Genesis 076 – When the Wicked Seize a City

Genesis 076 – When the Wicked Seize the City

By Andy Woods – 04/24/2022

Genesis 19:1-11

 

Alright! Well good morning everybody. As the children are being dismissed for junior church, let’s open our Bibles to Genesis, 19, and verse 1 (Gen 19:1). The title of our message this morning is “When the Wicked Seize the City.” I have to be honest with you, if I was not a verse by verse teacher, in other words, if I wasn’t forced to teach what was next in the book, I would probably just skip right over this one here, verses 1 through 11 (Gen 19:1-11), because it’s a very spiritually dark situation and yet where sin abounds grace abounds what? All the more. This comes up as we are moving verse by verse through the book of Genesis.

Genesis, 12‒19 – Abram’s Early Journeys

1. 1. Unconditional promises (Gen 12:1-3)
   2. From Haran to Canaan (Gen 12:4-5)
   3. In Canaan (Gen 12:6-9)
   4. In Egypt (Gen 12:10-20)
   5. Abram and Lot Separate (Gen 13:1-13)
   6. Reaffirmation of Abram’s promises (Gen 13:14-18)
   7. Abram Rescues Lot (Gen 14:1-24)
   8. Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15:1-21)
   9. Hagar & Ishmael (Gen 16:1-16)
   10. Circumcision (Gen 17:1-27)
   11. Sodom & Gomorrah (Gen 18-19)

God is building a nation through the patriarch Abraham and so we have been studying, as part of our series in Genesis, the life of Abraham. He is the character that God has chosen to launch His great work called the nation of Israel, through which Jesus would come to the earth.

Genesis 18‒19 – Sodom & Gomorrah

1. 1. 1. Visitation (18:1-15)
      2. Prediction (18:16-33)
      3. Destruction (19:1-38)

So we have been, in this section, dealing with Sodom and Gomorrah and here we’re dealing with now, chapter 19, moving away from chapter 18, into the actual destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Destruction Genesis 19:1-38

1. 1. 1. Angels in Sodom (Gen 19:1-11)
      2. Lot’s rescue (Gen 19:12-22)
      3. Destruction (Gen 19:23-29)
      4. Lot’s incest (Gen 19:30-38)

We can divide this chapter into four parts and today we’re talking about the angels in Sodom.

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

Here’s the outline that we’re going to use, as we try to navigate our way through a very troubling yet important passage of the Bible. 2:51

First of all we see the angelic arrival, notice verse 1 (Gen 19:1) it says: Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening… And this is where for the very first time, it becomes clear that those that Abraham was speaking to back in chapter 18, verse 2 (Gen 18:2), showing hospitality to those back in chapter 18, verse 2, are none other than the angels. Those two angels left Abraham, verse 22 of chapter 18 (Gen 18:22) says and journeyed to Sodom. Now for the first time we are told that these men, they appeared as men, are actually angelic beings. You’ll notice this expression here, verse 1 “in the evening” and that will set the stage for an invitation that Lot will give to these two angels. But notice the rest of verse 1, it says: As Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom… One of the things to pay attention to is the retrogression, if you will, of Lot. All the way back in chapter 13, verse 12 (Gen 13:12) Lot merely pitched his tent towards Sodom. He was apparently infatuated with the lifestyle rampant in Sodom and Gomorrah and he just started to have a mindset in his mind where he was thinking along those lines and the interesting thing about sin is it always keeps you longer than you’re willing to stay and it takes you further than where you’re willing to go. This is why the Bible is so clear about being careful about what we meditate on. What we allow into the arena of the mind. So Lot moved from thinking about Sodom to, you get to Genesis, 14, verse 12 (Gen 14:12) and he’s living in Sodom and now his retrogression continues, because he’s not just pitching his tent toward Sodom, he’s not just living in Sodom, but now he has apparently arisen to a position of authority in Sodom, sitting at the gate of Sodom. In the ancient Near East all of the major deals, all of the major decisions of influence, went down if you will, at the city gates. You’ll see that in Ruth chapter 4, by the way, if you want an example of it and the fact that Lot is now sitting in the city gates of Sodom, indicates that he had risen to a position of authority within Sodom. He was one of the leaders. He was one of the decision makers. He got involved in city politics. Of course here, we emphasize the need for Christians to be involved in politics but what we try to stay away from is politics getting involved with us. It’s sort of interesting that as we go out and try to rescue the world, we can very much become like the world that we’re seeking to rescue and the moment we do that, is the moment we lose our voice to the world, because why should the world listen to us? After all, we’re just like the world. 6:37

Arnold Fruchtenbaum describes Lot’s retrogression as follows, he says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 320

“The verse then reveals Lot’s position: Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. This marks the final stage of Lot’s progression from living in a tent outside the city as a nomad (13:12), to living in a house in Sodom (14:12), to sitting at the gate of Sodom, which shows a position of authority. He had become one of the elders of the city, a position of authority and prominence; he became a magistrate. This may have been due to the fact that the inhabitants of Sodom knew the reason they were rescued by Abraham earlier was because of Lot, and that may have explained how Lot was able to advance so quickly when normally that would not have been the case.”

However it happened, Lot was now in a position of authority in Sodom but it didn’t start that way. I’ve heard it put it this way before, that the pathway to immorality is always paved through gradual compromises. Nobody wakes up and says, you know what? I’m going to become immoral. Generally, when you look at the choices of people that become immoral, it’s paved through decisions and compromises, little steps, baby steps, long in advance as was the case with Lot. Nobody I don’t think wakes up and says, you know, I’m going to have an adulterous affair today. How does that start? It starts with inappropriate conversations, texting back and forth, going to lunch with someone that you’re not married to. Not that those things in and of themselves are bad, but they are compromises in the area of the mind which ultimately leads to immorality. This is why we are to guard what we ruminate on in the area of the mind. Romans, 12, verse 2 (Rom 12:2) says: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect… It begins with the mind. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8 (Col 2:8) says: See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ… Be careful about your belief system. Be careful about what you’re thinking about. I’ve heard it put this way, you can’t stop the birds from flying over your head but you can certainly stop them from building a nest in your hair. We all have thoughts. Some good, some evil. Some coming from the Holy Spirit, some coming from the sin nature, some coming from the fallen angels, maybe some even coming from Satan himself. But the choice comes in terms of what I’m actually going to meditate on, ruminate on; and what you’re thinking about today, in terms of allowing into the arena of the mind, in terms of meditation, will largely determine the person you’re going to be tomorrow. I had a pastor put it this way: Private thoughts will eventually lead to public actions. Lot is clearly going the wrong direction here in Genesis, 19, but I’m here to tell you that that started already in Genesis, 13. You can’t have the choices that he’s making in Genesis, 19, unless you see compromises that he made in Genesis, 13 and this becomes a great warning to us. I have a sermon that’s coming, the title of it is “Are you a lot like a Lot?” and we’ll see more of that and surely this was a message that God through the book of Genesis wanted to communicate to the original audience of this book, the original recipients, the nation of Israel who would go into the land of Canaan and they were told to eradicate the Canaanites and they obeyed God about, I don’t know, 80%, but they allowed some Canaanites to live and essentially what happened is Canaanite thinking God into the thinking of the nation of Israel and they became an apostate nation to the point where eight hundred years later God had to send them into the Babylonian captivity to rid them of their apostasy; and yet, that all began with the nation of Israel not doing what God said to do concerning the Canaanites. 12:13

You continue on in verse 1 (Gen 19:1) and it says: When Lot saw them… That’s these two angels that look exactly like men… he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground… Now, this is a sign of respect. It’s customary in the ancient Near East, it’s appropriate. By the way, it’s exactly what Abraham did in the prior chapter, Genesis, 18, verse 2 (Gen 18:2) concerning the hospitality that Abraham showed to these two men, that he probably didn’t know were angels. So you have both men Abraham, Genesis, 18, and a Lot, chapter 19, showing proper hospitality to the angels. But oh my goodness! What two totally different destinies that these men had. Both were, as I’ll show you a little later, believers. But unlike Abraham, Lot’s life was characterized by compromise. His soul did not go to hell as I’ll show you upon death, but he suffered greatly, because of compromise that he allowed in his life. The greeting that these two men gave these two angels is designed to get us to consider both chapters together. The uncompromised Abraham, not a perfect man but certainly wasn’t living in compromise like Lot and the compromised Lot in chapter 19. Lot then, as you move down the verses 2 and 3 (Gen 19:2-3), gives an invitation.

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

Look at verse 2 (Gen 19:2), it says: And he said, Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way… So Lot, like Abraham, makes an offer of hospitality to these two men, that he did not know yet were angels, maybe Lot knew, but Abraham didn’t and it says in the second part of verse 2: They said… That’s the angel speaking… No, but we shall spend the night in the square… and this is sort of a test for Lot in terms of whether he’s going to respect the ancient Near East custom of hospitality, which was a very real custom; and Lot needs to exercise hospitality here, because as a magistrate of the city of Sodom he knows the wickedness in the city and then you go down to verse 2 (Gen 19:2): They said however, No, but we shall spend the night in the square… Verse 3 (Gen 19:3), it says: Yet he… That’s Lot… urged them strongly… Come into my house, come into the protective covering of my roof, because of danger and that danger is going to be clearly expressed beginning in verse 4 (Gen 19:4). This is what Lot was trying to protect these two men from in this very wicked city and so, as you look at verse 3 (Gen 19:3), it says they accept. It says: so they turned aside to him and entered his house… And the rest of verse 3 says: and he… That’s Lot… prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate… One of the positive things about Lot was he was hospitable, just like Abraham. There’s a verse in the book of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 2 (Heb 13:2) and it says this: Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it… One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that God has put into the body of Christ is a gift called hospitality. It’s described in the book of Romans chapter 12, verse 13 (Rom 12:13), it says: contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality… Why should we be hospitable people? Well, you could actually be entertaining someone not even knowing that they’re an angel. That’s what happened with Abraham, chapter 18. This is what happened with Lot, chapter 19. If there is a spiritual gift that we need exercised in the body of Christ, it’s the gift of hospitality. That’s a good thing. This is a positive thing here that Lot was doing. In fact, this was a valuable part of the ancient near eastern custom. Hospitality was expected and Lot is honoring that. But it’s interesting at the end of verse 3, it tells you what Lot prepared for these two men, it says: and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread and they ate… As far as I can tell, this is the first reference to unleavened bread in the entire Bible. When the nation of Israel in the future, in the book of Exodus, is in Egyptian bondage for four hundred years, they will be brought out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God.

They will deposit themselves or be led, I should say, by the Lord to Mount Sinai and it’s there that the Lord is going to give them the law of Moses and in Leviticus, 23, He’s going to give them Israel’s various feasts and one of those feasts, it’s the second spring feast, will be unleavened bread.

Why unleavened bread? Because it takes time for bread to rise and God says to Israel, there’s not going to be time for the bread to rise when I get you out of Egypt. I’m going to do it that fast; and so unleavened bread in the life of the nation of Israel, then became known for separation from Egypt. Separation from sin. Separation unto a sanctified lifestyle, which is God’s expectation of the Christian. God did not save us so that we would continue to compromise with the world system all around us. He wants to lead us into the second phase of our salvation, something called progressive sanctification, where we are learning to not be sinless but hopefully we’re sinning less under His power. Lot, who was a saved man, was stumbling in the middle tense of his salvation. His priorities, as you’ll see here, were completely and totally out of order and it’s sort of ironic that he would be the man around whom unleavened bread, which symbolizes separation from sin, is mentioned for the very first time in scripture. But he prepared a feast for them… That’s these two men… and baked unleavened bread and they ate… They’re angels, verse 1, and they’re eating. These same two men were eating in chapter 18, verse 8 (Gen 18:8) where Abraham was exercising hospitality towards them. Why even bring this up? Well, as we’ve studied there’s a giant debate on who the sons of God are in Genesis, 6. The sons of God and the daughters of men. I’m of the persuasion that the sons of God are fallen angels, who were seeking to disrupt the pre-flood gene pool, preventing Jesus ultimately from being born, that’s what they were doing in Genesis, 6. It’s a controversial view.

You can go through the Genesis commentaries and half of them will take that view and another half will say, this has nothing to do with angels. One of the arguments that people give against the angel view is angels, they can’t procreate with human women, they are spirits and yet, if people would just be patient with the Bible and let the Bible speak and be patient with the very book that they’re reading, the book of Genesis, you would see very clearly that angels apparently, although they are primarily spiritual beings, have the ability to take on human flesh. Some of you have entertained angels unaware. Obviously an angel can take on human flesh, obviously an angel can eat, obviously an angel has a digestive tract and they can take on that and if that’s true, then why can’t fallen angels procreate with human women in Genesis, 6? All I am showing you here is how to do basic Bible study.

When you try to fix or analyze a problem in the Bible, you start with that word and then you work out from there to the immediate context and then you work your way out from there to the same book of the Bible and from there you work your way out to other books that the same author wrote and only if you’re finished with that, do you go to remote passages and in this case, going to the New Testament and when people quote Hebrews chapter 1, verse 14 (Heb 1:14), New Testament, different author and they say, the angel view of Genesis, 6 is not right because angels are spirits. They’re violating the basic rules of Bible study. Stay with the same book and as you stay with it, you’ll see very clearly Genesis, 18, Genesis, 19 that angels have an ability to take on human flesh and if it could happen here maybe it could happen in Genesis, 6. But at any rate, Lot exercises hospitality, he knows that these men are in danger, he brings them under the protective covering of his roof, he exercises ancient near eastern hospitality, fixes for them unleavened bread and they ate, and then something happens, verses 4 and 5. You have an attack, I’ll call it that, from a mob. There’s no other way to describe this. 23:52

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

You notice in verse 4 (Gen 19:4), it says: Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter… You’ll notice that this happened in the evening, just before bed time in other words. We were already told back in verse 1, that it was evening time and it talks here about the men of the city. Notice it says men, men sexually attracted to men, there’s no other way to understand this. This then becomes a condemnation of homosexuality, the homosexual lifestyle and you’ll notice what these men from Sodom did. They surrounded his house and they came from every quarter. It’s stunning, these angels that look like men just arrived and came into Lot’s house, Lot is exercising hospitality towards them and oh my goodness, word traveled fast, because the whole city, all of the men of the city, every quarter, surround Lot’s house and they make a demand; and every time I read this, the part of it that jumps out to me is those in this mob are called the young and the old. That would include everybody in the city. It’s like a merism. Old people were involved in this sin, as were the young. One of the things that happened in my lifetime that I have a very difficult time wrapping my mind around, is the intentional targeting of the youth for purposes of sexual immorality. As far as I can tell, that I think is one of the most heinous sins a person can commit, because Jesus said, if you come against a child, if you injure a child, it would be better for you a millstone was tied around your neck and you were thrown into the sea and yet that is exactly what is happening today, right now, in the United States of America. The sexualizing of children to the point where the governor of Florida gets involved in some legislation and this is all over the news, saying, you know what? We’re just going to leave kids aged 0 to 3 alone. I mean, 3 years old to 0. We’re not going to target them for purposes of sexuality. We’re not going to target them for purposes of the gender surrender. We’re not going to teach them sexual education in the public schools. Kids 0 to 3, leave them alone on this and the outcry, the outcry by the homosexual activists, the LGBTQ and I run out of initials memorizing them,  against the governor of Florida for something as simple as that, is amazing to me. You know, you go to public libraries all over the country, drag queen story time type things. Targeting the young. That’s exactly what’s happening here in the pages of your Bible in ancient Sodom. This is why God made a decision to destroy this entire city because of the sexualizing of the youth. Little children without a value system put in place yet, targeted by big monied lobbyists to sexualize them, to eroticize them at the earliest ages imaginable and people think that the Lord who said, you come against a child, it would be better if a millstone was tied around your neck and you were thrown into the sea, do you think Jesus is going to look the other way at this? Our whole civilization and society is moving in the exact direction, that’s described here in verse 4. It doesn’t take a lot of research to come across articles like this where a law professor is arguing that pedophilia, sex with a child, well that’s not a crime, that’s just a psychological disorder and we’re living in a time period where perversion of the most disgusting caliber is being mainstreamed and anybody that will say anything against it, here comes the cancel culture. We’ll  take your social media account away, we’ll kick you off YouTube and we will show up at the doors of your church and demand that you change or we’re going to take away your tax exemption and we’re going to take away your building and your property because how dare you raise your voice against this perversion. May the Lord help us to understand the season and the time period we’re living in. 29:45

You look down at verse 5 (Gen 19:5) and this mob makes a demand on Lot and it says: and they called to Lot and said to him, Where are the men… So notice, it’s men, verse 4 (Gen 19:4) that are surrounding the house and they’re demanding that Lot release the men, and they called Lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them… As long as I’ve been a Christian I’ve seen homosexual activists trying to re-write this passage and make it sound as if the sin in Sodom and Gomorrah had nothing to do with homosexual rape but it had to do with the lack of hospitality in the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and they actually have a verse they use. They use the book of Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49 (Ezek 16:49), which says: Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy… Well, there’s the problem the homosexual theologians say. You have to understand that there’s a whole theological movement to make homosexuality normal. To take something that God says is a perversion and to mainstream it and they’ll go to Ezekiel, 16, verse 49 and they will read that right back into Genesis, 19. Nothing to see here folks, move right along. Just a problem of a lack of hospitality and as my professor Dr. Toussaint used to say, that dog won’t hunt, because the verb that’s used here is to know and when you study that Hebrew verb throughout the pages of scripture, in particular the book of Genesis, you’ll see that “to know” means carnal knowledge of somebody. To know doesn’t mean Hey let’s get together and not let me find out your favorite color and where you fit on the horoscope or whatever and do you like to do crossword puzzles, that’s not what this is talking about. This is talking about carnal knowledge, that’s what this mob surrounding Lot’s house wanted and by the way, the same verb “to know” is used, you’ll see it in the New King James version, if you follow that translation, concerning how Adam knew Eve. Well, obviously knowing her was not just Hey! Let’s talk about your favorite sport, because she got pregnant because of the “knowing”. It says in Genesis, 4, verse 1 (Gen 4:1): Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord… Knowing is carnal knowledge sexual activity creating pregnancy and to argue that this passage, Genesis, 19, has nothing to do with homosexuality, it has everything to do with a lack of hospitality, is just to take the Bible and rewrite it. I mean, it’s just rewriting what God says. 33:21

Jude, verses 6 and 7 (Jude 1:6-7), particularly verse 7 which the homosexual theologians never quote, says: Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh… Just as the angels, Genesis, 6, left their natural abode and did something outside of God’s box in terms of sexuality by procreating with human women, Jude, the Lord’s half-brother is saying in the same way, those in Sodom and Gomorrah did the same thing. They left the natural, logical, sexual design of God, and they got involved in, dare I say it, the ambition for gang rape against two men and so not only does the mob show up but the mob makes a demand.

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

Notice verse 6, what is Lot supposed to do in the midst of this? You have Lot’s refusal and counter offer. Look at verse 6 (Gen 19:6), it says: But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him… He left them alone, this mob outside and he shut the door obviously for physical protection and then Lot says something that gets him into worse trouble than he is already in with this mob. He calls into question the fact that they’re involved in perversion. Look at verse 7 (Gen 19:7): and said, Please, my brothers… It seems like he’s trying to be nice to them… do not act wickedly… Now, even Lot who is clearly backslidden, as we’ll see there in verse 8, had enough sense to know that this was a wicked disgusting perversion. If you go back to Genesis, 18, verse 20 (Gen 18:20), it says the exact same thing there concerning Sodom and Gomorrah: And the LORD said, The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave… This is obviously sinful activity. I have compassion for anybody that struggles with same sex attractions just like I have compassion for anybody that struggles with heterosexual lust. It’s part of the human condition. We all struggle in different ways. But the same sex movement is different, because it’s trying to take their struggle and mainstream it and normalize it. I struggle with sin, I asked the Lord to help me with certain sinful patterns that I have, I am embarrassed to some extent over some of the things I do in sin. When I commit a certain sin, I feel very convicted about it, so I am a fellow traveler in this area of sin just like anybody else but let me tell you something I’m not doing. I’m not trying to say my hang up, whatever it may be, is normal. And I’m certainly not trying to teach it to kids. That’s what makes this whole same sex revolution different, because people will throw guilt on you, oh! don’t you struggle with sin? Well, of course we struggle with sin. It’s called the walk of progressive sanctification. I’m not the man I should be. I thank God I’m not the man I used to be. But I’m a work in progress like anybody else, but I don’t sit up late at night trying to rewrite the Bible, to accommodate what my sin nature wants to do and I certainly don’t target children with it, which puts this whole same sex movement in a category of its own. It’s just evil, that’s the only thing I can use word wise to describe it. God loves homosexuals but he hates homosexuality.

THE BIBLE AND HOMOSEXUALITY

1. Creation (Gen. 1‒2)
2. Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18‒19)
3. The Mosaic Law (Lev. 18; 20)
4. Jesus Christ (Matt. 19; John 2)
5. The Apostle Paul (Rom. 1; 1 Cor. 6; 1 Tim. 1)

The practice is condemned in creation itself, Genesis, 1 and 2, where God’s pattern for humanity, sexually, is heterosexual monogamy. It’s condemned in His decision to wipe the city of Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the earth, it’s condemned in the Mosaic Law. Read Leviticus, 18 and Leviticus, 20, it’s condemned by Jesus who reaffirmed heterosexual monogamy as God’s pattern. It’s condemned over and over again in the writings of the apostle Paul.

The Apostle Paul

1. Pro-Heterosexuality
   1. 1 Cor. 7:2-5
   2. Eph. 5:22-33
   3. 1 Tim. 3:2, 12
2. Anti-Homosexuality
   1. 1 Cor. 6:9-11
   2. Rom. 1:26-27
   3. 1 Tim. 1:9-10

Paul, I wish we had time to read every passage, was very pro heterosexual and very anti-homosexuality and anybody with reading comprehension can see that. The only people that make this ambiguous or unclear are people that have an agenda, because they want to keep their lifestyle and they don’t want anything standing in their way including God’s word, which is a dangerous thing to do because the Bible says, if you twist the scriptures, you do so to your own destruction. Be very, very careful about coming to the Bible which will condemn many, many practices in us as sinners and trying to rewrite the Bible to accommodate your sinful patterns. That is a delusion and it puts you in a category of destruction. The end of the book of Revelation says, if you add or subtract, God will add to you the plagues which are written in this book and He’ll take your name from the book of life; and don’t ask me today to analyze that whole thing. I just know it’s severe in God’s eyes to rewrite His word and yet, this is what’s become common today and so Lot himself recognizes it as a problem. That’s why Lot, in 2nd Peter, 2, verse 7 says: His righteous soul was tormented day after day by their lawless deeds… 40:25

There is nobody more miserable on planet earth than a child of God living in sin. God will agitate you about that, he will annoy you about that, until your dying day because God loves you too much to see you destroy your own life through sin. The wages of sin is what? It’s death, any sin and when we move off into sin, God has a way of convicting us and I’m here to tell you, very sadly, sometimes from personal experience that that conviction is very powerful and it’s very real, and woe to the person who, as a way to get out of this conviction, tries to rewrite the scriptures. Lot himself in his carnality was vexed by what was happening; and as you drop down to verse 8 (Gen 19:8), the narrative continues and Lot does something here that’s mystifying to me. He says: Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof… Hey! To satisfy your lust take my two daughters. You’ll notice this expression here “come under the protection of my roof”, now that’s part of the ancient Near East and the laws of hospitality. Obviously, Lot had a very high view of that law of hospitality, because he wants to protect his guests from being sexually molested. But you’re obviously dealing with someone whose priorities are completely out of order, because he says, take my two daughters instead. Satisfy your lusts through my two daughters; and this is where reformed theology, they have no answer for this passage. Reformed theology, Calvinism, has a doctrine in it called the perseverance of the saints. If you’re truly a Christian, then your life will be characterized by fruitfulness and obedience and if you find yourself in a backslidden condition then maybe you were never saved on the front end. Maybe you’re not one of the elect, reformed theology will tell you and I have read reformed theologian after reformed theologian after reformed theologian on this passage and none of them know what to do with it, because it’s a passage outside their box. You’re dealing with someone who is saved in the Old Testament sense of the word and yet his priorities are so mixed up that he’s willing to sacrifice his own daughters to a sodomite crowd to satisfy the laws of hospitality and reformed theology many times will say, well, Lot obviously wasn’t saved. A saved person couldn’t act this way. To be honest with you, I wouldn’t think he was saved either unless I had 2nd Peter, 2, verses 7 through 9 (2 Pet 2:7-9) in my Bible where Lot was called not once, not twice, but three times a righteous man and then at the end of those verses he’s called godly. It says there, Peter the apostle: if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment… What do we do with this category or this person called Lot? Let’s just make him an unsaved man to fit the Bible into Calvinistic theology. The problem is the Bible doesn’t say that. Peter is very clear that he’s saved. He’s saved positionally but his practice was not consistent with this position. He is what we call in the New Testament sense of the word a carnal Christian. A Christian who is living for the flesh.

You know, it’s interesting that when you study 1st Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul divides the world into two categories: believers and unbelievers; and then he divides believers into thirds: There are those that are spiritual. Those that are babes and those that are carnal. I’m here to tell you something, folks and you will never hear this from most pulpits. But a carnal Christian can out sin an unbeliever. You say, well, does the Bible say that? Yes, it does. It’s in 1st Corinthians, 5, verse 1 (1 Cor 5:1), where Paul says: It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife… The pagans don’t even act like this, Paul says and yet they’re involved in incest, the Corinthians. Paul never second guesses their salvation. He second guesses their sanctification, their growth, and you see, everybody is very nervous when we talk this way, because what they think we’re saying is carnal Christianity, isn’t it great? That’s not what we’re saying. You’re going to pay a dear price as a carnal Christian. Lot did. What we’re saying is it’s an unfortunate possibility. 47:12

Reformed theology with its perseverance of the saints doesn’t even acknowledge that. Nor does Arminianism which says, you just lost your salvation. Both systems are wrong, because there is this way in the middle where you can be in a state of carnality and yet be a blood-bought saint and that’s how to explain Lot in terms of his mis prioritized priorities. You know, I had a youth pastor years ago that says, when you go into sin, you will do dumb things and quite frankly, as I’ve monitored my own life, some of the stupidest, dumbest things I’ve ever done is when I’m trying to satisfy my sin nature. That’s what’s happening here with this man a Lot. 1st Corinthians, 3, verse 15 (1 Cor 3:15) at the Bema Seat says: If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire… There will be people at the Bema Seat judgment of Christ that will be saved, but they will smell the smoke on their garments, because the reward that God wanted to give them for a sanctified lifestyle is now unavailable to them, but they’re in heaven. It’s not me in my theology opening this door; this is pure Bible. This is what God Himself says. Now look at the mob’s reaction.

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

Verse 9 (Gen 19:9): But they… That’s the mob… said, Stand aside. Furthermore, they said, This one… That would be Lot… came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge… A judge, boy! Have we heard this before? Don’t judge me. You know, unbelievers they don’t know a lot about the Bible but they know two verses, Jesus turned water to wine, they know that one and they know the passages that say don’t judge me. How dare you raise a voice against my lifestyle? How dare you call it sinful?… Now… watch this… We will treat you worse than them. So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door… Number one, don’t judge us. Number two, if you call into question what we’re doing, we’ll threaten you. Number three: we’re actually going to take action right here and now, we’re going to knock the door down. Is that not a description of what the LGBTQU movement is all about? It’s about intimidation. It’s about shutting people up, that would call into question a sexually perverse lifestyle. What is being spoken of here is happening right now in the United States of America and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. 50:38

Years ago, this would go back about thirty years, I read this book and that’s why I’ve given this title to the sermon that I gave “When the wicked seizes the city”.

It’s written by Chuck and Donna Mcllhenny. Chuck was a Presbyterian pastor in the city of San Francisco and he made a mistake from the human side of getting involved in politics. He was active in trying to derail these homosexual ordinances that were passing the city council at the time and he was successful actually, in derailing some of it, simply by getting Christians involved in activism and what this book describes is the absolute hell that was unleashed on him, his wife, his family and his church, because he spoke out publicly against homosexuality. Virtual terrorist activity. The destruction of private property, something right out of Genesis, 19, showing up around your church and screaming and yelling to the point where you’re terrorizing people in the church and this was happening in San Francisco and he’s describing his experiences and they get to the end of the book and they say this, coming to a theater near you. In other words, what we’ve experienced in the city of San Francisco is going to go to the whole nation. It’s just a matter of time. 1993, I put the book down and I said well, that’ll never happen or if it does happen, I don’t need to worry about it, because it’s not going to happen in my lifetime and I’m shocked as I look back at that book, how dead on his prediction was, because this is what’s happening. Same sex couple shows up at a business, marry us. They show up at a church, marry us. If the business or church says no, here comes the litigation. Just go to the ADF, the legal group involved in defending Christians in these types of situations, just go to their website and read the horror stories. Read about the persecution, read about the threats, read about the lawsuits, read about the loss of livelihood and court debts that pile up because Christians will say that lifestyle is wrong. What did Jesus say in Luke, 17? As it was in the days of Lot so shall it be when the son of man comes. If I’m understanding Bible prophecy right, Jesus is drawing a parallel between Sodom and Gomorrah and the end of the age. Expect, He says, a militant homosexuality to emerge in the last days exactly like Genesis, 19 and Christian, you’d better be armored up. You’d better understand the time period that we’re living in. 54:22

2nd Timothy chapter 3, verse 12 (2 Tim 3:12), it says: Indeed all who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted… It’s a promise from God. How many pulpits in the country today are telling you this? The time period that we’re living in. Don’t question our immoral lifestyle, we won’t tolerate it. We’ll sue you, we’ll threaten you, we’ll abuse you. Is that not what they say here to Lot? Hey! You think we were going to treat those two men badly? Just wait till we get finished with you and yet, God is still in control, Amen?

Angels in Sodom Genesis 19:1-11

1. Angelic arrival (Gen 19:1)
2. Lot’s invitation (Gen 19:2-3)
3. Mob’s attack (Gen 19:4-5)
4. Lot’s refusal & counter-offer (Gen 19:6-8)
5. Mob’s response (Gen 19:9)
6. Angelic response (Gen 19:10-11)

You have a rescue operation, it’s right there in verse 10 (Gen 19:10): But the men… That’s the two angels inside the house… reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door… You know, Lot is going to need the rescuing hand of God later on, just to get out of the city that’s about to be wiped out. God rescues Lot from God’s wrath, Genesis, 19, verse 22 (Gen 19:22) and he rescues Lot from man’s wrath, Genesis, 19, verse 10 (Gen 19:10) and he’s the guy that was rescued by Abraham in Genesis, 14. I mean, this is like a threefold rescue operation for this man, because Lot in spite of his problems, is still one of God’s own and God looks out for him. 2nd Timothy, 4, verse 18 (2 Tim 4:18), Paul says: The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will lead me safely to His kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever, Amen.. Boy, it is a great thing to have God on your side in the midst of this moral sickness and depravity. Part of me doesn’t want to talk about the sewage of immorality that’s coming our way but another part of me wants to talk about it, because now it’s time for God to show up. The opposing team showed up, they’re running their lay-up drills. It’s time for God to show up and as the Christian church in the United States descends into this wave of persecution, expect to see the hand of God, because God is aware of His own, loves His own. I’m not saying God will protect us from every problem, I will say though, He will preserve us until we arrive into the kingdom one day and that’s good news. Yeah! But pastor, what if they kill you? Well, absent from the body is to be what? Present with the Lord. If they kill you, they may actually be doing you a favor. 57:41

So they shut the door, last verse, verse 11 (Gen 19:11): They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great… You know, God is pretty good at causing blindness. You’ll see it in Deuteronomy 28:28, you’ll see it in Zechariah 12:4, but it’s interesting here that this is a different word for blindness. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 323

“Then in 19:11 came the angels’ judgment of blindness: And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great. The Hebrew word for blindness here is not the normal word that is used. Outside this verse, this word for blindness is found only once elsewhere, in II Kings 6:18, which is also in the context of angels. This word refers to a partial blindness with mental bewilderment; that is, mental confusion resulting from distorted vision.”

It’s a moral blindness. Isn’t that what Paul said what happened to a culture that abandons itself to homosexuality? Their mind would be darkened. Romans 1:21-22: Professing themselves to be wise they became fools. I mean, anybody with any intellectual skills can see that homosexuality doesn’t work for the simple reason that they can’t procreate. The body parts don’t work together to procreate. I mean, even in the animal kingdom you can see that. Male and female produce children. Human world, animal world and yet the homosexual movement is so blind to its own sin it can’t see the obvious. They’ve been given over to a stupor. Not physical blindness but mentally, the mind becomes darkened.

These are SAT scores and you’ll notice beginning in the year 1962 a sharp decline in SAT scores amongst our youth. You say, well, what happened? Did a meteor hit planet earth? No, that was the year the United States Supreme Court said, this book, the Bible, no more influence in public schools. Throw it out, throw out the Bible, throw out prayer. We’ll tolerate prayers as long as it’s pagan type gods, but don’t bring the Bible in here. Proverbs chapter 1 and verse 7 (Prov 1:7) says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. If you want to get smart in life, you submit yourself to the authority of God. You accept his blueprint of sexuality. If you want to get dumb, if you want your mental acuity eroded, like what’s happening to this mob outside of Lot’s house, then you reject God and again, I’m astonished at how this whole paragraph ends, because it says there: So that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway… In other words, the blindness that God put on them, mental blindness, didn’t slow them down and the only reason they quit on this gang rape idea, is they got tired. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 323

“The result was: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. They were so insistent upon their wickedness, so intent on homosexual abuse, that even after being struck with blindness they still tried to get through the door until they simply got too tired to continue.”

You start giving in to the flesh or the sin nature, that’s a powerful force that you’re yielding to and let me tell you something about the sin nature, it will never be satisfied, because if adultery is no longer satisfying, then let’s move into polygamy, let’s move into homosexuality, let’s move into pedophilia. Hey! Let’s move all the way into bestiality. You think I’m kidding? Look at the degradation of our culture, that’s exactly where we’re going, because the sin nature, once you accommodate it, isn’t satisfied anymore with that sin, it wants to try something new and you find yourself moving into one perversion after another to the point where you don’t even recognize who you are anymore, because your intellect has been darkened. 1:03

You’ll notice this and I’ll stop with this. You see the expression both small and great? That expression is used in the final judgment.

At the Great White Throne Judgment. It says in Revelation, 20, verse 12 (Rev 20:12): And I saw the dead, the great on the small… God apparently is keeping a record of all of this and as these people die without Christ they’re hurtling towards the Great White Throne Judgment, that’s their end, when God holds all of them accountable. I think it was Noah Webster, he was asked what’s the greatest thought you’ve ever thought. I mean, you know who Noah Webster was? Webster’s dictionary. He was a true patriot at the founding of America. What’s the most magnificent thought you’ve ever thought about, Noah Webster? And this is what he said, my accountability to God. That’s what I think about the most. Folks, we’re living in a society and we’re living in a culture where accountability to God is the furthest thing from people’s minds and yet they are accountable to God. The small and the great are going to show up at that final judgment where God is going to say very clearly, depart from me you workers of iniquity cause I never knew you. I never had a personal relationship with you and because you didn’t know me, you lived for the flesh and you went from one perversion to the next. Isn’t it wonderful in the midst of a message like this to hear about the cross of Christ? Because whatever you’ve done has been taken care of by Jesus two thousand years ago through his death, burial, resurrection and ascension and all we do to receive that gift of grace from God is to believe in the one He has sent. Believe means to trust. You come under the conviction of the Spirit and you say to yourself my sin before God is too great and God says, there’s good news in that I took care of your sin two thousand years ago. In fact, Christ’s final words on the cross were, it is finished and he asks us to trust in what Jesus has done for us, and just like that, our sins are thrown as far as the east is from the west. There is hope for lost sinners, there is hope for the United States of America, because of the grace of God. But it begins with experiencing the grace of God for yourself and that’s by believing the gospel. You can become a Christian now, anybody within the sound of my voice can become a Christian right now by doing one thing, trusting in the work of the Savior. It’s not something you need to raise a hand to do, walk an aisle to do, join a church to do, give money to do. It’s just a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where the Spirit convicts you of your sin debt and says I have a solution. The solution is my Son, trust in Him. I hope many, many people within the sound of my voice whether in the building or online or listening to this after the fact are taking God up, not on my offer, on His offer and receiving forgiveness in the person of Jesus Christ. If it’s something you need more understanding of, I’m available after the service to talk.

Shall we pray? Lord, we are grateful for passages that are sort of unsettling but you’ve given us these passages also. Help us to be good stewards here at Sugar Land Bible church of not just the warm and fuzzies but the full counsel of your Word, that we may grow thereby. I ask that you’ll help us this week as we seek to live out Jesus Christ under His resources. We’ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and God’s people said, Amen.