Genesis 078 – An Important Foundation

Genesis 078 – An Important Foundation
By Dr. Andy Woods – 05/8/2022
Genesis 19:23-29

Alright! Well, as the children are being dismissed for Junior church, let’s take our Bibles this morning and open them to the book of Genesis chapter 19, and verse 23 (Gen 19:23). The title of our message this morning is “An Important Foundation” and as you’re returning there, I’m not sure if this was announced but for all the females at Sugar Land Bible Church, we want to give you this little booklet. The title of it is “The Powerful Influence of the Christian Woman” by a pastor’s wife Donna Radtke and you can find those as you go out, where you pick up your bulletins and I’ll have to be honest with you, the first time I heard the Davis’ children recite Romans, 8 from memory, it was at a little gathering we had related to the missions committee and they got up in front of our little group there in the fellowship hall of maybe, I don’t know, ten to twenty people and they recited as you just heard, Romans, 8 from memory and as they were doing that, I just felt really convicted. I mean, I have a PhD in Bible and I’ve never done anything like that and it’s interesting we’re living in sort of this age of modern psychology and education where we’re told kids can’t learn today, kids can’t memorize and when I saw that, I asked Martin and Leandra and I said, can we do that in front of the whole church? Just so everyone else can feel as convicted as I felt and so they did that and then I’m sure you were blessed by it, as I was. I’ve heard it twice now. Second time around I sat there with my Bible opened and just monitored the verses. Just to make sure they didn’t skip a beat and they did not. 2:38
The title of our message this morning is “An Important Foundation” and I apologize for this on Mother’s Day. We’re going to talk about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah today and that’s the problem with being a verse-by-verse teacher, is you just have to confront with what is in the passage. So, we are in the middle of a study on Genesis, verse by verse. We’re in the section of the book of Genesis where God is raising up a new nation, the nation of Israel and His purpose, ultimately, in raising up the nation of Israel is to export His blessings to planet earth, not the least of which is the coming Savior Jesus Christ and the interesting thing is that when God does a work, He will pick many times a human instrument to accomplish that work through and that’s what makes studying the life of the patriarch Abraham so foundational. God takes this man who essentially was an idolator. God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called, Amen? And He teaches him to walk by faith, by giving him promises that later become a covenant and through this process, God is building this new nation, the nation of Israel and as Abraham continues to walk with God, he becomes God’s friend and with friendship comes disclosure and it’s in Genesis, 18 that God discloses to Abraham, whose name has been changed from Abram to Abraham, meaning the father of many nations, that He is going to destroy the city of Sodom, the city of Gomorrah and three other cities because of their sin; and so now we’re in a section of our teaching, Genesis chapter 19, verses 23 through 29 (Gen 19:23-29) where we see the actual destruction of these five cities. In fact, as we’ll see today, as we saw last week, it’s actually four cities that were destroyed. The fifth one, Zoar, spared because of Lot’s intercession at the end of our passage last time, but here’s an outline that we’re going to look at as we try to work our way through this difficult and somewhat unsettling section of the Bible. 5:33

Sodom’s Destruction – Genesis 19:23-29
a) Timing (Gen 19:23)
b) Overthrow (Gen 19:24-25)
c) Lot’s loss (Gen 19:26)
d) Abraham’s response (Gen 19:27-28)
e) Summary (Gen 19:29)

You’ll notice first of all the timing. Notice, if you will Genesis, 19, notice, if you will verse 23 (Gen 19:23): The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar… Now, you should not develop a sort of Rambo interpretation of God. When God judges, He does so with great patience. Patience will have been exercised, forbearance will have been exercised long in advance. There is no rush to judgment with God. God doesn’t make judgments without having all of the facts. He doesn’t make judgments without giving those about to be judged the grace that they need to be spared from this judgment and we can see this as part of God’s character because the discussion of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah actually started in Genesis, 18, verse 1 (Gen 18:1).

There was a visitation by three angels to Abraham, Genesis, 18, verses 1 through 15 (Gen 18:1-15). Then a prediction was made, verses 16 through 33 (Gen 18:16-33) and finally you get to chapter 19 and you have the destruction of Sodom but not before Lot is taken out of harm’s way and when you study Genesis, 19 and you look at verses 1 through 11 (Gen 19:1-11) and you see what that wicked culture was doing, you have a glimpse as to why God was making this determination to destroy these cities. But you should not conclude because the destruction of God ultimately comes that it somehow came with hastiness, that’s contrary to God’s nature. 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 9 (2 Pet 3:9) clears this up and it says: The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance… What would warm the heart of God is for the entire human race to come to repentance. In other words, change their mind about Jesus and place their faith in Jesus for their salvation and judgment would be spared of the whole human race; that’s what God wants. Very sadly, that’s not what’s going to happen. That’s not what happened in this very, very wicked city or cities, Sodom and Gomorrah being two of these cities. Judgment eventually comes, but it is coming after much warrning, much grace, much forbearance and much patience and you can see that, just starting in chapter 18, verse 1 (Gen 18:1) and seeing when the judgment finally falls. It’s not until our verses this morning that judgment finally falls. Well, what happened first is the forbearance of God. This world, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, is going to be judged. That’s what the Bible teaches and the reason it hasn’t happened already is God is patiently waiting. Just like He did in the days of Noah prior to the flood, just like He did in the days of Lot, as His grace is going out. But you should not mistake the grace of God for the fact that judgment will never come, that’s the error of human thinking. Judgment will come. Judgment delayed is not judgment denied and yet, before judgment comes the grace of God goes out. Even this sermon itself would be an exercise in the grace of God, because my voice is going out to the people in this room, our voice is going out to anybody that might be watching this on social media or online even after the fact and even the fact that you’re hearing these things today is a testimony, is a token if you will, towards the grace of God and the reluctance of God to judge. But you look there, verse 23 and it said, the sun had risen over the earth. So, the night is over and for Lot, it had been a long night. Lot had been trying to convince his own family that this day would come and he was trying to get them to get out of the city and Lot was a man that was not taken seriously because of his carnality and what we learn here is, of ten in his family, only four survivors and then his own wife is going to look back and you have already seen what’s going to happen to her. 10:57
So, it’s been a difficult night. It’s been a night of trying to persuade people that judgment is coming and yet now, the sun is up. The sun had risen over the earth and judgment day has finally arrived. Second part of verse 23 (Gen 19:23), it says: …when Lot came to Zoar… And to get the background on that we just have to reflect back to what we studied last week in the prior verses. Originally, Lot was told to flee to the mountains and it’s generally believed that that would be a mountain chain or group of mountains in modern day Jordan and Lot basically said to the angels that came to destroy the city, I can’t go to the mountains because what’s going to happen to me there? Let me flee to this little city named Zoar and let me find refuge there. Zoar means little and it was named little in the prior verses because of Lot’s prayer request and that particular city was one of the five marked for destruction. God in His providence spared that city, honored Lot’s request and he fled to Zoar but the remaining four cities are still marked for destruction and then, you come to verses 24 and 25 (Gen 19:24-25) and you see the actual overthrow of these cities by divine judgment.

Sodom’s Destruction – Genesis 19:23-29
a) Timing (Gen 19:23)
b) Overthrow (Gen 19:24-25)
c) Lot’s loss (Gen 19:26)
d) Abraham’s response (Gen 19:27-28)
e) Summary (Gen 19:29)

Notice what it says in verse 24 (Gen 19:24): Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven…

You’ll notice first of all, the means of the overthrow, what God used, verse 24, and then the result of the overthrow verse 25 (Gen 19:25), what did God use? He used fire and brimstone. In fact, to my knowledge, this is the first reference to the Hebrew word “fire” found anywhere in the book of Genesis up to this point in time. Charles Ryrie in the Ryrie Study Bible says of this first chapter 19, verse 24 (Gen 19:24):

Charles Ryrie – The Ryrie Study Bible
“Genesis 19:24 (RSB:NASB1995U): 19:24 brimstone and fire. Deposits of sulfur (brimstone) and asphalt (cf. 14:10) have been found in this area. Possibly an earthquake occurred, and lightning ignited the gases that were released, causing a rain of fire and smoke.”

It is interesting that even the ground itself in that part of the Dead Sea area where this judgment happened, testifies to what God did here and this is the kind of thing that you find in the Bible. Archaeology is a very interesting science and when rightly interpreted, it always presents a credible scenario through which biblical events could occur and in fact, did occur. Now, there’s something very interesting here in verse 24, you might notice the word Jehovah is used twice. It says: Then the Lord… That’s Jehovah… rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord… Jehovah repeated… out of heaven… This could very well be an early reference to the tri-unity of the Godhead. 14:37
Arnold Fruchtenbaum of this verse says:
Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 327

“There are two Jehovahs in this passage: A Jehovah on earth and a Jehovah in heaven, showing plurality in the Godhead. The first Jehovah, on the earth, rained judgment from the second Jehovah, in heaven…” And what is interesting is that even the ancient rabbis recognized this but didn’t want to deal with what the text says. Fruchtenbaum says: “Even the ancient rabbis recognized that there seem to be two Jehovahs, and they had to find a way around it. Some rabbis identified the first Jehovah as Gabriel and the second Jehovah as God. Other rabbis tried to simplify it further by claiming it represented God in His heavenly court.”

So, these are attempts to deny what the passage actually says: An early reference to the plurality in the Godhead and this is one of the reasons I wanted to study with our church the book of Genesis. Every doctrine that we believe in as Christians has its roots in some early form, although maybe not as developed as we like, in the book of Genesis. The plurality of the Godhead. One God, monotheism, yet that one God has expressed Himself through three separate personages. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Son is unique in his Sonness but He shares in full essence of deity with the other members of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is unique in His Spiritness but He shares in the full deity with the other members of the Godhead, etc.. It’s the mystery of the Trinity, the triunity of God. In fact, the Trinity shows up I believe, as early as Genesis, 1, verse 26 (Gen 1:26) when God says: Let us make man in our image according to our likeness… Who’s the us? A lot of people say, well, God is talking to the angels there. No, that doesn’t work as my professor doctor Toussaint used to say, that dog won’t hunt, because the angels don’t bear God’s image.

It’s obviously a conversation within the plurality of the Godhead, an early sort of revelation in incipient form of the triunity of God. Down in Genesis chapter 3, verse 22 (Gen 3:22), after man fell, it says: Then the Lord God said, behold the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil… Who would the us be? The plurality of the Godhead. Genesis, 11, verse 7 (Gen 11:7) the famous historical account of the tower of Babel, says Genesis, 11, verse 7: Come let us go down and confuse their language… And then there’s that great passage in the book of Isaiah chapter 6, and verse 8 (Isa 6:8) where Isaiah is called into the ministry and as Isaiah is called into the ministry it says there in Isaiah 6, verse 8: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? Who will go for us?… Then Isaiah said, here I am, send me… 18:18

The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, separate personages but sharing in the same essence of deity, the one monotheistic God. You say, well pastor, I want you to explain that to us. I can’t explain it and this is one of the things that’s so wonderful about the Bible is the Bible is simple enough for a child to understand and yet it is deep enough for a theologian to drown in and these wonderful doctrines that we embrace as Christians, they start to get unpacked in the book of Genesis. I very much like what Herbert Lockyer says, he says:

Genesis as the Seed-Plot of the Bible
“Genesis gives us a synoptic preface to the entire Bible. It is the seed-plot of the Bible. The germ or beginning of all truth is within this wonderful book. Genesis is the foundation upon which the entire revelation rests; the root out of which the rest grows. Truths found here are developed in successive ages.”
Herbert Lockyer, The Gospel in the Pentateuch (Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1939), 25.

Pastor, why are you taking so long getting us through Genesis? I mean, why don’t you do it fast. I mean, the Lord did everything in six days. Why can’t you just move along? Because if you can understand Genesis, you can understand God. If you can understand Genesis, you can understand the Bible. If you can understand Genesis, you can understand human history, where it came from and where it’s going. All of it is revealed here very, very early on in the book of Genesis. Which would explain why Satan has leveled an attack of the most vicious kind on the book of Genesis. Of all of the parts of the Bible to get you to doubt, this is what Satan wants you to doubt. He doesn’t want you to believe what this says. For the simple reason is if you destroy the foundation of the house, you destroy the house.

Psalm, 11, and verse 3 (Psa 11:3) says: If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?… I mean, there’s a reason why when you watch A&E, Mysteries of the Bible and The History Channel and if you enroll in a denominational seminary, they will tell you that Moses didn’t write this entire book. Obviously, there are sources that were compiled by somebody else long after Moses died. It’s called Higher Criticism, the JEPD Theory. In fact, there are several seminaries, if you enroll and take classes there, they just assume that that is true. They don’t even consider Mosaic authorship of this book and of course, with the evolution revolution and the idea that we went from the goo to you via the zoo over billions of years. Most people look at the book of Genesis and they just scoff at it and there’s a reason for that. Christianity doesn’t make sense without Genesis. I mean, the Savior doesn’t make sense unless man fell in a garden, Genesis, 3. The last Adam doesn’t make sense unless there was a first Adam and so that’s why I bring many of these things to your attention. But going back to verse 24 (Gen 19:24), it says: Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven… Now, you’ll notice here in verse 24, only two cities are named. Five, and that’s generally where we think they are, there’s some debate on exactly what area of the Dead Sea we find these cities, but that’s probably the working hypothesis there.

But it mentions two cities, five were marked for destruction. You’ll see these five cities named in Genesis, 14, verse 2 and verse 8 (Gen 14:2,8). There was (1) Sodom; (2) Gomorrah; (3) Admah; (4) Zeboiim and (5) Bela. Now, Bela was the city that was renamed when Lot pleaded for an opportunity to flee there and that city was named Little. That’s what Zoar means and Lot was able to flee there and escape. So, there’s a sign, even as judgment was getting ready to fall, of the grace of God. 23:13
Over in Deuteronomy, 29, verse 23 (Deut 29:23) looking back at all of these things, it only mentions four cities that were destroyed: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim. Why does it only mention four? Because Zoar as we saw last week was spared. So, this fire from heaven is the means that God used to wipe out four cities from the face of the earth. Verse 25 is a description of the result of this. Notice verse 25 (Gen 19:25): and He.. That’s God… overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground… This word “overthrow” is very interesting, He overthrew those cities. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:
Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 328

“In addition, indeed, the term “overthrow” became a technical term for the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah…” Now, a technical word is a word in Greek that always means the same thing. He writes: “In the New Testament, there developed Greek technical terms for the Flood and for the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and both terms are found in II Peter 2:4–9. The technical term for the Flood is kataklusmos, the origin of the English word ‘cataclysm.’ The technical term for the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah is katastrophei, the origin of the English word ‘catastrophe.’”

I mean, so serious are these judgments, whether we’re talking about the flood or we’re talking about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, that there developed later on in Greek, specific words referring to these two judgments and every time those words are employed, they always mean the same thing. One of them always refers to the flood and the other one always refers to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which shows me that God wants us to understand these two events. Why does He want us to understand these two events? Because Jesus said it as clearly as it can be said, as it was in the days of Lot so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of San. In other words, what happened in the flood, globally, what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah, locally, is going to be replicated one day. The judgment of God in the exact same way will come to planet earth and if you don’t think that will ever happen, just look at history. It did happen. It happened twice. In fact, so serious is it that God later, in the Greek New Testament, developed two technical words describing these two judgments. I mean, if there’s ever a section of the Bible to study in our age, would you not agree with me that this would be it? Because just as Lot was sojourning before it was destroyed, just as Noah was building before the flood came we’re in the exact same circumstances. The judgment of God is coming, it’s inevitable and we’re called to live for God before judgment comes, we’re called to make proper decisions for God before the judgment comes. You look there at verse 25 (Gen 19:25) again and it says: and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley… So, there were five cities in what is called “The cities of the plain” that were marked for destruction, the only one that was spared, as we said earlier, was Zoar and when this judgment came, it came on the inhabitants of those cities. It’s right there in verse 25. The whole population was wiped out. In fact, it altered the ground, you see that at the end of verse 25, it says: and what grew on the ground… Right down to the vegetation. Prior to this destruction, most will tell you in that part of the land of Israel it was lush, it was green, it was almost like the garden of Eden and it became a virtual desert because of what God did. God altered ecology. He altered the environment as a consequence of this judgment. 28:16
You know, sin is an interesting thing. We have a tendency to think, well, if we send it just sort of damages our relationship with the Lord, and it does. But sin is physical. Sin can cause physical problems. In fact, Jesus talked about that, didn’t He? About the paralytic in John, 5, who was in that condition for what? 38 years and then he was healed. Remember what Jesus said at the end of that exchange? Don’t go back into sin or something worse could happen to you. I think this is a part of sin we really don’t think about, because we’ve spiritualized everything. But in Genesis chapter 3, verses 17 through 19 (Gen 3:17-19), the ground itself was cursed, because of the rebellion that took place in Eden. In fact, as you heard very well recited this morning, Romans, 8, and I’m not going to do the whole chapter, don’t worry, but Romans, 8, verses 19 through 22 (Rom 8:19-22) clearly says that creation itself, it says: The whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now because of sin in Eden… The whole creation is in a state of bondage, because of the sin in Eden.

The topography, the geography there in the Dead Sea area was changed because of this judgment brought on by the wicked sin and behavior of these wicked cities. Sin has a tremendous price tag and it’s not just a spiritual price tag. It can morph into a physical price tag as well and Lot suffered. He suffered a loss here.

Sodom’s Destruction – Genesis 19:23-29
a) Timing (Gen 19:23)
b) Overthrow (Gen 19:24-25)
c) Lot’s loss (Gen 19:26)
d) Abraham’s response (Gen 19:27-28)
e) Summary (Gen 19:29)

The loss that is described in verse 26 is the loss of his own wife. Lot and two others, the best we can tell, escape the city, four of ten, but his wife made a mistake. It says there in verse 26 (Gen 19:26): But his wife, from behind him.. So, Lot is fleeing out first, his wife behind him… His wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt… She became a pillar of salt because she looked. She looked back to the lifestyle that she apparently was longing for. Remember what God said by way of instructions in Genesis, 19, verse 17? He specifically said, when the judgment comes as God is speaking through the angels and as you are fleeing the angels are giving Lot instructions, do not look back! Right there in verse 17 (Gen 19:17) and she did the opposite. She looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Why did she look back? There might be a hint as to why she looked back in Luke, 17, verses 32 and 33 (Luke 17:32-33) where Jesus says: Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it… She wanted to hang on to her life, she wanted to hang on to the values that she had grown accustomed to and apparently enjoyed. She just looked back and she became a pillar of salt. 32:14
Charles Ryrie puts it this way:

Charles Ryrie – The Ryrie Study Bible
“Genesis 19:26 (RSB:NASB1995U): 19:26 Lot’s wife, who was trailing behind him with her heart still in Sodom, looked back, died, and possibly was enveloped by blowing salt, which formed a ‘pillar’ around her body. This event was used by Jesus as a warning to others not to look back (Luke 17:21–33).”

You can take someone out of Sodom, but you can’t necessarily take Sodom out of the person. Of course the nation of Israel is really going to struggle with this because God took them out of Egypt, that was the easy part, the hard part was taking Egypt out of them, once they got out, cause they kept wanting to return and this is the walk that we’re in called progressive sanctification, where the Lord is saying, don’t look back to where you came from, walk in newness of life because if you look back, there are consequences. The consequences can be very real and this idea of looking, it’s always been interesting to me, the emphasis that the Bible places on what we look at, what we meditate on. The book of Joshua chapter 1, and verse 8 (Josh 1:8) says: But the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night… Psalm, 1, and verse 2 (Psa 1:2) of the man who is blessed says: But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates on it day and night… The Bible has a Lot to say about things that we allow into the arena of the mind. Colossians chapter 3, and verse 2 (Col 3:2) says: Set your mind on the things above, not of the things of the earth… Philippians chapter 4, and verse 8 (Phil 4:8) says: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these thing… Lots of warnings in the Bible against worldliness. 1st John, 2, verses 15 through 17 (1 John 2:15-17) says: Do not love the world nor the things in the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away and also its lust. But the one who does the will of God continues to live forever… You know, it’s interesting, I’ve used this example before, but the 911 hijackers did not have to get control of every square inch of those airplanes. The only thing they needed to control was the cockpit or the place where the pilots sit, which I think, when you look at the size of an airplane, it’s a very small part of it. You control that part of it, you control the whole thing. This is why there’s so much in the Bible about the mind. Protecting the mind. You know, put on the helmet of salvation. Satan with his fiery darts is perpetually targeting the mind, because he knows if he can influence what you think about, he can influence you, he can influence the entire plane by way of analogy. I mean, the problem with Lot’s wife was her thought process. It was what was happening between her ears, in her mind. Her mind was undisciplined and she suffered tremendous consequences because of it. 2nd Timothy chapter 4, and verse 10 (2 Tim 4:10) talks about a man named Demas. It says: for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me… And most people say, well Demas was an unbeliever. I personally don’t think he was an unbeliever, because when you study Demas in the New Testament, he was involved in Paul’s ministry team. I don’t think Paul would have put someone on his ministry team whose salvation was in doubt, but Demas became worldly and he went back into the world. He did not finish well. He may not have gone to hell but he suffered some terrible consequences along the way. A lot of Christians are in that category. Paul says: If any man’s work… 1st Corinthians, 3, verse 15 (1 Cor 3:15)… is burned up… This is the Bema Seat… he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire… Interesting, people at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ in heaven but smelling the smoke on their garments, because a life which could have been lived for Christ has been forfeited. A wasted life. Although heaven bound, an unrewarded life, a life that God couldn’t use the way He wanted to expand His eternal purposes on the earth. I think this is the type of thing that we’re seeing here with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Just a warning against worldliness, worldly thinking.

In fact, when the crowns are given out by way of reward at the Bema Seat judgment, 2nd Timothy, 4, verse 8 (2 Tim 4:8) is a crown for the believer who longs for the appearance of Jesus Christ, because apparently not everybody will be longing for the appearance of Jesus within Christianity. It’s so easy to get comfortable here, to become infatuated with the value system of the world here. 38:49
So, Lot suffered these consequences. 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… Colossians, 2, 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 this world rather than in accordance with Christ… Who was this man Lot? He was a believer. Why do I say he was a believer? Cause he’s called a righteous man three times in 2nd Peter, 2, verses 7 through 9 (2 Pet 2:7-9), he is even called a godly man, but he wasn’t very righteous and godly in his lifestyle. He was a person who was saved in the Old Testament sense of the word but like his wife, he became intoxicated and infatuated with the world and you say, well, pastor, why does it matter? If he went to heaven, who cares? Let him live the way he wants to. After all, you teach us over and over again John 10:27-29, once saved, always saved. I’m here to tell you folks that if the Christian becomes worldly, it is a losing game. If you are a blood bought saint, you may not lose your salvation, but you’re going to lose an awful lot. Look at what Lot lost here, he lost family, he lost his wife, he lost his reputation.

Back last time, I’ve shared with you these two lists of all of the things you lose as a Christian when we go back into the world system. Genesis, 19, verse 14 (Gen 19:14): Lot finally spoke up about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to his two daughters and their future husbands, his future sons in law and they thought Lot was jesting… How do you take someone serious, as a preacher, when their life is no different than the world system? This is why Satan is always trying to get the Christian to become worldly. This is why Satan is always trying to get the church to become worldly. When the Christian becomes worldly and the church becomes worldly, it loses its power to speak to the world that’s doomed to destruction. Why should we listen to you? You’re just like the rest of us and everybody at work is laughing at the dirty joke, sitting around the water cooler laughing and you’re having to make a decision. Should I laugh and just kind of whoop it up with everybody else or should I take a higher road? And you might think a choice like that really has no bearing on anything cause you’re going to heaven. Why does it matter? It has a lot to do with your ability to minister to the people in that workplace. I mean, you laugh at that joke and then when it comes an opportunity to share the gospel with them what kind of message are you sending? When your talk about the power of Jesus and your value system by way of humor is just as worldly as the world is? This is the circumstance that Lot was in and so you see here this man a Lot and his loss, in this case it was his own wife and other family members that we read about earlier. 42:52

Sodom’s Destruction – Genesis 19:23-29
a) Timing (Gen 19:23)
b) Overthrow (Gen 19:24-25)
c) Lot’s loss (Gen 19:26)
d) Abraham’s response (Gen 19:27-28)
e) Summary (Gen 19:29)

Now, you come to verses 27 and 28 (Gen 19:27-28) and Abraham who hasn’t been prominent in this chapter, re-enters the story.

We see what Abraham did, verse 27 and then we see what Abraham saw, verse 28. Notice, if you will, Genesis, 19, verse 27 (Gen 19:27): Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD… Abraham re-enters the story and he goes back to the same geographical place where he had interceded for these five cities. Over in Genesis chapter 18, verse 22 (Gen 18:22), it tells us where Abraham was standing when he interceded; it says: Then the man turned away from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham was still standing before the Lord… Now Abraham the next day goes back to the exact same place. He’s meeting with God. It’s interesting that when he meets with God, he goes back to the place where he met God before and there’s something to the discipline of meeting with the Lord as a Christian in the same place every day. It could be anywhere, it could be your drive in to work, it could be your time on the Exercycle, it could be in your office, it could be in your closet, it could be anywhere. But it’s a place where you go, a place of privacy between you and the Lord where you know that you have communicated with the Lord in that place and the Lord by the Spirit through His word has communicated to you in that place and there’s something to that of going back to that place. I’m not saying how long it should be, but it should be some sort of ritual that you’re involved in where you’re meeting the Lord every day. Lord, here I am. I sure need your grace today. There’s a lot in front of me today, Lord. I can’t pull it off in my own strength. Can you help me? And you’re meeting with the Lord and you’re doing business with the Lord and you’re doing it by way of discipline and regularity and in your life, it may be beneficial to find that place where you meet God. That’s what Abraham was doing, he had interceded for this wicked civilization fostered by these five cities and he goes back to the same place and he wants to know what happened. Did God answer my prayer request? or did He not answer my prayer request? And then you look at verse 28 as Abraham is in that special place and this is what he saw. Verse 28 (Gen 19:28): and he looked down toward 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… He just saw smoke arising where Sodom and Gomorrah once was. Now here’s something that’s very interesting in terms of tying this into the future and that’s why I entitled this message “An Important Foundation”. In other words, if you can understand the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cataclysm, you can understand the blueprint for God’s future destruction, because Babylon is going to be destroyed the exact same way. The city of Babylon as we talked about in our series on Revelation will be rebuilt, it will come back to life, it will be the headquarters of the antichrist and when God destroys it, not if, when He destroys it, the destruction of future Babylon is analogized to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah chapter 13, and verse 19 (Isa 13:19) of this future destruction of Babylon says: And Babylon the beauty of the kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldean’s pride will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah… If you want to understand the future, you have to understand the past in other words. Jeremiah says the exact same thing in his prophecies related to the destruction of Babylon. Jeremiah chapter 50, and verse 40 (Jer 50:40) says: As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors, declares the Lord, no man will live there nor will any man reside in it… And even the smoke itself that Abraham sees arising from these cities is exactly how Babylon’s destruction is described in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 19, verses 2 and 3 (Rev 19:2-3) of Babylon’s destruction says: BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great prostitute who was corrupting the earth with her sexual immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER. And a second time they said, Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES FOREVER AND EVER… That’s what Abraham saw when he went back to the special place where he had met God and he saw the destruction of the cities. 49:15
I’m telling you folks, the future is not complicated to figure out if you understand the past. Charles Ryrie in his Ryrie study Bible says,

Charles Ryrie – The Ryrie Study Bible
“Genesis 19:29 (RSB:NASB1995U): 19:29 The overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah is used as a warning on several occasions in both the OT (Deut. 29:23; Isa. 1:9–10; Jer. 49:18; Amos 4:11) and NT (Matt. 10:15; 11:23–24; Rom. 9:29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7; Rev. 11:8).”

back to the dominoes in a row, if I’ve had these up yet. You tamper with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and you make it less than what the Bible says. It’s like knocking over dominoes in a row.

One domino falls, they all start to fall. You have no template for the destruction of Babylon, yet future. You have no template for the time period that we are living in today, just before the destruction. Back to Psalm chapter 11, and verse 3 (Psa 11:3), if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? So, Abraham is going back to meet the Lord and he wants to know what happened. This is the spot where he interceded. I think he’s somewhat apprehensive, to be honest with you. God said I’ll spare the city, if I can find ten righteous people there and I guess what Abraham has figured out is there weren’t ten righteous. It reminds me a little bit of Jonah, in the book of Jonah. Remember Jonah in chapter 3, verse 4 (Jonah 3:4) said, yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown and then later on in Jonah chapter 4, it says, then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it and there he made a shelter for himself and sat under the shade until he could see what would happen to the city. I mean, is God really going to wipe out the city as I was led by God to predict back in chapter 3? Abraham, of course, is trying to figure out were there are ten righteous there? And what about Lot? That was his dominant concern and at this point, the only thing Abraham would probably know is that there weren’t ten righteous, cause God said I’ll spare it all, if I can find ten righteous. The motive of Abraham’s prayer was his concern over Lot, a family member, and at this point he really doesn’t know what happened to Lot. So you can see a Lot of apprehensiveness in Abram or Abraham. 52:27

Sodom’s Destruction – Genesis 19:23-29
a) Timing (Gen 19:23)
b) Overthrow (Gen 19:24-25)
c) Lot’s loss (Gen 19:26)
d) Abraham’s response (Gen 19:27-28)
e) Summary (Gen 19:29)

We come to verse 29 (Gen 19:29), which is the last verse that we will look at today, which is sort of a summary statement of the whole thing.

It 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… When it mentions there “it came about that God destroyed the cities of the valley”, it’s talking once again about the cities of the plain. You have God’s action followed by God’s remembrance. What cities in the valley is he talking about? These five cities marked for destruction, one of the five being spared. Another angle of this is this was a fulfillment of prophecy. It was not a long-term prophecy, it was a short-term prophecy, because back in Genesis chapter 19, and verse 13 (Gen 19:13), it says, the destroying angels, 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. This city will be destroyed. These cities will be destroyed and it happened. It’s a short-term prediction. It’s a short-term prophecy and if God’s short-term predictions can happen with such meticulous reliability and accuracy and literalness, why should we doubt his futuristic prophecies? The things yet to come. Such as the prophecies about the destruction of Babylon. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Babylon will rise and fall exactly like Sodom and Gomorrah, because that is what God said would happen. God cannot lie. Jesus in the upper room made reference to this. As He’s sending out His disciples, most of whom to a martyr’s death and He said in John, 13, verse 19 (John 13:19): From now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am He… In other words, I’m going to make some predictions Jesus says that are going to happen this week, passion week and when you watch those predictions right down to my betrayal, betrayed by a friend. Peter I’m predicting your denial of me, your three fold denial. I’m predicting how I’m going to die, I’m predicting how I’m going to come out of the grave, I’m predicting how I’m going to ascend to the Father. This is all going to happen within a very short period of time and when you see these happen, you’ll have no doubts in your mind as to who I am. The short-term prophecies confirm His identity, the short-term prophecies confirm the long-term prophecies. Genesis 14:29: Now I’ve told you before it happens so that when that happens you may believe… There is a lot of spiritual junk food out there. Particularly in this area, Bible prophecy today. A lot of stuff is just a waste of your time, because it’s overly speculative, it’s overly sensational and you really need to start taking into your soul some sound material, like this book here, I’ve recommended it several times by the late John Walvoord.

It’s called “Every Prophecy of the Bible”, it’s an amazing book, because he goes through every prediction made in the Bible some fulfilled, some unfulfilled and you look at the fulfilled prophecies and you see over and over again that exactly what God said what happened, happened and therefore, that gives us a growing faith that the prophecies yet to come will take place as well. This is why this discussion of Sodom and Gomorrah is foundational. But you see something else happening there in verse 29 (Gen 19:29), it’s God’s remembrance.

It says: Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley… Watch this now… that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived… God remembered Abraham, what in the world does that mean? Does that mean that God forgets? Poor God had a senior moment. That’s not what the word remember means in Hebrew. Remember Genesis, 8, verse 1 (Gen 8:1)? God remembered Noah. It’s not like, Oh! No, where Noah go? I forgot. Like losing your car keys or something.
Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 175, 328

“The word remember does not mean remember in the sense that God temporarily forgot about the ark and its inhabitants; rather it means remembering in the sense of movement toward the object. For example, in Genesis 19:29, God remembered Abraham with a view to saving Lot; in Exodus 2:24, God remembered his covenant with the Patriarchs with a view to rescuing Israel; in Jeremiah 2:2, God remembered Israel with a view toward her restoration; in Jeremiah 31:20, God remembered Ephraim with a view toward extending mercy to him; and in Luke 1:54–55, God remembered Israel with a view toward sending the Messiah to Israel. Furthermore, the sense was that of God remembering a covenant; although in this case the covenant itself had not yet been made. He said earlier in chapter 6, that He would establish His covenant with Noah. Furthermore, in 7:4 God remembered that the rain would only last forty days. All these usages fit into the word ‘remember.’ God’s action is described: God remembered Abraham. Once again, the word ‘remember’ does not mean that God forgot; rather it means remember in the sense of taking action on behalf of. Therefore, God remembered Abraham; He remembered the Abrahamic Covenant; He remembered Abraham’s real concern was Lot.”

So when it says, God remembered Abraham, it’s not somehow saying God had a senior moment. What it’s saying is God made a promise and now is the time in history to take action towards that promise. That’s what remembrance means. 1:00:08
God had promised or said something to Abraham and now was the opportunity and time in history for God to take action consistent with that promise and so what did God do here? He honored Abraham’s request, because when Abraham prayed, back in Genesis, 18, he said Lord, will you destroy the city or cities if you can find ten righteous people there? God said, I’ll spare the cities if I find ten. Abraham probably reasoned to himself as he saw the smoke rising, I guess God didn’t find ten. What has happened to Lot? That’s why Abraham probably is sort of apprehensive here. But the truth of the matter is God saw the intent behind Abraham’s prayer. Abraham, as we discussed, intentionally stopped at ten, because those were the members of Lot’s household and so when it says, God remembered Abraham, what it’s saying is: God did not answer Abraham’s prayer the way that Abraham thought it would be answered. But He honored the desire behind the prayer request. The desire which God could see as God looked through omniscience at Abraham’s heart, God could see what Abraham was interested in, the preservation of Lot. God did not spare the city but He got Abraham out before destruction happened. It’s a very interesting and different way of looking at prayer. Dr Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 318
“Sometimes God will not respond positively to specific prayer requests, but He will respond to the desire behind those prayer requests.”

I mean, he didn’t get the prayer answered the way he wanted it answered, but God saw the desire behind the prayer request and He honored that. He remembered that and He said now is the time to put the forces in the motion by which that desire will be honored. You know, I’ve prayed for many things to happen, some of them have happened exactly like I prayed, some of them haven’t, but in hindsight I can tell you from personal experience that while many times God may not answer the prayer request exactly like I wanted, He honors the desire, if the desire is right and the desire is pure. We very sadly underestimate the power of prayer. Lot is the man that was rescued three times. He was rescued in Genesis, 14. He was rescued again by the angels from the wicked crowd in Genesis, 19 and now here’s a third time this man has been rescued. He was taken out of Sodom before destruction fell and why was he rescued this third time the way he was? Because God remembered Abraham’s desire. He never forgot his desire, but He says, I know the desire and now I’ll move my hand in history consistent with that desire. James chapter 5, and verse 16 (James 5:16) says, the effective prayer of a righteous man can availeth much. Do you believe that? I mean, if we believe that, why are we so prayerless about so many circumstances? I think we sometimes get discouraged that God doesn’t move exactly like we would like and He may not. But I think this is true also, if the desire is right, He’ll honor that desire. How it’s answered is sort of up to Him, but prayer changes things. Prayer alters things and so that ends the description biblically of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis, 19, verses 23 through 29 (Gen 19:23-29) and the next time we reconvene, we’ll sort of learn something about Lot that was also true of Lot’s wife.

Destruction Genesis 19:1-38

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)

Getting Lot out of Sodom is easier than getting Sodom out of Lot, because he will continue a godless lifestyle involving his two daughters, verses 30 through 38 (Gen 19:30-38) and that will have tremendous consequences, because from those unholy unions will come the Ammonites and the Moabites, which plagued national Israel throughout her history and so we’ll take a look at that next time. But it is interesting that when judgment comes, God remembers. He can remember His promises. As judgment comes to this earth, which it will, God will look at you as a blood bought saint and remember His promises, not that He forgot His promises, but He will take action consistent with what the original promise was and here’s the promise: If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are spared from the wrath to come. 1st Thessalonians, 1, verse 10 (1 Th 1:10) says that as does 1st Thessalonians, 5, verse 9 (1 Th 5:9) as does Romans, 5, verse 9 (Rom 5:9) as does Romans, 8, verse 1 (Rom 8:1) the very first verse that they recited this morning: For there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. When the wrath of God comes, God remembers you and remembers that Jesus bore the wrath of the Father in our place and you’re covered by the blood of the Lamb and as His wrath comes, you’re spared from experiencing that wrath in any former substance and how do you receive this promise? There’s only one way to receive it: It’s by grace, which means unmerited favor. Meaning you have to receive this as a gift or you can’t receive it and how do you receive a gift from God? Romans, 4, verse 5 (Rom 4:5) says there’s only one way to receive a gift from God and it’s by faith. At some point the spirit convicts a human being of their need to receive this free gift and then the lost sinner through volition as they come under the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit places their trust exclusively in the man Jesus Christ for their eternity, for their salvation, for the safekeeping of their soul. For me it happened when I was 16. I remember coming under the conviction of God, hearing the gospel and placing my faith exclusively in Jesus Christ and it can happen for anybody right now that’s hearing this message in the building, online, archive after the fact, coming under the conviction of the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Sin because they do not believe; righteousness cause they don’t have it and judgment cause it’s coming. That’s one of the great works of the Spirit of God is doing now in the world, is convicting the world of those three things. It’s in John, 16, verses 7 through 11 (John 16:7-11) and as that conviction comes on a person, our exhortation at Sugar Land Bible Church is to respond to that exhortation and conviction and persuasion that only the Holy Spirit can bring and to place your trust in the man Jesus Christ alone. That and that alone saves you from the wrath to come. 1:09
If it’s something that you need more explanation on, I’m available after the service to talk. Shall we pray? Father, we’re grateful for this ancient historical account and yet it’s today. It’s your paradigm. It’s what you have done and it’s what you will do and as we look backward in history and forward to the things that your word says are going to happen, help us as your people to walk wisely in these days, knowing that the days themselves are evil and I pray that you would use us this week as we walk these things out. 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.