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American Standard Version with Notes

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Genesis Chapter Nineteen

 


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Verse

Notes

1. And the two angels came to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth;

Lot "bowed down [shaw-kaw]

From these evidences it will be apparent to all that the prohibition of the First Commandment—"Thou shalt not bow down thyself [shaw-kaw] to them nor serve them," was not understood, nor meant to be understood, as a prohibition of reverence, homage, etc., to the honorable, or to those in honored positions among men. Nor did the Jews err in doing reverence [shaw-kaw] to angels who came with messages in Jehovah's name and acknowledging him.  And such reverence was approved—never reproved. The Commandment warns against image worship or any worship of any rival gods. This Jehovah cannot tolerate. Hence there was no impropriety for any Jew who recognized Jesus as the "Sent of God" to do him reverence, obeisance; and much more proper is it for all those who recognize our Lord Jesus according to his claims—as the Son of God. E73

 

 

2. and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn aside, 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 way. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

In the Hebrew language in which the Old Testament was written, there is a word [Adon,] which means in English lord or master. Thus, Sarah called Abraham lord. So Abraham, the angels, Gen. 19:2; and Ephron, Abraham, 23:11; and Jacob, his brother Esau, 32:4. Joseph was lord of the treasures of Egypt, 45:9. God is Lord of lords, Deut. 10:17. Young's Concordance will show you many other cases. R1052B 

3. And he urged 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.

 

 

4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom , compassed the house round, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;

 

 

5. and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men that came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

 


6. And Lot went out unto them to the door, and shut the door after him.

 

 

7. And he said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.

 

 

8. Behold now, I have two daughters that 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, forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.

 

 


9. And they said, Stand back. And they said, 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 drew near to break the door.


10. But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

 


11. 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.

Second, angels can, and have appeared as men. The Lord and two angels so appeared to Abraham, who had a supper prepared for them, of which they ate. At first Abraham supposed them to be "three men," and it was not until they were about to go that he discovered one of them to be the Lord, and the other two angels, who afterward went down to Sodom and delivered Lot.—Gen. 18:1. R265:2


 

12. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of the place:

The Apostle Peter informs us that Lot was not in sympathy with the evils of Sodom, in the midst of which he lived. (2 Peter 2:7,8.)  His family apparently had been all girls. These, except two, had intermarried with the Sodomites. Quite possibly it was the thought of marrying the daughters to prosperous husbands that, under the guidance of the mother, induced the family to settle in Sodom. How many others like Lot and his wife have made the serious mistake of claiming more for the physical and temporal interests of their families than for their intellectual and moral welfare! The story of the flight of Lot, his wife and two unmarried daughters is simply told in our lesson. R5178 

Thus the "gathering" of the ripe wheat—of the jewels—of the eagles is now in progress, and bye and bye these will be glorified with their head—Jesus—changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye from human and mortal conditions, to spiritual and incorruptible. Let us say in the words addressed to Lot; "Escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed."—Gen. 19:12-17. R229 

 

Spiritual beings, as we have heretofore shown, possess powers greater and higher than humanity. We have seen, from the statements relative to good angels, that they can be present in our midst without our being conscious of their presence. (The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him.—Ps. 34:7. Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation?—Heb. 1:14.)

These, we have seen, have power to appear as a flame of fire (the angel of the Lord so appeared to Moses in the bush—Exod. 3:2), and they can and have appeared as men.

Some other powers of angels can be discovered by examining the record; for instance, the angels who delivered Lot and his family from Sodom had power to smite the rioters of Sodom with blindness.—Gen. 19:11R265:2 


13. for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah: and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it.


14. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he seemed unto his sons-in-law as one that mocked.

Evidently Lot's decision to reside in Sodom was for business reasons: he evidently had some children twenty-five years before, when he started out with Abraham, his uncle, and probably his interests in business and his desire for prosperity leading him to reside among the Sodomites was chiefly for the prosperity of his children. Alas, how great was his mistake! Yet he did not seem to fully realize it until, urged by the angel, he fled from Sodom accompanied by his two unmarried daughters, losing all else he had in the world—his wife and married children and grand-children, his flocks and herds and servants and all his personal belongings. He was indeed saved, preserved, from the destruction which there came upon the ungodly; but it was a bare rescue, not an abundant deliverance; he was, so to speak, pulled out of the fire.

We may consider ourselves justified in considering Lot and his daughters who escaped to be illustrations, samples, whose antitypical lessons would apply in this present day. For as Abraham and his patient waiting represented the faithful, the overcomers, so Lot seems to represent a class in the end of the present age, who do not walk sufficiently by faith and who seek not chiefly the Kingdom and its righteousness; but who for the sake of earthly advantage are quite willing to risk their spiritual interests and the highest interests of their children, by choosing fellowship with the world; [R2858 : page 255] —by commingling to some extent with the world, the flesh and the devil, even tho, like Lot, disapproving their surroundings which vex their righteous souls. Such, the Apostle tells us, shall be "saved so as by fire." (1 Cor. 3:15.) Such the Lord illustrates as coming up out of great tribulation, washing their robes and making them white, and eventually obtaining a blessing, but not the chief one which they might have obtained had they followed faithfully with the pilgrims and strangers, the "little flock."—Rev. 7:9,14. R2857:6 

15. 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. 

 

 


16. But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful unto him; and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

 

 

17. 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.

 

 

"Remember Lot's wife!" is our Lord's pointed warning. How slight would be the appropriateness of this injunction, if applied to those who fled from Judea in A.D. 70; but how intensely forceful it is as a caution to God's people here, in the close of the Gospel age. When we learn that Babylon is doomed, and hear the Lord's message, "Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues," it is indeed like the voice of the messengers who hastened Lot and his family out of Sodom, saying, "Stay not in all the plain; escape for thy life; escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed; look not behind thee." Gen. 19:17

The illustration is heightened when we remember that [D608] Christendom is "that great city [Babylon] which spiritually is called Sodom." Rev. 11:8

Lot's wife, after starting to flee as directed, "looked back"; coveting the things behind: and so with some now fleeing from Babylon to the mountain (Kingdom) of the Lord; they are more in sympathy with the things behind than with the things before. Only those will run the race to the finish who set their affections on the things above, and not on the things beneath. The perseverance of the saints springs from a full consecration of heart; all others will fail so to run as to obtain the great prize. D608

 

18. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my lord:

 
19. behold now, thy servant hath found favor in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy lovingkindness, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die:  
20. 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.  
21. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.

 

 

22. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.  
23. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came unto Zoar.

 


24. Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;  
25. and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

 As a race we were all convicted of sin and all sentenced to death (Rom. 5:12); and the Lord has been pleased to show forth his power and wisdom in connection with some of these convicts in one manner, and in others in another manner—as he elected. We have noted this already in connection with the Amalekites and Hittites and Canaanites, whom Israel was commanded to destroy—Israel typifying the Lord's faithful of the future, and their enemies typifying the wilful sinners and enemies of righteousness of the future age. We have noticed the same principle illustrated in the destruction of Sodom and of Jericho, and in the sweeping off by pestilences thousands of Israelites, and in the smiting down of Uzzah, who merely stretched forth his hand to steady the ark, in violation of its sanctity and of the Lord's command.

The Lord's use of Pharaoh and the various plagues upon the Egyptians, including the slaying of the firstborn of man and beast, and the final overthrow of the Egyptian hosts in the Red Sea, are in line with these illustrations; for the Egyptians, as a part of mankind, were convicts under death sentence, and, without the slightest injustice, might be dealt with accordingly—to spread abroad the dignity of God, and to show forth his power in connection with the deliverance of his typical people Israel.  Similarly, on the other hand, God showed abundant favor to some of these convicts—Abraham, Moses, and others—making through them types of the good things he purposes to fully and actually accomplish in the near future—and this without, in any sense of the word, releasing Abraham, Moses, Pharaoh or others from their share in the death sentence, but leaving that work to be accomplished by the redemption which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

After seeing clearly the fact that God has exercised suzerain authority amongst his convicted creatures, and that he has elected that some should have one experience and others another experience, and that all these things were [F175] but illustrative lessons on the subject, preparatory, as the Apostle shows, to the great election of the New Creation during this Gospel age, we need to see that in no instance has God coerced or violated the human will in any of these elections. This will satisfy us that it would be contrary to the divine program ever to coerce human will. In choosing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, et al., as types and illustrations, God chose men whose minds were in general accord with his plans and revelations, yet there was no force exercised to restrain them had they willed otherwise. So, likewise, in choosing men to illustrate the opposite side and opposite principles, such as Ishmael, Esau, the Canaanites, Sodomites, Egyptians, the Lord again used men in accord with their natural tendencies. What we wish to impress is, that as God did not coerce the will of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc., neither did he coerce the wills of those who did evil and illustrated certain evil principles. The Lord merely dealt with particular classes according to their own inclinations. F174 

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

The story of Lot's haste out of Sodom, and of his wife's transgression of the angel's command in looking back and hankering after the things left behind, are brought to our attention in that part of our Lord's great prophecy relating to the end of this age;—"Remember Lot's wife!" (Luke 17:32.) This reference seems to corroborate the thought that Lot's experiences were somewhat typical. The Lord's people will be tested along the line of their separation from the spirit of the world. Those who, like Abraham, are the friends of God will be far off from the danger; others not so faithful will be in the full midst of the trouble, yet if loyal at heart to the Lord they will be delivered with great loss, and the sufferings which such disappointments and losses will imply; yet in the end such will gain the heavenly, spiritual, life for which they started out. None, however, will be delivered if they remain in the city of destruction, Babylon. If they do not avoid it at first, they must at least be willing to leave it, and that with great energy, ere its destruction comes; and if they love the things behind, more than they appreciate deliverance—so that they in any degree look back or long for the evil things doomed to destruction in the coming trouble, it will mean that they will not be worthy of having any part or lot in the deliverance.

The record is that Lot's wife became a pillar of salt, and altho infidelity has been inclined to dispute such a miracle, we have every reason to believe the truthfulness of the record; and like all miracles, if explained, it would no doubt seem reasonable enough. An explanation of the miracle has been suggested by a traveler, as follows: "Just as some of the victims of Pompeii stumbled in their flight, and were buried under the ashes, which still keep the outline of their figure, so Lot's wife was covered with the half-liquid, slimy mud." "An atmosphere heavily charged with the fumes of sulphur and bitumen might easily produce suffocation, as was the case with the elder Pliny in the destruction of Pompeii. And as no dead body would ever decompose on the shores of this salt sea, if left in such an atmosphere, it would become encrusted with salt crystals. Pillars of salt are found in the vicinity which have formed from the spray, mist and saline exhalations of the dead sea, and are constantly growing larger."

R2856 
27. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah:  
28. and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.  
29. 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 which Lot dwelt.

The hope for the Sodomites is exactly the same as the hope for all the remainder of Adam's race, except a few who, during this Gospel Age, have come into relationship with Christ as members of the Spiritual Seed. The hope of all the world is the Messianic Kingdom, and the deliverance from the power of sin and death which it will effect. With the setting up of that Kingdom the work of salvation will begin, so far as the world is concerned, for the salvation of the Church to a Heavenly condition is a separate salvation from that which God has provided for the world in general. The sacrifice at Calvary, however, is one sacrifice for all—the basis of all our hopes. We were all condemned to death through Adam; and justification to life can come to none except through the Redeemer.

Jesus tells us that it will be more tolerable for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment (the thousand years of His Messianic reign) than for the people of His day who heard His Message and rejected it—the people of Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin. (Matthew 11:20-24.) It will not be intolerable for the people who rejected Jesus; but it will be more tolerable, the Master said, for the Sodomites, because, He explains, "If the mighty works had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented," and would not have been overwhelmed.

This shows us clearly that the eternal fate of the Sodomites is not sealed. When we turn to the Word of the Lord through Ezekiel the Prophet, 16:46-63, we have abundant testimony that the Sodomites will not only be awakened from the sleep of death, but when awakened will be brought to a knowledge of God and to an opportunity of obtaining everlasting life, through The Messiah, by willing obedience.

The intimation of the 29th verse is that God's Mercy toward Lot was because of his relationship to Abraham. This view is consistent with all the Bible statements. Adam's entire race was condemned to death because of his disobedience.  Hence Divine Justice owed nothing to any of them. Divine Mercy entered into a special Covenant of favor with Abraham, after he had demonstrated his faith, loyalty and obedience; but the Covenant did not extend to any others except to his seed.  There was therefore no reason why Lot should be considered more than others except as stated—that God would show favor to him because of his relationship to Abraham. R5179:3 

30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.  
31. And the first-born said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:  
32. come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

 

33. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.  
34. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.  
35. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose.  
36. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.  
37. And the first-born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

MOAB

From Strong's 4124, moab, from ab, father;

The eldest son of Lot, from which the moabites are descended. This son was born to the eldest daughter of Lot by an incestuous act.

The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, from the mountain of Gilead in the north. They drove the Emims from the land. (Genesis 2:11) They were later driven southward by the Amorites, being restricted to the land south of the river Arnon. (Numbers 21:13Judges 11:18) The Israelites did not pass through the land of the Moabites, (Judges 11:18) but conquered the Amorites. Their subsequent interaction was sometimes peaceable and sometimes not. David made the Moabites tributary. (2 Samuel 8:21 Chronicles 18:2) The Moabites were under Israel after the spit of the kingdom but at the death of Ahab the Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah. (2 Chronicles 22:1) Israel, Judah and Edom united in an attack on Moab, overthrowing them. It was at this time their king, Mesha, sacrified his own son to the gods of his country. Isaiah predicts the utter annihilation of the Moabites (Isaiah 15,16,25:10-12). Ruth was a moabite. (Ruth 1:2, 6; 2:6)

Moabite; Moab Map

38. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

BEN-AMMI

From Strong's 1151, ben-ammi, son of my people, from 1121, ben, son, 597, am, folk.

The son of Lot's younger daughter, born of an incestuous act with her father. He is the father of the Ammonites.

divider

AMMON

From Strong's 1121, ben, son; Abraim Publications, from the noun עם ('am), people or kinsman.

Descendants of Lot's sonBen-ammi by his younger daughter. (Genesis 19:38) They are mentioned with the Moabites and under the same name. (Judges 10:62 Chronicles 20:1Zephaniah 2:8) Where the Ammonites dwelt is uncertain, Jabbok being their border. (Numbers 21:242:373:16) Their capital city was Rabbath, called also Rabbath Ammon on the Jabbok. They were maranders (1 Samuel 11:2Amos 1:13; Jeremiah 41:6,7Judges 17:11,12) Moab was a settled nation, Ammon predatory and Bedouin. They refused to help Israel on approaching the promised land. (Gensis 23:4)The tribe was governed by a king, (Judges 11:12) etc.; (1 Samuel 12:122 Samuel 10:1Jeremiah 40:14) and by "princes." (2 Samuel 10:31 Chronicles 19:3) Their god was Molech.

Ammonites;

Ammonite Map