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Now we find that two of the three angelic men that had visited with Abraham, had arrived at the city called Sodom. It was in the evening when they had approached the gateway which leads into the city. Abraham's nephew Lot was sitting there and when he saw the two men he immediately got up and went over to greet them. "My lords, please turn aside to your servants house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning," Lot would say as he bowed before them. "No… we will spend the night in the square," one of them would tell Lot. But Lot would be persistent in his request, so much so that the men would finally agree to go back to his house. Lot would prepare a meal for the two once they made it back to his house.
"Where are the men who came and went with you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them," the men of Sodom shouted out to Lot. After hearing their demands, Lot decides to go outside and talk with them. "No my friends, don't do this wicked thing. Look I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof," Lot would say while presenting the men of Sodom with a proposition. Being that Lot was a foreigner himself to their land and he didn't hold or possess any type of position or power from within the city, the men of Sodom were offended by what Lot had to say. "Get out of our way… this fellow came here as a foreigner and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them," they would shout out to Lot as they press forth to break down his house door. So the two men had reached out to grab Lot, and pulled him back into the house. After the two had retrieved Lot, they then struck the men of Sodom who were trying to break down Lot's house door... with blindness. "Do you have anyone else here, sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city that belongs to you? Get out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy this city," the two men would warn Lot. So Lot headed out to go and find his sons-in-law, who were pledge to marry his daughters, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is going to destroy the city!" Lot would warn them. But his sons-in-law did not take Lot seriously and they thought that he was joking. When Lot had made it back to his house the two men would insist that Lot and his two daughters along with his wife to leave at once or they would be swept away when the city is destroyed. But Lot would hesitate, so the two men would grab his hand and the hands of his wife and their two daughters and lead them safely out of the city... for the Lord was merciful towards them. "Flee for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" the two men would shout out to them. But once again, Lot would hesitate and question his instructions. "No my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it... it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared," Lot would plead with the two men. "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it," two men would say to Lot. The small town that Lot had spoken of and had requested to seek refuge at, was called Zoar (a little one)
So the destruction of Sodom was delayed until Lot and his family had reached the small town of Zoar. Now we find that the sun had risen across the land and God had begun to rain down burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the God from out of the heavens had overthrown the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah along with the entire plain and its vegetation... and all those who were living in the two cities had perished. Now while all of this was going on, Lot's wife would disobey God by turning to look back at the destruction of the two cities. As soon as she laid her eyes upon God's wrath, she had been turned into a pillar of salt. As the day would pass we are now entering into another, and this is where we would find Abraham awaking from his sleep. It is now early in the morning, and Abraham decides to go and return to the place where he had spoken to the Lord concerning the city of Sodom. As Abraham would look out towards the city of Sodom he would see a dense dark smoke that was rising throughout the entire land. For now he had realized that Sodom was not spared. I wonder how Abraham must have had felt at that time, while he was looking down at the two destroyed cities? He had pleaded and bargain with God, for the city to be saved for the righteous sake. Abraham would assume that there should at least be ten righteous that should have been found within the city of Sodom. I would assume that he had his nephew Lot on his mind while he was pleading with the Lord when it came to Sodom. Within Lot's family alone, there should have been at least ten righteous? But it was not, so therefore the city of Sodom was destroyed. But what Abraham could not see, is just how powerful his prayer really turned out to be. With the divine petition that he had put before the Lord, he was able to get God to alter his plans when it came to the city of Sodom. God remember the conversation he had with Abraham and so therefore the righteous did not suffer because of the wicked, and so therefore Lot was spared. This is a powerful lesson that we can learn from the prayers that we send up to the Lord our God? Although we don't see what we thought we would see from our prayer request, doesn't mean that God isn't working on fulfilling them. As for Lot's wife... it would seem that her punishment was rather harsh. But we must remember that it was God's plan to destroy everything that was associated with Sodom and Gomorrah. The only reason why Lot's wife had a chance to be spared, is because she was... Lot's wife. If it had not been for the prayer request that Abraham had presented before the Lord, she would not have had that chance. But what did she do with her second chance that had been gifted towards her? She looked back at a place that she longed for. She had friends and material things back in the city of Sodom. She had second guessed her decision to leave, thinking maybe the city of Sodom would somehow survive. Maybe she didn't have to leave everything and everyone that she knew and wanted? This example of Lot's wife, is just how we are in the world today? We have second guessed our salvation, so we take chances by constantly putting our dedication to the Lord on the back burner for the things that we love about this world. But we must be careful, because one day you will find yourself in the same position as Lot's wife? You would have missed your chance for salvation because of the worldly things that you couldn't let go of. Don't be like Lot's wife, there's too much at stake. God help us to be brave, courageous and strong enough to turn from our wicked ways. To have the desire to be transformed into what you have called us to be. We are a rare treasure and we owe everything to You… for all that we are and continue to become. Thank you for everything that you have poured into us… my precious Lord. 01) Introduction of Abraham - Before He was Called 02) The Divine Calling of Abraham 04) The Strife between Abram and Lot 10) Abraham the Father of a Multitude 11) Sarah the Mother of Nations 13) Abraham Bargains for Sodom 14) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 16) Abimelech Angry with Abraham 
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