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Sermon
Genesis

God's Righteous Judgment

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February 18, 2024
Genesis 18:16–19:38
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

The Holiness & Wrath of God

Repentance

Justice & the Poor

Grace

Transcript

0:21This morning we look at the rest of Genesis 18 and then also Genesis 19. So let me encourage you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis 18. We will pick up in verse 16 where we left off last week. And if you're using one of the blue Bibles in the seat in front of you, you can find that on page 12. And this is a long passage and so I'll plan to read it as we go along. But before we begin, would you join me as I pray and ask the Lord for help?

0:55Father, there we need your help this morning to see and understand your word rightly. We want our hearts and our minds and our instincts to be shaped not by this world, but by your word. We wanna be people who love the truth and who stand on the truth and who hold fast to the truth. So use this word for your purposes. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you've been here for some time, you'll notice that we preach through books of the Bible. Our typical practice is consecutive biblical exposition, meaning that we preach what the next text or the next passage or the next chapter says without skipping around.

1:48And this pattern keeps us from avoiding controversial or difficult text like we have this morning. The other benefit is that we can talk about various issues as they come up in scripture. For example, in this Genesis series we've taught against polygamy. And just this week there was a story in the Washington Post about the rise of polyamory, which is romantic relations with more than one partner. And it just begins to highlight for us that the Bible is evergreen in its relevance and sin is the same from one generation to another. Unfortunately, our world is increasingly confused about the most basic teachings of the Bible.

2:31This was most apparent maybe a week ago if you turned into the Super Bowl or to the commercials that there was a commercial that concluded with the text. And I think many of you're aware of it. It says, Jesus didn't teach hate, he washed feet. He gets us, all of us At best, the commercial is unclear and confusing. At worse, it suggests that you can just continue in your life of sin and Jesus will co-sign all of your idolatry. Yet Jesus began his ministry with these words in Matthew four 17, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Or put it another way, repent because judgment day is right around the corner.

3:20And this morning our passage reveals God's righteous judgment against sin. And as we'll see, the Bible doesn't pull any punches, doesn't sugarcoat sin. It's not a fairytale, but it shows God's character and the terrible plight of humanity. So I wanna give you the main point right at the beginning because God is a righteous judge who punishes evil, repent and call upon his mercy because God is a righteous judge who punishes evil, repent and call upon his mercy. And it serves as a warning for all of God's people to walk in his ways this morning. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at our passage in three parts and I'm gonna begin by reading the rest of Genesis 18.

4:08So verses 16 to 33, and I invite you to follow along with me in your bibles as I read in this first section, we're gonna call Abraham intercedes. As iniquity increases Abraham intercedes as iniquity increases. Excuse me. So Genesis 18 starting in verse 16. Then the men set out from there and they looked down towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

4:59Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. Verse 22. So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city, will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it far be it from you to do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fair as the wicked far be that from you shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just.

5:50And the Lord said, if I find at Sodom 50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord I who am but dust and ashes suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45. There again. He spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there. He answered for the sake of 40, I will not do it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there. And he answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there.

6:34And he said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again. But this once suppose 10 are found there. And he answered, for the sake of 10, I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. So here we get this fascinating exchange between Abraham and the Lord. God says he's not going to hide what he's going to do from Abraham so that he and his children will keep the way of the Lord so that they would practice righteousness and justice.

7:23So essentially God is saying, I want Abraham to see my judgment, my stern severe judgment against sin so that it would function as a warning for him and for all those who come after him. And and the two men go down towards Sodom and Abraham stands before the Lord and he begins to intercede on behalf of the righteous or the hypothetical righteous that might dwell in these cities. He, he negotiates God down from 50 all the way to 10 and and God doesn't put up much of a fight, does he, God will spare them all if 10 righteous are found in the city. So what, what's happening in Sodom and the surrounding cities?

8:06Verse 20, look with verse 20, it says, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave. This begins to echo the wickedness of Noah's day. It has the echoes of the tower of Babel, it has echoes of Abel's blood that cries out for justice back in Genesis four. And so the question is what type of sins were being committed? Well, Ezekiel 1649 tells us about soms sin. Ezekiel 1649 says, behold, this was the guilt of your sister's Sodom. She and her daughters had pride, excessive food and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. So we can maybe categorize these sins as social sins or social injustice.

8:57So pride, prosperity, the neglect of the poor, needy, oppressed and afflicted. But as we'll see, this is only the tip of the iceberg and and we'll talk more about that in just a moment. But God determines to go down anthropomorphically again to see what they've done. This echoes God going down during, uh, around the time of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. This also begins to satisfy divine justice, which is talked about in Deuteronomy that you have to have two witnesses before someone's put to death. Now Abraham intercedes by appealing to God's character. So we begin to see Abraham as a prophet and Abraham appeals to two aspects of God's character, his justice and his mercy.

9:43God's justice and his mercy. He basically says if the cities are destroyed and there's righteous people within those cities, they're gonna suffer and they're going to die. And that would be unjust. Verse 25, far be it from you to do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fair as the wicked. You can't treat them the same way God, if you're gonna be addressed God. But if the cities are spared, then the guilty will get away with their wicked deeds. This too would call into question God's justice. And so Abraham pleads for God's mercy to even spare the wicked if the righteous are present.

10:26In verse 25, Abraham says, far be it from you to do such a thing. And he says it again, far be that from you. This exclamation is a little bit like Lord forbid, or that you can't do injustice like this. And and you can see Abraham's humility as he engages with God. I am but dust and ashes in verse 27, I'm a nobody God. But won't you be merciful even if there are a few righteous? And God relents in verse 32 he says, for the sake of 10, even 10, I will not destroy it. And so in a chapter that we often think of God's judgment, we see God's mercy and his long suffering and his patience and and what we see is that Abraham appeals to God because he's, because he understands God's character and their covenant relationship.

11:19And this morning, how much more can we who are believers in Jesus who have a new covenant by the blood of Jesus, approach the throne of grace with confidence? Do you ever wrestle with God like this but God because of your justice, because of your mercy, will you grant this? Do we pray the scriptures back to God in this same way and say, God, I I, I'm not asking for anything that you haven't already said in your word. We can draw near with confidence and receive mercy and grace to help in time of need because we have the new covenant by the blood of Jesus we can cry out to God for help appealing to his character.

12:08Now the resounding note of this first section I think is verse 25, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just Abraham asked that question. And the answer that we're going to see is that the judge of all the earth will indeed do what is just, but he's gonna do much more than just what is just in this passage. And so this conversation concludes and they go their separate rays and it begins to lead us to part two. And part two is that lot is saved amid soms shocking sin. So lot is saved amid Sodom shocking sin. We're gonna read Genesis 19 verses one to 22. 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 himself with his face to the earth.

13:05And saidmy lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, no, we will spend the night in the town square. But he pressed them strongly. So they turned aside to him and entered his house and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread and they ate. But before they lay down the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house and they called the lot, where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him and said, I beg you, my brothers do not act so wickedly, but behold I have two daughters who have not known any man.

13:49Let me bring them out to you and do to them as you. Please only do nothing to these men for they have come under the shelter of my roof. But they said, stand back. And they said, this fellow came to sojourn and he has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them. Then they pressed hard against the man lot and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness, the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

14:25Then the men said to lot, have you anyone else here, sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord. And the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So lot went out and said to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawn, the angels urged lot saying up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.

15:06But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand the Lord being merciful to him. And they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills lest you be swept away. And lot said to them, oh no, my lords behold. Your servant has found favor in your sight and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold this city is near enough to flee to and it is a little one.

15:44Let me escape there. Is it not a little one and my life will be saved. He said to him, behold, I grant you this favor also that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly for I can do nothing till you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the city was called Zoe. So in the second section, the angels come the lot. They receive his hospitality. This is contrasted with the reception that the men of Sodom give. And we begin to get a glimpse of the depravity of the townspeople by God's grace. Lot his wife and his two daughters are rescued just in the nick of time as God prepares to bring his judgment and destruction.

16:31The first thing we are to notice is lots hospitality travelers would often come to a city's town square, wait for someone to take them. In talks about this in judges 19 as well, in this case, lot welcomes them and bows to the two men. He probably doesn't know that they're angels, but they just look like men. And so he's entertaining angels unaware and he insists that they come to his house and he prepares for them a feast. And so often in that culture how one treats the stranger, the foreigner, the disadvantage reveals one's righteousness. And it's surprising. But lot isn't a great man in this passage, but he's called a righteous man.

17:09Righteous law. It's actually in two Peter two seven, he's called righteous lot. Now before they go off to bed, a large crowd begins to gather outside the house. And how are they described? It says the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old. All the people to the last man in verse four. So the uh, the the use of young and old to the last man means that all of the men of the town were gathered outside. The wickedness of Sodom was pervasive. News had spread that strangers had come to town. The townspeople intended to have their way with them. This confirms that there are not even 10 righteous people in Sodom.

17:54Now the question is again, what is the sin of Sodom? What are they guilty of? Is it just the social injustice that I mentioned earlier where they neglect the poor needy? Some argue that maybe the primary sin of Sodom is their lack of hospitality, where it's contrasted with how Abraham and lot received these men. So what's the sin of Sodom? Well, while there are many sins at work in these two cities and the surrounding cities, we see the primary sin revealed in verse five. Where are the men who came out to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them. This is verse five. The men of Sodom demand to have sexual intercourse with the two male travelers.

18:42The phrase that we may know them is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. And it's been kind of consistently throughout Genesis. Genesis four, one, Adam knew Eve his wife and as a result she conceived and bore Kain. Genesis four 17. Kain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch Genesis 4 25. And Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth. Genesis 24 16. It says, the young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known, meaning that she's a virgin or Genesis 19 six in our passage lot says that his two daughters have not known any man, meaning again that they are virgins.

19:29So it's clear that the men of Sodom desired to forcibly sexually assault these two male travelers. So there's evidence that homosexual practice is one of the more heinous sins in Sodom. In fact, it's one of the main heinous sins at work in Sodom. In the Ezekiel text that we quoted earlier, remember Ezekiel 1649, I read that list of social sins that they had committed the exactly Next verse, Ezekiel 1650 says this about Sodom, they referring to Sodom were haughty and they did an abomination before me. So I removed them when I saw it. The word abomination is the same word that's used in Leviticus 1822, which says, you shall not lie with a male as with a woman.

20:14It is an abomination. So it's not just forced sexual assault, but any homosexual practice is being condemned here. We can even look into the New Testament. In the book of Jude, the author describes how the angels didn't stay in their proper dwelling. We studied this a few weeks ago in the Nephilim, but in Jude seven, Jude, there's only one chapter, verse seven, it says, justice Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. So this passage identifies the sin of Sodom and Gamora as sexual immorality, unnatural desire, homosexuality.

21:00And now some would say, well, maybe the unnatural desires that they wanted to have sex with angels. Well, it, it's most likely as we read the text that they didn't know that these were angels. They just knew that they were strangers, travelers. Now some might think, well maybe this is just condemning, you know, promiscuity or forcible sexual assault, just not a consensual, monogamous, homosexual relationship. And yet the whole of the scripture is abundantly clear on the sinfulness of sexual morality, whether that's adultery or pornography or fornication or homosexuality. Homosexuality is contrary to God's design.

21:39Genesis 1 27, according to one Timothy one 10, homosexuality is unholy and profane along with all other sexual immorality. And in one Corinthians six, nine, those who practice homosexuality along with a long other list of sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. Odd. So why all of these reasons, I, I think there's two things I hope to do in giving all of this evidence. First is that we would know what scripture teaches and not compromise on what is true. There's a tremendous pressure in our world today to compromise on this truth. We should not attend a so-called gay or transgender wedding because our presence is a celebration of that union which God does not smile upon.

22:32There's tremendous pressure, though, from our family, from our neighbors, from our work, maybe from our children, even from some sectors of quote unquote Christianity that say we need to change on this issue. They might say it's, well, it's just political suicide. Let's just take a moderating view. Or it alienates unbelievers. It's not loving, it's hateful, it's bigoted. And that is just not true. It's hateful to lie to people about the very sins that will condemn them to hell. And it's loving, it's loving to tell people the truth so that they might repent and run to Jesus and find life. So there's a generational divide on this.

23:20I know if you're older than me, you know that this is what the church has always taught about sexual ethics. And you're like, why are we talking all about this? This is what the church has always believed. And if you're younger than me or if you're my age, what I'm saying is extremely uncomfortable because you're constantly getting discipled by the world, by your friends, by your teachers, by your professors, by your social media, by your intake of media and TV shows, by your coworkers, even by your corporate training. You are being shaped And discipled in this area to hold beliefs that are contrary to God's word.

24:04And what I want to set forth for us is that we will be a church and Lord willing, we will be a people who will commit to conform our hearts and minds to God's word and to God's truth. We will never compromise on God's truth. What is clearly stated in his word is what we will believe no matter how unpopular it becomes. Uh, the the second thing I wanna say is that if you're here this morning and you struggle with same sex attraction, you, you don't call yourself a gay Christian. You're, you're trying to follow Jesus. Uh, but, but that, that's your kind of inclination and you struggle in these ways.

24:53We want you to know that we love and care about you. You are welcome here as you strive to walk in the fullness of life in Jesus as we all are, we are all sinners. You are not defined by your inclinations, you are not defined by your attractions. You are not defined by your desires. We all come to Jesus stained by sin, marred by the fall. And we all need the transforming power of Christ. And so if you believe in Jesus, your primary identity is chosen, holy and beloved as you continue to strive for faithfulness in holding to what Jesus has said and walking in the path of life. Now I know many of us have family, we have friends, we have loved ones, we have neighbors, we have coworkers who are decent and delightful.

25:52People who would count themselves in the L-G-B-T-Q community. They are not like the men of Sodom. Some of you may even be here this morning and we're glad you are here. Our primary concern is not your sexuality or your gender or you for you to become heterosexual or primary concern is that you, like all of us, whatever our besetting sins would surrender our entire lives to king Jesus. We all need to repent, to turn from our wickedness and to walk in this newness of life. We want our lives and your life to be shaped by God's word. And there is life and there is joy in following Jesus. No matter the cost. It, it might feel like you're I denying your very identity.

26:46And yet Jesus can give you a better new identity. You can even become a new creation in him. And there is heartache, there is pain whenever we live contrary to God's good design. Alright, now back to the story. Sodom and Gomorrah are guilty of a great many sins including pride and justice, suppression being inhospitable, sexual morality and homosexuality. Genesis 19 is the tip of the iceberg of all the sins that are at work in this community. And we just get this little snapshot to say it's just pervasive and it's everywhere. And God is going to bring his just and righteous and good judgment. Now, lot attempts to defend his guests, this would've been actually admirable at one level he tries to diffuse the situation, but he does it in the most horrific of ways due to my daughters, as you please lot sounds like a rotten man here the culture of Sodom has seeped deep into his bones.

28:00His moral compass is entirely broken. He places hospitality for these strangers above the wellbeing of his own children. And this is despicable and wicked Sodom is overrun with lust and lot has conformed to the culture around him. And and it begs the question for many of us this morning, where have we also conformed to the culture of Sodom townspeople? Turn on him. Who do you think you are? You came as a stranger. We, we let you live here. They're about to break down the door. They're about to teach lot a lesson. The angels bring lot back in. And the angels strike the men with blindness, both small and great so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

28:46Verse 11, you can sense the building tension in the story they need to get outta town and they need to do it quick. The angels reveal their identity at this point, I think in verse 13, we've come to destroy the city. We've been sent by the Lord and you need to warn your family. And we see the sad situation in verse 14. The sons in law hearing the warning, huh? He's joking lot being that crazy jokester again now verses 15 to 22, the angels urge lot to leave right away, but he lingered. I think that's such a apt description of what we do when we are to flee sin. We linger far too long. So the angels need to seize him and hold his hand like leading a child across the street.

29:32They, they need to lead him out and, and he says, let me stay in this small town of Zoar. So you can imagine it like the destruction of Minneapolis and St. Paul. And he says, you know, as he's being let out, he's like, let me stay in Mounds view. You know that little town, I, I don't wanna go all the way up to Elk River or Forest Lake. Those are the boonies, you know, no offense if you live there, you know, but like I I, I, let me just stay in that little town. Mounds view a as Minneapolis and St. Paul are being destroyed and the angels concede again. They give, they, they show God's mercy. That town gets spared that this bargaining reminds us again and again of God's patience.

30:15God's kindness to Abraham and lot as the sin of Sodom erupts, God's judgment is to be poured out. God is merciful. There aren't 10 righteous people in all of these cities and yet God is still gonna differentiate his judgment between the righteous and the wicked. Now we come to part three verses 23 to 38 and I'm titling this section, cities incinerated as the culture of Sodom continues. So the cities are destroyed as the culture of Sodom continues. So you can read along with me, look with me in verse 23, the sun had risen on the earth where lot came to zair. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

31:04And he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But lot's wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. And he looked and behold the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the mist of the overthrow. When he overthrew the cities in which lot had lived now lot went up out of Zair and he lived in the hills with his two daughters for he was afraid to live in Zair.

31:42So he lived in a cave with his two daughters and the firstborn said to the younger, our father's old and there's not a man on earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth come let us make our father drink wine and we will lie with him that we may preserve the offspring from our father. So they made their father drink wine that night and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she laid down or when she arose. The next day the firstborn said to the younger behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him that we may preserve offspring from our father.

32:20So they made their father drink wine that night also and the younger arose and lay with him and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of lot became pregnant by their father, the first born Bo, a son and called his name Moab for he's the father of the Moabites to this day, the younger also bo, a son and called his name Ben Amini. He's the father of the Ammonites to this day who This is a hard chapter, isn't it? Even as the story concludes there's another eruption of sin verses 23 to 29. Sodom is destroyed with sulfur and fire and other translations. It's fire and brimstone.

33:02It could be that there's earthquakes and gases and sulfur that's being released and you know, fiery meteorites that are raining down. Verse 24 makes it really clear this is not a natural disaster. It is of the Lord. The Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah. Yahweh reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of heaven. This was complete annihilation of the cities. Look at verse 25. It was the cities, it was all the valley, uh, the lush valley that lot had originally seen that says, oh I'm gonna stay there. And all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground, even the vegetation was destroyed.

33:42We also learned that lot's wife looks back contrary to the angel's command back in verse 17. And she turns into a pillar of salt. The the net Bible NET Bible translated it as. But lot's wife looked back, longingly, uh, I think the idea is that though her body was leaving, her heart remained in the cities. Uh, she, she wanted to live there still. She longed for the city of man and had been shaped by the culture of Sodom just like lot's daughters had been shaped by the culture of Sodom. Now in the New Testament, the second shortest verse in the Bible is, remember lot's wife Luke 1732. The shortest verse is Jesus wept.

34:27That's some tips for your kids. If your parents say, you know, we'll give you something. If you remember two verses, those are two that are really short. Luke 1732, remember lot's wife Jesus warns the disciples that the days of the son of man are coming and they're going to be a surprise. And when it comes don't turn back. But remember lot's wife Luke 1733, the immediately the verse immediately after says, whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life will keep it. Remember lot's wife, don't look longingly back to your former way of life. Your life, the sins that you committed before you knew Christ.

35:10And even this morning, if you're not trusting in Jesus, today is the day of salvation. Don't delay thinking you can come to Jesus on your own timetable. Now verses 27 and 28 kind of brings the whole story full circle if you see some of those verbal parallels. Abraham stood and he looked down just like back in Genesis 18 verse 16. He looked down on Sodom and then in verse 22 of chapter 18, he stood before the Lord. And now Abraham stood and looked down bringing it back full circle. He realizes there are not 10 righteous in this city as the smoke rises yet. Verse 29, God remembered Abraham and sent lot out of the mist of the overthrow.

36:02There's such stunning mercy in this passage of judgment. Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just answer. Yes, God is just, even though there weren't 10 righteous, God rescued the righteous lot and his family before destroying the wicked and even spared the city of zair. Now it seems like this chapter should end, but then we get this postscript on lots life and it's not good. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this, but let me just comment on a few things. First, we see this pattern emerging after judgment. Scandal erupts after the flood subsides. Noah gets drunk and lies naked after God's judgment and fire and sulfur lot gets drunken sins sexually.

36:53Second, this gives the rest of the story, if you will, of lot. And his family, we don't hear much from him after this at all. They, they live among the caves. He fathers rivals who would be a snare for Abraham and his descendants. The third thing we see is that this story portrays lot as a bit of a dummy. He, he picked the valley towards Sodom and Gamora. He, he was kidnapped. Now he did not know when she laid down or when she arose. It's trying to kind of show a little bit of his innocence. Like he, he's not a predator here and yet he, he's not the brightest man as well. And fourth, while the desire of the daughters I think was honorable in order to preserve the family line, the means of incest was terrible and wicked.

37:41While Sodom had been destroyed, the culture of Sodom had infiltrated and shaped their minds and hearts. And so this is implicitly recognized because it required a lot of wine and drunkenness for it to transpire. They knew that it was wrong and yet they still went ahead with it. Now the question some of us may be thinking is why, why does the Bible give us these seedy terrible details about lot and his daughters? Uh, I think the primary reason is that the descendants of lot will reappear in Israel's history. Deuteronomy two, God tells Moses not to fight with the Moabites or the Ammonites because they will not get their land.

38:23That's Deuteronomy two nine and two 19. God preserves the descendants of lot and they will be enemies of Israel. Deuteronomy 23, 6 says, you shall not seek their peace, meaning the Moabites or the Ammonites. You should not seek their peace or their prosperity in all your days forever. So it's going to explain for the people of Israel, why do we have this constant animosity with these people? Oh, it's because of this. But amazingly God uses these people in his grand story of redemption, doesn't he? Who is the most famous Moabite in the Bible? That's right. It's Ruth. Ruth is a hardworking, loyal daughter-in-law to Naomi.

39:06And she becomes through her marriage to Boaz the great-grandmother of King David. And she becomes an ancestor of Jesus. And she's one of four women who are called out in Jesus' genealogy in Matthew's gospel even in judgment. See, God's astounding mercy and grace, if you're a descendant of the Moabites of Ammonites, you too can be part of this royal line grafted in to Jesus Christ by faith. So Genesis 18 and 19 reveal that God is a righteous judge who punishes evil. He calls us to repent, to look to Jesus and to escape the judgment that is to come. And so the question shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just yes, God will do what is right and just, but he will do much more, won't he?

40:03It's even better than mere justice. We want justice when we're the innocent party, someone else has wronged us. But when we're the offending party, the last thing we want is justice Mercy. Mercy is what we want. And God displays his mercy to sinners throughout this passage and ultimately through his son Jesus. Now, as we seek to apply this text, we often put ourselves in Abraham's shoes. You know, we're the righteous sitting up on the hill interceding for all those wicked people. But we have a lot more in common with the other characters of this story. Are we like lot who lingers far too long among the wicked?

40:40Are we like lot's wife who loves the city of this world? Are we like the sons-in-law who laugh at God's coming judgment? Are we like lots daughters who are shaped by the culture of Sodom so that we can't tell what is good and right anymore? Or are we like Sodom fully conformed to our evil age? This text calls us to several responses. The first is that if you're not trusting in Jesus or if you've let the culture of Sodom disciple you, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn away from the works of the flesh. Sexual morality, idolatry, jealousy, fits of anger, envy, drunkenness, homosexuality, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

41:28God saves us and then he sanctifies us and conforms us into the image of his son. And you can cry out, Lord, transform me. Second, we should indeed intercede like Abraham to our merciful and gracious God. Think of the most wretched of sinners that you can think of. They're not too far for the Lord's hand to save. They're not beyond the grace of God. No one in my life. No one in your life is too far away for God to save. Praise God for that good news. Third, we worship in awe of our holy God, who is the judge of all the earth. He displays His justice and his mercy in the cross. And lastly, let's let God's word shape our hearts and mind.

42:22Let's see the insidious nature of sin, including homosexuality that is increasingly normalized in our culture and, and it just keeps going, doesn't it? The next step is pedophilia or what now they call minor attracted persons. Let, let's not stigmatize that Christians must boldly stand up for biblical truth despite the pressures from family, culture, Hollywood, HR departments, and nearly every quarter of our world. We will not conform to the spirit of this age. We must not. We must be salt and light that will stand firm on the word of God. Woe to those who call evil good and those who call good, evil, darkness, light and light darkness.

43:10We will tell the truth, trust the Lord and let the chips fall where they will. We serve a glorious, good, strong and merciful God at the crucifixion of Jesus love, justice, and mercy converged in a way that had never happened before in history. God displayed his perfect justice, his perfect love, and his perfect mercy. And now Jesus stands ready to lead you by the hand out of the city of man into the city of God where we will dwell with him forever. Jesus doesn't just get us, he saves us. Take his hand and follow him. Let's pray. Father, we want to be a people who doesn't just hear your word but obeys your word, who loves your word, who lives by your word, no matter the cost.

44:12And we want to be people who hold out your wonderful life-giving word to those who do not yet know you and say, oh, come and drink. Come buy food where you don't need money. Come find life and life in Jesus. And so, Lord, as we go from here, make us salt and light that shine forth the love and truth of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Jump to live

Jump to live

Sermon Text

Genesis 18:16–19:38

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