Oh, my brothers and sisters, this morning, I haven't really found, I don't really understand, I never really asked you, Cerise, why you always call me good bishop, and it's just one of those funny things, good bishop, I'm like, okay, yeah, and so, why are you so heavy today, and I am, I just confess, I am just heavy,

heavy, heavy today, I sent an email, text message out to the elders earlier this week, please pray for me, I spent probably six hours after worship last Sunday, in my office, put together, I knew where we were going this week, Genesis 19, it's the worst chapter in the world that you could try to cover, as a congregation, so, and then I came in Monday, and through all seven and a half pages that I had put together, threw it all away, and started all over again,

we're in Genesis 19, and we continue our study, the expository study of the book of Genesis, this is a hard, if you are, if you are visiting with us this morning, I just want to say welcome, welcome, glad you're here, please grab a, a card that's located in the chair in front of you, make sure you fill it out, give us some information about you, put it in one of the churches up here, put it in the back, if you have, you've brought your check today, that's for a thousand dollars for the church, you just go ahead and put it in one of those churches right there, one in the back,

if you brought your check for five dollars for the church today, that's where they goes anyways, that's where we receive our gifts and offerings, we're glad you're here, normally we don't cover everything, and not everything that we cover is such a heavy and hard topic, but the reality is sometimes when you go through things in an expository manner, you hit some hard, good morning, good morning guys, I just saw you here visiting, yes, all the way from the west coast, you moved back, I did not know that, amen, welcome back, yes, we paused every

thing, yes, good morning, yes, today's message is entitled, it's the best title I could come up with as I went through it, is horrible at every turn, horrible at every turn, I was going to put Jerry Springer, I was coming up with a lot of other things, but this is just horrible, horrible, horrible at every turn, one of the first things I want to say as we begin Genesis 19,

is that one of the reasons why I'm committed to this verse by verse exposition of scripture is precisely because if we are not committed to the verse by verse study of God's word, then inevitably what we will try to do is we will try to find passages of scripture that we believe have priority for our preaching, and that's where we'll go.

And so what we would do is we would take highlights from the book of Genesis, okay, just highlights from the book of Genesis, and even if we teach this a highlight, and teach exposition in that text, it lends itself to be taken out of context, and it lends itself to be disconnected from the flow of scripture as well too, when you do that.

But there's another problem, and that is that you will not choose to preach some texts altogether, to be quite honest with you, and there are many pastors who will never preach certain texts of scripture that demand the preaching.

Genesis 19, Genesis 19 is one of those chapters, and if you are picking passages and texts to preach, this would never be one that you would choose.

I mean, maybe you would take something in 19, and you would talk about how Lot's wife got turned to a pillar of salt because she turned back, and so the Lord is saying, if he's moving you forward, don't turn back and look, don't turn back and look, and that's what God's got a new day for you.

No, that's not what it's saying at all. You miss it. But I've heard that preached. I've heard that preached. It's out of context of the whole entirety of scripture.

There is a small amount of truth to that, but there's a bigger truth that's going on here.

19 is difficult. It's not difficult because it's difficult to understand. What makes it difficult is that it's so horrifying.

But it's very important for us for a very urgent reason.

And we're in a portion of Genesis that makes it very clear how important Abraham is to the flow of biblical history.

All right? And it is the flow of the beginning of God's covenantal history.

Okay? The covenant has already been made with Abraham.

God said, through you, your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

You know, that's the Abrahamic covenant, okay, that's been given out.

And Abraham becomes a type.

All right. And we need to understand by means of biblical narrative, both the positive and the negative examples that are given to us in the realm of Scripture. And it's interesting that we can't really figure out one without the other. Are you with me on that? Okay, it's a, this is the four, it's the format of literature. You know, it's the format. It's a staple of Hollywood. It's consistent all throughout all human generations and cultures.

Stories tend to have a good guy and a bad guy. You think about it. That way we can say, oh, that's the good and that's the bad. He wears the white hat. He wears the black hat. I see the difference. Okay. So Scripture will point these things out.

And we've been given clues already about Lot. And we know about Lot by the time we arrived to Genesis 19. He's the nephew of Abraham. It was Abram. He's now Abraham. God's changed his name. Lot was with his people.

Uh, following, uh, following Abram when they left Ur of the Chaldeans and made their way into what the, what we have is the promised land now. And we understand at the same time, Lot and his people and Abraham and his people, um, there was, uh, Genesis 13 tells us that there was too, they were too close in proximity.

That there was too, there were too many people and the land couldn't, couldn't take care of both of them. And so, uh, Abraham, he says, Hey, you choose, you choose for yourself. You want this? You want the East? I'll take the West. You take the right? I'll take the left. It doesn't matter.

You choose. And this becomes even more important now as we see this. And let's turn back to Genesis 13 and look at this real quickly. Um, beginning in verse eight, that Abraham, that Abram said to Lot, let there be no strife between you and me and between your, your herdsmen and my herdsmen for where your kinsmen is not the whole land before you separate yourself from me.

If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you take the right, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. He's longing for something that he's familiar with. I miss Egypt. This looks like Egypt. That's where I want. Jump down to verse 11.

So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and Lot journeyed east that they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Okay. So now he's moved to see he settled among the cities, but he's moved his tent. He's pointing everything towards Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

So Lot chooses the fertile land and, but he, he pitches his tent as far as Sodom. Okay. We're already told in verse 13 that the, that the men of Sodom, they're wicked. They're notoriously bad. And Lot has placed himself in an area of great wickedness. And verse 12 says that he settled among the cities of the valley. And the very next chapter, we're going to see that Lot needs to be rescued by his kinsman, Abram, right? Comes along. And there's something, something that we read here that we

needs to be noted that we read before, but it means a lot more now. In verse, in chapter 14, he's speaking of the kings who raided the cities that carried him off in chapter 14, verse 12 says, uh, they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother who was dwelling in Sodom. Okay.

So in the passage of one chapter, we've already been given the indication that Lot chose to live among the cities. And we told, we're told how wicked Sodom was. And then one chapter later, he's described as living in Sodom.

He's no longer happy with being now seeing it. I got to be in it now. I want to be in it. And so one of the things that the scripture is very, very clear about is the descent into temptation, the descent into sinfulness. Okay. Scripture is very clear.

And so the anti-type here is the anti-type of worldliness. And in chapter 19, we see the absolute filling out of this picture of sinfulness and worldliness.

Chapter 19, verse one.

Two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting.

Onened away.

Three.

Okay.

Mamre, it says. Abraham was exactly where he was supposed to be. Abraham was where he was supposed to be doing what he was supposed to be doing. He would see it situated himself to be ready to offer hospitality to these strangers. And we're told that Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. We talked about this a little bit last week, but this, it just shows the deeper progression of Lot. All right. And so, first of all, he's living among the cities of the valley. Then he pitches his tent as far as

Sodom. So, Sodom. And the next chapter, he's living in Sodom. And now he's sitting in the gate. And that means that he's one of the community leaders. He's one of the respected leaders in the community. This also means that he's part of the governing cast in the city. Okay. He's part of the authoritative power structure in Sodom. That's where Lot is now.

Now, verse 2.

And he said, My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet, that you may rise up early and go on your way. They said, No, we will not spend the night. No, no, we will spend the night in the town square.

But he pressed them strongly. So, they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unlimited bread. And they ate.

Now, compare. Abraham was in his tent. He bows down low. Remember, he sought to receive them. And he offered up hospitality to these strangers according to the culture and the rules of the Middle Eastern, you know, hospitality.

Abraham did everything that was right. And in response, the angel said to him, Remember, you do exactly what you said you were going to do, Abraham. Go ahead. You prepare these things.

When Lot says, You must come and stay by my house, they say, Uh-uh. We're not staying. We're going to spend the night in the town square.

And it says, But he pressed them strongly.

Now, we don't know exactly how he pressed them strongly or what that really means.

But he knew that they would not be safe in the town square of that town.

He knew it, that they would not be safe staying there.

But so they acknowledge his argument. For one reason or another, they acquiesce.

And they come to his house. And they begin to his house. And he feeds them.

Verse 4.

Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.

All right. To the point of this, of course, is that it says, With all of the people to the last man, to the last man.

And hearken back, this harkens us back to chapter 18.

Remember where we ended up last week, where Abraham is pleading with the Lord not to destroy the city.

And he pleads, and the plea came down to 10 men.

If you could find 10 righteous men, would you not destroy the city?

But this passage makes it clear that if you take Lot out of the picture, there is not one righteous man in Sodom.

Not one.

Because it says, Every man, from the young to the old, was gathered there at his house.

Every one of them.

Big city.

Big city.

We need to fully understand what's going on here.

Verse 5.

And they called to Lot.

Where are the men who came to you tonight?

Bring them to us, that we may know them, that we may have sex with them.

Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said,

I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man.

Let me bring them out to you, and you do to them as you please.

Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.

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 they drew near to break the door down.

But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.

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.

You know, at various times I reflect that there is not a single children's Bible that tells this story.

It says, The men of Sodom, all of them, both old and young, they surround Lot's house, okay? And they cry out to bring the two men out to come and visit with him, that they may have sex with him, that we may know them, okay?

The context makes it even more clear, because Lot goes out to plead with him, and it's interesting because he closes the door, he closes the door behind him, okay? And he does, because he doesn't want the men inside to hear what's going on outside.

Let me step outside and have this conversation. And he begs them, and he calls them brothers. These men are trying to do it. Brothers. Brothers. That's sickening. Brothers. Do not act so wickedly, okay?

Demonstrating the depravity that's displayed here.

Verse 8. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do with them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come into the shelter of my roof.

This is horrifying. It is horrifying. And it's one of the things that those who will press for the normalization of homosexuality, and they will argue that the Bible really never does condemn homosexuality.

Because for the better part of 40 years now, there have been liberal biblical scholars who come in, and they will teach this, and they will say, and they will argue that the sin of Sodom is not what we traditionally have called Sodomy, that is male-male sex acts.

But rather the sin was inhospitality. That's what they will say. It's inhospitality. Now, we need to note something. Again, we're studying this as it is. We're studying this as it is.

We need to note something very carefully, okay? One of the cardinal sins in the far eastern world was inhospitality. Absolutely, all right?

The Muslim world is famously hospitable. The Jewish world was famously hospitable. The Middle Eastern world, for a number of reasons, and practical reasons, was hospitable.

Hospitality was an absolute moral mandate, all right? To be sure, okay? To be alone in the wilderness, to be alone in the unsheltered desert,

to be without a people, without a tribe, to be without a clan, to be exposed, was almost fatal. It was almost fatal.

So hospitality was not just a matter of kindness or graciousness. It was that. But often, hospitality was a matter of life and death, all right?

And so, what we're reading here are a portrait of inhospitality, no doubt. They are inhospitable to the men who have come to visit among them.

They know them as men. We understand them to be angels. But you cannot take the sexual element out of it.

And to affirm the sin of inhospitality is not to deny the identity of the central identifiable issue of the wickedness here,

which is clearly same-sex lust. It's what it is. It's what it is.

And if there was any question about this, it's answered conclusively, first of all, by the very words that were used here.

They say, bring them out that we may know them.

And in the book of Genesis, there is absolute clarity about what this means.

And so Adam knew his wife. So-and-so knew their wife.

It speaks of being intimate about it.

And furthermore, Lot's response to this, okay, is to offer, for their sexual satisfaction, in the most horrifying way,

his own two virgin daughters.

His own two virgin...

You know, this leads to a whole host of questions, you know.

We don't have time to divulge them all.

But it's apparent within the context of this particular chapter, that when you see this, Lot has some knowledge

that these two men that have come to visit him are not just mere men.

He knows that, okay?

He may not know that they're angels, but they have arrived with an authority, all right?

And that insinuates that they have been...

If they arrive with an authority, that insinuates that they've been sent.

They have been sent.

And so what's taking place here is he doesn't understand everything that's taking place here probably fully, but he understands that there is a... That he has a responsibility here. That there is a responsibility. Going beyond the normal Middle Eastern definition of hospitality, to offer up those...

those who are demanding violently for his male guests for sexual satisfaction, he offers his two daughters. At every level, this is horrifying. This is as a horrifying account as we could ever imagine it to be. Absolutely. It's horrifying. It's horrifying to the lust of these men who are demanding the guests of Lot. It's horrifying in terms of... Lot's here in the first place, and he's in the city gates, and now he's part of the leadership.

in the city. It's horrifying that Lot has to dissuade these two strangers from staying at the city square, because he knows exactly what's going to happen to them. It's horrifying that Lot has a situation that's entirely outside of his control, right here in his house. And it's most horrifying that he offers his two virgin daughters for the sexual satisfaction and the demand of the crowd. It's horrifying on every level.

And it gets worse. And it gets worse. And it gets worse. And you're going to say, well, what's the message for me today? Don't go to Sodom and Gomorrah. It's not there anymore. Okay, we're good. We're good. No, there is a message in this for us.

The crowd turns to Lot. Actually, they turn on Lot. Stand back. They tell him to stand back. And when he doesn't, they actually articulate Lot's dissent. Verse 9.

But they said, stand back. And they said, this fellow came to sojourn. And he's become the judge. Now we'll deal worse with you than with them.

And they pressed hard against the man Lot and drew near to break the door down.

Now, the picture is super clear here that Lot has his back against the door of his very own house.

And there's such force that they are about to break the door down. Lot is losing the situation.

This is, it's very, very clear. And he has lost the argument with the mob. Okay.

And he's losing the situation here. They're about to come in to their house and take these men and have their way with these men.

But these two men on the inside, they reach out their hands and they grab, they grab Lot quickly and they bring him inside.

They bring him inside. And it says, then they struck, they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house.

Boom. Showing divine power. They got some divine power here.

God has given these guys divine power to strike the mob blind.

It says, both small and great so that they wore themselves out, groping for the door.

I mean, how long does that have to take place? You know, you know, I was out back working in the field back there.

I, I wheelbarrowed dirt all up and down the field and I dug holes and put concrete in that hole back there for the fire pit.

And I was, I was still okay. I was tired when I got home.

But how long do you have to grope for the door till you're wore out?

Talk about not quitting.

Not the depravity of people. This shows the depravity of people.

But let's see the further descent. Okay.

Verse 12.

Then the men said to Lot. Now these are, these are the two angels talking to Lot.

Okay. They're in the house. They say a lot.

Have you anyone else here?

Sons-in-laws, daughters, or anyone that you have in the city, bring them out of this place.

For we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against this people has become great before the Lord.

And the Lord has sent us to destroy it.

So you have these two men.

They're saying, look, this place is going to be destroyed.

If you have anyone in the city who belongs, gather them together, man.

Get them out. Get them out of here.

So, so what do you, when you, when you hear that, what do you think?

The urgency is clear. Isn't it?

We have been sent. Do you have anybody? Get them.

Get them. The urgency is clear. Okay.

We're about to destroy this place.

You know, these two, these, these two have come as sojourners and these two have come as visitors and they're, they're lots guests.

And they inform him, listen, we are agents of divine destruction, divine, divine destruction.

We have come to destroy this place.

Verse 14.

So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters.

These are the guys that he's just trying to give their wives away a moment ago.

Okay.

Sons-in-law.

Sons-in-law.

Sons-in-law.

Sons-in-law.

Sons-in-law.

Sons-in-law.

once the betrothal contract is made, the relationship is established. These two men were already married to Lot's daughters. Okay. But they just hadn't, it wasn't a legal marriage yet. They hadn't consummated the marriage yet. A lot like it's parallel to when Joseph and Mary were betrothed to one another. He was for her. He was hers. She was his. But they had yet to consummate the marriage. So the situation is Lot goes out to his sons-in-law and turns out, you know, both their daughters, neither who had known

a man, but they're to be betrothed. And he goes out to warn them and pleads with them to come. And they just think he's joking. He's joking. Verse 15. As the morning dawn, the angels

urge Lot, up. Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. Again, there is a very clear urgency to what's going on here. They have waited again. Up. Get up.

The urgency is clear. They have to repeat the urgency to Lot. The fact that the judgment is coming so quickly. It's now the backdrop to the immediacy of getting out of the city. Why? Lest you be swept away in punishment of the city. And then the next

verse starts off, this verse starts off, but he lingered.

But he lingered.

He lingered.

And you look at this and you see the anti-type

of Lot.

Lot just seems, in every sense

imaginable, ready

to make the worst decision possible.

Wait till my turn. I'm going to make the worst decision possible.

Give me a chance to think it out.

Yeah, that's where we're going.

That seems to be his mindset.

That's what he's thinking.

Even in the context of the warning.

Even in the context of the urgency.

Even in

this experience that he

just had at his front door.

They're about to beat his door down

and come and get him and get these guys.

And he lingers.

He lingers.

This is one of the most frightening verses

in Scripture to me.

How in the world can there be any lingering here?

This is exactly what Bunyan

writes about in Pilgrim's Progress

when he talks about the city of Vanity Fair.

They linger.

They're going to linger.

Linger.

In the midst of

you know

in light of living

in such sinfulness

understand that there's been

divine judgment

has been announced.

There are still those who will linger.

And I believe today

the Lord have a word for some of us this morning.

When we look back in our lives

and we wonder

why we're in the mess we're in

or why we got in the mess

in that situation

when the Holy Spirit

brought about conviction

in your life

and you knew it

and yet you lingered.

And you were like

God I thought you were gracious.

I thought you were merciful.

I thought you were this.

I thought you were that.

He is all that

but he is a just

and a right God.

We talked about it last week.

There comes a point in time

when the patience of the Lord

is done.

It has reached a level.

I'm done.

How many more people

do I need to send into your path?

How many more scriptures

do I need to have people

text you to encourage you?

How many more events

do I need to bring about

in your life

that you'll understand

you need to stop lingering

and you need to walk

a different way?

Stop lingering

when the Lord is trying

to bring about

a change in your life.

It will only bring about

a further mess

in your life

when you continue

to linger.

But he lingers.

Verse 16.

But he lingered.

So the men,

these are the angels,

seized him

and his wife

and his two daughters

by the hand

and the Lord

being merciful to him

brought him out

and set him

outside of the city.

Now we'll be told

later why

but it's not

because of Lot.

We'll see in the scriptures

Lot is protected

because of Abraham.

Abraham.

Abraham.

never left Sodom. He's refusing to go. He's not leaving voluntarily. They have to take him and set him outside of Sodom. I mean, it reminds me of our two-year-old. She throws a fish. She won't pick you up and you have to go here. I said, stay in your room. You can be mad, you can be upset, but you're not going to be here.

That's what God's doing. You know, Lot's like, I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave Sodom.

Verse 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. So wait a minute. Understand this. Lot is not

finished with his stupidity. Okay, here we go. Verse 18. And Lot said to them, Oh no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor

on your side, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest this disaster

overtake me, and I die. Lest disaster overtake me. What has just happened? Lot is lingering in Sodom after the

warning, and now he wants to linger among the cities of the plains. He wants to stay there. He's been told

to leave utterly, and he points to another city. Verse 20. Behold, this city is near, near enough to flee

to, and it's a little one. Let me escape there. Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved.

And he said to him, Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which

you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing until you arrive. Therefore, the name of the

city was called Zoar. Okay? Lot's not going to leave the cities. Okay? But he is at least set outside of

Sodom, and he's sent away from Sodom so that he will be saved. You know, he's found favor in this sense,

that in their sight, you know, he's going to be saved. But later on, we're going to understand why.

But he points to this little city, and he says, I'm a city guy. I'm a metropolitan guy. I can't make

it in the wilderness. Don't expect me to. Hey, no, don't. I tried that whole thing with Abram in the

wilderness. It's not for me. I need to be in the city lights. Okay? And he says, it's just a small one.

It's just a small one. In other words, the iniquity there is small.

It's not as bad as Sodom. Yeah, there's still iniquity there. That's what he's getting at.

It's not, the moral compass is not quite as bad. And it doesn't say here, but I'm thinking,

you know, if I'm one of the angels, I'm granting this wish out of sheer exasperation for Lot.

You know, whatever. Just shut up. You know, whatever. Have two Twinkies now. You know,

when you shut your kid up, eat them both. I don't care. I'm tired of hearing. I hope you

gain 30 pounds and have a zit on your forehead. And then I'll say, I told you so. Let's say it

over. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Sulfur and fire. Picture a divine judgment. Divine judgment. You know, years ago, I took

a group of students for a weekend retreat and we went to Dr. Gowan, I think is his name.

He has a place on the Satilla River. It's got all these cabins, all this property. It

was lots of fun. You know, we had all these activities. The students were doing all these

fun things. But the one thing is in the big, in the big cabin where everybody stayed and

when you went to go take a shower there, the, the, um, the shower water, all the water was

from a, from a well there and it reeked so bad with.

And you know how the middle school girls are always so, they over exaggerate. The one, one middle school girl had her nose. Oh God, I can't, I can't take another breath in this place. Okay. Okay. It was horrible, right? You, and if you've lived in the golden isles, you know, that beautiful sulfur smell that comes, that aroma that comes over us. You know, some of the guys that work at the mill said that's the smell of money. Yeah, whatever it stinks. It stinks. Sulfur water is one thing.

Sulfur fire is something else. It's basis. Sulfur fire is basically the distilled version of what became gas warfare in world war one. And so the Lord rains down sulfur fire from heaven. And this is repeated in terms of hell, the sulfur fire in terms of hell.

So the Lord rained hell down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Boom. Everyone's done. Story's over. Okay. Verse 25.

Isn't that where I left off? And he overthrew the cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the city and what grew on the ground.

So it's a picture of just utter and complete destruction. They were told not to linger. They lingered. They were told not to look back.

And she looks back. And, you know, in this picture, you might be thinking, you know, why is looking back met with such horrifying divine judgment?

Why is looking back executed so harshly against her?

It's because looking back was not merely a glance. That's what and that's not what the scripture is telling us.

It's what's implied here is a longing, a longing for Sodom.

I miss that place. I miss what we had there.

The good old defunctional sexual things we did there. Those were the good old days.

We could just do is. Oh, gosh, I'm going to miss that. I wish we were back there.

She longed for what she left. And so she becomes a pillar of salt.

Verse 27. We're just going to do this whole chapter real quick because I don't want to I don't want to deal anymore in 19 after after today.

And Abraham went went early in the morning. This is this is this is really awesome to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

And he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah toward the land and the valley.

And he looked and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of the furnace.

And so it was when God destroyed the cities in the valley.

God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the over and the over of the overthrow overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Again, the Lord didn't rescue Lot for Lot's sake, but for Abraham's sake.

And so one of the poignant scenes in the scripture that we have here is Abraham, he looks down and he sees Sodom is destroyed.

OK, he see and understand that he's looking down, he sees Sodom is destroyed.

And you remember in the previous chapter, you know, where he had, you know, pleaded with the Lord, you know, if there are 50 righteous men, would you not?

Would you spare the city? And he goes all the way down in increments and he finally gets down to 10.

And the Lord says, if there's 10, then I won't destroy the city.

But we are told that not one was left from the conspiracy of sexual rape.

Not one was left down to the last man.

There was no one righteous.

Lot was righteous in the sense that he didn't want to participate in these things.

He was righteous in the sense that he was trying to protect these men.

But he was profoundly unrighteous in wanting to live in the midst of this.

He was profoundly unrighteous for even putting his family in the midst of this and allowing his family to be a part of this.

And he was unrighteous for wanting to linger in the midst of all of this as well, too.

All this is going on, yet I still want to linger.

Lot has lost his lifestyle.

He's lost his home.

He's lost his wife.

But the poignant part of Scripture is Abraham seeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the cities of the plain.

Seeing it from the end.

And as we know there wasn't even one. But the other poignant part of this is that there is absolutely within the Scriptures no evidence that Abraham ever knew what happened to Lot. It doesn't tell us. It's a reflection now still in Abraham's faith. Is it not?

Lot. He didn't know that Lot. He didn't know that Lot was protected by the Lord on behalf of Abraham. God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out in the midst of the overthrow. Now I just want to read these last few verses quickly. And I want to move through them quickly. But very honestly as well too. In order that we might complete this thought this morning. Verse 30.

So Lot went out of Zohar and lived in the hills with his two daughters.

So he's already like, let me go to Zohar. It's a little city. It's not bad. There's only a little bit of depravity there. It's not as bad as Sodom. But already he's left Zohar.

It's worse than he thought.

Lot went out of Zohar and lived in the hills with his two daughters. For he was afraid to live in Zohar.

So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.

You know, now he's underestimated how wicked Zohar was.

And at least he's probably seen enough destruction to go, oh, we've got to go to the caves.

We've got to go somewhere else. I've got to get out of this place.

And so now he's living in a cave. His wife is dead.

He's living in a cave with his two daughters.

And his 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 so that we may preserve offspring from our father.

Now they conspire incest.

It's just horrible at every turn.

You know, see, the sons-in-law, they thought Lot was jesting, so they weren't going to go.

So guess where they are?

Puff, puff of smoke.

Oh, there he is.

That's what's left of him.

There he goes.

They're destroyed with all the rest.

Now they have been forced to flee out of Zoar.

They're living in a cave.

He's living with his two daughters.

And his two daughters think,

Well, there's no one else in the whole world.

The whole world that we could ever be with now.

So may as well be dad.

Horrible at every turn.

Verse 33.

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 arose and lay with him.

And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

The first bore a son and called his name Moab.

He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ami.

He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

To this day.

To this very day.

To this very day.

You can turn on CNN News.

You can look at the New York Times.

Anywhere you want to look.

To this day.

The offspring of the Moabites and the offspring of the Ammonites are enemies of Israel.

To this day.

This is horrible at every turn.

Having been rescued in context of God's judgment.

Coming after the real and very present danger of the homosexual rape.

Now comes incest.

And the picture of Lot when we leave here.

Because we are never going to hear from him again.

Only just in reference.

Lot is done.

He is done.

Lot's descent into this horror is by his own choosing.

He chose his pathways.

He chose it.

The Bible allows us to see.

And then he lives in the midst of the cities. Then he pitches his tent as far as Sodom. And then he's living in Sodom. And then he's at the gate of Sodom. And then he's lingering in Sodom. And then he's longing for Sodom. Okay? And now he's even, you know, wanting to live and be rescued in little Sodom. I just want to live in little Sodom now. Okay? And now he's living in a cave in the mountains that he said he would be destroyed at. And now he's finally destroyed by his own daughters.

He's done it. And so they've plotted incest and it's accomplished it. And they give birth to two boys. Okay? Have you been keeping track of the boys so far? The sons that we've gone through in Genesis so far?

You have Ishmael. You have Isaac. Okay? And you have Moab and Ben-Ami. One is the son of promise. And the other three, to this day, hate everything about the son of promise and the people of promise. To this day. That's what lingering does, folks. It gets you in a whole lot of trouble. It's just this website. I'll just send this one picture back.

It can't hurt. It can't hurt. It's just X amount of dollars on my taxes. The government's crooked anyway. Everyone knows it.

This passage of Scripture should give us a pause to reflect on the fact that God wants us to see not only the type. Okay?

But he wants us to see the anti-type. And the Lord knows what we need. And he's given us the example in Scripture, not only of the positive, Abram, who we are to follow and we are to emulate.

And we're to respect because he's called the friend of God. Right? He gives us that example.

And we see him as the fountainhead of the covenantal history. Okay? It's coming through Abraham.

But we're also called to look at Lot. As horrifying as it is to look, as much as his wife couldn't help looking back, for us, we need to look squarely into this.

And it's one of those passages that you would never preach as the highlights of the Bible.

You know, that we're going to go through this. Okay?

But there's... And there's no part of this that we'll ever find in the children's Bible.

Nor should we. Nor should we.

And some people will say, well, you shouldn't even preach this thing in polite church.

But the church is not called to be polite culture.

The church is called to be the people of God.

And if the Holy Spirit gave this to the church, then we are to face it squarely.

We are to read it honestly.

And we are to teach it and come to terms with it.

Come to terms with it.

You know, it made me think of something.

You know, all this sexual perversion in here as well.

It made me think, you know, interesting question.

Where does sex education take place when you think of your children and young people today?

Far too many, far too many Christian parents fail in sex education.

Because they don't know what to say.

I don't know what to say.

I don't know how to say it.

I don't know how to say it.

So you wait.

You put it off.

You put it off.

It's pitiful.

It's pitiful.

So what happens is, then the school steps in.

I'm not bashing the school system.

My wife's a teacher.

I love the school system.

I went to school.

Okay?

I did.

I did.

But if school steps in, then other people in the culture step in.

And they have a voice.

And Hollywood steps in.

And they have a voice.

Okay?

Parents have a non-negotiable responsibility.

And let me just say,

it's also interesting when you contemplate this.

If a child or an adolescent, a young person, is brought faithfully to church,

and the scripture in its entirety is faithfully taught in the most homiletical sense,

if it's faithfully taught in that manner,

they are going to receive an education in every aspect of life.

through the word of God.

What the word, they are, they are going to receive an education in every aspect of God.

And He gave it to us. And He gave it to us. And now we are done with Genesis 19. And I vow to never preach on Genesis 19 ever again. Worship team, come up this morning, please. In all seriousness, this has been a, a hard passage for me to be able to unfold for you today, for our

number of reasons. And some of them are very, very obvious. And some of them are very, very obvious. And you see that. But I think the reality is too, that all of us fall into the conviction that there have been times in our lives where we have been convicted and we have lingered. We have been convicted and we have lingered. And then what we have done is we have made a deal

with the Lord to allow me to live in Little Sodom. And the Lord allowed Lot to go to Little Sodom, didn't He? That turned out really well, didn't it? I was talking to Casey. She does my PowerPoints on Sunday.

And she sent me a text after I sent her all the PowerPoint information. She goes, I totally forgot about Lot's daughters and that whole mess. You always think about Solomon and Gomorrah and Lot and his wife. Look at how it snowballs. People of God. People of God.

Yearn. Yearn. Yearn for the things of the Lord. Yearn for the leadings of the Lord. Yearn for the land of the Lord.

God has got a good, a good, good, good place for you. He desires good for you. Don't settle for Sodom. Don't settle for Little Sodom and justify Little Sodom because it's not as bad as their Sodom.

Sin is sin, sin is sin, sin is sin. And I know what we talked about today is sexual sin, but it's no different than physical, than we could come up with a litany of lists of sins.

Everything from jealousy to greed to anger to lying. It's all on the same table. Even as all that wickedness you did. Yes. Yes.

So let's not cast a stone too far at someone else. And think that we're better because we've decided we're going to land in Little Sodom and be okay with that.

It's only by God's grace, only by God's grace, that we have not experienced the full and rightful judgment of the Lord in our lives. Me personally, I can say that. Me personally.

So I can't speak it for you. So just as Rob was trying to, trying to lead us and, and, and, and compel us this morning.

Let's think on that land, the land of new beginnings that God has given us, the blessing that God has given us that we could, that we could look squarely in the face of a horrible situation of scripture and see it for what it is.

God, that's the anti-path. That's the anti-type. That is the path that you, that way you recognize it and want to go the other, the other way.

That's the beautiful thing about the scripture. If I was writing the Bible, we wouldn't have all this mess in there.

About the people of God doing all these crazy wonky things. No, it would be such, it would be such a Christian bubble. Everybody would want to be a part of it.

But that's not reality, is it? It's not reality. Let's stand.

Father, thank you. You have called us to live in a land of victory. You have called us to live in a land of promise. You have called us to live in the land of forgiveness, Lord.

Father, lead us down every path that is far away from Sodom, far away from Zohar.

Never surrendered. Never has been, never will be. Teach us, Father, what it truly means that we fully surrender to you. To look at the life of Abraham as an example. And thank you, Father, for hearing the heart of Abraham and setting aside Lot. You answered. As much as Abraham failed and stumbled, he continued to get back up, Lord.

He strived to be an example. Thank you for your faithfulness in our lives, personally, Lord. And thank you for the quickening of the Holy Spirit that allows us to understand when we have stepped into a territory that we were not called to be, we were not made for.

In Jesus' name we give thanks.