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  Week 14:  "Judgement and the Unfaithful Heart of Fools"  

Contents of this week’s study:

Day One: Miscommunication

Day Two: Lot's Bargain

Day Three: Don't Look Back

Day Four: Not Even Ten

Day Five: Fear and Desperation

Day Six: Shemah - Section Three  

Day One: Miscommunication    

Genesis 19:12-14 (CJB)  

12 The men (messagers or angels) said to Lot, “Do you have any people here besides yourself? Whomever you have in the city — son-in-law, your sons, your daughters — bring them out of this place; 13 because we are going to destroy it. Adonai has become aware of the great outcry against them, and Adonai has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up and leave this place, because Adonai is going to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law didn’t take him seriously.  

1.     Oh, my friends, how tragic! Lot’s sons in law did not take him seriously. What happened here? Obviously, there was a miscommunication somewhere.   

2.     Look at the angel’s words again, did the angel tell lot to get people out?  

3.     Did the angel make it clear that time had run out for Sodom?  

4.     Was it clear that Adonai was aware of the infestation of the disease of sin and the corruption in Sodom and that it was spreading like a wildfire across the plains?   

5.     Did the Angel state clearly that God had ordered the city destroyed?  

6.     What would you say is the kindest thing God can do in a situation where bad choices have released a flood of disease, pain and agony which threatens to destroy an ever - increasing number of lives?    

In the Strong’s:  

Genesis 19:14B“But his sons-in-law didn’t take him seriously”: This is worded differently in the KJV, “But he seemed as one that mockedunto his sons in law”.    

Mocked6711H tsachaq, tsaw-khak; (PR); to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn); by implication, to sport: --- laugh, mock, play, make sport.  

7.     According to this definition, how would you say Lot presented this vital warning?  Destroy7843H shâchath, shaw-khath´; (PR); to decay, i.e. (causative) ruin (literally or figuratively): --- batter, cast off, corrupt (-er, thing), destroy (-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, x utterly, waste (-r).  

8.     In your opinion could Lot actually have conveyed this as a serious warning to his sons in law?   

9.     Could it be that they were all aware of the detestable state of the city and made a regular practice of joking about it, but actually had become so corrupted by it that they could not imagine life without it’s – stimulations?  

There are several details we need to point-out before we discuss an urgent warning for our day which I believe is revealed very clearly in this tragedy.    

1)    Last week we discussed that it appeared that the men of Sodom had let Lot think he was a great sage and that they respected him, but when he tried to quell their demands they turned on him and would have raped or murdered him if the angels hadn’t saved him.   

2)    Lot and his family seem to have really liked their carnal lifestyle and Lot most certainly utilized his “title” as a sage. They didn’t want to leave as will become very clear in our next paragraph.  

3)    It seems Lot had married his daughters off to ungodly and very unworthy men. It seems that these sons in law were just as involved in the culture in Sodom as Lot because they didn’t respond with reverence of Adonai which undoubtedly would have saved them. He probably used his daughters to leverage his own financial and political gain. If so, Lot’s married daughters died an awful death because of their father’s ambitions.   

4)    Lot clearly dropped the ball. He had not been living a righteous life style, and he had not been sharing God with those around him. His own daughters and their husbands thought he was joking about Adonai’s judgement. Could it be Lot had made a practice of joking about his uncle Avraham’s faith and about the futility of adhering to Biblical standards? Now, all of a sudden, Lot is saying the God of Avraham is going to destroy Sodom because of the great sin culture there. Do you see how our lifestyle along with how we present the gospel in our daily lives has a great bearing on whether others receive or even perceive our message?    

5)    Lot did not revere Adonai. Lot went to share the warning the angels had given him with those he, supposedly, loved, but instead of stressing the impending doom and firmly urging his kids to get out of the city as quickly as possible, he seemed to be joking to his sons in law. Whatever else happened, Lot softened the message and his kids refused to leave.    

*I have a suspicion that Lot was like many people in the church today. I imagine he did not see the value of a relationship with God and, therefore, had very little understanding of God’s nature and character. I imagine he chose to focus on God only as the loving creator and refused to grasp the righteous judge who has a right to condemn and destroy His creation.    

*How many Christians today think it would be a waste of this life to worry about God’s impending judgement? How many of us are guilty of softening the Bible’s message of coming judgement which has been prophesied throughout the scriptures. How many are worrying more about our status among the worldly minded than our eternal soul or the souls of those around us?  

Genesis 19:15-16 (CJB)  

15 When morning came, the angels told Lot to hurry. “Get up,” they said, “and take your wife and your two daughters who are here; otherwise you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he dallied, so the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand and the hands of his two daughters — Adonai was being merciful to him — and led them, leaving them outside the city.   

*My friends, don’t miss what the author is relaying to us here. Lot was told that if he didn’t leave the plain, he and his family would be destroyed in the judgement right along with their wicked neighbors, but when Lot weighed the blood (or death) price of staying to indulge his flesh against sacrificing his lifestyle to be delivered, he found his lifestyle was too difficult to leave. This is the deception we are risking if we don’t commit to knowing God and His righteousness and wash ourselves free from the sickness and perversion of the world. The only way to be cleansed from the influence of the world is to commit to constantly pressing in to be filled with Yeshua’s presence.  

*Lot dallied, he laid in bed refusing to respond to the angel’s urgent message, and had to be told to get up and go. Lot’s family was dallying too. None of these people wanted to give up their worldly lifestyle or to accept that their evil city was actually going to be destroyed. The angels finally had to take all these people by the hand and force them out of the city. Learn this lesson from sin addicted Lot my friends. Let us take the times we live in and the warning voices proclaiming pending judgement seriously; refuse to let lust rule over us, get ready to leave this place quickly, and by all means, share, stressing the seriousness of the truth we are digging out of the scriptures with those around you every chance you get.    

Day Two: Lot's Bargain  

Genesis 19:17 (TLV)  

17 When they brought them outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the surrounding area! Escape to the hills, or else you’ll be swept away!”  

*Once again, I have to say, this message that was given to Lot before the destruction of the cities of the plain is vitally contemporary. Today, once again, the world is self-destructing around us. It is only a matter of time before Jehovah brings judgement. If we are going to stand for God we must get out of worldliness; out of worldly mindsets, out of worldly lifestyles, out of worldly or carnal appetites. As Jehovah’s messengers told Lot and his family, “Go! And don’t look back!   

Yeshua said; in Matthew 10:37-39 (TLV)  

37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me isn’t worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me isn’t worthy of Me. 38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me isn’t worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  

Genesis 19:18-22 (TLV)  

18 But Lot said to them, “No, my Lord, please! 19 Look, please, your servant has found favor in Your eyes and You have magnified Your merciful loyalty, which You have shown me by letting me live. But I can’t escape to the hill country—for the disaster will overtake me and I’ll die! 20 Look, please, this city is close enough to flee there, and it’s little. Please let me escape there. Isn’t it small? And let me live!”  21 So He said to him, “Behold, I will grant your request concerning this matter too—not to demolish the city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry! Flee to safety there, because I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This is why the town is named Zoar, little or small).  

*This is outrageous! Lot has been rescued from certain death and given the chance to escape, but in verse nineteen, he’s standing there bargaining!    

*Lot notes that he has found favor in the eyes of God, but I think he has taken God’s love for granted. Lot is just sure that he is favored by God because the messengers made sure he had ample opportunity to take advantage of God’s free gift of salvation, but he truly has no intention of overcoming his tendency to compromise.    

*Lot was right, Jehovah had shown incredible mercy to this backslidden family, just as He shows mercy to each of us today. Jehovah’s mercy, however, provides the way. We must choose to accept the gift and follow God’s commands. Lot has an incredible opportunity, but as we see very clearly in the next few verses, this man simply refuses to put the world behind him.  

*As we already noted, Lot has been given the chance for a brand new beginning. Lot is told to race to high ground. What he asks for, however, is to be allowed to stay in the plain but only in a “little city", which translates to a place of "little sins". Friends, if we are bargaining with God that we will give up our big sins if we can hold on to our, so called, “little sins”, we are asking for our own destruction; as “little sins”, as it is with little cities, grow, and the cycle of trouble will begin all over again. I’m not saying that it is easy let go of our cravings and make the move to high ground, but we must not delude ourselves into thinking that Jehovah will allow a bunch of unruly, unrepentant subjects in His kingdom.  

Answer the following questions using today’s scripture and Avraham’s bargain with God in Genesis 18:23-33 or from Day Four of Part Seventeen (in the archives).  

1. Note in vs. 19, was the disaster (evil in KJV- see below) Lot was so worried about "overtaking him" the destruction from Jehovah (remember, the angel had just told Lot to escape there for safety), or was Lot generalizing (a) calamity instead of (the) disaster? In other words, was Lot making excuses to stay on the plains, saying he could not live entirely without vises and that he wanted to be weaned off sin rather than go cold turkey (euphemism for quitting something all at once) which he thought would just cause him to want to sin even worse.    

From the Strong’s:  

Disaster (evil in the KJV) 7451H ra´, rah; bad (as noun), evil (natural or moral), adversity, affliction … wicked (-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) … from 7489H raw-ah; (PR); properly, to spoil ( literally by breaking in pieces); figuratively to make (or be) good for nothing, i.e. bad (physically, socially or morally) … (do) wicked, (doer, -ly), be (deal, do) worse.  

2.     Did Lot bargain for someone else’s salvation or to get what he wanted?  

3.     Did Avraham bargain for someone else’s salvation or to get what he wanted?   

4.     Did Lot acknowledge that he was not worthy to question almighty God?  

5.     Did Avraham acknowledge that he was not worthy to question almighty God?  

6.     If Avraham hadn’t interceded for Lot and his family, do you think they would have been spared? Remember that this family had to be led out under force. Do you think your prayers of intercession work in the same way as Avraham’s?   

7.     Write what you find is the most telling difference between Avraham’s and Lot's bargain with God. This should be something that reveals the difference in the two men’s hearts.  

8.     What do you make of Lot’s request to live in the place of “small sin”?  

*I think we’re safe to assume that Lot was spared because Avraham, the friend of God, found favor, and it was Avraham’s heart that Lot be given another chance as we saw when Avraham so boldly bargained with God for even just ten righteous souls in the city. Jehovah knows what’s in our hearts, and what is in our hearts will always come to the surface. We'll soon get another small glimpse of Lot’s troubled heart.