Bible Lesson: Answered Prayer:
Lot's Plea To Escape To Zoar.
Subject Of Prayer: Lots
Prayer For Escape.
Bible Text:
Genesis 19:1-29
NLT
1 That evening the two angels came
to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when
he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and
bowed with his face to the ground.
2 “My lords,” he said, “come
to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may
then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.” “Oh
no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the
city square.”
3 But Lot insisted, so at last they
went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with
fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate.
4 But before they retired for the
night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the
city and surrounded the house.
5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are
the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so
we can have sex with them!”
6 So Lot stepped outside to talk to
them, shutting the door behind him.
7 “Please, my brothers,” he
begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing.
8 Look, I have two virgin daughters.
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish.
But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are
under my protection.”
9 “Stand back!” they shouted.
“This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting
like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!”
And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
10 But the two angels reached out,
pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door.
11 Then they blinded all the men,
young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave
up trying to get inside.
12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned
Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they
asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons,
daughters, or anyone else.
13 For we are about to destroy this
city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has
reached The Lord, and He has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot rushed out to tell his
daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is
about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.
15 At dawn the next morning the
angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your
wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you
will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”
16 When
Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his
wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city,
for The Lord was merciful.
(Lot and his family, were “not” considered, part of the
judgment.)
17 When they were safely out of the
city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t
look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or
you will be swept away!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot
begged.
19 “You have been so
gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great
kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up
to me there, and I would soon die.
20 See, there is a small
village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how
small it is? Then my life will be saved.”
21 “All right,” the angel
said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little
village.
22 But hurry! Escape to it,
for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This
explains why that
village was known as Zoar, which
means “little place.”)
(Dear friend:
believe, in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture!)
23 Lot reached the village just as
the sun was rising over the horizon.
24 Then The Lord rained down fire
and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.
25 He utterly destroyed them, along
with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the
people and every bit of vegetation.
26 But Lot’s wife looked back as
she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early that morning
and hurried out to the place where he had stood in The Lord’s
presence.
28 He looked out across the plain
toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from
the cities like smoke from a furnace.
29 But God had listened to Abraham’s
request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that
engulfed the cities on the plain.
What was the sin of
Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plains?
Militant
homosexuality, including young and old (Vs. 11), so not just
homosexuality but pederasty as well.
(Pederasty:
Sexual relations between two males, especially when one of them is a
minor.)
Romans
1:24-32 NLT
24 So God abandoned them to do
whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did
vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.
25 They traded The Truth about God
for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created
instead of The Creator Himself, who is worthy of eternal praise!
Amen.
26 That is why God abandoned them to
their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way
to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
27 And the men, instead of having
normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.
Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin,
they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to
acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let
them do things that should never be done.
29 Their lives became full of every
kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling,
deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of
God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning,
and they disobey their parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break
their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
32 They know God’s justice
requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do
them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Genesis 19:17-22
NLT (Lot's plea.)
17 When they were safely out of the
city,one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t
look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or
you will be swept away!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot
begged.
19 “You have been so gracious
to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But
I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there,
and I would soon die.
20 See, there is a small village
nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it
is? Then my life will be saved.”
21 “All
right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not
destroy the little village.
22 But hurry!
Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.”
In absolute terror
for their lives, Lot made a request, and his request, was granted.
II Peter 2:6,7
KJV
6 And turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them
an example unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot..."
Did Lot make his
request to The Lord? Yes!
Genesis 18:2 KJV
And he lift up his eyes and looked,
and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet
them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
These three men who
visited Abraham, were two mighty angels of God, and The
(preincarnate) Lord Jesus. Jesus was with the angels, who had come to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Judgment:
Luke 17:28-30
KJV
28 Likewise also as it was in the
days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went
out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed
them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day
when The Son Of Man is revealed.
In the midst of
sheer terror, The Lord heard and answered Lot, and He still answers
prayer!
Hebrew 34:28 KJV
"...He heareth the cry of the
afflicted.
Psalm 4:3 KJV
But know that The Lord hath set
apart him that is Godly for Himself: The Lord will hear when I call
unto Him.
Psalm 18:6 KJV
In my distress I called upon The
Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and
my cry came before Him, even into His ears.
Psalm 34:16-19
KJV
16 The face of The Lord is against
them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and The Lord
heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that
are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the
righteous: but The Lord delivereth him out of them all.
Proverbs 15:29
KJV
The Lord is far from the wicked: but
He heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Micah 7:7 KJV
Therefore I will look unto The Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
God will help us,
if we are His children. Will God forgive our sins, if we in
repentance and faith ask Him to? Yes!
John 3:16-18 KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that
He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved.
18 He that believeth on Him is not
condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of The Only Begotten Son Of God.
Hebrews 5:8,9
KJV
8 Though He (The Lord Jesus) were a
Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered;
9 And being made perfect, He became
The Author Of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey Him;
John 6:37 KJV
All that The Father giveth Me shall
come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
Dear friend, call
on the name of The Lord!
ADDENDUM-Homosexuality,
God's View:
Genesis 19:1-11 NLT
1 That evening the two angels came
to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and
when he saw them, he stood up to
meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the
ground.
2 “My lords,” he said, “come
to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may
then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.” “Oh
no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the
city square.”
3 But Lot insisted, so at last they
went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with
fresh bread made without yeast, and
they ate.
4 But before they retired for the
night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the
city and surrounded the house.
5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are
the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so
we can have sex with them!”
6 So Lot stepped outside to talk to
them, shutting the door behind him.
7 “Please, my brothers,” he
begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing.
8 Look, I have two virgin daughters.
Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you
wish. But please, leave these men
alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”
9 “Stand back!” they shouted.
“This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting
like our
judge! We’ll treat you far worse
than those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot to break down the
door.
10 But the two angels reached out,
pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door.
11 Then they blinded all the men,
young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up
trying to get inside.
Leviticus 18:22 NLT
Do not practice homosexuality,
having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.
Leviticus 20:13 KJV
If a man also lie with mankind, as
he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination..."
Judges 19:16-24 NLT
16 That evening an old man came home
from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of
Ephraim, but he was living in
Gibeah, where the people were from the tribe of Benjamin.
17 When he saw the travelers sitting
in the town square, he asked them where they were from and where they
were going.
18 “We have been in Bethlehem in
Judah,” the man replied. “We are on our way to a remote area in
the hill country of Ephraim, which is my home. I traveled to
Bethlehem, and now I’m returning home. But no one has taken us in
for the night,
19 even though we have everything we
need. We have straw and feed for our donkeys and plenty of bread and
wine for ourselves.”
20 “You are welcome to stay with
me,” the old man said. “I will give you anything you might need.
But
whatever you do, don’t spend the
night in the square.”
21 So he took them home with him and
fed the donkeys. After they washed their feet, they ate and drank
together.
22 While they were enjoying
themselves, a crowd of troublemakers from the town surrounded the
house. They began beating at the door and shouting to the old man,
“Bring out the man who is staying with you so we can have sex with
him.”
23 The old man stepped outside to
talk to them. “No, my brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. For
this
man is a guest in my house, and such
a thing would be shameful.
24 Here, take my virgin daughter and
this man’s concubine. I will bring them out to you, and you can
abuse them and do whatever you like.
But don’t do such a shameful thing to this man.”
I Kings 14:22-24 NLT
22 During Rehoboam’s reign, the
people of Judah did what was evil in The Lord’s sight, provoking
His
anger with their sin, for it was
even worse than that of their ancestors.
23 For they also built for
themselves pagan shrines and set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles
on
every high hill and under every
green tree.
24 There were even male and female
shrine prostitutes throughout the land. The people imitated the
detestable practices of the pagan
nations The Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.
I Kings 15:11,12 NLT
11 Asa did what was pleasing in The
Lord’s sight, as his ancestor David had done.
12 He banished the male and female
shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his
ancestors had made.
II Kings 23:6,7 NLT
6 The king (Josiah) removed the
Asherah pole from The Lord’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem
to
the Kidron Valley, where he burned
it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust
over the graves of the people.
7 He also tore down the living
quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside
the
Temple of the Lord, where the women
wove coverings for the Asherah pole.
Romans 1:18-32 NLT
18 But God shows His anger from
heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress The Truth by
their wickedness.
19 They know The Truth about God
because He has made it obvious to them.
20 For ever since the world was
created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God
made, they can clearly see His
invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they
have no excuse for not knowing God.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they
wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began
to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their
minds became dark and confused.
22 Claiming to be wise, they instead
became utter fools.
23 And instead of worshiping The
Glorious, Ever-Living God, they worshiped idols made to look like
mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 So God abandoned them to do
whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did
vile and degrading things with each
other’s bodies.
25 They traded The Truth about God
for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created
instead of The Creator Himself, who
is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
26 That is why God abandoned them to
their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way
to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.
27 And the men, instead of having
normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.
Men did shameful things with other
men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves
the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to
acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and
let them do things that should never
be done.
29 Their lives became full of every
kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling,
deception, malicious behavior, and
gossip.
30 They are backstabbers, haters of
God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of
sinning, and they disobey their
parents.
31 They refuse to understand, break
their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
32 They know God’s justice
requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do
them
anyway. Worse yet, they encourage
others to do them, too.
I Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT
9 Don’t you realize that those who
do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool
yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or
commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people,
or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will
inherit the Kingdom of God.
11 Some of you were once like that.
But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with
God by calling on the name of The Lord Jesus Christ and by The Spirit
of our God.
I Timothy 1:8-11 NLT
8 We know that the law is good when
used correctly.
9 For the law was not intended for
people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and
rebellious, who are ungodly and
sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill
their father or mother or commit
other murders.
10 The law is for people who are
sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave
traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that
contradicts the wholesome teaching
11 that comes from the glorious Good
News entrusted to me by our blessed God.
Jude 1:5-7 NLT
5 So I want to remind you, though
you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of
Israel from Egypt, but later He
destroyed those who did not remain faithful.
6 And I remind you of the angels who
did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left
the place where they belonged. God
has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for
the great day of judgment.
7 And don’t forget Sodom and
Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with
immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were
destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s
judgment.
