea, or maybe under the Dead Sea today. There happens to be five cities that have been dug up by excavation at the southern tip of the Dead Sea, but it has not been confirmed that these are the same five cities mentioned in Genesis 14:2.
-Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom means that he had become one of the leaders of the city.
-Lot strongly asks the two angels to stay with him, 1) because that was the good thing to do in the culture of the day and 2) Lot knew the dangers of staying on the streets overnight
-We can see that homosexuality was very common and accepted in Sodom, and that Lot wanted nothing to do with it. 2 Peter 2:8 confirms this.
-Just because the story mentions Lot offering his daughters as replacements does not condone it or make it right. It was wrong of Lot do to that.
-Notice that Lot does not resort to violence against the evil men, but rather tries to persuade them from their evil ways. When the evil men continued, it was the two angels who rescued and supernaturally protected Lot.
-As they are escaping, Lot pushes his luck and asks the angels to change their plans and let him stay in nearby Zoar instead. The angels mercifully allow it. Basically, Lot was afraid that he could not run fast enough to escape the coming punishment. The problem is, it means that he did not trust in God enough for protection.
-Lot's wife still desired her home and possessions, and that caused her to look back, which was a direct disobedience to a clear command. Luke 17:31-33 confirms this. Just as Adam and Eve clearly disobeyed God in Eden and paid a high price, so did Lot's wife. (Tradition said that she turned into a statue of salt, and that that statue survived until at least 165AD. Nowadays, it is nowhere to be found, though some think it still exits.)
M = The messages here are:
1. God hates sexual sins (which is having sex with anyone other than your spouse), and will punish a society if it condones and promotes such behavior.
2. Lot was considered righteous, not because he was a perfect person, but because he relied on God. See 2 Peter 2:7, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 4:13, Romans 10:2-4, Philippians 1:10-11, Philippians 3:8-9 and Hebrews 11:6-7.
3. Even though Lot was righteous (by having faith in God), he still made lots of mistakes (moving to that city in the first place, offering his daughters to the evil men, not trusting in God's plans, etc. And even though he made all these mistakes, he was still rescued, because God loved him and considered him righteous.
4. God must always come first. For Lot's wife, God did not come first, and she died forever because of it.
A = The application questions we can ask ourselves are:
1. Are we behaving the wrong way when it comes to sex? As youth, this not typically a problem, but we must be very careful and prepared as we get older and the temptations come.
2. Do we have faith in God and rely on Him to take care of us? If so, God will protect us! Are you letting God protect you?
3. Even if you have faith in God and rely on Him, and He is protecting you, you will still make mistakes. Those mistakes are not OK, and there will be repercussions (bad results) because of those mistakes, but God still loves you. What mistakes are you making right now in life that you need to stop doing?
4. Is God first in your life? If not, you will die forever in the Lake of Fire. But if you put God first, then you will escape punishment and live in Heaven forever! What things in your life compete with God?
P = This story is an example of what is going to happen at the End Times. God will destroy the evil world, who chooses to live wrong sexually and continually disobey Him. But those who are righteous (i.e. those who trust in and follow God) will be delivered from that punishment. So make sure you are relying on Him and following Him, and encourage your friends to follow Him as well, so that they also will escape the punishment.
Taking matters into your own hands will just cause problems. Let God sort your details and problems out.
"30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab [g] ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi [h] ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today." Genesis 19:30-38 NIV
Pasted from
L = Sometime after the destruction (probably not too long), Lot and his two daughters leave Zoar and head to the mountains west of there, where God had originally wanted them to go!
- The daughters were righteous, because they trusted in God, but they still made mistakes like their father. Their intentions may have been good (they wanted to continue the family line, which is a good thing), but they went about it in the wrong way. Notice that Abraham took matters into his own hands concerning his heir (and the problems that came from that). Notice Lot took matters into his own hands and decided to go to Zoar. And here, his daughters do the same thing. They take matters into their own hands, thinking it a good thing, and yet problems arise. We can guess that these were not evil women, not lustful, because they named the children after the father. "Moab" means 'from my father'. "Ben-ammi" means 'son of my people'. So they really did feel they were doing a good thing, but deep down realized it was wrong (since they had to get the father drunk to let it happen).
- As with Noah, we see the dangers of getting drunk. It was not an excuse for Lot to give. What he did was wrong, no matter how you look at it. So getting drunk and doing something stupid stills means you are responsible for that action.
- Later on, in Deuteronomy 2:9 and 2:19, we see God protecting the descendants of Moab and Benammi, allowing them to keep their land. But We also see in Joshua and Judges, the Moabites fighting with Israel. Remember that Ishmael's descendents are the Arabs, who often fight with Israel, but God still protected Ishmael and loves the Arabs. It's the same here with the Moabites and Ammonites.
M = The message here is 'stick to God's Plans; He knows better than you'. Taking matters into your own hands will only cause problems.
A = What plans has God given you that you are trying to change or take matters into your own hands?
P = not applicable here.