A Study of the Scriptures: All the Stories in the Bible.

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
Story #9 - Lot's Story (Continued).

~ What is Your Lot in Life?
~ (Continued)

Act 3 - (Saving A Lot)

~ Prelude ~

They display their sin... Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. (Isaiah 3:9 NIV).
Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.
(2 Peter 2:8 NLT).


~ The Story ~

And 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;

And he 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 on your ways."

And they said,
"Nay; but we will abide in the street all night."

And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, 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 in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them."

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

And said,
"I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."

And they said,
"Stand back."

And they said again,
"This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them."

And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to 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.

And the men said unto Lot,
"Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it."

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said,
"Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city."

But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
"Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city."

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that

he said,
"Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."

And Lot said unto them,
Oh, not so, my Lord:
Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."

And he said unto him,
"See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither."

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom.
(Luke 17:28-29).​

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter. (2 Peter 2:6).​

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.

(Genesis 19:1-29).
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
They display their sin... Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
(Isaiah 3:9 NIV).

Sodom was so wicked that they displayed their sinful lifestyle and did not conceal it. They openly did sinful things. We see this today both outside and inside the church. Men who are lovers of their own selves, proud, without natural affection, and false accusers. Some of them have a form of Godliness in the sense that they may even do certain things that might appear loving, but they deny the power thereof by the fact that Jesus is not in their life. They are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. For the Scriptures say,

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with various lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:1-7).

Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. (2 Peter 2:8 NLT).

Lot was tormented in his soul by the wickedness that he had seen and heard daily. This is how it is for the true believer today. They are vexed by people's filthy, worldly, and sinful conversations and ways. But God knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptations (2 Peter 2:9). Which is what God did with Lot. He delivered him out of a place of temptation (of which we will see later in our story).

Peter calls Lot as being righteous two times and speaks on him generally as being godly once (See 2 Peter 2:7-9). Now, a righteous person does not always mean they are 100% perfect the moment they are a believer (all be it that is God's goal for his saints); What this means is that they strive to walk in God's good ways always. However, because Lot was around the filthiness of this people being vexed by their sinful conversations and activities, his good manners were corrupted. 1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV says, "Bad company corrupts good character." So while Lot was being vexed in his soul by those who were sinful, being around them so much also tainted his good character a little because we see in our upcoming story that he offered his own two daughters to an angry mob that was set out to commit sexual immorality with the two angels that Lot took into his house (of which will see later in the story). But how could Lot be righteous if he did this? Well, I will comment on this later as our story progresses.

 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
And 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;
Clearly Lot must have known that these were messengers from God (or angels). For he had bowed himself before them with his face to the ground. However, this was not an act of worship but merely one of reverence, though. For in Revelation 22, the apostle John was corrected by an angel by the fact that he bowed himself before him in an act of worship. For the angel said to John when he bowed down to worship him, "See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant," The angels here did not correct Lot like they did with John.

Also we see that Lot was also sitting at the gates of the city when he had seen them. Lot was the only one who showed hospitality to these two messengers of God when they arrived. For we find out later in our story that the rest of the city wanted to molest them. In fact, Lot at the gates of Sodom and the wickedness of the city itself is a reversal of the gates and city we see in Revelation 22. For Sodom is sort of like a Bizarro world of the city in Revelation 22. For the Scriptures say,

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie." (Revelation 22:14-15).

In addition, I want to mention that I see the majority of the story in Genesis 19 as a parallel of Lot being the believer (us) and the angels who came to rescue him as the angels in Matthew 13 that will separate the wicked from the righteous at the end of the world and at the Judgment. For the wicked will be gathered by angels and thrown into the furnace of fire (i.e. the Lake of Fire).

"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear."

(Matthew 13:41-43).

Also, we will see at the end of our upcoming story that the Judgment upon Sodom took everyone by surprise. This is what it will be like when Christ returns whereby in time he will have his angels separate the righteous from the wicked.

"But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

(Luke 17:29-30).


 
Last edited:
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
And he 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 on your ways."
Here we see Lot being a true servant of the Kingdom. Unknownly Lot was doing that which Jesus commanded of his disciples to do for the brethren (or their fellow servants). For he that serves is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 23:11). For John says, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God." Lot loved the strangers like he was supposed to (unlike the rest of the city (who were sinful) because they did not know God).

Also, the foot washing ceremony put in place by our Lord (that can be seen even here in Lot's story) was to help illustrate that the Lord came to serve all of humanity (By becoming a obedient unto the point of his death so as to offer man the priceless free gift of salvation). For Jesus said those who will be the greatest in the Kingdom are those who serve.

Here is a great scene from the gospel of John movie involving the foot washing ceremony.

[VIDEO=youtube;ufaUNGSbYE8]https://youtu.be/ufaUNGSbYE8[/VIDEO]


Side Note:
Please take note that Jesus is not European or white. The film is not meant to be an exact detailed portrayal of the life of Christ. However, you may enjoy it and find it informative none the less.



 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0

And they said,
"Nay; but we will abide in the street all night."

The angels clearly were there to test to see whether the cries of those of the city were true or not for the Lord (See Genesis 18). These two angels were on a fact finding mission and to rescue anyone who was righteous (and or those who believed so as to come with Lot) for their own safety.

I believe another possible reason the angels said they will abide in the street because their real home is not on this Earth, too.

For it loosely parallels what Jesus said,

"Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." (Luke 9:58).

Meaning, the current state of the world he had come down into was not of his Kingdom. For the Lord said,

"My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from here." (John 18:36).
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house;
God's people have a way of never giving up in doing good.

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6:9).

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14).

Lot was zealous in wanting to do what was good by these messengers of God. He did not give up. He pressed his hospitality and or his doing of good for them. No doubt Lot also knew that these two messengers would have been in potential danger if they stayed out in the streets or went somewhere else in the city. So Lot pushed the issue in love to care for them and or to give them protection personally.
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
In the Exodus (Which is in Mose's Story), we see that the Israelites leave in haste after eating unleavened bread. The same holds true here in Lot's Story. After Lot and his two guests eat unleavened bread, we learn towards the end of our story that Lot and his family will also leave in haste out of the city. However, in Christ's Story, we see something happen a little differently, though. For when Christ celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, they (the disciples) ate bread and then scattered (ran away from their Lord) after Christ was arrested. Why? Well, Jesus' ultimate mission was one that He had to do alone. For He was the only one who could pay the price for man's sins. For only in Christ alone can we have salvation. So this is the central heart or theme. The Lord is salvation. For who delivered the Israelites? The Lord. Who delivered Lot? The Lord. Who delivered mankind so as to offer Him the free gift of salvation? The Lord. For the Lord Jesus Christ is our Bread of Life. He is our salvation, sustenance, and nourishment.

[VIDEO=youtube;Y3ewu5QTZKE]https://youtu.be/Y3ewu5QTZKE[/VIDEO]







 
Last edited:
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
In the Exodus (Which is in Mose's Story), we see that the Israelites leave in haste after eating unleavened bread. The same holds true here in Lot's Story. After Lot and his two guests eat unleavened bread, we learn towards the end of our story that Lot and his family will also leave in haste out of the city. However, in Christ's Story, we see something happen a little differently, though. For when Christ celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, they (the disciples) ate bread and then scattered (ran away from their Lord) after Christ was arrested. Why? Well, Jesus' ultimate mission was one that He had to do alone. For He was the only one who could pay the price for man's sins. For only in Christ alone can we have salvation. So this is the central heart or theme. The Lord is salvation. For who delivered the Israelites? The Lord. Who delivered Lot? The Lord. Who delivered mankind so as to offer Him the free gift of salvation? The Lord. For the Lord Jesus Christ is our Bread of Life. He is our salvation, sustenance, and nourishment.

[VIDEO=youtube;Y3ewu5QTZKE]https://youtu.be/Y3ewu5QTZKE[/VIDEO]


For the Lord is our salvation alone in Justification, Sanctification, and in Glorification. For we yield to the Lord when we are convicted to repent of our sins and to accept Him as our Savior (Justification). We yield to the Sanctifying work the Lord wants to do thru us in our life by following His Spirit and His Word (Sanctification), and we gladly yield to the Lord so as to be brought home one day by the Lord to be with Him (Glorification). So all glory, honor, and power goes to the Lord Jesus Christ. We merely choose to abide with Christ or not. But all three aspects of salvation (Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification) belongs to the Lord. For without the Lord we can do nothing. Without the Lord, we would be lost. For the Lord is our Salvation. For taking in the Bread of Life (Jesus) helps us to have energy to run for the prize or the pearl of great price (Which is seeing Jesus face to face in tears of joyfulness).
 
Last edited:
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, 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 in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them."

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

And said,
"I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing;
We see in Judges 19:22-24 a similar occurence of a crowd of corrupt debase men calling out for a visiting Levite that entered the protection of another man's house in that town whereby they wanted to molest the Levite (like the men of Sodom wanted to molest the two angels). In that event, the person of the household (Who appeared in wanting to protect the Levite) had offered up his own daughter and the Levite's concubine (Just as Lot offered up his own two daughters to the angry mob). However, a significant major difference between these two stories is that the town in the Book of Judges was an Israelite town. It showed the corrupted nature of man's lawless deeds because there was no king. For everyone did what was right in their own eyes (Whereby the concubine was abused to the point of death). Whereas here in our story of Sodom, the Lord was about to bring fiery judgment upon a city that was corrupt and rescue one of his righteous saints (Whereby nobody was harmed by the angry mob). For even the spiritual symbolisms between both the story in Genesis 19 and Judges 19 is also different, too. In Genesis 19, the parallel is the Son of man returning to destroy the wicked with the angels separating the righteous from the wicked. As heart wrenching and painful as this story is to read in Judges 19, the abuse of the Levite's concubine is a parallel of the sufferings and tortures Christ went thru on our behalf. For Christ was whipped, humilitated, and his flesh was torn. He was spit upon by others. He was then nailed to a cross painfully alongside other criminals. For Christ did this, because He loved us so very much. For he was tortured and then was crucified and then died so as to heal our iniquities and save us from our sins; And just as a war followed as a result of the concubine's wrongful abuse and death, there will also be a war that will follow Christ's torture and death, too. It will be a future war where Christ will return so as to destroy all the evil that is in this world.

 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
Okay, so how can Peter call Lot righteous two times in the New Testament if Lot offered up his own two daughters to a sex crazed mob? Well, because Peter was speaking hindsight of Lot's entire life. Yes, Lot had sinned by offering up his own two daughters, but we know Lot had to have repented of that sin at some point after Sodom was destroyed by fire. For God would have convicted Lot of that sin for him to repent at some point afterwards. This is how Lot was righteous. For we learn later in Old Testament Scripture that it says,

"He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13).
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0

for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."
To be under the shadow of something in the Bible in a positive sense means you are under one's protection. Lot here was declaring that these two men were under his protection because they came into his home. Those who are true believers in Jesus Christ are under the shadow of the Almighty.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1).

What does the shadow of the Almighty look like? I would say it is the shadow of the cross.

For our hidden or secret place is abiding in Christ (John 15). For Jesus is the "Hidden Treasure" in the field whereby a man sells all that he has so as to buy the field so as to obtain the treasure (Who is Jesus Christ) (Matthew 13:44).

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3).
 
Last edited:
M

Mitspa

Guest
Okay, so how can Peter call Lot righteous two times in the New Testament if Lot offered up his own two daughters to a sex crazed mob? Well, because Peter was speaking hindsight of Lot's entire life. Yes, Lot had sinned by offering up his own two daughters, but we know Lot had to have repented of that sin at some point after Sodom was destroyed by fire. For God would have convicted Lot of that sin for him to repent at some point afterwards. This is how Lot was righteous. For we learn later in Old Testament Scripture that it says,

"He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whosoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13).
You understand that Peters epistle is THE WORD OF GOD...and Peter is not calling Lot "righteous" God is! and its very simple...is called the righteousness of faith....not the self-righteousness of the law, that God has completely rejected and completely rejects Christ and His Cross.
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0


And they said,
"Stand back."

If you are true believer in Jesus Christ, the enemy desires and or prefers for you to stand back and to get out of the way (Like the evil men were telling Lot to do). Step aside!

But Paul says to us believers, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13). So we as believers are to arm ourselves spiritually according to His Word so that we can.... above all.... being able to stand. So do not be moved or pushed aside by the enemy. Stand your ground and hold the line for the Lord. Don't let the enemy to let you step aside or to stand back. Fight the good fight.
 
Last edited:
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
You understand that Peters epistle is THE WORD OF GOD...and Peter is not calling Lot "righteous" God is! and its very simple...is called the righteousness of faith....not the self-righteousness of the law, that God has completely rejected and completely rejects Christ and His Cross.
This is not a debate thread. It's a Study Thread. Please read the OP (Original Post) rules for this thread. If you disagree, start another thread and provide a link in your post.

Thank you.
 
M

Mitspa

Guest
This is not a debate thread. It's a Study Thread. Please read the OP (Original Post) rules for this thread. If you disagree, start another thread and provide a link in your post.

Thank you.
"BIBLE DISCUSSION FORUM".... Im discussing the bible.. I didn't know you could make a rule where no one can discuss the bible in a way that you don't like? My point still stands and if their are new rules on the forum, maybe you could point them out to me according to the forum rules?
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
I am most certainly not against discussing the Bible if you want to add something to what I said or to compliment the Scriptures here. But this is not a debate thread. I already put forth the rules at the beginning of this thread and many others have respected those rules. I had to be a little forceful with some at times (But it is the rules I put forth). It is a Study Thread. To Study and not to debate like all other threads. If you reply back in disagreement, I will report your post to the moderators.

Side Note:


I am not hindering your debate or you disagreement here, either. You can create another thread so as to debate the issue and leave a link in your post here.
 
M

Mitspa

Guest
I am most certainly not against discussing the Bible if you want to add something to what I said or to compliment the Scriptures here. But this is not a debate thread. I already put forth the rules at the beginning of this thread and many others have respected those rules. I had to be a little forceful with some at times (But it is the rules I put forth). It is a Study Thread. To Study and not to debate like all other threads. If you reply back in disagreement, I will report your post to the moderators.
I did add context and compliment the scriptures that was used. No debate really about what I wrote?
Be glad to here the Mods explanation of the rules :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
In My Original Post I set for This Warning:

Warning:
Please Read Thread Rules Below Before Posting.



Rule #1. This is not a debate thread. This is a study thread. If you disagree with an interpretation or view expressed here, you can say how you disagree in one or two sentences, but you must provide a link to a new thread (or one that was previously created in the past) to produce your reasons as to not interrupt the purpose of this study.


Rule #2. I will put forth the stories and nobody else. Please no random mention of God's stories or a general discussion of the stories within the Bible. If you disagree with how the stories are put forth, state your reasons briefly in one or two sentences and provide a link to another thread to discuss such a thing. The purpose of this study is to stay on track with discussing the stories of the Bible. This is not a thread about the debate of the chronology of the Bible or about how you disagree with someone. This is a Bible Study thread which is supposed to help enrichen your beliefs about the stories in God's Word. Also, the chronology is one proposed chronology to help the reader have an idea of the over all picture of God's story (The chronology is not meant to be authoratative).


Rule #3. Stay on point with only the story being currently discussed. No past story discussions that are really old. Please try and discuss only the current story under discussion. Granted, I will allow a few comments after a story has just passed, but such discussion should not continue on and on so as to interupt the current story discussion or study. If you want to add to a past story discussion (that has been over for a long while), start another thread. The purpose is to stay on point with each of the stories. This would also include refraining from telling a story that is still yet future for us to discuss, too. If you feel a story has been missed, please PM me and I will be happy to discuss it with you.
 
Last edited:
M

Mitspa

Guest
Ok I will try again as it relates to post #550 Peters epistle is the Word of God and Lot was righteous by the righteousness of faith, not the righteousness of the law ....:)
 
Jul 22, 2014
10,350
51
0
Also, I want to add that there is a parallel between the daughters being offered up by Lot, too.

The daughters were:

(a) Virgins (Innocent).
(b) Offered as a sacrifice or as a substitute for the two Messengers of God.
(c) Rejected as a sacrifice.
(d) Offered so as to preserve the life of the two Messengers of God.​

Jesus was:

(a) Innocent.
(b) Offered as a sacrifice or as a substitute for mankind's sins.
(c) Rejected as a sacrifice by His people.
(d) Offered as a substitute so as to save the lives of sinners who would repent.​