Genesis 19:12-22 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 19:12-22. Let’s go!
Genesis 19:12-13 (NIV)
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here–sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,
13 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 it.”
On verses 12-13: In Genesis 18:16-33, Abraham kept asking God to spare the city of Sodom if God found 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 or 10 people who are righteous, and God agreed. The fact that God still went ahead and destroyed Sodom suggests that God did not find anyone righteous in Sodom. That is because compared to God’s perfect standard of holiness, “no one is righteous, not even one…all have turned away” (Romans 3:10,12).
What can we learn from all this? Our sin is real and God’s wrath against sin is real.
Like the people of Sodom, none of us can meet God’s standards on our own merit and thus none of us deserves to be spared from God’s wrath against sin. But because God loves us, Jesus sacrificially stood in the gap and took on God’s wrath for our sin, so that we could be spared. What amazing love God has for us!
Genesis 19:14 (NIV)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
On verse 14: Lot’s sons-in-law didn’t take Lot seriously when Lot warned them about the coming destruction the Lord was bringing on the city. They would lose their lives because of their unbelief and mockery. It’s a reminder that we need to take God seriously. If we don’t, we can end up with the same fate as Lot’s sons-in-law who didn’t survive God’s wrath.
Genesis 19:15-16 (NIV)
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
On verses 15-16: Sometimes, as an act of mercy, God will take us out of places that we would hesitate leaving ourselves, because He was protecting us for something greater: a greater plan that God wanted to accomplish and a greater story to write with our lives.
Genesis 19:17-22 (NIV)
17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “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!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please!
19 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.
20 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.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
On verses 17-22: Once again God extends mercy, compassion and protection to Lot, allowing Lot’s request that he flee to a nearby town and promising not to overthrow that town (v21). From pulling Lot back into the house and shutting the door (v10), to grasping his hand and forcibly taking Lot, his wife and daughters out of the house (v16), to agreeing to let them flee to a nearby town (v21), over and over the angels extend mercy, compassion and protection to Lot and his family. That is the way of God with us as well: God’s mercy, compassion and protection on our lives is not a one-time occurrence; rather, like an ocean beating against the tide, we receive wave after wave of God’s mercy, compassion and protection on our lives. As John 1:16 says, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.”
Thank You Heavenly Father for the mercy, compassion and protection that You extend to me and my family over and over and over again. Thank You for the times when You forced me out of a situation, even when I didn’t want to leave, because You were protecting me for something greater. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
