Rescuing Lot from Sodom's Judgment

Let me invite you to turn in your Bible to Genesis 19. Genesis 19, as we continue our series through the book of Genesis, we come this morning to Genesis 19 and as I said last week, this is the one of, one of the darkest and toughest chapters. in all of, of the Bible. and there's no message, including last week and today and then next week also, there's, we're gonna spend 3 weeks in this chapter.

And none of these sections of Genesis 19 leave us with a really good, happy, sappy feeling. we're left troubled and sobered by sin and by judgment and by the sin that is even inside of all of us. we're left marveling at God's ways. but it's good for us, a chapter like this is put in scripture for our benefit.

And for our learning and a mark of spiritual maturity is the ability to to interface with chapters like this and let God's spirit do the full measure of what he wants to do in us. It may seem like a downer that we're going to spend 3 weeks in one of the darkest, most difficult chapters in the Bible, but maybe We can provide you a t-shirt next Sunday. Saying I survived Genesis 19. for those of you that stick with us through, through these three weeks.

If you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be rescuing Lot from Sodom's judgment. Rescuing Lot from Sodom's judgment. And this is not moving. And we'll be looking at Genesis 19:12 through 29.

today, we come to a section of Genesis 19 that we can honestly say is one of the most epic stories in the Bible. It's the story of God's judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, an event that throughout the rest of scripture, writers keep referring back to, this is the standard of judgment that is pointed to throughout the rest of scripture. But this is more, guys, as we're gonna see than just a story of the judgment of God. It's actually more than that, a story of rescue that happens inside of an episode of judgment.

In fact, listen to what Moses says at the end of this story. As a summary of the story that he tells in these verses, and this is not working for me. So, in verse 29, look at what he says. Thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities.

In which Lot lived. It might be of interest to you to know that in the ancient Greek Septuagint translation of this verse, the word that we see here overthrow is translated with a Greek word, and I'm gonna give you the Greek word. You ready for this? It's the Greek word catastrophe.

from which we get what? Catastrophe from, very good. and the verb is catastrophe. So this is a story of the catastrophic judgment of God upon those who were worthy of that judgment, and it's the dramatic story of God's deliverance of Lot out from that judgment for Abraham's sake.

According to the apostle Peter, this story shows us that God knows how to multitask. I don't know how to multitask, but God does. In 2 Peter 2:9, Peter tells us that this passage that we're gonna look at today shows us that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation. And at the same time to keep the unrighteous under punishment.

That's what our passage is today. It's the story of God judging and rescuing at the same time. There we go. Thank you, John.

In our passage today, we're gonna see words like fire and brimstone and punishment and destroy and overthrow, but we will also see the words escape, grace, compassion, and loving kindness, and the word remembered in a positive way. We see in one single episode that God is a God of love, and a God of wrath. God is a God of love who loves righteousness, and he loves people so much that he is wrathful against those who endanger and oppress people and who engage in unrighteousness.

We also see that God in this story is a God of love who rescues an unworthy man and his unworthy daughters from judgment, and he does so for the sake of Abraham, his friend.

Now last week we studied the horrifying story found in Genesis 19:1-11. We saw last Sunday how that two angels, we called them angel men because they look like men, came into Sodom in the evening while Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. Lot compelled them to come into his house and have a meal and stay the night. And so they had a meal together and after that meal that they enjoyed together, these angel men started to get ready to lay down.

For the night. And it was then that all of the men of Sodom, young and old, from every quarter of the city, surrounded Lot's house, demanding that Lot bring out. The two men who were visiting with him so that they, the men of Sodom, could engage in sexual relations with these men. Lot tries to persuade these men of Sodom to do otherwise, even to the point of sinfully offering to them his two virgin daughters.

But the men of Sodom persist. And their wicked intention, and they threatened Lot that they're gonna do worse to him than what they still intend to do to the two men who are in Lot's house. And it's at this point, we saw last Sunday that they began to come after Lot and began to approach the door to break it down to get to the two men. And just when the situation seems hopeless, the two angel men who were in Lot's house open Lot's front door and they reach out and they grab Lot and they pull him into the house.

And then they strike the men of the city with blindness. And once blinded, the men of Sodom weary themselves looking for the door. Of Lot's house, still blinded, are blinded but still persisting in their intent to sin. So Lot has been rescued from this incident of great wickedness in Sodom, but our passage today is going to give us the account of how God next delivers Lot from the judgment that is about to fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities.

In verse 12 through 29 is the story of Lot's rescue. From the judgment of Sodom. And the way we're gonna frame things this morning and there should be an insert in your bulletin, we're gonna observe 8 developments in the account of how God for Abraham's sake, delivered Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which Lot lived. The first thing, the first development is that the angels urged Lot to bring his family out of this place of judgment.

Look at what happens beginning in verse 12. Then the two men said to Lot, whom else have you here? Notice that these angels do not say a lot, what do you have here? Back in Genesis 13, we learned that Lot had many possessions, so many possessions that he and Abraham had to part ways.

The land was not big enough to sustain both of them and all of their herds, but at this point, the angels are not interested in Lot's possessions. Their only question is whom? Do you have here? At the end of the day, The only thing that really matters, guys, is not what you have.

But who you have. And that's the only thing that matters here. Look at what the angels say to quantify the range of people whom Lot might have in the city. Verse 12, they say, a son-in-law, your sons and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place.

In all likelihood, the angels here are just rattling off the possible range of people that Lot might have responsibility for and who might be under Lot's influence. It is interesting that the angels mention sons, plural. Which some commentators take to mean that Lot had sons in the city of Sodom. If this is true, the sons perished in the judgment of Sodom.

Essentially, these angel men are saying to Lot, whomever you may have under your responsibility and under your influence in the city, use your influence to bring them out of the place. Their language indicates that they're calling upon Lot to do two things. Number 1, leave the city, and number 2, bring those under his influence, and those whom he is responsible for, bring them out together with him. Look at the reason the angels give as to why Lot needs to leave the city and bring others with him.

They say in verse 13, for we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. As we saw back in Genesis 18, this word outcry speaks of the cry of the oppressed. The cry of those who were exploited and abused and oppressed by the wicked people of Sodom. The events around Lot's house on this night have confirmed that the city has indeed behaved according to its outcry.

So these angels are telling Lot that the Lord has commissioned them to destroy the city. And they're telling Lot that he needs to get out of Sodom and bring anybody that he has responsibility for with him as he flees. The Lot immediately swings into action. And seems like he intends to do some door to door evangelism with the people under his responsibility and influence, and this brings us to the next development in this story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he lived.

And that is 2, Lot vainly urges his sons-in-law to escape God's impending judgment. Look at what happens in verse 14. Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters and said, up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. The text tells us here that Lot went out, meaning he went out of his house.

This either means that the crowd has dispersed. By this point, or it means that everyone around the house is so blinded that Lot has no worries about them seeing him anymore. Regardless, Lott views it as safe to go out of his house and to go find his sons-in-law. Who were maybe the first of several that Lot was going to try to reach out to and persuade to get out of the city.

Notice the language that is used here. These men are called Lot's sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters. When Lot offered his daughters to the mob. As we saw last week, he described them as having never known a man, which is why the New American Standard translators and many others described these sons-in-law as men who were to marry.

His daughters. And just one thought to ponder, if it's true as we saw last week, that every single man of the city, young and old, from every quarter of the city had surrounded Lot's house, calling for the rape of his two visitors. Then that may very well indicate that Lot's future sons-in-law were among. That number What we do know for sure about these two sons-in-law.

is that they will not end up surviving the judgment of Sodom. Anyway, the text tells us that Lot goes out and he finds his two sons-in-law and he speaks to them and says, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. This is an odd thing for Lot to say, when you think about it. He could have and should have said, come with me out of this place.

Instead, he just says, get out of this place. And this is not coincidental. In the coming verses, we're gonna see that Lot himself is not thrilled about leaving Sodom. But here he is telling his future sons-in-law that they should leave.

He's basically saying, do as I say. Not as I do A common mistake. We make with those under our influence. This is probably why the text says, but he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

These sons-in-law respond to Lot's plea by thinking that Lot is telling them a joke that they should laugh at. These two men have less than 12 hours to live, and they're laughing at this call from Lot to leave the city and avoid the judgment of God. Their response to Lot says volumes about them, but it probably says something about Lot as well. The text doesn't simply say that these sons-in-law laughed, but it says that Lot appeared to them to be joking.

This means that Lot's sons-in-law are probably not used to hearing Lot speaking about the Lord and about sin and about judgment. They probably also could see in Lot's manner that Lot himself wasn't so sure that he himself was all that interested in leaving Sodom. Which made his call for them to leave Sodom seem insincere. But this is the last that we will see of these two sons-in-law.

God in His mercy is giving them a chance to flee to safety, but they laugh it off and they will die in the judgment of Sodom. It must have been a deflating experience for Lot to see them responding this way to his plea. And it brings a swift end to Lot's door to door evangelism plan. Lot leaves his sons-in-law in their laughter, and he goes back home.

And amazingly guys, Lot ends up spending the rest of the night in his house. In all likelihood, he and his family go to sleep, even though the angels had told Lot to leave the city and take others with them. This brings us to the next development in the story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which Lot lived, and that is that Lot hesitates to take his family and leave Sodom. Look what happens in verse 15.

When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying up, and in all likelihood, they're waking Lot up. Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment. Of the city As the first light begins to break across the sky before sunrise, the angels here are waking Lot up and telling him to get out of town and to take his wife and his daughters with him. So look at how Lot responds verse 16, but he hesitated.

In all likelihood, Lot had Awakened his family members, but Lot is hesitating to actually leave. Indicating that he's not so sure that he really wants to or is ready to leave Sodom. Lot is like a person addicted to a dysfunctional relationship. Every man of the city was a part of the mob.

That tried to break into Lot's house. Imagine that happening to you. That you don't just have a break in, some of you have experienced that and that's a big deal. Imagine that everybody in your neighborhood, everybody surrounds your house.

And is wanting to do awful things to your family members, and it's trying to break down the door of your house. How many of you would hesitate to leave? How many of you would I would think, no, I think I should stay a little bit longer and see how things go. No, you would be wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.

They mocked Lot as a foreigner, they threatened to do awful things to him, and here the angel, the angels are commanding him to leave, saying God's gonna destroy the city and the text says, but he hesitated. And before we judge Lot, and we should judge him for hesitating, we need to look at ourselves and realize that this is often the way we are when it comes to sin. God calls us out of some sin that is ruining our lives, and we hesitate. To leave And to let go of our precious.

That's destroying us. Perhaps Lot's wife is going through all of her jewelry and clothes to figure out what to take, how do you pack for this type of thing. Perhaps Lot's daughters are trying to figure out what to wear. What do you wear?

What's the appropriate attire when you're escaping a city? Perhaps Lot is going through his accounting books and his money trying to figure out how he might get it all out of Sodom. Perhaps he's waiting for his sons-in-law to change their minds and show up at his house. Whatever the reason, Lot is hesitating to obey the angel's instruction.

It's as if he's drugged. And under the spell of Sodom, moving around in slow motion and hesitant to leave the city that God is about to destroy. So this forces the angel's hand. And it brings us to the next development in the story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which Lot lived.

And that is number 4. The angels bring Lot and his family outside the city and tell him to flee to the mountains. Look at what the angels do in verse 16. So the men seized his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him, speaking of Lot.

The word translated compassion is the Hebrew word for mercy. It speaks of feeling pity and providing practical help for somebody who is in dire, dire straits without any regard for whether or not they're worthy of that help. Lot is in dire straits and part of what makes his straits so dire is the fact that he doesn't seem to know how dangerous his situation is. He's physically in peril and spiritually.

So look at what they do, verse 16, and they brought him out and put him outside. The city By the way, this is what God has done with all of us. whom he has saved. We didn't walk away from sin.

And destruction because we were smarter than other people. We came out of sin, and we came out of destruction because we were brought out by God. Abraham did not walk out of of the Chalde. Over a quarter of a century ago, according to Genesis 15:7, God says, I brought you out.

And in the same way, none of us who know the Lord walked out of the kingdom of darkness on our own. We were brought out by God and he gets all of the glory. Once the angels get Lot and his family outside the city, look at what happens verse 17. says when they had brought them outside, one of these angels said, escape for your life, literally escape for your soul.

Do not look behind you and do not stay anywhere in the valley, escape to the mountains or you will be swept away. These are 4 rapid fire commands followed by a warning. Lot must obey all 4 of these commands to prevent being swept away by God's judgment upon Sodom. Well, how does Lot respond to these Instructions.

So he hesitated. They grab him by the hand and pull him outside the city and then give him this charge. How does he respond to these instructions? His response is amazing and very revealing, and this brings us to the next development in the story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he lived, and that is Lot refuses.

And he persuades the angels to let him flee to Zohar. Look at what happens in verse 18. But Lot said to them, oh no, my lords. Rather than taking what these angels say at face value and simply obeying.

Their instructions. Lot has to protest, literally, he says, please, no, my lords. I have to read the whole text of what Lot says here for you to feel the insanity of his response. This is a scene of greatest urgency.

Lot has already hesitated, forcing the angels to drag him outside the city, and then the angels say, escape for your life, don't even look behind you, escape to the mountains or you will be swept away. Clearly this is a situation of utmost urgency, where there's not 1 2nd to waste. Or even just stand around and engage in conversation. But look at verse 18 and following.

But Lot said to them, oh no, my lords, now, behold, your servant has found favor in your sight and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown me by saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die. Now, behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please let me escape there.

Is it not small that my life may be saved? Aside from the specifics of what Lott says here, it's amazing how verbose. His reply is, Leopold, the commentator says, and I quote, it taxes the reader's patience to bear with this long-winded plea at a moment of such extreme danger. Breaking down what Lot says here, we noticed that Lot front loads his response by appreciating the grace.

That the angels of the Lord have shown him. Look at what he says to the angels. He says in verse 19, now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight and you've magnified your loving kindness which you have shown me by saving my life. If, if all we had was verse 19, we would say these are beautiful words that actually could work as the lyrics of a worship song.

Imagine a worship song that starts like this, I, your servant, have found grace before your eyes displayed. You've magnified your covenant love in this poor life you've saved. That's wonderful. That's a great song, great verse.

A great first verse of a worship song. Lot even uses language here that is similar to what is said of Noah when the text says that Noah found favor or grace in the eyes of the Lord in Genesis 6:8, Lot here is recognizing that he too has found favor or grace in the eyes of these angels of the Lord. Lot also cherishes the loving kindness that the angels have shown to him, and this word loving kindness speaks of God's gracious covenant love. Lot is thankful that they have saved his life the previous night when they pulled him into the house to protect him from the mob.

So this is a great first verse. But then comes the 2nd verse of this worship song. Have you ever had someone talking to you and they, they come to you and they say a bunch of nice things to you, appreciative things they express, they're piling one compliment on top of another, but you're listening and you can tell by their tone of voice that everything they're saying is just the first part of a sentence. And you're waiting for the but.

That's exactly what happens here. After all the niceties that Lot expresses, he then says in verse 19, but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die. Lot outright contradicts with these angels. have said to him, they tell him to flee to the mountains or he will die.

And Lott concludes that Well I know that's what they said, but in my opinion, if I flee to the mountains, I'll die, even though the angels have promised me the opposite. Lot trusts his own thinking more than he does these angels of the Lord who have saved his life. Later on in this chapter, Lot's daughters will refer to their father as old. So perhaps Lot did not feel at the age that he is now that he could go that far to the mountains quickly enough.

To flee there and have his life spared. Regardless of what Lot was thinking, Lot's thought should have been, if God tells me to flee to the mountains, or else I will die, then I know that he will see to it that I make it to those mountains. And I won't die as long as I just simply obey what God is telling me to do through these angels. But Lot doesn't think this way.

He doubts the truth of God's promise and he doubts his ability to do what God commands. And he's not so sure that he wants to get too far away from Sodom. Anyway, so he offers an alternative. Which is a location somewhere shy of where God wanted him.

To go Lot points to a nearby town that was closer to Sodom than the mountains were, and he says to the, the angel, now behold, this town is near enough to flee to. And it is small. Please let me escape there. Is it not small that my life May be saved The truth is that the mountains were near enough to flee to also, otherwise the angels would not have told Lot to flee to the mountains.

But Lot points to a neighboring town and says, this town is near enough. I can reach that goal. Not the gold that the angels have given to me. We learn in a few verses that this particular town will at a later point be called Zohar.

Back in Genesis 14, this town was called Balah. Later verses indicate that Lot seems to know that this city. is supposed to be included in the destruction. That is coming, but here he's asking God to spare this nearby city so that he can flee there.

Which would be a much easier journey in Lot's mind than fleeing to the mountains. So Lot is saying, can you, basically, the spirit of it is, can you spare this city and can you let me just go here rather than to the mountains. This is Lot, the compromiser. The man who partially obeys.

The man who's always looking for some way to take an easier path than what God has commanded. In some way to just do a part of what God commands. He's fleeing the city, that's what God told him to do, but yeah, he's not quite going to the mountain like God commanded. Just to some halfway point.

Also notice that Lot does not plead for the city of Zohar on the basis of it having righteous people in it like Abraham would have. Lot pleads for it. To survive the judgment because it's small. Yes, the people of Zohar are no doubt wicked, like the people of Sodom, but it's such a small town after all.

What harm could it do to let this small city survive God's judgment? And I'm sure it was exactly this thinking that got Lot into the mess that he's in right now. I'm sure there were many little compromises that Lot made, saying to himself again and again, is this not a small thing? Well, a bunch of small things add up.

To a mighty sum And that's why lots in the mess that he's in right now. The angels, if you were the angels, what would you be thinking at this point? As I was reading the sermon to my wife, it was around this point, she said, I want to wring Lot's neck. And I think the Angels probably felt similarly.

The angels have every reason to be exasperated with Lot. At this point, but there's honestly no time to waste. In an amazing act of grace. Look at how the angels respond.

One of the angels speaks in verse 21, he said to Lot, behold, I grant you this request also not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. So they were intending to destroy this town, but in response to Lot's request, He says, I will, we will not destroy this little town. But then he says, hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Jehovah had clearly given these angels a two-fold assignment.

Number 1, destroy the cities of the plain, and number 2, do not destroy the cities until Lot is safe. Moses then throws in a historical note for the benefit of his readers. He says in verse 22, therefore, the name of the, the town was called Zohar. Zohar is the Hebrew word for small.

And it gets its name from Lott's argument that the town should be spared because of its smallness. So Lot and his family flee to Smallville. To Zohar. And in verse 23, the text tells us that the sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zohar.

This is the moment of sunrise when the sun becomes visible on the horizon. Based on the fact that it's roughly about half an hour from dawn till sunrise, this would mean that it took a lot less than about half an hour to get from Sodom to Zohar. Anyway, look at what happens once Lot arrives in Zohar, and this brings us to the next development in the story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he lived. Number 6, the Lord rains down his total judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Look at what happens in verse 24. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone. Which is another word for sulfur. He reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur or brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Commentators speculate about what the natural causes for this disaster might have been. Some suggest that an earthquake occurred that caused hot gasses. Inflammable deposits of sulfur and tar and oil in the earth to spew forth and then fall like rain. Upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Mixed together, some suggest with the lightning of an electrical storm, all of this could ignite and burn from below and from above the ground and as it rained from heaven. To this day, this area around the Dead Sea where Sodom and Gomorrah were abounds in sulfur and in tar, and last year oil was discovered. Near the Dead Sea in this area. And these are decent speculations.

perhaps some of these kinds of things happen, but Moses doesn't really want us to spend a lot of time pondering all of that. He just tells us, literally, Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven. Notice the twofold reference to the Lord or Jehovah. Moses wants us to know that this was a supernatural judgment that came from Jehovah.

Jehovah caused it to happen, and the fire, the materials, the fire and the brimstone itself came from the Lord Himself. So while there may have been Some forces of nature at work here. This is a supernaturally induced catastrophe of the highest order. In fact, look at the results described verse 25, and he, Jehovah, overthrew and in the Greek Septuagint, it says he catastrophed those cities.

And all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. God overthrew these cities, he overthrew the whole valley, he overthrew the people, he even destroyed everything that grew on the ground. When Jehovah is done with his judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, there was not so much as a single blade of grass growing from the ground where these cities once stood. Imagine the magnitude of this.

Imagine the city of Riverside being here today and by this time tomorrow, there's not one person in this city left alive and not one blade of grass that survives the catastrophe. That's how all consuming. This judgment from God is. Earlier we were told that Lot made it to Zohar, but there's one detail that was left out, and Moses wants to include this detail now, and this brings us to the next development in the story of God delivering Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he lived, and that is Lot's wife gets swept away in God's judgment.

Lot's wife gets swept away in God's judgment. Look at what it says in verse 26. Say, but his, Lot's wife, from behind him, let's stop right there for a moment. Apparently, Lot's wife fell behind Lot.

As they fled Sodom to make their way to Zohar. This fact alone tells us something about her. Letting us know that she was even less eager to leave Sodom than Lot was. And it also tells us a little bit about Lot, who's content to flee for his life and let his wife be running behind him.

Look at what she did while she was lagging behind her husband. Verse 26, but his wife from behind him. Looked back The angel had specifically told them in verse 17, not to look back. But Lot's wife does exactly what the angel told them not to do.

This word translated looked back is a Hebrew word that speaks of more than just a quick glance. It speaks of a studied gaze. Obviously, there was a point where Lot's wife stopped fleeing and she turned around and stood there gazing upon the city of Sodom. Clearly, she left her heart in Sodom.

And because of that, the fate of Sodom became her fate. Look at what happens to her. It says, and she became. A pillar of salt.

Obviously, some explosion took place that left her covered with a superheated mixture of moistened salt that quickly cooled and became encrusted around her. Knowing this area around the Dead Sea as we do, which abounds with salt, we're not surprised to read of something like this happening to her. This part of the Dead Sea, which likely covers The ancient site of Sodom and Gomorrah features many pillars of salt, and I don't show you this picture on the slide. Saying that's her.

that's just an example of the formations that you see in this part of the Dead Sea. If it is her, she was wearing a hat. The sad thing, guys, is what this means is that The only 3 people who escaped the fiery judgment. of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities was Lot and his two daughters.

That's it. Lot lost his wife, he lost his future sons-in-law, perhaps other sons, and anyone else that he knew. that he left behind in the city of Sodom. All that Lot had to show for his many years in Sodom are his two daughters.

That's it. And we'll see next week that these two daughters bring the corruption of Sodom with them. Something of the corruption of Soddom survives in their hearts. So how do you end a story like this?

If this were a movie and you were directing this movie, what would you choose to be the final scene of this movie? In a stroke of literary genius, Moses turns the camera away. For a moment from the scene of destruction and he pans back about 20 to 40 miles away from the disaster and he focuses his camera on Abraham up in Hebron. And this brings us to the final development in the story of God saving Lot from the overthrow of the cities in which he lived.

That as Abraham looks upon the scene, Of God's judgment, Abraham surveys the scene of judgment. Look at what happens in verse 27. Now, Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. This final scene starts off with Abraham waking up early in the morning, which probably would have been right before or right around the time that the overthrow of Sodom was taking place.

Then Abraham would have made a 3 or so mile walk to the place from, walking from Hebron where he lived to A lookout point where the whole Jordan Valley came into view. The place where Abraham had stood before the Lord the day before. And interceded on behalf of Sodom and any righteous inhabitants of that city. And once Abraham gets to this spot, look at what he does.

The text says, and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. Notice the focus on seeing here. Abraham looked, he saw. And behold, Moses is wanting us as readers to see.

This judgment through Abraham's eyes as Abraham stands in the place of yesterday's intercessions. Abraham sees the smoke of the land ascending like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole valley is a smoldering ruin. How sobering this scene must have been for Abraham. To see the severity.

Of the holiness and the justice and the wrath of God. How sobering it must have been for Abraham to know that this is the work of the very God who was walking with him as a friend does with a friend the day before. Abraham stands there, no doubt, knowing his own sins and failures and how he must have marveled at the mercy of God toward him. That this fate is not visited on him.

And how thrilled Abraham must have been when at some later point he received word that Lot and his two daughters had survived. This judgment Abraham would know that Lot had answered at least the spirit of his prayers, which he had prayed on the day before. But for now, Abraham stands silent. And stars We're not told what his thoughts were.

We're simply invited to stand together with Abraham in silence and look upon the scene of devastation. And behold The judgment of God Look at the summary statement that Moses gives us, which tells us why he included this story in Genesis. Moses says, thus it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley that God Remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. God delivered lot.

And he definitely did not deliver Lot because Lot deserved that deliverance. He delivered Lot for Abraham's sake. He delivered Lot because he was remembering Abraham. As we wrap things up this morning, there's much for us to ponder.

First of all, in this account, we see that God is indeed a God of justice who hates wickedness and who judges wickedness. Regardless of how people Might wish otherwise. God does not care one whit. About surveys that people take, measuring opinions and culture.

God does not care one whit if surveys taken in Sodom the day before might have shown that 100% of the men of Sodom believed that a certain behavior was acceptable. God destroys the entire city forever. Because God is the judge of all the earth. And in the end, it's only his judgments that really matter.

So I plead with you, brothers and sisters, if, if you wanna be on the right side of history, Side with God. Not with the majority of any given society at any given point of time. We're also left to observe here that God is patient, apparently. God has not been quick to judge Sodom and Gomorrah.

Guys, it was back in Genesis 13:13. When we were told that the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. Yet, it was in the following chapter, Genesis 14, that God showed mercy to Sodom and the surrounding cities by using Abraham to deliver them when they were attacked from the kings of the east. But rather than letting the kindness of God lead them to repentance, they continued in their sinful ways.

And now here in Genesis 19 years later, we find God choosing. To rain down judgment of fire and brimstone upon them. We observe even at this point of the book of Genesis that God is patient and God is merciful, but he will judge the wicked when the time is right. Do not look at God's patience.

Toward our society and think that it means he doesn't care about our society's sin. Do not look at the blessings and the kindness that God lavishes upon us as a nation and think that God does not care about our sin. Do not look even at God's present demonstrations of kindness toward you and think that it must mean that he doesn't care about your sin. Well, I got this blessing and this blessing and these good things are happening and I must be doing OK.

No, read Romans 2, God lavishes his kindness on the undeserving, and the proper response to blessings and kindness from the Lord is to let his kindness lead you to repentance before it's too late. And if you don't, Paul says in Romans 2, you're just storing up wrath. For the Day of judgment. We also learn elsewhere in Scripture one lesson.

That we are to learn from this account of the destruction of Sodom. In 2 Peter 2:6, Peter tells us that God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter. God wants us to know that the story of the judgment of Sodom, He wants us to know this story because it serves as an example for what God is going to do to all the ungodly. In a future day who do not repent of their sins.

In fact, we're told in Genesis 19 that God judged Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. In Revelation 21:8, we're told that for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Which is the second death. It turns out that the judgment of God upon Sodom was something of a miniature version of the great judgment to come when God will cast all unrepentant sinners into the lake of fire, where the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever.

The day will come when every one of us. Myself included, will stand before the judgment throne of God and we're gonna be judged for the choices that we made in this life. And guys, the most important choice that you make in this life that you will be held to account for is what did you do with Jesus? If you have never believed in Christ, I plead with you, not to reject him but believe in him.

Let him grab you by the hand this morning and bring you to safety. Don't think, well, I'm not as wicked as the people of Sodom. They were bad people and I'm not. Read Matthew 11.

23 and 24. Jesus did so many miracles in the city of Capernaum. And yet they still rejected him. They lived moral lives, but they rejected him.

Many of them were religious, but they rejected him and refused to believe in him as the Messiah. And Jesus said to Capernaum, he says, if the miracles that I've done in this city were done in Sodom, Sodom would still exist to this day. They would have repented And you're not. And he said to them, it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for you.

It turns out there's a greater sin than any sin committed by the people of Sodom, and that is the sin of rejecting Christ and refusing to believe in him. If you've never believed in Christ, I plead with you to call upon his name. Let him take you by the hand and lead you to safety today. I can call you today to believe in Christ as your rescuer.

Because there's one final thing that we do observe in our passage today, and that is that God is in the business of rescuing the undeserving. If our passage today were a movie, We would leave the theater with furrowed brows and with troubled hearts because this movie would be all about the story of God delivering Lot from the destruction of Sodom. Yet there is almost nothing in this account that we see in Lot that would make us even want to root for him. And be rooting for him to be saved.

Lot is no hero in this story. He's a compromiser. He's allowed himself to get sucked into Sodom by his own foolish choices. He offers his daughters to the wicked mob.

He hesitates amazingly when he's told to leave. He argues with the instructions that are given to him, and he comes up with his own alternative, lesser plan. He engages in partial obedience. He runs ahead of his wife and lets her fall behind and get turned into a pillar of salt.

And after all of God's mercy towards him and sparing his life in the episode that we see today, what will we see Lot doing after that? Next Sunday? Getting drunk. And being involved in a sexually shameful Manner.

As we will see You might read this account in Genesis 19 and think, why would God rescue Lot? Lot doesn't deserve to be rescued. And you're right. He does not deserve to be rescued.

But we're told in verse 29 that God rescued Lot. For Abraham's sake. Because God was remembering Abraham. And what, you and I don't deserve to be rescued either.

But if we believe in Christ, the Bible teaches us that God rescues us because he remembers someone greater than Abraham, and that is Jesus Christ. God remembers that Jesus died for the ungodly. He remembers that Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross. God the Father remembers that he raised Jesus from the dead and ascended Jesus to his own right hand.

And for those of us who have believed in Jesus Christ, God remembers Jesus, and he rescues us, and he forgives us of our sins. As the old King James Version says in Ephesians 5:32, God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And don't ever let yourself forget this. God does not rescue people because they're worthy.

He rescues people for Christ's sake. He rescues them on the merits of Jesus Christ, and God lavishes undeserved goodness. On all of us who have believed in Jesus. Because he remembers Christ.

And that should give hope to anyone in this room who feels unworthy to be saved by Christ. And it should humble all of us who've been rescued by Jesus. In the awareness that we have been saved and rescued by grace alone, Amen. And that awareness of God's grace through Christ who is greater than Abraham.

Should inspire in our hearts a greater love for God than what Lot had. And should inspire in us greater holiness of life. Than what we see in Lot. Let's pray together.

Lord, we're, we're We're overwhelmed by the grace that you show. We're overwhelmed by your holiness, by your justice, by your righteousness. We know this is not just an Old Testament thing and that the God of the New Testament is a, a God who doesn't do this thing. No, the God of the New Testament keeps pointing back to Sodom and Gomorrah saying this is the pattern.

This is what I will do to those who live ungodly. And there is a lake that burns with this fire and brimstone that I will be. Casting the ungodly who are unrepentant into This is the God of Scripture, the God of the Old and the New Testament. We're humbled, Lord, and broken because what we see in Lot that is just so disturbing to see of his compromise, his hesitancy.

His bargaining, his partial obedience. We see these things in us. And we marvel that you would love us and save us and rescue us as you do. May there be no one in this room.

Who is thinking I would love to come to God and be rescued by Him, but I'm not worthy. May what we saw today show that you are a God who rescues the unworthy. And that's all of our testimony. And we praise you for your grace.

We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to give of our offerings to you. Receive these funds, Lord, do much. With all that is given for the glory of Jesus to support the ministries of this church and to aid in the spread of the gospel around the world. And help us, Lord, to go forth from here this morning.

Walking in the awareness of your grace, your holiness, your love, your power. And your amazing grace that you have shown to us through Christ. We ask all of these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said.