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BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 12, Day 3: Genesis 19:1-14; Ezekiel 16:49-50; 2 Peter 2:5-11

Summary of Genesis 19:1-14:

The two men who left God walk to Sodom and find Lot at his post at the city’s entrance. Lot recognized their significance immediately and pleaded with them to come to his house for the night. They agreed. Later that night, all of the men of Sodom surround Lot’s house and demand he send out the two men so that they can have sex with them. Lot pleaded with them not to tak the two men, and even offered up his two virgin daughters instead.

The crowd would not listen, and as they moved towards the house, the angels struck them with blindness so they couldn’t find the door. They got Lot back inside safely. They told Lot that they were sent to destroy the city due to the outcry against it, so if he had anyone he wanted to save, to get them. Lot ran to save his future sons-in-law, but they thought he was joking.

Ezekiel 16:49-50:

Sodom is described as arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned. They didn’t help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things.

2 Peter 2:5-11:

God rescues the righteous while judging the unrighteous and made an example of Sodom and Gomorrah of what will happen to the ungodly. We learn Lot was distressed by what he saw around him (but apparently not enough to leave).

BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 12, Day 3: Genesis 19:1-14; Ezekiel 16:49-50; 2 Peter 2:5-11

7) Lot sat at the city gate, which is where leaders sat to make important decisions. This suggests that Lot has become one of them. Also, that Lot would allow his own daughters to be raped. That’s a new low right there.

8a) It was deep if you’re willing to let your own daughters be raped. Plus, it was a gang rape. It seemed all the men were corrupt and committing crimes.

b) God prevents this from happening. He can only tolerate so much evil, and He had had enough.

9) We are all impacted by the sins around us as crimes continue to happen every day. It can be overwhelming to think about so knowing that God has got this is comforting, indeed.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 12, Day 3: Genesis 19:1-14; Ezekiel 16:49-50; 2 Peter 2:5-11

This is a sad chapter for me. If humanity has sunk so low, the only hope is God. Deep inside, we are all capable of this type of sin.

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End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 12, Day 3: Genesis 19:1-14; Ezekiel 16:49-50; 2 Peter 2:5-11

Note we are told for sure that these are angels who have come to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy it. Lot probaby didn’t know they were angels, but he did know they were important, and probably much different than your average visitor passing through Sodom’s gates.

Lot has been going down the path of sin since Abraham offered him the choice of land in Genesis 13 (Genesis 13:10). Now he is a leader. You could say he has compromised his soul.

What you miss out of the Ezekiel passage Ezekiel 16, is that God is comparing Judah and Jerusalem to the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sins listed are shared sins.

Gang rape is serious, and it was accepted. This is bad, indeed.

Homosexuality is indeed a sin according to many passages in the Bible: (Romans 1:26-28).  (Leviticus 18:2220:13)

One interesting thing is that homosexuals say they were born with that tendency. However, the Bible says we are all born and prone to sin, so homosexuality is just one way sin manifests itself.

Lot calls them wicked (hypocrite) when he’s about to sell his daughters’ souls. In ancient times, guests held a higher place than women. Note despite Lot’s standing in the community, no one respected him.

The angels step in to stop any more grievous sins from taking place and ask Lot if there is anyone else to save. This question is one we should be asking on a daily basis. Remember only God is omniscient. The angels here truly do not know.

The fiances of his daughters were considered family even though they weren’t married. They laughed at him, probably with a heart full of sin as well.

Lot is saved; but is he? And for what? Don’t waste your life like Lot. 1 Corinthians 3:15: Turn your life to good for others.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 12, Day 3: Genesis 13:5-13

Summary of passage:  Lot, Abram’s nephew, was traveling with Abram until he had to separate because their herds of animals were growing too big to support both flocks. This caused quarrels between the two groups.  The Canaanites and Perizzites were living there as well so it was crowded.

Abram approached Lot and suggested they separate, giving Lot the choice of which lands he wanted.  Lot chose the plain of the Jordan which was well watered and they parted, leaving Abram in Canaan and Lot near Sodom.  Sodom was wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord.

Questions:

5a)  Verses 10 & 11:  “Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar…so Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan…”

b)  People live places because it looks good, it appeals to the eyes and not to the heart.  People live places for the climate and the beauty and for what the place can provide them.

c)  Verse 12 & 13:  “Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom”, which was “wicked and sinful against the Lord.”

d)  Lot got caught up in a neighboring war and him and his possessions were seized, causing Abram to rescue him (Genesis 14). Lot became entrenched in the society of Sodom for he was “sitting in the gateway of the city” (Genesis 19:1), a place reserved for city leaders.  He calls the people of Sodom “friends” when he tells them they cannot have the angels (Genesis 19:7).  Then Lot and his family did not want to leave Sodom when the angels warned him it was about to be destroyed (Genesis 19:16) and it seems they had to be forcefully pulled.

When told not to look back, Lot’s wife did and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).  Then his daughters got him drunk and lay with him, committing incest, and became pregnant, spawning the Moabites and Ammonites who throughout the Bible fought and tempted Israel into sin (Genesis 19:34-38).

Shows how even living near sin can infect your family who may fall into the world.  Lot’s wife died, his daughters committed incest, and Lot’s heart was not on God.  Reminds me of Paul’s warning (1 Corinthians 5:9; 15:33 & 2 Corinthians 6:14-17) to not associate with sinners and to be careful of the company you keep.  This is especially true when you have little kids who are very impressionable.

6)  John 14:27:  You will not have the peace Jesus gives.  You will have troubled hearts and be afraid.  Jesus brings peace.

Ephesians 4:17-20: You will have  hardened heart, live in darkness, and have no understanding.  You will have no sensitivity and indulge in every kind of impurity and lust.  You will develop a moral insensitivity, which will silence your conscience and harden your heart.

James 4:4:  You will be an enemy of God and will have hatred towards Him.

1 John 2:15-17:  If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything of the world comes from the world, not the Father.  The world and its desires fade away but the will of God lives forever.

7)  Personal Question.  My answer:  This is a very tough question since it’s always hard to make self-assessments.  I would say no.  I try to pray before I make decisions.  I try to follow His guidance, where I think He is leading me.  I try to surrender.  And as I study His word and learn more about Him, I become less and less attached to this world.  It’s like a mother weaning her baby.  I feel I am being weaned from this world the closer I get to God.

Conclusions:  This lesson shows us that if you make choices based on your desires and wants, you will put yourself in risk of Falling.  From the moment Lot chose his piece of land, he declined–dramatically–and he became more and more attached to this world.  I think he was only spared because he was Abram’s nephew to be honest (Genesis 19:29).

I thought James 4:4 was powerful.  “Whoever chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God and shows him hatred.”  Those are strong words.  Think about it.  Who’s the arch-enemy of God?  The devil.  And here we are being equated with the devil.

And shows Him hatred.  I don’t hate anyone in my life and definitely not God.  But the world does.  And choosing the world means you hate God as well.

Powerful words to ponder as we examine our selves and our decisions and what’s important in this world.

God first.  Everything else a distant second.  This is my prayer for us all.