Prepare to witness the dramatic unraveling of ancient cities as we journey through the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah's fiery demise. The skies rain sulfur, igniting a reflection on the grave consequences of immorality and the stark lessons it bestows upon us today. Hear about Lot's wife became a monument of salt to the cost of disobedience, and discover how Abraham's intercesory prayers revealed the nature of God's mercy even in the midst of wrath. Our discourse travels through the smoldering embers of judgment to understand the deep-rooted implications of turning away from divine directives.
As the smoke clears, we confront the unsettling decisions made in the shadow of catastrophe, where the lineage of Lot unfolds in ways that would forever alter the course of neighboring civilizations. The birth of the Moabites and Ammonites from a place of desperation will forever affect their history with Israel. This episode is not merely a recounting of ancient times; it's an invitation to examine our walk with God and always be ready for his return. Tune in for a thought-provoking exploration of this timeless narrative and its enduring truths for our lives.
Welcome again to the mysteries of God's Word. Last week we studied how God sent two angels to Sodom to destroy the city and rescue Lot. This week we see the judgment of the Lord pouring down on Sodom and the valley and the reaction of Lot and his daughters, reading in Genesis 19, verse 23,. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zor. Then the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. In these first three verses that we're studying today, we see that Lot had arrived at the city of Zor and when he had, the sun had already risen on the earth and at that moment the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire out of the heaven. The word for sulfur is also translated brimstone in some Bibles. It describes a flammable sulfur. This is a divine judgment by God that is coming out of the sky. The use of the word heaven here refers to the first heaven, the earth's atmosphere. The scripture is clear that the Lord reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah. It is raining sulfur and fire and instead of a cloud opening up and pouring out water, the sky is opening up and pouring out fire and brimstone. The notation that the Lord rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah emphasizes the miraculous nature of this judgment. Furthermore, it wasn't just Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed, but also Adma and Zaboyim. For further research, you can look at Deuteronomy 29-23, jeremiah 49-18, hosea 11-8, and Genesis 19-28 and 29. It was the entire plains of the valley south of the Dead Sea, with the exception of Zor, that was destroyed. All life, including human, animal and plant, were destroyed. In inso-doing, god is foreshadowing for Abraham and for all believers his coming judgment by fire that will one day be poured upon the whole earth at the end of days. For further research on the end-time judgment of fire, you can look at 2 Peter 2.6, 2 Thessalonians 1.8, Isaiah 66.15 and 16, malachi 4.1, zephaniah 1.18, ezekiel 39.6, and Joel 2.3.
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And we read that Lot's wife was behind him and she looked back. You might remember that the angel had warned Lot and his family not to look back or stop when they were escaping back in verse 17. However, lot's wife did not listen to the angel's warning and she looked back and she became a pillar of salt. We're told that she was behind him. It may be implying that she was lingering behind, much like Lot was lingering behind earlier. Perhaps she was hoping to go back and get something in her home and she was killed by the storm that was raining, fire and brimstone. However, the text says that she was not burned up, at least not initially, but that a pillar of salt remained where she stood.
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The example of Lot's wife is a lesson for all who are commanded by God to flee the evil and the judgment of this world and to turn to Jesus Christ and his coming kingdom and not look back. Jesus himself uses Lot's wife as a pointed example of those who will be alive at his return. He teaches that we should be ready ready to leave everything behind and be ready at any moment for the coming of our Lord on the clouds. We read that in Luke 17, 29 through 32, where Jesus says but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them. All Know it will be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop with his goods in his house, not come down to take them away, and likewise, let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. The lesson of Lot's wife is a lesson for all of us today, speaking up in verse 27,.
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And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward the land of the valley. And he looked and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, god remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. We see in verse 27 that when Abraham went out and looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, it describes all the land of the valley and the cities, the plural cities, of the valley. This is a further description of how God judged the entire valley with fire and brimstone. And we see in verse 29 that God remembered Abraham.
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While God did rescue Lot because of Lot's faith, which we see in 2 Peter 2, 7-9, god was remembering Abraham and his intercessory prayer that we talked about last week. Abraham had pleaded for the righteous, and certainly his heart was thinking of his nephew Lot, in the midst of God's coming judgment on Sodom, picking up again in verse 30,. Now Lot went up out of Zor and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zor. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. Now, if you remember from last week, just prior to this judgment on the valley, lot was very afraid to go live in the hills and he asked a favor of the Lord that he could go live in Zor, and in so doing the Lord had spared his judgment on the city of Zor. But now we see, shortly after God's judgment on the valley, with fire and brimstone, lot is afraid to live in the city of Zor. Perhaps the people of Zor themselves were starting to blame Lot for what happened to the valley, or perhaps Lot began to think that God might do to Zor what he had done to the rest of the valley, or maybe, even, perhaps and hopefully, lot finally realized that living against the commands of God was not a healthy thing. So Lot chose to follow the word of the Lord and go to the hills and he found a cave and he lived there with his daughters.
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In verse 31 we read and the firstborn said to the younger Our Father is old and there's not a man on earth to come into us. After the manner of all the earth, come, let us make our Father drink wine, and we will lie with him that we may preserve offspring from our Father. So they made their Father drink wine that night and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose the next day. The firstborn said to the younger Behold, I lay last night with my Father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him that we may preserve offspring from our Father. So they made their Father drink wine that night also, and the younger one arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. When we read these four verses they seem quite disturbing. We know from our study last week that lots daughters were virgins and the men that they were engaged to marry had just died in the fire in Brimstone.
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The statement that there's not a man on earth to come into us has an emphasis on the lineage of their Father. In ancient culture, the absence of a blood heir was being erased from history. His daughters must have known that there were men in Zor, but at this point they were not an option. And now we see the disturbing statement come out of the daughter's mouth Let us make our Father drink wine and we will lie with him. This shows the danger of an immoral social culture in both individuals and our families. Proverbs 13.20 says Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 1 Corinthians 15.33 says Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals.
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The consequences for Lot compromising his faith was that his children did not learn God's principles and his entire family had become corrupted with the ideas of the sexually immoral culture of Sodom and Gomorrah. And now his daughters, in fear of never having a husband or children, planned to commit this abomination with their father. We also read that Lot did not know when she laid down or when she arose. Lot's daughters had gotten him intoxicated to the point of not being fully aware of what he was doing. This may be difficult for some of us to understand, but it further describes the compromise of Lot in his life, showing that he would even allow himself to get drunk to such a state and then be taken advantage of sexually by someone while he was in such a state.
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And we read in verse 36, thus, both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He's the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also bore a son and called his name Benami. He's the father of the Ammonites to this day. Both the Moabites and the Ammonites are found throughout Scripture, and we see throughout Scripture that Israel had a primarily friendly but yet mixed relationship with both of these nations, in some ways reflective to the relationship between Abraham and Lot. Thank you for joining me this week and God bless you.