Gen 18:22-19:28

Review: as we discussed last week, Sodom's sin (and the other cities) was not just homosexuality but prosperity without a concern for the poor, haughtiness, and sexual immorality in general

Gen 18:22-33 (ESV) So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" 26 And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27 Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." 29 Again he spoke to him and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." 31 He said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.



• This passage (chapter 18) is a good illustration of fellowship with God and the elements or essential features
1. Sacred intimacy (shared a meal)
2. Genuine humility
3. Special revelation (into God's plan)
4. Unique association (it is not merely knowing God's will but becoming associated with God in carrying out that will -- Abraham prays)
• Verse 22 is a very difficult verse to understand.  The Jews admit to making a change.  It, as far as we can tell, read "but the Lord remained standing before Abraham."  The Jews could not accept God standing before a man, so they changed it.  They are very few of these changes and they are documented by the Jewish scribes
• Gen. 18:22.—“But Abraham stood yet before the LORD.” The primitive text was “The LORD stood yet before Abraham.” It was felt to be derogatory for the Lord to stand and wait Abraham’s pleasure; and so the text was altered, as we have it in the present Hebrew Bible and all its versions. (Bullinger, E. W. (1898). Figures of speech used in the Bible (p. 1018). London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co.)
• What changes when you realize that God was standing before Abraham?
• God was waiting for Abraham
• God wanted Abraham to intercede for Lot
• Why did Abraham stop at 10?
• He thought there must be at least 10 people
• He thought that Lot had some influence on the people
• Noah had 8 and God did not save the entire world
• God knows exactly how many righteous people there are in the town
• The implication is that God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked
• Instead God removes the righteous but still destroys the city
• Finally, what does it truly mean "to be righteous"?
• [OPTIONAL Verses] Emphasize boldness with God in prayer (like Abraham)
• Luke 11:5-10 (ESV) And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,  6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him';  7 and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'?  8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.  9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
• Luke 18:1-8 (ESV) And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'  4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man,  5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'"  6 And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?   Will he delay long over them?  8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
• APPL:  What or who is God waiting for me to pray for or about?


Gen 19:1-3 (ESV) The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, "My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the town square." 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.



• There are at least two observations we can make about Lot from this passage, what are they?
• He was thoroughly integrated into the city and the culture -- he sat at the city gates. Oftentimes that is a place of prominence. Elders would sit there to resolve disputes or to finalize business transactions
• He was absolutely convinced that it would be dangerous for the men to spend the night in the town square
• Who (Sodom's culture or Lot's faith) affected who more?
• Sodom changed Lot, Lot did not change Sodom
• Lot was part of the culture and yet Lot knew there was something wrong about the culture
• So, why didn't Lot leave?
• It was his eyes that drew him in the original direction
• He started into sin (the area was known for sin before Lot made his choice), and he got deeper and deeper into the culture of sin
• Apparently Lot knew what was wrong but did little to change it (or wasn't able to)
2 Peter 2:7–8 (ESV) — 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
• APPLICATION: Do I impact the culture around me or does the culture impact me?


Gen 19:4-14 (ESV) But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5  And they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them." 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8  Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof." 9 But they said, "Stand back!" And they said, "This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, "Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.



• Who comes to the door?
• The whole town, down to the last man
• Young and old
• What do they come to his door for?
• Sex, as implied by his willingness to give his daughters
• We really don't understand this culture. Hospitality is ingrained in Lot so much that he is willing to give his daughters to the men (vs. 8, also Judges 19:23-25)
• Also, why don't the men of the city show hospitality?
• It is a very strange situation
• What is their charge against Lot
• That he was trying to be their judge
• Possibly, he was a judge, which is why he sat at the city gates
• Still, he apparently did little to curb their behavior -- which is maybe why he was accepted
• Incidentally, we now know why the angels had no fear of sleeping in the square
• Sometimes we think that God needs our help
• His sons-in-law, pledged to his daughters (from the context), are not willing to leave -- and in a very real sense, are unbelievers
• Why could Lot not convince his future sons-in-law?
• Lot could not even make an impact on those who would have known him the best
• Lot had zero witness
• APPLICATION: What is my role in God's plan? Am I willing to go where he wants me to go? Or do I limit how and where I can serve God?


Gen 19:15-28 (ESV) As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city." 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." 18 And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!" 21 He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.



• Lot's first mistake is in his response to the word of God?
• He lingers in his rebellion
• Interestingly, why does God take action to save Lot? And how does that affect Lot's free will?
• The angels seize him, his wife, and his two daughters
• The explanation is that God was merciful (defn: you don't get what you deserve)
• Maybe it is in response to Abrahams's prayer
• It seems to force Lot's response
• And yet it is not forced, in fact, there were certain conditions besides being left on their own
• Lot fights against the instruction of the angels -- what does that hint at?
• Possibly, Lot has always been struggling with God's direction
• He was supposed to stay in the promise land, but he goes out when given the chance
• Lot was passive aggressive in his obedience -- a sort of "yes, but no, I will do it my way"
• Why do you think Lot's wife looked back?
• Luke 17:32–33 (ESV) — 32 Remember Lot’s wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.
• Jesus suggests she was trying to save her life
• Do you see the significance of verses 27 and 28 in terms of the whole story?
"His legacy, Moab and Ammon (37f.), was destined to provide the worst carnal seduction in the history of Israel (that of Baal-Peor, Nu. 25) and the cruelest religious perversion (that of Molech, Lv. 18:21)."Kidner, p. 136, Bible and Spade 11:1


• APPL: To what degree do I involve God in the choices I make?
• APPL: Does the presence of godly people save a city or a nation?
• What if the "sin is exceedingly grave (verse20)?"
• Can it delay judgment?
2 Thessalonians 2:6–7 (ESV) — 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.