Scriptures for the Lesson
- Gen 12:1-4 - Abraham repository of blessing for all nations
- Gen 13:1-13 - Lot chooses the well watered plain, wicked men
- Gen 14:8-17 - Battle of 4 vs 5, Abraham rescues Lot
- Gen 18:1,16-24, 19:23-29 - Abraham intercedes, Sodom destroyed, Lot saved
- Mat 11:20-24 - Chorazin, Capernaum upbraided
Review
Abraham is a great man of God, the friend of God. He is mentioned
in Matt first sentence of the NT, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 2
Cor, Gal, Heb, Jas, 1 Pet. No wrong he ever did is ascribed to him
in the NT.
Sarah is a great woman of God. She is mentioned in Romans, Gal,
Hebr and 1 Peter. The OT woman most mentioned in the NT. No wrong
she ever did is ascribed to her in the NT.
Both of them are mentioned by name in Heb 11, a list of the heroes
of the faith.
We investigated some of the details given in the Bible concerning
Abraham and Sarah, now we turn to Abraham and Sodom, taking note
of Abraham’s dealings with the governments of the world and what
we might learn about this. This is an important topic today due
to the prevalence of amillenialism, dominionism, and reconstructionist
theology - i.e. that we are to make the world a better and better
place, eventually ushering in the Kingdom of our Lord.
Background
There were many city-states in that region, along with larger
countries (e.g. Egypt) in those days. Each city-state had a king, some
unique features of culture and religion. When Abraham entered the land
at age 75 the city-states of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar
had already begun a period of servitude to Chedorlaomer. During their
servitude Abrah walked about the land, lived in a tent and built an
altar near Bethel (12:8). During these years, the tent and the altar
defined his character.
CHM says the tent showed that he was a stranger on earth, while the
altar showed that he was at home in Heaven.
Abram and his entourage went to Egypt for some time, abandoning the
altar and probably the tent as well. At the end of this sojourn to the
south, Abram is forcibly evicted from Egypt and sent packing back to
Canaan (12:20). And small wonder considering the trouble that he
caused there. But this incident is not what concerns us today. Coming
back to Canaan, Abram is immediately seen again with his tent (13:3)
and altar (13:4). He is a stranger and a pilgrim in the land of
promise, worshiping the God of heaven.
Lot Goes to Sodom
Now we have Abram with tent and altar in communion with the Lord, and
strife developing between his herdsmen and those of Lot. Lot is given
the choice of all the land, and chooses the well-watered plain, he
heads toward Sodom — a city going about it’s business, but under
subjection and taxation to Chedorlaomer.Of his motives we are told
nothing, and perhaps given the NT light on the subject (2Pet 2:7-8) we
should try to put it in the best light we possibly can, but nothing is
going to help the eventual outcome. Centuries later we hear a much
better answer to the call to “separate thyself”, and had Lot the
character of the one that uttered these words, his outcome would
have been more spiritually satisfactory –
Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after
thee, for whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest, I
will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God, where
thou diest, will I die, and there will be buried.
Ah, that would have been a good answer in Genesis 13, but that isn’t
what happened, and the scripture doesn’t cover up the mistakes of it’s
heroes. Lot pursues the desire of his eyes and his soul, but at what a
terrible cost. And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into
their soul [Ps 106:15]
The Revolt
From pitching toward Sodom, Lot moves into town, and eventually takes
a place at the gate of the city (19:1). Lot lived in the city at the
time of the rebellion against Chedorlaomer, and we have absolutely no
idea what he thought of the matter of the revolt nor whether he was in
the gate of the city by that time. We do know that as Christians our
NT instructions are quite clear on this point. We are to pay what is
due to our government and that not grudgingly. Our Lord himself, in
Matt 22, Mark 12, and Luke 20 instructs all who ask to “render unto
Caesar the things which are Caesar’s”. This instruction to “render”
comes in response to a question about whether to “give to Caesar”.
Romans 13:6 tells us in the most unavoidable language possible “For
this cause pay ye tribute also”.
To say that the revolt, 5 kings against 4, as we are told, didn’t go
exactly as planned, would be an understatement worthy of a modern spin
doctor — they might rather say it met unexpected challenges. The
kings of the Dead Sea plain were herded through the slimepits,
[asphalt pits, tar pits, bitumen pits, pit pits] , some escaping to
the mountains, many perishing. Lot, not being a man of war,
apparently, was still in the city and was taken captive, the victors
sweeping through the now defenseless cities after the rout of the
local military.
Neither Chedorlaomer nor any of the other kings had set their eyes
upon either Abram’s tent or his altar. Abram was entirely separated
from these happenings, and had it not been for Lot, it seems it would
have remained that way. He didn’t join the side of the 5 kings, and he
didn’t join the side of the 4 kings. He stayed out of it. Even if they
had come and confiscated his tent and camels, Abram’s trust was firmly
in the Lord who had made the promises to him. The Lord had instructed
him to walk the length and breadth of the land to set foot on what had
been promised and he had done so. I wonder how much of what the Lord
has promised to me I have set foot on or even begun to understand by
faith. Seated in Heavenly places, all spiritual blessing, hid with
Christ in God. Not likely much, percentage wise.
Abram Rescues Lot
But since “Abram’s brothers son” (14:12) was taken captive, and Abram
heard that “his brother” (14:14) [note the difference] was in this
straight, he goes into action. On faith, surely as much as Gideon with
his 300, he takes his 318 trained men and tracks the conquering kings
from the Salt Sea to Dan, attacks by night and routs them all the way
from Dan to Damascus, Syria. It is entirely clear from the narrative
that he does this not because of the injustice that Chedorlaomer had
forced upon those who served him, or for the cause of the revolt that
the other kings had instigated, but for “his brother” — the one he
had had strife with, the one who had taken for himself the choicest of
the land when offered, but was now in deep need.
Leaving for now one of the most interesting characters in the entire
OT narrative, the King of Salem, Melchizedek (also not one of the 5
kings nor one of the 4 kings), the outcome for all parties is this:
- Chedorlaomer and his allies “slaughtered” from Dan to Damascus
- People of Sodom restored to their town with their goods
- King of Sodom retains his position and his head
- Lot (inexplicably and aggravatingly) returns to Sodom
- Abram returns to his tent, having received a blessing
Reconstructionist Nightmare
If there was ever a scriptural scenario for improvement of this
world’s system, and reconstructionists hope for, this would have been
a prime candidate. Abram swoops in just at the time of need, and not
only slaughters the enemies of Sodom and Gomorrah, but restores all of
their goods (save the tithe, top of the heap Heb 7:4, given to
Melchizedek), and teaches their king a personal lesson about
dependence on the Lord God, posessor of Heaven and earth.
In the end though:
- Neither the citizens of Sodom nor the king were improved
- Lot himself was not much, if at all, improved
- Lot’s family was mostly lost, partly disgraced
- The goods, the people and the city were destroyed utterly (19:24)
Could we ever hope to improve the world system as much as Abram
did for Sodom? And this is the sorry result. Thank God that we
wait for the Lord now to appear a second time from Heaven, rather then
the improvement of this world’s system until be be satisfactory to Him.
A clear NT principle is that those who have more light are expected to
obey more. 1 Pt 4:17 - judgment must begin at the house of God. John
12:35 - walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you.
After the rescue by Abram and the instruction that Abram gave
personally to the king of Sodom, they had more light than before. And
based on the NT evidence which we read in Mat 11, it may have been
this fact that hastened their final destruction with fire and
brimstone. They knew what the Lord through Abram had done for them
and yet they did not repent. The Lord’s words are frightfully sure,
it will be worse at the end for Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.
They saw His mighty power displayed and did not believe Him. Thinking
of the light we have today, how can we escape if we neglect so great
a salvation? If you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
consider your ways today. God will not tarry forever and this life
is not all that there is.
Only one life -
'twill soon be past.
Only what's done
for Christ will last.
A Modern Example
T. Ernest Wilson, Angola Documentary Video, part 4 or 4, 1983
Since 1961 the Belgian Congo, as it was called then, became
independent. There were three political parties that were
formed in Angola among the Africans. Two of them were
definitely communist. And they had their headquarters both
north and to the east of Angola. The Portuguese at that time
had no intention of leaving. They had been in the country for
over 480 years, and they were determined that they were going
to stay. But these guerrilla forces were coming across the
border at night, and attacking Portuguese installations. The
result was the Portuguese had to bring all her military forces
into the country to combat these guerrillas that were attacking
them. The African Christians were not involved in this
political situation — they kept out of it. But at night time
these guerrillas would come into the country, come to an
African village and would ask for food and shelter. If it was
not given to them they would kill the men and burn the village
down. And if they did give them shelter, the Portuguese patrols
would come along the next day and found that they had been
harboring the guerrillas that had come across the border they
found the same fate from them. In that way many of the
Christians were caught between the two fires, with the result
that many of them were killed. [...]
In 1982 I had the opportunity of going back and visiting the
areas where we had spent a lifetime of working. The last 20
years of our service in Angola was spent among the Ovimbundu
people. We had four mission stations there, Capango,
Chilonda, Chitau, Monte Esperança and all four of them had
been completely destroyed–every building wrecked and
looted. Many of the Christians killed. And not only that but
those that survived had to flee into the bush and there many
of them died of privation and hunger. These were people that I
have known for a lifetime, many of them my personal
friends. Many of them we led to the Lord years ago and taught
them the scriptures. And yet that is what has happened to
them. Now after all this fighting and trouble between the
Portuguese and these guerrilla forces, finally in 1975 the
Portuguese had to leave the country and it was taken over by a
communist government. I refrained from going into the poltical
sides of the question. We have deliberately refrained from
getting involved in politics. That is not our business. But I
think that Christians should know what is happening to many of
our dear fellow believers in Angola today. So many of them
have lost their lives. I was so burdened about this that I
applied for a visa and last year, 1982, I was granted a 90 day
visa to go back. I landed at the capital in Angola, the same
place where I landed 58 years ago. [...] And we were granted
permission to go to the mission station. It was sad to see the
buildings flattened and the gospel hall completely
destroyed. But the assembly is intact and that is the
important thing. We thank God that today the assembly is still
carrying on faithfully.
The situation described was not a minor inconvenience and TEW didn’t
ignore it just because he was busy — it was not his place to get
involved in the African politics. And are we any less, any of us,
missionaries to our culture? Are we not strangers and pilgrims here?
Why is it so much easier to see in his situation than in our own?
Abraham - The Repository of All Blessing
Having decided to “see” what Sodom had done for himself, the Lord
tells Abraham about the issue. Why? Because Abraham is going to be a
blessing to all nations (since 12:3), and that includes some
responsibility for Sodom and Gomorrah and so he intercedes with the
Lord on their behalf. We also have the instructions in the NT, not to
hate our government, but to pray for those in authority, to give honor
to the king (1 Peter 2:17), to pay tribute to whom it is due (Rom
13:7), and to submit to their ordinances (1 Peter 2:13), and to do
these things as pilgrims and strangers (1 Peter 2:11). Daniel is our
shining example of one who worked for a government, and that a a very
high level, with which he must have had deep disagreements. How me
managed this while working for both the head of gold and the chest and
arms of silver is a separate study but one of deep interest to many of
us.
Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah with the Lord. He is clearly
afraid to cross some line of propriety, and stops at asking for a halt
to the destruction if there are 10 souls. As we know now, but Abraham
clearly had no idea, there was only one righteous soul in Sodom –
namely Lot himself. We can wonder what Abraham would have done had he
known this, but better to think for a moment about the position and
excellencies of our blessed Lord. He ever liveth to intercede for us
– and that in a perfect way. He being the fullness of the Godhead,
knows the will of the Father and asks perfectly for us.
We are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, blessed in him because
of the seed, that is the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal 3:15) who offered himself
on our behalf. Abraham deals with the peoples of the world as
an intercessor for a time, relying in faith on the promises he
received, but with an imperfect knowledge of God’s will and purpose.
God did preserve Lot, not for Lot’s own sake, but because God
remembered Abraham (19:29). The Lord Jesus Christ is able to
save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).
What a blessed Lord and Savior we have. What a privileged position we
take, in separation from this world, witnessing to it of a better
covenant, a better sacrifice, and a better (heavenly) dwelling place.
Let us consider the scriptural way to witness our confession, as
strangers and pilgrims to the world (the tent), at home in heavenly
places (the altar), and remaining separate from the distractions and
friendships, that is the love, of the world.
We went to see David Grier at Baldwin’s Station Thursday night. David is an old school-mate of ours and several folks from the old neighborhood were there to hear him. He put on a fantastic show and we really enjoyed it.
Baldwin’s Station is a cool little restaurant in Sykesville in a building that was formerly a train station. The trains still run through there regularly (not through the building but it sounds like it…) and a few went through during the evening, laying on the whistle. Too bad none of them were in the middle of a train song, but it was cool anyway. The concerts are put on by Uptown Concerts, a local non-profit and they do a nice job. The venue holds about 50 people and you can be seated for dinner up to 90 minutes before the show starts, but service proceeds all during the concert, though at somewhat reduced frequency of wait-staff visits to the table. The room was pretty full for David’s concert, only a couple of seats were empty. We had a great meal and a great dessert too.
I hadn’t seen David in years, since high-school I guess, and it was great to see him again. His picking was just extraordinary, very crisp, fast at times, and just great to listen to. David played several well known tunes as well as quite a few of his own compositions. They ranged from the hauntingly melancholy “Road to Hope” to the sparking beauty of “High Atop Princess Cove”. David’s seemingly endless ability to produce variations on a theme was a marvel, it encompassed so much deep knowledge of the structure of music and tonality and was just a delight as the variations would keep rolling along. At some points so much music was coming out of the guitar that he seemed to be just giving the instrument little shakes on his knee to shake out even more things, like shaking powdered sugar on top of pancake syrup or something — good on good, you know. I really enjoyed how David used the guitar to play counterpoint and harmony with itself. It was a real treat to hear someone of his caliber in such a small setting, feeling that we were right up close to the action.
We heard some about David’s youth during the concert, and thankfully he didn’t mention any of the bad stuff any of us did with him (or to him) during high school. David’s dad, Lamar Grier, played banjo with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Yep, the Father of Bluegrass himself might have been in Maryland City at one time sitting on David’s back porch just picking away. It’s hard to take, since I like that kind of music, that I never knew any of this until years later. It is surprising how little you can get to know people during school hours.
Now if only he would have played some tunes that I know so I could tell if he was any good or not. : - )
So run right out and buy David’s CDs if you like bluegrass and good picking. They are really nice.
