A Tale of Two Cities
Introduction:
Read Genesis 19:24-25. "Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom
and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those
cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on
the ground."
These verses describe the end of Sodom and Gomorrah when God brought
judgment upon them and the surrounding cities. But why did God do this? In
finding out, we will discover several truths from this tale of two cities.
Body:
1. God Honors Intercessory Prayer
·
Genesis 13:8-13 "So Abram said to Lot, 'Please let there be no strife
between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are
brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If
you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right,
then I will go to the left.' And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain
of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as
you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and
Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the
land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his
tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and
sinful against the Lord."
Lot saw how good the land was around these two cities.
·
Three men appear to Abraham. [Two angels and the
Lord
Himself]
Genesis 18:16-20 "Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom,
and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the Lord said,
'Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed in him? For I have known him, in order that he may command his
children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to
do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has
spoken to him.' And the Lord said, 'Because the outcry against Sodom and
Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave'"
·
Abraham pleads with the Lord.
Genesis 18:22-33 "Then the men turned away from there and went toward
Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. And Abraham came near and
said, 'Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there
were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and
not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far be it from You to
do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the
righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge
of all the earth do right?' So the Lord said, 'If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their
sakes.' Then Abraham answered and said, 'Indeed now, I who am but dust and
ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 'Suppose there were
five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for
lack of five?' So He said, 'If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy
it.' And he spole to Him yet again and said, 'Suppose there should be forty
found there?' So He said, 'I will not do it for the sake of forty.' Then he
said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should
be found there?' And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.'
And he said, 'Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
Suppose twenty should be found there?' So He said, 'I will not destroy it
for the sakea of twenty.' Then he said, 'Let not the Lord be angry, and I
will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?' And He said,
'I will not destroy it for the sake of them. So the Lord went His way as
soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his
place."
·
If
ten righteous men would have been found, God would have honored Abraham’s
plea.
·
See II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us. not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance."
2. You Can’t Decide to Live Near Sin and Think It Won't Affect You
·
"Pitched His Tents” Lot chose to live in a wicked and sinful place.
Then note Genesis 19:1. "Now the two angels came to Sodom in
the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them,
he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground."
"Sitting in the gate"
usually indicated that you were a leader in the city.
·
Lot allowed the wickedness of the city to influence him; maybe it seared his
conscience.
Notice Genesis 19:2-8. "And he said, 'Here now, my lords, please turn in
to your servants's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you
may rise early and go on your way.' And they said, 'No, but we will spend
the night in the open square.' But he insisted strongly; so they turned in
to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast and baked
unleavened bread, and they ate. Now before they lay down, the men of the
city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him,
'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we
may know them carnally.' So Lot went out to them through the doorway and
shut the door behind him, and said, 'Please, my brethren, do not do so
wickedly! See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please,
let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do
nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the
shadow of my roof.' "
"My brothers" These were extremely wicked men. Being around sin long enouch
can make you think it's ok; just normal.
I Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be deceived; Evil company corrupts good
habits."
3. God Hates All Sexual Perversion
·
Genesis 19:4-5 "Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of
Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the
house. And they called to Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came
to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally."
Recall Genesis 18:20. "And the Lord said, 'Becouse the outcry against
Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,"
"Exceedinglly grave"
·
Several places in both the Old Testament and the New Testament attest to the
sinfulness of homosexuality.
Leviticus 18:22 "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an
abomination."
Jude 7 "as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar
manner to these, having given themselves over in sexual immorality and gone
after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of
eternal fire."
Romans 1:26-27 "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For
even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
Llikewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in
their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and
receiving in themelves the penalty of their error which was due."
4.God's Grace Has A Expiration Date
·
Genesis 19:12-22 "Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here?
Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city -
take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the
outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the
Lord has sent us to destroy it.' So Lot went out and spoke to his
sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up, get out of
this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he
seemed to be jaking. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to
hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.' And while he lingered,
the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and hands of his two
daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set
him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them
outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behing you nor
stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be
destroyed.' Then Lot said to them, 'Please, no, my lords!' 'Indeed now,
your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your
mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the
mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near
enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it
not a little one?) and my soul shall live.' And he said to him, 'See, I
have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow
this city for which you have spoken. 'Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do
anything until you arrive there.' Therefore the name of the city was called
Zoar."
The Lord sent angels to destroy the cities.
Ezekiel 16:49-50 "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She
and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness;
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were
haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I
saw fit."
·
God could not extend grace to the inhabitants any longer. Their time was
up!
·
The land that was garden-like was turned into a wasteland.
Genesis 13:10 "Then Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan,
that it was well watered everythwer (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go
toward Zoar."
Genesis 19:23-25 "The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord
out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the
inhavitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground."
Sin leads to a wasted life.
Genesis 19:27-28 "And Abraham went early in the morning to the place
where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked toward Sodom and
Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw and hehold, the
smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace."
5. God Always Provides A Way of Escape
·
Genesis 19:15-17, 26 "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to
hurry, saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
lest you beconsumed in the punishment of the city,' And while he lingered,
the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two
daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set
him outside the city.
26
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."
Explicit instructions were given on how to escape.
·
We see that obedience to all of God's Word is important.
Remember the words of Hebrews 10:28-31,39. "Anyone who has rejected
Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses,
Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who
has tramled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by
which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God.
39
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition; but of those who believe
to the saving of the soul."
·
For us today we should not look back to our former sinful life, but look to
Jesus our Savior.
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so
easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Conclusion:
This tale of two cities teaches us how powerful the influence of sin really
is and its terrible consequences. Be careful where you pitch your tent!
Bobby Stafford
