September 15, 2024

FAITH WORTH FOLLOWING: STANDING UP IN YOUR FAITH

  September 15, 2024

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Today we will read of Abraham in a beautiful conversation with God as he reasons with Him concerning the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah—and ultimately Lot and his family. This mattered greatly to Abraham, as he begs God to spare the city if God could find ten righteous people in it. One has to assume he was thinking of Lot, his wife, and their four daughters, with possibilities of husbands in each case. In the end, the city was destroyed while the angels led Lot, his wife, and two of his daughters out. Join us as we study to glean wisdom from this passage, given—that is, “God-breathed”—by the Giver of the only Truth that is trustworthy.

Focal Passages: Genesis 18:16-26,19:1-17.

Faith Brings Favor:

  • Read Gen. 18:16-26. Why was the destruction of Sodom so important to Abraham? Look back at 18:1-2; who are the three men in these verses? Would “the Lord” (lit. “YAHWEH,” vs. 1) be either God the Father, or possibly Jesus, Preincarnate? Who were the other two (19:1)? How did Abraham know the Lord? Read John 10:27.
  • In vs. 17, why does the Lord speak His thoughts? Why does He tell Abraham what His plans are? Read Isaiah 1:18a. Does the Lord love our conversations with Him? In vs. 19, did the Lord already know whether Sodom’s sin was grave?
  • In vv. 22-33, could someone please paraphrase these verses? Was Abraham being respectful? What were some reasons YAHWEH told Abraham He was going to destroy Sodom? Why did the Lord capitulate upon each negotiation? Read vs. 33. Where did each go when the conversation was over?
  • Why does faith bring God’s favor? Read Psalms 5:12, 35:27. Do these apply to us as well? Can we have a faith so firm that no one can shake us, or do we stand silent as God is attacked in today’s world? Do we stand up for the moral values we see attacked?

Faith Brings Wisdom

  • Read Gen. 19:1-3a. What is happening here? What was the significance of the “gate”? What was different about the angels that Lot recognized their identity? Why did Lot insist they go into his house? Why did he stay outside?
  • What comes into your mind first when someone mentions Lot? What are some of the facts you know of him? How do you view Lot from passages you know? Read 2 Pet. 2:6-9 [“For if God…turned]. How is this different than what you may have thought about him?

Faith Brings Protection:

  • Read Gen. 19:9-11. Who is yelling “Stand back!”? How do the men of Sodom describe Lot? How did they threaten him? Where was he standing at this time? What happened next? Did that stop the men of Sodom? Do you understand now why some people are called “Sodomites”?
  • Did Lot realize how evil the city was? What did he offer the men of Sodom? Can you even begin to imagine the wickedness of such a place? Why did he remain living there? Why would God have protected Lot and his family?

Faith Brings a Future:

  • Read Gen. 19:12-14. What did the angels reveal to Lot, and instruct him to do? Did he do this? How did his sons-in-law respond? Would God have saved them from destruction if they had gone with Lot, leaving Sodom?
  • Read vv. 15-17. Night passes: does Lot take the angels seriously yet? In the end, what did they do? Why did they do this? What was it the angels actually did (vs. 16b)? How far did they take them? What were their instructions in vs. 17?
  • When Abraham was told Sodom was going to be destroyed, do you think Lot’s welfare was uppermost in his mind? Do you see this experience by Abraham as an incentive for us to intercede in prayer for loved ones? Do you think the Lord have saved Lot without Abraham’s interceding?

ACTION POINTS:

  • Be deliberate in strengthening your faith as it positions you closer to God.
  • Spend more time looking for the “visitations” of God than the applause of men.
  • Don’t cling to what “is” and miss the “what can be”!

Close:   Family is important to all of us. We have traveled with Abraham from Ur to Haran to Canaan, then Egypt, and back to Canaan. Now, at 99, he learns he will be a father and Sarah a mother in nine months, so surely he often reflected on his journey. God told him to leave his family in Ur, at 75 years old, yet he took Lot with him. When Lot chose the fertile land for his herds, leaving the prairie for his uncle, Abraham didn’t speak. When Abraham had to take his 318 servants to rescue Lot and his household in Chap. 14, he did not seem to resent it. Now, he is concerned Lot and his family may be killed in a fire that will destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham negotiates with God, asking (in an indirect way) for protection and escape for Lot’s family before the fire comes. We never see Lot thanking his uncle, although certainly he must have felt gratefulness. Is anyone being such a protector for you, and are you showing your gratitude? Don’t ever take a family’s help for granted—it may be costing them dearly, as it did Abraham.

 

By Sandy Day

September 15, 2024

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