Prepare
Opening Prayer
Father, thank you for this day. Bless and watch over us as we read, help us understand your Word rightly by the Holy Spirit, and order our lives according to it. In Jesus' name, amen.
Read
Scripture Passage
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
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.
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. 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.
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.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ge 19:12-29
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The angels warn Lot to gather his family and flee because God will destroy Sodom. His sons-in-law dismiss the warning, Lot lingers, and the Lord mercifully has the angels take him and his family by the hand. Fire falls on the cities, Lot's wife looks back and becomes salt, and God remembers Abraham while rescuing Lot.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Genesis 19:16
Bryan explicitly identifies verse 16 as the passage to underline. Lot lingers, but the Lord mercifully takes him and his family by the hand and brings them out of the doomed city.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Recognize soberly that sinners deserve judgment and marvel that salvation is mercy, not merit. Rejoice that Jesus has rescued you from Satan's kingdom, do not look longingly back at former sin, and press toward the upward call in Christ.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
hey good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions this is where every day you and I would get together we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together and this year 2023 Lord willing we'll make it from The Book of Genesis to Leviticus this morning we're at Genesis chapter 18. and I know it's a Monday morning and this is a hard place to start but we're going to finish that story of Sodom and Gomorrah I just got to be honest with you these are hard stories but God gives them to us for a reason so why don't we have some coffee we'll pray we'll get into the Lord's word let's pray father we thank you so much for this day we pray Lord that as we read your word that you would please bless us watch over us father we pray that you would please allow us to understand rightly perceive what you're saying in your word by the teaching of your Holy Spirit and that by your Holy Spirit you would allow us to live our lives how you would order them for us in Jesus name amen all right so we are at Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 8 19 sorry Genesis chapter 19 and we are uh going to finish that story about Sodom and Gomorrah so we'll begin at verse 12 and we'll go through verse 29. here we go then the men said a 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 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 so a lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law whom who had married his daughters and said get up get out of this place for the Lord will destroy the city but to his son in sons-in-law he seemed to be joking when the morning dawn 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 and while he lingered the men took hold of his hand his wife's hand in the hands of his daughters the Lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and set him outside the city so it came to pass when they had brought them outside he said Escape for your life do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plane escaped the mountains lest you be destroyed then lot said to them please know my lords 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 unless some evil overtake me and I die 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 and he said to him see I have favored the favored you concerning this thing also and that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken hurry Escape The Escape there for I cannot do anything until you arrive there therefore the name of the city was called zor th son had risen upon the earth when lot entered zor then the Lord reigned Brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens so he overthrew those cities all the plain all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground but his wife looked back behind him and she became a pillar of salt then and Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord then he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and he saw and behold the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace and it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent law out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which lot had dwelt well we need to ask ourselves a what's this about B what's the best verse to summarize this and see what are we called to do in response to these words so a what's this about well we pick up the story where we left off where the Lord had are the Angel's head protected lot and now they save lot they warn him they tell him in verse 12 right have you seen have you anyone else here son-in-law your sons your daughters whomever you have in the city take them out of this place 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 they warn him right you have any family you got any kids you got any you got any in-laws you got anyone go and get them tell them to get out of here we're about to destroy the city this is Mercy right they need to tell a lot this but they do and so they tell a lot this and lot goes and he tells us his son-in-laws but they won't listen right I I don't know which way to say that sons and laws or son-in-laws I would say son-in-laws but they want to say sons and laws our sons-in-law that's fine but the point is that he tells them and they think he's joking right they laugh it off they brush it off and they keep going doing whatever they want to do and the Lord's not being merciful to them they think he's joking and they in the morning tell him in verse 15 get up right arise take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be consumed in the punishment and the point of this is verse 16. right lot lingered he didn't Escape right away the men took hold of his hands his wife hand in the hand of his two daughters the Lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and set him outside the city but he takes them out of the city he's merciful the Lord takes them by the hand and drags him out of the city makes him flee no more lingering no more waiting you gotta get out of here don't turn back don't you're gonna be consumed but we find us that's exactly what happens a lot well first lot says I can't go all the way up to the mountains he's worried about some type of disaster or evil that will come upon him and so he asked to go to a small City nearby and they say that's okay so there's still mercy and Grace being shown there's still accommodations according to his weaknesses and fears but what we find is Lot's wife looks back she Longs for the days of Sodom she's worried about the city in which she is made for home and instead of fixing her eyes on the rescue and Escape which is in front of her heart longs for Sodom the place where her husband had betrayed her or the city wanted to do Despicable Acts toward the guests that were in her home and she turns into a pillar of salt once again this is a devastating story and they're in the High Country Abraham goes to that place where he had overseen the city where the Angels had told him where the Lord had told him what was going to happen and he sees the smoke coming up from the valley as the fire is raining down from heaven and he sees the place destroyed as God had said there hadn't even been 10 righteous only people who were rescued a lot his two daughters and his wife four what we're going to find out is they're not even righteous I hate to break this to you again on this on a Monday morning but there is none righteous no not one this is the Judgment that all of us deserve right there's mercy found here and I think that's one of the things that we we should underline here is is verse 16. and while he lingered the men took hold of his hand his wife's hand in the hands of the two daughters in the Lord being merciful to him and they brought him out and set him outside the city this is the only reason why God is saving lot is because he's merciful what is Mercy Mercy is getting what we do not deserve right Mercy is we deserve the brimstone and the fire and God Saves us he is merciful to us we don't get what we deserve Mercy Grace is getting what we do not deserve him giving to us what we have not earned God is merciful to lot and he shows his Justice to Abraham I wonder what psychological and spiritual effect this had for Abraham as he had interceded for the city pleaded with God in his heart thinking maybe maybe there's some righteous people in that town I know my nephew lot is there and then he sees the city destroyed as his nephew still alive had God judged them but what are we called to do are you sober in your estimation of Who You Are I just saw a quote by Burke Parsons in which Amazing Grace does not stun us until we see what a wretch we are this is what makes the gospel so precious it's not that we love God but it's that he first loved us that each and every one of us live in our hearts of Sodom every one of us are citizens of Satan's dominion and Kingdom and it is only by his Mercy that he takes us by the hand and rips us out of the city of our own wickedness and brings us into His Marvelous Light do you rejoice that Jesus Christ has saved you that his Mercy has rescued you and I gotta plead with you Christian don't look back forget those things which lie behind and press forward for the upward call which is in Christ Jesus don't long for those days in your past don't look back to Egypt don't look back to Sodom don't wish that things were better before you were a Christian but look to God's mercy look to his rescue for this world will always tempt us with the pleasures and desires that are transient and fleeting and will be burned away but we have been shown Mercy bask in the Lord's Mercy cling to his Mercy trust in his grace go to Jesus Christ and remember the grace that he has shown you or it's not by our Deeds but by his grace that we are saved it's by his Mercy that he has grabbed Us by the hands and rescued us from destruction rejoice in him Praise Him walk in his ways let's pray father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for the mercy that you have shown us father we pray that we would follow after you love you hold on to you please God forgive us for how often we look back train our eyes to be fixed Upon Jesus please Lord let us Marvel at your grace in Jesus name amen oh may the Lord bless you may you rejoice in the work of Jesus Christ and I'll see you tomorrow bye foreign thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon rpc.org we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10 a.m every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this week foreign [Music]