Genesis 19 - God Destroys Sinful Cities

 

Genesis 19 – God Destroys Sinful Cities

 

Lot lived in Sodom, but he was never happy there.  It was a tragic day for him when he moved to Sodom because he lost his family to the sins of the city. There are many today who may be saved, but due to their lifestyle or where they live, they lose their family, influence, and testimony.  A person can trust Christ, but others may not see it in the life they live.

Two angels visit Lot in Sodom to pronounce judgment.  Lot was sitting in the gate.  The ones who sit in the gate of a city were judges.

Lot was a hospitable man.  When the strangers came, he invited them into his home.  At first, they said they would stay in the street all night.  Lot told them that it would not be safe in the street of Sodom.  The sins of Sodom were sodomy and homosexuality.  They were and still are awful sins.

When Lot first pitched his tent outside of Sodom, he had looked down and saw good land for his cattle.  He did not know what kind of city it was.  From the outside it looked good. The lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah is a lesson for us today.  God is not accepting this kind of church.  In Romans 6:1-2 Paul asks, “shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid?”

The men of Sodom are pressing against Lot, demanding that the men be turned over to them.  Lot begged them not to do this wickedness.  It was not a new morality to Lot, it was sin.  The three guests put their hands out and pulled Lot back into the house and blinded the men outside.  If they had not done this, both Lot and the guests would have been destroyed as was the intention of the wicked men.

Lot’s sons and daughters had married Sodomites and adopted their ethical standards.  When Lot learned of God’s intent, he went to his sons-in-laws and told them to leave before God destroys the city.  They took his warning as a joke.  Lot did not win anybody for the Lord in this city.  The same principle is true today.  When we stoop to others level, we do not win others to Christ.  Lot leaves the city with no one except his wife and two daughters.

Lot had become righteous because he had followed Abraham and offered sacrifices.  God extends mercy to Lot and saves him.  God destroys the two cities, but his wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.  She did not believe God.  When Abraham saw the destruction, I am sure he was sad for Lot.  He probably did not learn about Lot until later.  Abraham was not in love with the things of Sodom and the world.  “Love not the world, neither the things thar are in the world.”  I John 2:15

The world today indulges in the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. God sees and He is not pleased.