WEBVTT 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:20.879 Yeah, Genesis 19. 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:27.359 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:38.640 When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, My Lord, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:41.359 Then you may rise up highly and go your way. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.520 They said, No, we will spend the night in the town square. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:50.560 But he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:54.960 And he made them a feast and bake unleavened bread and the head. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:05.040 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man surrounded the house. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.439 And they called to Lot, Where are the men who came to you tonight? 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:13.280 Bring them out to us that we may know them. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:22.879 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. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:26.159 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:28.319 Let me bring them out to you. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.400 And do to them as you please. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:36.239 Only do nothing to this man, for they have come under the shelter of my roof. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:38.159 But they said, Stand back. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:43.920 And they said, This fellow came to surgeon, and he has become the judge. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:46.480 Now we will do worse with you than with them. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:52.319 Then they pressed hard against the man Lot and drew near to the break to break the door down. 00:01:52.640 --> 00:02:01.120 But the man reached out, but the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:11.840 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. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.680 Then the men said to Lot, Have you anyone else here? 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:26.560 Son-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place, for we are about to destroy this place. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:36.879 Because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:46.080 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, Hop, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.400 But it seems to his sons-in-law to be jesting. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:03:03.120 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Hop, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:04.560 But he lingered. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:09.919 So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:16.639 The Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.800 And as they brought them out, one said, Escape for your life. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.639 Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.000 Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:36.319 And Lord said to them, Oh no, my lord, behold, your servant has found favor in your side, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:41.599 But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:47.120 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.719 Let me escape there. 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:50.479 It is not a little one. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.000 Is it not a little one? 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:54.960 And my life will be saved. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:56.319 He said to them. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:08.479 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there. 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:11.439 Therefore the name of the city is called Zoah. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.879 The sun has risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoah. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:32.480 Then the Lord reigned on Sodom, and Gomorrah saw for and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and he overthrew those cities, and all the valleys, and all the inhabitants of the city, and what grew on the land. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:37.839 But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:55.040 And Abram went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:11.279 So it was that when God destroyed the city of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:19.279 Now Lot went up out of Zoah and lived in the east with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoah. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.639 So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:30.240 And the firstborn said to the younger, Her father is old, and there is not a man on her to come into her after the manner of all the hair. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:38.399 Come, let us make her father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our offspring from our father. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:44.720 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:49.040 He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:53.839 The next day the first one said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:56.319 Let us make him drink wine tonight also. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:06:03.519 Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve us offspring from her father. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:08.800 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:12.480 And he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:17.040 Thus both the daughter of Lord became pregnant by their father. 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:22.480 The first one bore a son called his name Moab and called his name Moab. 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:26.959 He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:31.759 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben Hamid. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:37.279 He is the father of the Ammonite to this day. 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:39.360 And the Lord bless the reading of his word. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:40.240 Amen. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.439 Welcome to you if you joined us while we're singing. 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:50.240 And uh thank you, G-Day, for reading that mammoth passage. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:07:07.600 Uh when we decided that we would do a series in the book of Genesis, uh, one of the things that was at the fore of my mind was that means that at some point or another we're gonna have to deal with Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:16.160 It's probably one of the most infamous passages in the whole Bible, and you're probably wondering, well, what on earth is he gonna say about this? 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:21.759 Uh Sodom and Gomorrah here in Genesis 19, it confronts us. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.279 Uh there's no escaping it, it's not an easy read. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:34.399 Nobody comes out of it particularly well, least of all Lot, and that's perhaps one of the most confronting and uneasy things about the whole passage, as we will see. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:40.399 Uh, but perhaps the hardest thing to grapple with is that actually Sodom is a myrrh. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:55.279 Uh it's a myrrh that reflects back to us the sinfulness of sin, the depth that a human, that human nature can sink to when it goes unchecked. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:04.160 And it's also a passage that shows us God's response in both judgment and salvation. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:11.040 I don't think that this passage needs much more introduction than that, and so we're simply going to get into it because we have a long way to go. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:17.360 I'm gonna uh structure this passage around four things: two questions and then two statements. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.600 Two questions and then two statements. 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:25.920 And I would encourage you to have Genesis 19 uh in open in front of you, either in a Bible or on your phone. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:32.960 Uh you can throw it up on uh on Bible Gateway and follow along in the English Standard Version of the Bible. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:34.960 Two questions, two statements. 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:36.159 Question one. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:40.000 What is the sin of Sodom? 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.919 What is the sin of Sodom? 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.799 Obviously, this passage is notorious. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:58.559 And the sin of the men of Sodom has given rise to a very old word, uh, the word sodomy, uh, the act of male homosexual sex. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:00.080 Welcome to you if you're joining us. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.720 Uh, what a moment uh to come in. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:12.240 And to our modern ears, to talk of sodomy uh jars with us, probably it's making you feel a little bit uneasy already. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:22.240 Uh, some people have tried to make the case that the sin of Sodom is uh is not something sexual, uh, but rather that it's something social. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:40.559 So if you uh read more revisionist interpreters who want to uh who want to downplay the sexual element, they'll tell you that actually the judgment that comes on Sodom is not because of what they're doing sexually, but because of how they are conducting themselves socially. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:47.519 That the issue of Sodom is not about gay rape, but rather it's about a lack of hospitality. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:10:02.240 This passage, they reason, is uh a passage that stands in contrast with Abraham's treatment of the Lord and the two angels that we saw right back at the start of Genesis 18. 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:27.039 If you remember, uh, the three visitors, uh, a uh a preincarnate uh version of the second person of the Trinity, it seems, and two angels arrive at Abraham's tent and he runs and he bows down to them, he says, Come in and eat, and he prepares this lavish feast for them, and he is commended there for uh for adhering to all of the good social norms of the ancient Near East. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:32.799 Whereas what happens here is that the men of Sodom disregard all of that. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:46.159 So the reason it seems, or they argue, is that God judges uh Sodom not because of their sexual desires or actions, but because they're rude and dishonoring and inhospitable. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:53.360 Now, there is definitely a hospitality aspect to what is going on in Sodom. 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:59.840 It is an inhospitable thing when you have somebody round for dinner to want to have sex with them. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:00.480 Right? 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:05.360 It's okay, you can laugh, it's like it's gonna be intense, so we need to have a little moment, okay? 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:11.679 That is inhospitable, not something that's recommended for your next dinner party, okay? 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:18.559 And Lot is shown as responding in a similar way to Abraham. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:26.639 So you'll have noticed that he he does, he runs similarly, he bows low like Abraham did, he bids them to come and say, he prepares a feast for them. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:32.399 And so he is set in contrast to the men of Sodom. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:46.159 But to say that there is nothing sexual going on here, or that the condemnation of Sodom and what is proposed sexually simply doesn't make sense of the passage. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:56.639 It is clear from the passage that there is a sexual dimension to what is happening in Sodom and to why Sodom is being judged. 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:59.279 Let me give you two reasons for why that's the case. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:02.240 First is the use of the language to know. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:10.399 If you've uh uh ever grown up with the Bible, you'll you'll know that that's the euphemistic term for sexual intercourse. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.799 Uh Adam knew his wife. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:17.759 It wasn't that they uh that they shook hands and had afternoon tea together or anything like that. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:20.879 No, no, it's it's that they had sex with one another. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.480 Adam knew his wife and she gave birth to a son. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:31.039 This idea of to know, used all over the Old Testament, refers to sexual intercourse. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:41.039 And so when the men of Sodom says, Bring out these men that have arrived in your house that we may know them, they're not proposing that they take the two angels for a beer. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.519 They're proposing something else. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.639 They're proposing that they have sex with them. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:53.919 The second reason why there is definitely something sexual going on is because of Lot's response. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.000 Now we're gonna deal a lot with Lot's response. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:59.600 Lot's response is wicked, and I'm gonna say that a number of times. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:17.919 Lot's response is absolutely reprehensible because Lot's response is that he goes out the door and they're all saying, Let's have sex with these men, and he says, No, don't do this wicked thing, don't have sex with these men, have my virginal daughters and have sex with them instead. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:20.879 That is awful, right? 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:28.720 Don't miss like there's nothing in this passage that condones that, and we will come back and explore that first of all, or in a few minutes' time. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:45.679 But if the issue is hospitality, if the men of Sodom are coming out and saying, Let's take these guys for a beer, it's strange for all for Lot to respond saying, Don't take these guys for a beer, have sex with my daughters instead. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:46.480 Right? 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:48.960 It doesn't flow with the passage. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:56.159 It is that they are proposing something sexual and Lot is responding in in similar kind. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:13:57.279 Okay? 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:04.799 And so it is impossible to avoid that it's just pure hospitality norms of the ancient Near East. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:10.080 There is absolutely a sexual aspect to what is going on in Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:28.399 However, to say that God judged Sodom simply because of homosexual sex is an overly simplistic reading and is too easy for us and for our modern ears to reject. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.279 We go, oh well, like we'll we've moved on, right, haven't we? 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:40.000 It's too easy to dismiss it if it's just to do with homosexual sex. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:52.879 I think what is going on, and I think I can make this case uh from the passage and from the rest of the Bible, is that the issue in Sodom is that Sodom is rotten to the core. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:15:11.519 The values of its people were totally corrupted, their desires were distorted, their loves were perverted, and as a result of what is going on in the heart of the people of Sodom, they do wicked things. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:18.720 Like want to uh to homosexually rape two men who are visiting the city. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.600 Listen to what Ezekiel, a prophet later on in the Bible, says about Sodom. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.879 This is uh the Lord speaking through the prophet. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.600 He says, Now, this was the sin of your sister Sodom. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:41.600 She and her arrogant daughters were arrogant, sorry, she and her daughters were arrogant, greedy, and unconcerned for the poor and the needy. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:48.240 They were proud and did wicked things before me, says the Lord. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:49.679 See that verse? 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:50.720 They were proud. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.600 It's a heart issue, something going on in their heart. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:01.679 They were proud and unconcerned for the needy, and therefore they did wicked things. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:11.039 The wicked things are evidence of something that is going on in the heart. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:19.120 That there is a distortion that has happened internally. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:28.399 Sodom was proud, selfish, and self-loving, and as a result they did wicked things. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:44.639 I think one of the best ways to think about it is that Sodom is Sodom is a dystopian city in uh those uh novels and movies like that we like to read. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:52.879 It is the city in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, where uh where sex is uh is just the currency of the day. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:17:01.120 It's just what you it's just what you do, and to refuse sex with someone is the ultimate taboo in a brave new world. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:09.519 Or perhaps uh rather than showing my uh my age, it it's more like the capital in the Hunger Games. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:21.759 Sodom's like the capital, full of decadence and pride, controlling and using others uh to serve their needs. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:28.640 And the capital, because of um this pride and decadence, what does they what do they do? 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.079 Well, they also subvert the natural order of things. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:33.039 And how do they do that? 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.440 Well, they kill their children for entertainment. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:44.400 It's because of something that's going on in the culture, in the hearts of the people, that gives rise to sinful actions. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.640 Sodom was proud and did wicked things before me, says the Lord. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:18:02.079 In the Hunger Games, the killing of uh of young people, of children for entertainment is a profound expression that a society has lost any moral clarity. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:12.799 And it is the same here in Sodom, that the men coming and saying, Let's have sex with these angels, is a sign that Sodom itself had lost all moral clarity. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:25.680 So here in Sodom, the homosexual rape of the angels is an indicator of the wickedness that lies at the heart of Sodom, in the hearts of the people of Sodom. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:34.480 The sin of Sodom should be a sobering warning to us all. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:19:09.359 That when we prioritize our individual desires over our duties and responsibilities to others, that when we become greedy and decadent, blind to the needs of those around us, when we use others to satisfy our own desires, when we use power to control, threaten, or manipulate the vulnerable, when we become sexually narcissistic in all of those moments, we find that Sodom is not a thing at the past to be studied, but rather we find ourselves residing within its walls. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:13.519 And it itself is taken up root in our hearts. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:17.599 Therefore, you cannot simply dismiss Sodom. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.960 Sodom is a problem for all of us. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:25.839 What is it then to be a witness in Sodom? 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:34.400 Lot here is the only person who displays any sort of moral difference, and even he fails miserably. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:35.839 Why? 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:44.559 I think the answer is because he hasn't understood the effect that Sodom has on him and on his family. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.640 And so that's the second question, folks. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.960 The second question is this What is the effect of Sodom? 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:52.559 So what is the sin of Sodom? 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.039 What is the effect of Sodom? 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:03.200 We meet Lot at the start of the passage, and he's sitting at the city gates. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:14.000 And this is an important little moment because it's not just telling us about the geographical location of where Lot was at that moment, it's talking about now his status within the city. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:20.640 To sit at the city gates is an indication that Lot has become an elder, he's a leader. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.720 The men that say this sojourner has become a judge. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:31.359 So he's got some sort of civic responsibility over the city, and that's why he's sitting at the gates. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:43.279 And so if you've been tracking with us over the course of the Abraham story from Genesis chapter 12, one of the things that you might remember is that when Lot and Abraham separate, where does Lot go? 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.559 Lot goes and he lives in the valley beside Sodom. 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:48.160 That's Genesis 13. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:52.640 And then a chapter later in Genesis 14, when he's captured, why is he captured? 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.920 He's captured because he's living now within the city. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:59.519 So he's moved from outside to in its walls. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.200 And now here in Genesis 19, he's not just in its walls, he's a leader. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:06.960 He's an elder. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:12.559 He's got civic responsibility, magisterial duty there in the city. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.839 He's a person of influence. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:25.039 And throughout the narrative, there are points of difference between him and the men of Sodom. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.880 Let me spell out exactly what these points of difference are. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.799 He greets the angels in the same way that Abraham does. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:46.319 When Lot saw, this is the second half of verse 1, when Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, bowed himself with his face to the earth, and said, My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house, spend the night, and wash your feet. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:49.920 So very similar response to Abraham. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:52.079 He offers them hospitality. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:54.240 That's the second difference. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:04.160 And then there's a curious little uh moment when the angels respond and they say, Say, uh no, we'll um we'll spend the night in the town square. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:11.519 And then Lot responds, verse 3, but he pressed them strongly so that they turned aside and entered his house. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.200 What does that mean? 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.920 Lot's a leader of the city. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:28.480 Lot is showing some differences to the men of the city, some similarities with his uncle Abraham, and yet he knows exactly what Sodom's like. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.640 They say, we're gonna go and sleep in the town square, we're gonna find a park bench. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:39.680 Uh it's a warm night, we'll just sleep outside, and he knows that that's not a good idea. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.960 He knows that Sodom has past form. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.960 That's why he goes, nope, uh, don't do that. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.279 Won't be a particularly restful night for you. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.079 Why don't you come back to my house? 00:22:52.400 --> 00:23:00.799 He presses them strongly because he knows exactly why the angels shouldn't sleep in the town square. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:18.240 And then another difference between him and the men of Sodom is that when the men of Sodom surround the house and he goes out to them, he knows that what they are proposing is wicked. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:22.880 So in verse 8, he starts verse 8 by saying, Do not do this wicked thing. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.960 Now, we'll come back to what he does propose. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.240 He says, Do not do this wicked thing. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:39.759 So he is different, he has a he is he is a more acute, still terrible, but a more acute moral conscience than the man of Sodom. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:44.160 And so there are some clear points of distinction between him and the culture. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:46.720 Why is he at the city gates? 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.480 Why is he an elder? 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:52.400 I wonder if so, I wonder if Lot was just naive, do you know? 00:23:53.519 --> 00:24:05.359 Did he think that living inside the city was good for business, it was good for his prosperity and security, and he could guard his family. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:19.680 It's like he knew that there was stuff rotten in the city, but like I'm spiritually strong enough that I can guide my family through this without the surrounding culture tainting and corrupting my family. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.039 It's pretty naive, if that's what he's thinking. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.720 Or was he kind of morally misguided? 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:36.319 Was he the kind of person that thought, if I if I kind of keep my head down and if I climb the social ladder, I could change Sodom? 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:49.839 If I only get to these positions of influence, and and yes, I'll need to kind of keep quiet about what I believe until I get there, then I'll be able to change the place. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:54.079 Again, just woefully misguided. 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.240 Yeah, we see lots of people thinking those sorts of ways, don't you? 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.160 Maybe you have thought that sort of way. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:08.960 And people think, well, I'll keep quiet about what I believe about Christianity and my faith and uh and biblical ethics and all of those things. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:20.799 I'll keep quiet about all of those, all of those things until I reach this point of influence, and then I'm going to be courageous and brave and change the whole system around you. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:29.359 But the problem is that cowardice at all of those little moments does not lead to bravery when you reach the influence. 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:32.799 Why is Lord of the City his? 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:44.400 We're not told, but whatever the motivation, we know that the culture and the values of Sodom have had a profound effect both on him and on his family. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:55.680 As I have alluded to, the aspect of this passage that is most difficult to stomach is perhaps Lot's response to the men. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:06.079 That despite all of the points of difference that I've articulated, that when they come to the door, he offers his daughters up to them. 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:12.559 There's no sense at all that the Bible approves of this move. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:16.640 In fact, the angels intervene to get him out of the conversation. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:21.680 You can imagine the angelic hand coming from behind the door and pulling this idiot in. 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:26.559 Lot has failed utterly. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:33.200 When the chips are down and moral clarity is needed, he blows it. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:46.640 We must beware of the spiritual foolishness and naivety that says, I am strong enough, my conscience is strong enough not to be corrupted or tainted or uh to drift. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:56.480 It's a misplaced pride that says, I can withstand the demands, the demands to reflect the cultural values and norms around me. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:27:00.000 I can withstand that torrent. 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:07.680 I can withstand the cultural values of the mob, and I will be the lone, brave Clarion voice. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.480 That is a very tall order. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.680 And Lot here fails miserably. 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:22.559 Lot all the way through these chapters has chosen peace and prosperity over the life of a pilgrim like his uncle. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:40.559 Folks, it is better to be a pilgrim at the margins of the culture, to be a pilgrim at the margins of society, than to think that you can reign in Sodom and not be tainted by it. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:44.799 To think that you can reign in Sodom when in fact it is reigning over you. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:54.880 Beware, as Christians, the strange new respect that you might get from those in our culture. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:28:00.319 Beware when people are congratulating you or thinking that you are cool. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.599 Because what have you given up? 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:04.960 What have you hidden? 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:08.559 In order for them to speak well of you. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:15.759 Success in the Christian life is not getting to the positions of influence. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.720 Success in the Christian life is to be crucified. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:22.720 Take up your cross and follow me. 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:27.039 Beware of the naivety that Lot has. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:31.759 And tragically, the effects are not limited to him. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:38.559 The effects of Sodom and life within the walls of Sodom profoundly affect his family. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:47.039 That even as judgment is raining down on Sodom and Gomorrah, and the angels have told them to flee without hesitation, even then. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:53.200 Lot's wife looks back and she's turned into a pillar of salt. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:11.279 It's unclear as to whether or not the uh the turning into a pillar of salt is a um is a miraculous um action insofar as she uh she actually just becomes salt, you just imagine like some sort of horror movie, like a statue like that, right? 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:20.559 Or that actually she's swept up in the kind of pyroclastic flow of the uh of the sulfur and the brimstone and the lava that's coming down. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:22.400 It's unclear. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:33.200 But the point is that even as judgment is raining down on Sodom and the angels are saying, get out of here. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.480 Lot's wife loved Sodom. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:38.480 She didn't want to give it up. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:40.960 Her heart was there. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:48.799 Her heart was inside those city walls, and that even as judgment was falling, she longed to be back there. 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:51.440 Did she want to go and get more of her stuff? 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:54.880 She didn't want to flee. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:59.359 She loved her life, she loved her home, and she loved Sodom. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:01.920 Her heart was inside those walls. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:06.240 You know, Jesus refers to this in Luke chapter 17. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:10.880 And he says, Remember Lot's wife. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:14.000 Remember Lot's wife. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:25.359 It's a warning from Jesus against having our heart so attached to something in this world that we just can't leave it behind in order to follow him. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.119 He says, beware Lot's wife. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:36.160 Beware having your heart so attached to something in this world that you're not willing to leave it behind. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:50.319 But if Lot's wife had her heart in Sodom, Sodom was in the heart of Lot's daughters. 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:55.200 This passage just kind of goes from bad to worse, doesn't it? 00:30:55.519 --> 00:31:04.160 The passage ends with a deeply disturbing incident where the daughters get him drunk and they become pregnant by him. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:14.160 The daughters in that section make this terrible determination that there are no men left. 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:28.559 Is that right? 00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:30.960 No, of course it's not right. 00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:34.960 What they're saying is, there's no men left in Sodom. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:54.480 Why didn't they think if only we if only we fled to the to the tents of of our great uncle, Abraham, there'd be there'd be men there who fear the Lord, who who who love him, who would do well and do right by us, but they they don't. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:54.799 Why? 00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:57.119 Because Sodom is in their hearts. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:14.960 The values and norms of Sodom had seeped so deeply into their hearts, into their cultural worldview that this wicked thing thing seemed like the best option for them. 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:27.920 Brothers and sisters, our world, our culture, is not a neutral space. 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:37.680 Each one of us is drinking in every day the values and norms of the world around us. 00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:50.640 In all of the things that we consume, in all of the social media, in all of the the reading, in all of the training that we imbibe, we're imbibing a worldview. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:53.519 And I'm not saying that it's all going to hell in a handbasket, right? 00:32:53.599 --> 00:33:14.000 I'm not saying that it's all sodom, but I am giving a plea to not be naive and to think that there is a neutral objective space, Monday to Friday, that you enter into as a Christian, and everybody else is kind of this kind of blank sheet of paper. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:14.880 No, no. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:24.079 You're constantly imbibing a moral narrative of what is right and wrong, of what is true and false, of what is good and bad. 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:29.759 You need to be aware that you're stepping into those spaces and act with discernment. 00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:41.519 Now, that's a whole other sermon series in itself, but my plea is don't be naive like Lot and think, I'm going to enter in these spaces, and none of it's going to have an effect on me. 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:44.079 Because it will and it does. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.559 We need to process these things together as a as a community. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:34:07.119 And what does it mean to uh to live as a Christian who's uh who's a doctor or who's an accountant or who's uh or who works in uh you know a big blue chip multinational company or who's a teacher, and and to think, what does it mean to enter into these non-neutral spaces? 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:14.559 And to be an effective witness, not a naive one, not a morally blinded one. 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:43.360 You know, this is not a call that we should all become monastic hermits, nor is it a call to legalism, but it is a call to wisdom, to our own maturity, to our own clarity, to be proactive into to be proactive with those whom we love, to pray for this city, to seek its to seek its good. 00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:46.800 And what's the good of the city? 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:54.000 Folks, Dublin will not be changed simply by one of you becoming Lord Mayor. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:57.360 Dublin will be changed one heart at a time. 00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:03.119 It's in all of the little things, in all of the little moments and conversations that we have. 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:05.119 That's how we'll change the city. 00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:13.039 We must not be passive about what we consume or about what we allow our children to consume. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:15.840 And Lot is a warning to that. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:18.159 Those are our two questions. 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:19.199 What is the sin of Sodom? 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:20.400 What's the effect of Sodom? 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:21.840 Two statements. 00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:30.320 First statement: look with sober sadness at the judgment of God. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.559 We cannot escape the reality that this passage is about judgment. 00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:40.880 As uncomfortable as it makes us feel. 00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:48.079 God did not just say to Abraham that he would bless those who blessed him, God also promised that he would curse those who dishonored him. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:59.360 To speak only of blessing, to speak only of the good aspects of the gospel of Jesus. 00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:07.679 And not to speak of judgment would be to distort a story that is ultimately God's and not ours. 00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:16.239 It's one of the things that we were just saying as we were praying upstairs, is that we don't shrink away from the hard passages at city. 00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:25.199 We try to set them in their context and show what we can learn from them, maybe even show glimmers of how and why they're good, but we don't just skip over them. 00:36:25.280 --> 00:36:26.880 It'd be so easy to do that. 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:33.760 Many a time this week preparing this passage when I was like, I wish that we'd just got 18, 20. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:36.159 But we don't do that. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:37.280 Because why? 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:40.079 Because it's not my story to tell. 00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:41.920 It's God's story. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:49.519 To ignore the reality of judgment is to minimize the sinfulness of human nature. 00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.159 It's to minimize the sinfulness of sin. 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.280 In a few weeks we'll celebrate Christmas. 00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:57.119 And why did Jesus come? 00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:01.519 To make us feel better about ourselves and to give us all warm fuzzies inside? 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:02.000 No. 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:04.480 What does the angel say to Joseph? 00:37:04.719 --> 00:37:09.840 You will call him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:16.639 Jesus was born in Bethlehem to save us from the judgment of God. 00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:21.199 That is not a reality that we can ignore. 00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:28.639 The judgment on Sodom was patient and then it was sudden. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:33.360 The judgment on Sodom was patient and then sudden. 00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:43.199 It was patient because we know all the way back in chapter 13 that the writer Moses tells us that the people of Sodom did wicked things. 00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:47.840 God already knew all the way back there that the men of Sodom were wicked. 00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:51.920 And yet he was slow in executing his judgment. 00:37:52.159 --> 00:38:02.639 Friends, do not mistake God's slowness with you and with our world as a sign that he is not there. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:11.840 Again, this might actually betray my age, but I don't know if you've ever watched an Eddie Izzard comedy special. 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:21.199 But one of the things that uh that he used to do when he came out on stage as an atheist is he would step out and he said, God, if you're there, strike me down. 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:27.039 And he'd wait a moment, and then everybody would laugh because he'd still be standing. 00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:28.559 Uh, and that was his proof. 00:38:28.639 --> 00:38:32.000 He was like, Well, clearly there's no God. 00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:39.679 Do not mistake God's slowness, his patience with you and with the world as a sign that he is not there. 00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:47.840 His judgment with Sodom was patient, and then it was sudden, and there was no time to delay that night. 00:38:48.639 --> 00:38:58.719 Lot's sons-in-law scoffed at the imminent danger, and Lot himself seemed, he needed to be dragged out, kicking and screaming, just in the nick of time. 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:04.000 But in the end, the judgment was not just sudden, it was severe. 00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:07.119 The land itself was obliterated. 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:10.880 Even the vegetation is scorched. 00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:15.360 And that land, the land of the valley, where is that now? 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:19.840 It's the Dead Sea, where nothing lives. 00:39:23.440 --> 00:39:31.760 Perhaps most sobering for us all is not the words of this passage, but the words of Jesus. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:42.079 Because that's the this is one of the false things that you can have in your mind is you can be thinking, okay, this is Old Testament, and God's a bit grumpy in the Old Testament, but then Jesus comes, and Jesus is a lot nicer. 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:49.519 He's got like long kind of Timothy hair, and you know, he hugs lambs and uh and makes nice wine and things like that, right? 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:54.000 And so we think, God of the Old Testament, bad, God of the New Testament, great. 00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:59.360 Uh, but no, we need to reckon with the words of Jesus. 00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:09.519 And what Jesus says to the people in his own day, who are hearing him and seeing his ministry, God in the flesh, God with us. 00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:11.360 And what does he say to them? 00:40:11.599 --> 00:40:26.159 He says, if you reject me, if you reject what I'm saying to you now, if you reject what you're seeing from me now, it'll be easier on the man of Sodom than it will be for you. 00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:29.039 Wow. 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:31.920 It'll be easier on the man of Sodom. 00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:35.199 Be very careful. 00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:39.039 Be careful of dismissing the judgment of God. 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:44.320 Our need of him is complete because our condition before him is desperate. 00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:47.280 Sodom lives in each of us. 00:40:48.480 --> 00:40:56.719 We're all called, like Lot, to flee, to flee for our life without delay. 00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:04.159 To the one who shelters us under his life-giving wings. 00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:09.360 Final and second statement, final point. 00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:18.639 Embrace the strange and wonderful grace of God. 00:41:19.119 --> 00:41:25.679 Embrace the strange and wonderful, maybe even unsettling, grace of God. 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:27.920 I know that we've come a long way. 00:41:29.199 --> 00:41:37.920 And we've heard things that are difficult to process, but there's one more thing to wrestle with. 00:41:38.239 --> 00:41:42.159 And this is the thing that I've been wrestling with all week. 00:41:43.199 --> 00:41:46.159 This is arguably the most unsettling thing. 00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:58.320 In the New Testament, in the letter of 2 Peter, Peter says that Lot was a righteous man. 00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:08.320 Lot was a righteous man in Sodom, a man who saw what was going on in Sodom and was disturbed by it. 00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:16.800 And yet, as we have seen, yes, there are differences between him and the men of Sodom. 00:42:17.840 --> 00:42:22.639 But verse 8, offering his daughters? 00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:26.719 It seems so despicable. 00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:31.280 It's hard to see him as a righteous man. 00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:42.880 Our default position as human beings is to want good things to happen to good people and bad things to happen to bad people. 00:42:43.760 --> 00:42:49.039 And where the next step from that is, is we spend the rest of our lives convincing ourselves that we're in the good people category. 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:51.280 Or at least in the, yeah, we're all right. 00:42:55.440 --> 00:42:59.039 And so we come to and go, well, did Lot deserve to be rescued? 00:42:59.599 --> 00:42:59.920 No. 00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:02.320 And yet he was. 00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:04.079 Why? 00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:09.519 One answer within the passage is given to us in verse 29. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:11.519 Let me remind you of it. 00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:24.320 So it was when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. 00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:31.360 God remembered Abraham, and so he rescued Lot. 00:43:32.239 --> 00:43:41.519 Abraham, if you remember, the passage that Ben preached last week, Abraham had been pleading with God for Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:43:41.760 --> 00:43:45.199