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Throughout the last couple of articles, we'd learned that Abraham had prayed and tried bargaining with God when it came to saving the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Through prayer and reasoning, Abraham had convinced God to leave the two wicked cities standing, if He could at least find ten righteous people that lived from within the cities. But the problem with this agreement is that God did not find the ten righteous that was needed in order for Sodom & Gomorrah to be saved from His judgement, and because of this the two cities were still going to be destroyed. But we would soon learn that there was one group that was spared from this judgement, and that group just so happened to be Lot, his two daughters and his wife. First let me point out that I find it very interesting that Lot was so attached to the comforts of this world, that while he was in the midst of destruction and wicked chaos -- he still had the sense of mind to try to bargain with the angels that were ordered to save him before they destroyed the cities. We must understand that Lot did not want to go up into the mountains where the angels had told him to go -- but instead, he wanted to go and seek safety in the nearby town that was called "Zoar". Make no mistake, this is a strong testament to the power of praying to God, being that Lot would have perished in the city along with the rest, if it had not been for the prayers of Abraham. Be that as it may, here we find Lot bargaining with the angels, and because of the power of prayer the angels would grant Lot's request when it came to him going to the small town called Zoar, instead of the mountains that he was suppose to have gone. Note that the destruction of Sodom was delayed until Lot and his family had reached the small town of Zoar. Now it's at this point that we find that the sun had risen across the land and God had begun to rain down burning sulfur unto 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 around to look back at the destruction of the two cities. It would be at this point that the Sacred Record confirms, that when she laid her eyes upon the wrath of the Almighty God -- she had been turned into a pillar of salt, because of her disobedience. As the day would pass we are now entering into another, and this is where we would find Abraham awakening 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 angel of the Lord concerning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. As Abraham would look out towards these cities, he would see a dense dark smoke that was rising throughout the entire land. It would be at this time that he had just realized that the cities were not spared. Honestly, I wonder how Abraham must have felt at that time, while he was looking down at the two destroyed cities? He had pleaded and bargain with God the day before for the cities to be saved, for the righteous sake. Abraham thought that there should have been at least ten righteous people that could have been found living within the cities. I would also assume that he had his nephew Lot on his mind while he was pleading with the Lord when it came to Sodom and Gomorrah. After all, within Lot's family alone there should have been at least ten righteous people? But it was not, so therefore the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. But what Abraham could not see, is just how powerful his prayer to God really turned out to be. With the divine petition that he had put forth before the Lord, he was able to get God to alter his plans when it came to His original judgment. God remembered the conversation he had with Abraham and so therefore the righteous did not suffer because of the wicked. Although Lot wasn't living in the ways of the Lord, perhaps his heart was in the right place and this could be the reason why he was spared? This is a powerful lesson that we can learn from when it comes to the prayers that we send up to God. And although we don't recognize what we thought we would see from our prayer request -- doesn't mean that God isn't working on fulfilling them within His own way. Now when it comes to Lot's wife... it would seem in a natural sense that her punishment was rather harsh? But understand, 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 continued to disobey God and she looked back at a place that she perhaps longed for. Personally, I have no doubt that she perhaps had friends and material things back in the city of Sodom. It's also possible that Lot's wife had second guessed her decision to leave, thinking that maybe the city of Sodom would somehow survive? I for one could see her thinking to herself, that maybe she didn't have to leave everything and everyone that she knew and cared about? Understand that this example of Lot's wife, is just how we are in the world today? Most of us have second guessed and doubted our eternal 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 we could find ourselves in the same position as Lot's wife, and because of this we could miss our chance for eternal life because of the worldly things that we couldn't let go of. We must not make the mistake of being like Lot's wife, there's simply too much at stake. God help us to be brave, courageous and strong enough to turn from our wicked and worldly 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. In Jesus name -- Amen.
**YOUR CURRENT BIBLE STUDY ONLINE SERIES WOULD BE HERE** Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty 01) Introduction of Abraham - Before He was Called 02) The Divine Calling of Abraham 04) The Strife between Abram and Lot 06) Abram's Mission to Rescue Lot 10) Abraham the Father of a Multitude 11) Sarah the Mother of Nations 13) Abraham Bargains for Sodom 15) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 17) Abimelech Angry with Abraham 
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