Genesis 19:30-38 | Episode #278

November 2, 2022

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

Genesis 19:30-38  Bible Study | Episode #278

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Alive, Applying God's Word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to.

And allow you to see him and to know him, and to know his will, that you might glorify him, and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day, especially today in Jesus' name. Good morning. Welcome to Late Community Churches. Morning Bible Studies. Good to be with you this morning. And we we're most of the way through chapter 19.

We've dealt with Sodom and Gamora and. And we've moved past that, but Sodo and Gamar are going to still be effectuating changing, making a difference in the life of in the life of lot and his family. And I do wanna hearken you back. I wanna remind you when God told Abraham to go to a place or a nation, he didn't know and live among the people he didn't know he did not tell him to take anybody with him.

He didn't say. God is specific God is God will tell you what to do and he didn't tell him where to go. He did not tell him where he wanted. He did not tell him to take his nephew light with him. And you go why does that map? It matters for several reasons.

A lot of times in. We want to with our walk with God, we want to make sure others are going with us. We want to and the best way for me to describe it is we wanna validate God's call on our lives by other people going and making that obvious that other people think that God is calling you or telling you to do this, that, or the.

And so when you're out there trying to find God's will for your life, oftentimes we want that, that call, and that will validated by others joining us in the call. And there's nothing wrong with that. God wants us to be together. Communion relationships the community of God is important, but oftentimes, The specific call of God on your life, the specific things that God has for you to do in your own life are separate or something that needs to be separated from from what?

From what others are doing. And when God called me to to be a pastor and to preach, he didn't call anybody else to preach alongside of me. That was my calling. Now you go what about Kathleen? She wasn't called to be a pastor. She was called to be my, she's, she was my wife.

She has a calling of her own. She has her. Ministry, she has her own things to do that she does for the kingdom. She is a great help and a great support to multiple para church organizations and churches as far as their finances are concerned, and doing their books and handling the issues that they have with taxes and things like that.

She does the taxes for Dozens, if not over a hundred ministers throughout us. Usually it started with the state of Alabama, but they, ministers move here and there. So she does the taxes for ministers all over the country and some of 'em even live all over the world. And she does that for them.

And that's her ministry. That's one of the things she does in ministry. She she has her own calling by God. She has her own place in the kingdom. It's not it's. Actually tied to me. It's not necessary. I, she's not necessary for me to preach on Sunday. I'm not necessary for her to do the things she does for all these ministries and being a source of advice and wisdom and she spends a lot of time talking, a lot of time in the evening working on things for these ministries.

It's not a, it is she's not, it's not necessary that I be there for her to do her ministry and we're. But sometimes people want to go off and when God tells 'em to start a business or open a store or do this, they want to have that call validated by somebody else saying, I'll go along and do it with you.

Now, sometimes God puts people together to do that. Sometimes God puts groups of people together to do that. And and the way you know that. Is that per the two different people or three different people who feel like God's calling them to do a ministry, they feel that call themselves and then all of a sudden they meet each other and or they begin to talk to each other and both of 'em realize that God's got the same call going on for both of them.

In a certain area maybe maybe to lead worship on a praise team. And, there's three or four that wanna do that. Or maybe it's to start a food bank or maybe it's to to begin a ministry to the elderly or any number there is any number. Of ministries that are possibilities, any number of ministries that are that are a possibility where God would have that call on multiple people and then they come together and realize that God's called them to do it together.

That being said, God did not tell. Nowhere in scripture does it identify that God called lot to go with Abraham. Nor did God call Abraham's father to go to with Abraham and Abraham's father slowed down Abraham's journey to to what is now the promised land. And as you can see, lot has caused difficulty in trouble in Abraham's life.

The whole time lot has not been a person who chased after God's will. Lots chased after his own will, chased after his own riches. And Abraham's had to bail him out on multiple occasions. And the reason I tell you this is because we're gonna see that that issue continues on even past.

Death. Even past lots life on this earth, that problem for Abraham's descendants carries on through lots descendants. Because lot is not walking in the promises of God. In fact lot's wife. So long to be a part of the world. So loved the world that when, even when Sodom and tomorrow were being destroyed by firing brimstone from heaven, and they were told clearly to escape away from the the plane where those two, two cities existed, and to not look back.

She couldn't help herself. She had to look back. She had to look back. She didn't have enough fear of. She didn't have enough fear of God to do what God told her to do. And let me tell you something that's lot's fault. Lot was not the leader of his household. He's not he his family, his wife, his children think from a worldly perspective and not a Godly perspective.

Lot's not walked with God. And even though God has spared. He spared light, not because of light, but because of Abraham. He spared light because of Abraham's faith. Light has faith. The light is a man of righteousness. But lot is not a man who's walked in that righteousness to any extent.

And the reason he hasn't walked in that righteousness is this he decided to walk in God's plan for Abraham, not God's plan for himself. And that can be very problem. That can be very problematic in the kingdom. And so we see when we come upon lot here at the very end of chapter 19, we see that lot went up to Zar and Hewett in the mountains.

He went up from Zor, meaning he left Zor and he went either south or east and or west, south or west and lived up in the mountains. He most likely went to the. Because his descendants are in the south are found in the south and the and the East of the Dead Sea. And it notice now this is one of those stories in scripture that is like a soap opera notice.

He went up to dwell in the mountains. His life has been totally destroyed. All that he had has been destroy. In the fires of Sodom and in the brimstone that came down from heaven. He has nothing and he only escaped with his life and his family and even lost his wife. In the midst of that escaping from the wickedness of Sodo and he and his daughters dwelled in a cave notice.

They're not dwelling in a house. They're not in a city. Zor I'm sure did not want them there because they came from Sodom and they just barely escaped. I'm sure there was a great stigma on them and the situation where those two cities are destroyed. Had to be a stench in the nostrils of the people of Zar, and I'm quite sure they didn't want them there.

And so they kicked them out and lot goes up into the mountains and he has to live in a cave with his two daughters whose son who. Who their husbands died. Also, Sodom Notice there's great loss here. There's great loss by by continuing to live in the midst of that evil, he says.

Now, the first born said to the younger, Our father is old and there's no man on the earth to come into us as is the custom of all the earth. Notice there's no brothers. None of their husband's brothers are there to give them sons. Lots. Got no family to give him son to give his daughter's sons.

Abraham noticed Abraham is his closest Ken and he doesn't have a son a son from from Sarah yet. And so he, they say Our father's old and there's no man on the earth to come into us as the customer of all the earth come let us make our father drink. And we will lie with him that we may preserve the lineage of our father.

So they made their father drink wine that. The first born went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she laid down. And when she arose he was really drunk. And it says it happened on the next day that the first born said to the younger, Indeed, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink.

Let us make him drink. Wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him that we may preserve the lineage of our father. And then they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she laid down. And when she arose, notice their answer their answer to the plans of God are quite clearly outside the will of God.

Now, do they totally know that? No, there's no law yet. They don't understand that there's no Leviticus and numbers in Deuteronomy, but. It's definitely what I would call a problem, and anybody who anybody has any reason about them, understands that's an issue that that's a problem for them to be bearing the children of their father.

There's no really an real answer to that other than to say that's not right. That's not right. Okay. There's something wrong with that. I don't know about that. That's what we'd say around here. I don't know about that. See that, that's a problem. And the reason I read this story even because, number one, it's in scripture, but number two, it is a beacon in the Bible.

It's one of those flashing red lights in scripture. Notice how far he has fallen, how far light has fallen lot. And his Uncle Abraham were of such great wealth and such great power that their servants were beginning to dispute with each other and they had to split up. And Abraham gave a lot the choice of which direction to go.

I want you to know that I want you to understand that it is, it has been a great struggle for him. It has been a great struggle for him to to deal with and to to come along and deal with this issue. It's been a great struggle for him to come along and deal with this issue of.

Of lot and his servants and them fighting together. Now that being said when that happened, lot went south with great wealth, with a great household, with great strength, and I'm sure the people of Sodom wanted him there because of that great strength, because of that great wealth because of that.

Because of that situation I'm sure that they wanted him there and he was accepted and he became a a citizen of, So in fact when the Angels show up the night that so is going to be destroyed the next day. Who's standing at the gate? The elders stood at the gate. The most important people of the town stood at the gate and lot is there at the.

Which means that he bought in hook, line and sinker into the city of Sodo. And he was involved intimately in what they were doing. And even when they were taken, captured by those kings out of the north lot went back with. The kings from the south who had escaped, who had run away during the Bible, he went back with them to that town.

Lot was hook, line and sinker bought in to the region of Sodom, the people of Sodom and that place. And so it, it ultimately ended up in him losing everything. He lost everything he had and he ended up living in a. He ended up living in a cave with his two daughters and his two daughters realized that they're not gonna have anybody to help take care of them.

They're not gonna have anything. There's no resource for them other than to sleep with their father and have their father's sons. That is the only resource that they have for themselves. Wow. What a what a fall that is. Wow. What a great destruction that is. What a great issue that is.

I, I can't ex, I can't say it anymore. It is terrible. And notice thus verse 36. Thus both the daughters of lot were with child by their father and n no lot had to know where the children came from. He was the only one that could have provided them children. He had to know who these children were. Can you imagine that?

Explaining that. He says the both the daughters of lot were with child by their father. The first born bore a son and she called his name Mo, and he's the father of the Moyes. To this day, look up the Moyes. After this, the Moyes. The children of his second born noticed and the younger, she also bore son, and she called him, His name Ben Ak.

And he is the father of the people of Ammond to this day. So they bore they they're the mothers of the Moabites and the Ammonites. And the Moyes and the Ammonites are the ones who who Who, or two of the tribes who who caused a lot of trouble for the children of Miserable Israel to enter the Promised Land and were trouble for them once they were in the Promised Land.

In fact the Moabites they had to fight. In a battle before they ever even entered the promised land. The mo bites and the Ammonites have been an issue and were an issue for the children of Israel and the promises of God from that time for forward, they were they were, they joined back in with the Canaanites and the people of that area.

They were involved in the worship with their gods. They were They were a problem for the children of Israel after that day. In fact Ruth is a Moabite woman. Notice. She's not acceptable to the children of Israel when they're in the promise, when they're in the promised land. And that story of God.

Redeeming her from the Moabites is a great story in scripture. But nonetheless, it doesn't neglect or it doesn't negate the fact that the Moabites and Ammonites are not part of the promises of God. And not only were they not the part of the promises of God, they stood in the way of the promises of God coming about.

And that's all from the line of. That's from who he is and where he comes. Lot knew God, but he didn't walk with God on his own lot, knew God and he rejected God in many ways on his own lot, knew God and he didn't share that walk with God with his daughters, nor his wife, nor his sons in-laws. He did not live in such a way that he made a difference in not a single one of their lives.

And let me tell you something, the results are plain and clear and the results are evident throughout scripture. He placed his family in a position where they did not know God. They did not understand God and they didn't walk with God. And his family and his descendants are not people of blessing.

They're not people of promise. They're not people of hope. They're a problem and they're an issue all the time. And that's because one man chose not to walk with a God on his own. And he chose not to be a beacon of light to the people around. To his family and to his children. And ultimately it cost him everything he had and then it ultimately cost them his descendants, everything they had.

And that is a w if there ever was a red flag warning system in scripture of, Hey, don't do this. Hey, don't be a part of this. Hey, don't walk in this right. The end of chapter 19 is one of those red flashing lights telling you it's a lighthouse telling you that there's rocks over here.

Don't come ashore here. Your boat will be destroyed. You'll likely be killed and lights. Life is a picture of. Abraham did not walk in faith all his life, but Abraham walked in faith and walked in the promises of God for him and his family was the beneficiary of it, even though his wife, Elizabeth, didn't necessarily believe Sarah didn't necessarily believe that the promises of God we're gonna come true.

They do come true for her. And even though. His two sons have issues and problems and troubles in their lives. They walk with God themselves and God makes them into great nations. And Ishmail Isaac, both of them know God. And they know how to walk with God and the promises of God are passed on through them because Abraham, not because he perfectly walked with God, but because he actually chose to walk with God on his own.

And he chose to live in his own faith and become who he's supposed to be in his own faith. And that's a great promise of God. That's a great promise. And I hope for the future lot's. Life is a warning. It's a clear warning sign as we read through the pages of scripture. And that warning is that you have to walk in it so that your family can see it.

And they can learn to walk in it themselves. And that's one of the hopes I've always had for my children is that they would see a walk and that they would choose to walk with God on their own and in their own promises and in their own calling. And thankfully both of them seem to be doing that.

Really well. And they may not be doing it perfectly. I'm quite sure they're not cuz their dad didn't. But they are chasing after God on their own and they're chasing after God's purposes and will for their lives. And that. Is a great comfort as we get older that our children might not that they will live perfectly, and not that they won't have troubles.

We want our children to have the troubles that are necessary to make them into mature believers. But not that they wouldn't have troubles, but that they would walk with God. That they would know God and that our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren would understand what it is to chase after the promises of God on our own.

And that's the hope we have.

As you go today, I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.