Gensesis 19:1-26
Some History of Text/Sodom and Gomorrah:
- An Appearance and A Promise – Genesis 17:1-5b
Application: I am changing you….your name, your place and your future!
A Covenant is forged & Secured!
Transition: Jumping ahead some….
- Abram Receives three strangers – Genesis 18:1-15
- Abram understood/recognized their significance.
- Next year…Sarah will have a baby! Sarah wasn’t sure she laughed).
Lord says to Abram, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’
Application: Is there anything that God can’t do for you and I tody? Anything he can’t turn around, heal, and use for our future?
- The Problem with ‘Sin City’ Sodom – Chapters 18 & 19
The Lord has seen the wickedness of a people!
His plan is to destroy the city!
Question: Lord asks the Strangers, ‘Should I let Abraham in on plan?’
The answer is, ‘Of course…’
- This would spare Abraham and his family
- Keep the covenant promise of Abraham’s lineage
- Abraham Intercedes for ‘Sin City’ – Genesis 18:16f
- Lord if I/You can find 10 righteous…will you spare?
- Sin City Destroyed – Genesis 19:1-26 (Text)
Transition: Enter Lot, Abraham’s nephew.
- Casualities Noted – Genesis 19:26
Lot’s Wife Looked Back!
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Role/Place/Properties of Salt
- Salt as a Reality/Necessity
- Salt is a fundamental necessity of life, and has been used since ancient times in many cultures as a seasoning, a preservative, a disinfectant, a component of ceremonial offerings, and as a unit of exchange.
- Salt as part of Religious Activity
- Leviticus (2:13) and Ezekiel (43:24) make it evident that salt was an important part of ancient Hebrew religious sacrifice. “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13) Also, salt was always cast on the burnt offering (Ezekiel 43:24), and was part of the incense offered in the Temple (Exodus 30:35). Moreover, even newborn babies were rubbed with salt, as we read in Ezekiel: “As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.” (Ezekiel 16:4)
- Salt as Relational
- But salt was also widely and variably used symbolically in ancient Israel. The books of Numbers and 2 Chronicles present salt as the symbol that confirms friendship between parties. Eating salt together, in fact, was (and still is) a sign of friendship in some regions in the Mediterranean.
Application: Like us having ‘coffee with someone’ today.
Question: What does friendship with the world / looking back reflect?
Question: What might we learn/believe about what Lot’s wife did?
At minimal….Lot’s wife had:
- A Curiosity / An Affinity / Connection / Deire to-with Sin.
Some commentators believe she was looking back to see if her daughters were following behind or if her father’s house was surviving the wrath.
- The story warns believers of the consequences of looking back on their previous life of sin before salvation. Such pondering will usually return us to past sins.
- There is no room or time to worry about the things we leave behind in our journey forward with Christ.
- In order to grow spiritually, we must place our trust in God, not dwell in our past.
Application:What good does looking back at our past do to help us? None!
A glimps / reminder of negative / past history only brings pain, depression, doubt, anger and discouragement.
Truth Bomb! Judgement engulfed Lot’s wife because her affections were with Sodom, now with God!
Transition: The second thing we can definitely see that resulted in Lot’s wife is that it impeded (in this case permanently) her future progress.
Transition:
- Impeeds Progress
Jeremiah 29:11 is good here!
- We must follow God knowing his will is perfect and He will be present with the believer each step of our life’s journey.
We can’t dwell on the negative past!
Conclusion: With any curiosity / affinity with sin comes the consequence of sin! Don’t look back!
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