The Angels Visit Sodom (Part 1)

Welcome to Built on God's Word, the preaching and teaching ministry of Highland Park Baptist Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.! Willard Lyons teaches on the life of Abraham.

We're going to get into chapter 19 in just a moment, but before we do that back up with me just a little bit. We've seen Abraham interceding on behalf of the people of Sodom after he got the news that God was going to bring judgment upon that city.

In the cities around it. And so he intercedes here, remember. And so some have raised the question, what do you think caused Abraham to intercede here?

You see a real compassionate heart in him here that you haven't seen before. And so thought may be that he's realizing what God has done for him in various situations that he found himself in.

When he responded in the flesh, if you will. When he started out in Canaan and then ended up going to Egypt. God bailed him out when Pharaoh, who thought Sarai was his sister, was going to take her as a wife into his harem.

God bailed he and Sarah out of that. And then the debacle with Ishmael and his birth that God worked in that. And also the rescue of Lot, remember, from the kings that had come and done battle against the king of Sodom and Gomorrah and a couple others.

And Lot there was taken captive. And God gave Abraham strength and grace to be able to go and rescue Lot and defeat the kings and chase them and all of those things.

And so Abraham no doubt recognized and realized the hand of God and all that. He had to have. We know he did. Melchizedek saw to it that he did. All right.

And so no doubt that comes to mind because what Abraham says in this, he said, will the righteous God do injustice by slaying the righteous with the wicked?

In essence, that's what he said. All right. So he recognizes that. When you think of Abraham's prayer to the Lord about interceding for the people of Sodom, it gives to us the idea that this is a tremendous picture of what prayer is to be.

All right. Look with me, if you will, in Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11. And while you're turning there, remember what the apostle Paul said when he wrote to the church, to the believers at Rome.

In Romans 1.14, he said to them, I am debtor, both to the Greeks, to the barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise.

And it comes from that vantage point in thinking about how God saved him who considered himself the vilest of sinners because he persecuted the church of God.

Now, in Luke chapter 11, verses 5 through 10, Jesus really speaks of the depth of what prayer should be.

I'm going to read this out of the Amplified. He said to them, which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, friend, lend me three loaves of bread.

For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come and I have nothing to put before him. And he from within will answer, do not disturb me.

The door is now closed. My children are with me in bed. Now, I know this is a parable here, but think about this. The guy's already in bed. The door's closed.

Probably a thick door. All right. So he's having to holler through the door, as is the one on the other side. So they can hear one another. Here everybody else is asleep, trying to sleep.

Probably gets awoke, awakened by the hollering. So why not go ahead and feed him? Amen. But let's continue on then. Do not disturb me. The door's now closed.

My children are in bed. I cannot get up and supply you with anything. I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it shall be given you. Seek and keep on seeking, and you shall find.

Knock and keep on knocking, and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives. And he who seeks and keeps on seeking, and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.

Now that's an interesting passage. All right. There have been a lot of books written about prayer. A lot of messages preached about prayer. How to pray, when to pray, when to stop praying, all of those things.

But the principle he shows here is persistence in prayer. Remember the winter woman and the unjust judge? It's the same thought there.

That's in Luke's gospel as well. So persistence in this. And I got to thinking about it. To me, faithful continuance in prayer for something is an indication of true genuine faith.

Simply because it's not giving up. All right. You know, a lot of times some people will pray about a certain situation.

May pray twice, maybe three times, and nothing happens, so he just stops. All right. But true, consistent faith and trust in God will keep on praying.

Until. Now here's my thought. Until either God answers it or until God tells you to stop. Amen.

Yeah. Yeah. And so persistence in that praying. And that's what, to me, Abraham did here to some degree. All right.

So when he got down to 10, I think, I think he realized God's shutting the door on this. All right. And asks no more.

So, that's the picture that we see here. Now, again, in verse 33 of chapter 18, Now, brings us to chapter number 19.

Verse number 1. There came two angels to Sodom at even. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them. And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

Now, remember, at the time that Abraham interceded for Sodom before God, the two messengers had already left. They had turned their face toward Sodom as God did.

But Abraham stood before God still. The other two men went on. So they were traveling to Sodom. Now they are there. All right. Now, Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom and sees them.

He bows himself before them. Toward the ground. They arrived there evening time. While Lot was sitting in the gate.

Lot now has lived in Sodom around somewhere 24 years, give or take a few. All right. So he's been there quite a while. Remember what the gate of the city was.

A number of things transpired at the gate of the city. There were some seats around about the gate. So there were a lot of things done. It was a place where people would gather for social encounter.

All right. They didn't yet have Internet. And so they would come to the gate of the city. And there they would fellowship with one another. Play bingo or whatever. All right.

Also, this was a place where disputes among people of the city would be dealt with. All right. And settled.

And so that's the picture that you have here of what is at the city gate. Business was transacted as well at the city gate.

So whatever the purpose of Lot having been there. He was there at the city gate when these gentlemen come through. Now, some also speculate, realizing the type of man that Lot had become, that he may have been there for those unsuspecting travelers that would come to Sodom, not knowing what the city was like.

He would either forewarn them or he would invite them, as he does here, to come to his house. And he would show them great hospitality.

So that's kind of the picture that you see here. So it says Lot bowed himself before them. It's not a sign of worship or any religious aspect to this.

It's just a tradition of being polite to those strangers that come into the city. Now, Lot's not familiar with these guys.

He does not yet know who they are. He doesn't find that out until later that night. When these guys strike blindness upon the men that have come to his door.

But that's the picture that you have here. So here the men have come. Lot's sitting in the gate of the city. Verse 2. And he said, that's Lot said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early and go your ways.

Okay? So come on into my house. I want to just bring you in and give you a place to rest, give you something to eat. All right? Get the character of Lot here.

All right? He bows himself in politeness to them. He offers to take them to a place to give them a place to rest during the night.

All those things. I see a modest character here in Lot. A bit different than before. Remember what kind of guy Lot was when he and Abraham split up?

Remember they split because after Abraham had rescued Lot, they split up because their herds have gotten so big, and the number of herds have been so big, that they couldn't be at the same place, wasn't enough ground for them to have their cattle.

And so they split. Abraham gave Lot the choice of which direction he wanted to take. And you remember what he did. He looked and he saw the plains of Sodom.

All right? Plush. Great ground. And so he chose that. Kind of a self-centered kind of guy there. All right? But now you see something different here.

You see a bit of modesty here. So he urges these guys to stay with him during the night. But notice, if you will, they refused.

They say, no, we need to spend the night on the street. All right? Now, at this point, he doesn't know why. But here's what they say.

Verse 3 says, He pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house, and he made them a feast, did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

So, he continues to invite them, and pressed upon them the urgency to do that. He doesn't tell them why. We have no indication there.

All right? But I think probably gives them the idea they really don't want to spend the night in the street. Not in this town. All right? All right? Now, no indication given that they were hesitant to go into Lot's house and stay with him.

All right? So, after some discussion, they submit to him, and they come to his house. Now, why do you think they went ahead and submitted to what Lot's request was?

They were supposed to check the city out, see how wicked and ungodly and sinful these people really are. And that's why they were going to stay in the street. But now they've come into Lot's house, given in to him, come to his house.

That gives them some opportunity here. Two-fold. It gives them opportunity to determine what the state of Lot's heart and mind were.

All right? How's this guy doing in the midst of all of this? What's he thinking? How's he operating? How does he make the decisions he makes? What's his mental state here?

What is it? But then also, it gives an opportunity for the true wickedness and ungodliness of Sodom to come to light.

And that's what happens here. All right? Again, God is going to be deemed justified in doing what he's going to do here.

All right? And that's, remember we said that's more likely the reason why he said this all-knowing God says, I'm going to go down and see if it's just like it sounds like it is.

He already knows it is. But to be justified in what he's doing. All right? Now, these messengers are going to see that. Now, so, Lot's deliverance in all of this now becomes a part of the call of these men that God had sent.

All right? To free him and deliver him from the destruction of Sodom. Verses 4 and 5. Now, before they lay down, isn't this interesting?

Before the lights of the house go out, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compass the house round about, both old and young.

all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night?

Bring them out unto us that we may know them. The rendering in the Amplified is the idea here and some of the others too. The idea that it's men from every segment of the city.

Surround the house. All right? Not going to give them any vantage point to escape. They surround the house and say, Bring him out to us.

Where are they? Bring him out. So we, my King James wonders that know him. Some others do as well. But it's know him intimately. And you well know and understand that these people are wicked people and what they're alluding to here is the idea of committing homosexual promiscuity with them.

All right? So, we want them. Bring them out to us so we might know them intimately here.

Homosexuality, a prevalent sin and wickedness amongst the people of Canaan. Now, remember what the Apostle Paul wrote about that sin in Romans chapter 1 verse 27.

Again, I've amplified. And the men also turned from their natural relations with women and were set ablaze that is burning out, consumed with lust for one another.

Men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies and personalities. The inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrongdoing and going astray, which was their fitting retribution.

As a result of their sin, they suffered in their own bodies and personalities. Now, I think that's an interesting statement here. Years ago, I went to a preacher's conference and the speaker was speaking about the sins of the day.

All right? And this is before the LGBTQ popularity. And he made this statement, never forget it. He said, every time the world brings up some kind of immoral sin, such as homosexuality, it's always invariably followed by some kind of loathsome disease.

They'll go and they'll find some remedy for it afterwards. And this is when AIDS was coming out. They'll go and find some vaccine or something to help with that.

and then inevitably it'll go a little farther in the sin and a new disease will come up. And I think that's what the picture is here.

It's in their body and being in their body, it's in their personality. Who they are, what they are, their attitudes, how they think. All of those things are affected by that.

All right? And so that's the wickedness and ungodliness and the results, the consequences if you will. All right? That is literally the compensation of the sin that they commit.

It's payback, if you will, for that sin that they commit. Now here's these men surrounding Lot's house, banging on the door and saying bring these men out.

We want to have our pleasure with them, our ungodliness, our wickedness. All right? Bring them out. Now, Isaiah spoke of it in Isaiah 3 verse 9.

They're respecting of persons and showing a partiality. Now he's talking about Jerusalem here. Showing of partiality witnesses against them. They proclaim their sin like Sodom.

They do not hide it. Woe to them, for they have brought evil as reward upon themselves. So back in Isaiah's day, same thing taking place in Jerusalem.

Now, verses 6 and 8, if you will, of Genesis 19. So the men are banging on the door and saying, bring your visitors out here.

The men of the city didn't know who they were, they may have thought these were friends of Lot. And if they're friends of Lot, they're probably like him.

So they're going to do injustice to them because of their righteousness. Okay? That's just a thought. Because they're so adamant about bringing them out.

Alright? So, again, now, verses 6 through 8, Lot went out at the door unto them and shut the door after them. Alright?

After him. So he goes out, stands on the porch, shuts the door behind him. And he said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

Now, I haven't just thought about that word brethren here. Maybe just kind of making himself part of the people of the city. Okay? Do not so wickedly.

Now, behold, behold now, I have two daughters which have not known men. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and you do to them as is good in your eyes.

Only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. Can you imagine?

But nonetheless, he made that offer. It was more vile for him to offer his daughters to these ungodly men as anything he's probably ever done.

All right? Even more vile than these men wanting the men that were visiting him. Because he, as the father, had a higher calling as being the protector of his daughters.

others. And he was willing to give that up for the sake of these two strangers that he didn't know.

All right? That's unfathomable to me. I think perhaps this was something Lot did in haste.

I mean, after all, these guys were about to beat the door down. He had to do something, so he thought. All right? But that's the picture that we have here.

Now, look what they say in verse nine. We'll quit with this. In the last part of verse 80, he says, only unto these men do nothing, for therefore it came they under the shadow of my roof.

They came here for comfort, but for my protection as well. So don't make me violate my obligation to keep them safe. So have my daughters.

All right? But verse nine, they said, stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn, that, in other words, he come to our city as a stranger and he will need be a judge.

He's going to judge us. Now will we deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even lot, and came near to break down the door.

All right? Yeah. Vile men. now they're going to get a lot. But notice what they said. He's a sojourner with us.

If you will, he's an alien, been here 24 years, but he's not of us. And now he stands as judge over us.

Ah, what's showing up here? What do you think that means? I don't think it's limited to just this one singular event here.

I think it's a picture of what Lot had been doing throughout his 24 years there in Sodom. All right? 2 Peter chapter 2 verses 7 and 8 speak of that to us.

Now notice that. Lot was greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of ungodly and lawlessness.

For that just man living there among them tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of their unlawful and wicked deeds.

Now there gives you the picture of Lot that Peter speaks of there. All right? So he's dealt with this before.

Maybe not in this same situation and maybe not them being as vile and forthright as they were.

but he's dealt with them. He's spoken to them no doubt about their ungodliness their wickedness and their sin. Where did he learn that from? Abraham no doubt.

I think you go back to the day where Abraham goes and rescues Lot from the kings that have captured him after they defeated Sodom and Gomorrah.

Abraham goes and rescues him. Abraham not a warrior but he succeeds. Melchizedek meets him on the road remember he says you are the servant of the most high God El Elyon he's the one that enabled you to deliver your nephew.

Yeah I think from that time forward Lot begins to see who God is and the delivering power that God has at his disposal.

Alright and so I think throughout this Lot has then begun evangelizing if you will. Don't know if he's had any success probably not.

Verse 10 and 11 quickly but the men put forth their hand that's the gentleman that came the two men that had come into his house put forth their hand pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door and they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness both small and great so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Alright now we'll pick up there next week let's pray together Father again thank you for your loving kindness and your goodness to us thank you again Father for the time together tonight and the good fellowship and but most of all study in your word in your love for us your care for us your knowledge of where we are and what we live in the midst of and your protecting power in all of that so Father we thank you and we praise you for that tonight now again thank you for these that are here ask your continued blessing as they continue to partner what you show us tonight and see more of what you do and to learn more visit us in person or see the website at highlandparkbaptist.net