GENESIS

April 1, 2017

 By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Today we are back in Genesis and on chapter 19, which is about the destruction of the city of Sodom. The Biblical story of the sin of Sodom is about the men of the city trying to break down Lot’s door when they discovered he had male visitors and they ALL wanted to have sex with them. Which in and of itself would be enough in my humble opinion. Rape, be it homosexual or heterosexual is a terrible thing. 

 

But when we look at the Book of Jasher (pages 38-41) we find all sorts of reasons why the Lord told Abraham that, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous, ²¹I shall go down now and see whether they have done everything I told them, which has come to Me.” (Genesis 18:20-21)

 

So in Jasher there is a subtitle called Sodom’s Wickedness. And the first paragraph reads like this:

In those days all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the whole five cities, were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord and they provoked the Lord with their abominations, and they strengthened in aging abominably and scornfully before the Lord, and their wickedness and crimes were in those days great before the Lord. (pg 38)

 

So as to give them a fair trial and not paint the sinful cities with just one brush, let’s look at what this historical writing says was going on:

 

1.     Four times a year all the cities would gather together for what can only be described as a paganistic free-for-all at the surrounding fountains in the countryside about a half a day’s journey from town. Then they all sang and danced and had a good time! Then we read that it culminated with the following:

And in the time of rejoicing they would all rise and lay hold of their neighbor’s wives, and some, the virgin daughters of their neighbors, and they enjoyed them, and each man saw his wife and daughter in the hands of his neighbor and did not say a word.

 

2.     Then when a stranger came to town who was a vendor, they would all converge upon him, take all his wares and split everything among them, so that when he complained or had the nerve to tell a judge, everyone would go to him and show him the little bit that they had of his, saying that he gave it to them, and he was violently ushered out of town empty and broke.   

 

3.     Then all the judges of the five cities got together (Sodom, Gomorrah, Zabnac, Admah and Zeboyim) and had the ingenious idea to put several beds in the middle of the town squares, so any strangers who came to town would have a public place to be raped and tortured after the sun went down. 

 

4.     If a poor person stumbled into town, they would all gather together and give them silver and gold (wait for it…) and then make a decree that no one is to give them or allow them to buy any food! And on the assumption that they would not let them leave either, Jasher tells us that should the poor person die of starvation while there, everyone would take back what they had given him, fight over his clothes, and then bury him naked under some bushes.

 

5.     Now in the city of Admah, a traveller came into town, was staying out in the courtyard and asked a young woman for a drink of water. She gave it to him, with a little bread (not good). The next morning when someone discovered that she had been nice to this stranger, she was brought before the Judge who sentenced her to death for it! So the whole town dragged her out, covered her from head to toe with honey and threw her into a swarm of bees where she was stung until she died!! 

 

Are you catching the drift of the whole areas wickedness? Is it any wonder the Lord was upset with these people? But before we get to their destruction, there is a story in here that actually isn’t so bad (comparatively speaking):

 

Sarah sent Eliezer (Abraham’s main slave and the one he would make his heir had the Lord not given him a son) to Sodom to see how Lot and his family were doing. So he went, and when he arrived he saw some of the townsmen beating up on this man (no surprise) and Eliezer went to help him. Well one man picked up a rock and hit him in the forehead making him bleed. Then had the nerve to demand money from him because he released all the bad blood from his forehead. Well Eliezer was astonished by this and they took it before the Judge. The Judge of course sided with the citizen of Sodom and demanded that Eliezer pay him for his medical services, for such is the custom and the law of our land. So Eliezer picked up a rock, threw it at the Judge, drawing blood from his forehead and told him not to bother paying him for his services, but to pay the man he owed! And Eliezer left the man of Sodom with the judge, and he went away. Is that Godly wisdom or what? 

 

Taking all this into consideration, is it any wonder that the sins of these cities and the cries of their victims caught the attention of our Lord? 

 

When 2^nd Peter reviews the destiny of Sodom and Gomorrah, we learn that in the Lord’s eyes, Lot was a righteous man, “and He rescued righteous Lot, when he was tormented by the way of life of the lawless in sensuality, ⁸for that righteous man, as he lived among them day after day, was tormented, a righteous being, in seeing and hearing unrighteous works.” (2:7-8)

 

We may not think of him that way because he does offer up is two virgin daughters to the mob crashing down his door to get at the two angels who he talked out of sleeping in the town square that night (see Genesis 19:1-8).

 

But listen to this exchange, “‘I pray you, brothers, do not behave so wickedly. ⁸Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: let me, I pray you, bring them out to you to do to them as is good in your eyes. Only to these men do nothing, for therefore they came under the shadow of my roof.’  ⁹And they said, ‘Stand back!’ And they said again, ‘This one came in to sojourn and he thinks he is a judge. Now we will deal worse with you then with them.’ And they pressed sore upon the man, Lot, and came near to break the door.” (19:7-9) We will now see that Lot was standing outside with them face-to-face while this whole exchange was going on! He may not have had all the righteousness he should have had, but you have to give it to him for courage! 

 

And now the angels finish what the sinners started, “But the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door. And they struck the men that were at the door with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.” (19:10-12)

 

The next morning, and angels rushed Lot, his wife Ado, and his two [virgin, I think] daughters out of the city before the fire and brimstone came down and destroyed it. Verse 14 tells us that Lot tried to get his sons-in-law to come too, but they didn’t believe him. And why would they? They were raised in Sodom and probably had no clue as to Who the real God was, save for what Lot had told them – and all we know was that it wasn’t enough to convert them, or they would have left with him. 

 

The reason why I think Lot left with his two remaining virgin daughters (just a theory) is because of how this chapter ends. 

 

Back to Jasher for a minute, the city’s turning on Lot and his family wasn’t a new thing. Jasher tells us that he had a daughter named Paltith, who was brought before the Judges for feeding a poor man whom the townsfolk were waiting to starve to death. For this she was thrown into a fire and burned to ashes. Why Lot stayed is beyond me! 

 

But he, his wife and two daughters finally got out with strict orders not to look back. Genesis 19:26 says, “But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt.” Jasher says her compassion was moved on account of her daughters who remained in Sodom, for they did not go with her. I would assume they were her married daughters, who stayed with their husbands.

 

“You are the salt of the Earth…” Y’shua tells us in Matthew 5:13. Perhaps her witness was more about her heart than it was her momentary and compassionate disobedience. Just a thought. 

 

So I think the two single daughters who were the ones who so shamelessly and sinfully got their father drunk two nights on a row and became pregnant by him, weren’t all that righteous either; and probably weren’t too thrilled with him offering them up like he did the night before as well. 

 

Genesis 19:32-38 tells us how two new tribes of people were born. Lot (although he had no idea at the time, the Bible tells us) and his oldest daughter had a son and named him Moab. 

 

Note the Lord’s mercy: Y’shua has a Moabitess in His family tree. Her name was Ruth, and she was King David’s great, great grandmother. The Old Testament Book of Ruth tells her story. It’s a good one! AND Ruth’s mother-in-law was Rahab, the spy the saved the spies in Jericho! Two non-Hebrew believers in His earthly family.

 

Other than Ruth and David, the Moabites and the Hebrews were enemies off and on throughout ancient history. But when John quotes Y’shua as saying “For God so loved the world…”, it is proven more than once in His own genealogy!

 

Lots’ second family of incestuous descendants were from him and his younger daughter, and he was named Ben-ammi, the father of the Ammonites. They were enemies of the Hebrews straight up. 

 

But the Lord was good to Lot and Abraham. We don’t hear any more about Lot until Peter calls him righteous, but that also means that he was not forgotten in Hebrew history.

 

And Genesis 19:27-29 tells us about Abraham at that time, “And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD. ²⁸And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and there is was! The smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹And it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered 
Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelled.” 

 

And I’m more than sure that He made sure Abraham knew that Lot was alright, because He’s merciful. Always has been, always will be. 

 

So when you feel overwhelmed by life or the world’s sinful surroundings – “Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be in awe! Do not be dismayed because of this great multitude! For the battle is not yours, but God’s…Stand still and see the salvation of the LORD with you!’” (2^nd Chronicles 20:15-17)                                                            

                                                                              SHALOM!