Reading Genesis chapter 13 verses 7 to 13

The Danger of Sin

Not all things that are dangerous appear to be dangerous. I saw on the TV some youngsters who'd lost hands and arms and legs and eyes. They were in a hospital in Africa. They'd found some live mines or grenades left over from a war and had been playing with them. They didn't know what they were. There was no warning on them. It was not obvious to them the danger they were in. Not until the things exploded and they were terribly injured.

Sin, disobedience to Gods Law, is dangerous. Sin brings eternal suffering in hell under Gods righteous judgement. The Bible talks about "the pleasures of sin". Sin seems pleasant to someone like you and I who has a sinful nature. The bible tells us that all have sinned. We sin because our nature is fallen. Sin appeals to our sinful nature. Sin makes us enemies of God.

Abraham and his nephew Lot lived a few thousand years ago. They became very wealthy men, both with large flocks and herds of animals, sheep and goats and cattle and camels and donkeys. Abraham and Lots flocks and herds could not be supported in one place, there was not enough food for them. Abraham gave Lot the choice of where to live. Appearances can be deceptive.

What Lot saw looked lovely on the surface. Gen 13:10 "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."

A house for sale might look great to a prospective buyer but when the surveyor studies and examines it all sorts of things might show up. Woodworm, dry rot, wet rot and subsidence might all be hidden beneath the surface.

Lot surveyed the outward appearance of the land. (A mine-field might look like a great piece of real-estate until you walk across it.) lot saw only that the land was fertile, good for feeding flocks. So he set off and pitched his tent near Sodom, amongst the cities of the plain. Gen 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." Almighty God then gives us His report of what really counted concerning the land where Lot had taken up residence, a report that has different criteria to Lots assessment of the place.

Lot continued to live there even though he saw what the people were like. 2 Peter 2:6-8 "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)"

There's a story that is told about a wealthy lady who wanted to hire a new driver for her limousine. Four drivers applied for the job. The lady lived at the top of a long narrow road up the side of a mountain. There was a steep cliff at the side of the road. The lady took each driver, one at a time, to the side of the road and asked how skilful a driver he was. "Very skilful." said the first one. "How close to the edge of the cliff could you drive my car?" asked the lady. " I could safely drive your car to a foot away from the edge." said the first driver. The second driver reckoned he could safely drive within 6 inches of the edge. The third replied that he could easily drive, quite safely with the edge of the tyres running along the very edge of the hundred foot drop.

Then the lady came to the last driver. " How close to the edge could you safely drive if I gave you the job?" she asked. "M'lady," he answered, "If you took me on as your driver I would be very careful to stay as far away from the edge of that cliff as I could!" The last man got the job.

There is nothing more foolish than putting our souls in danger from sin. Yet thirteen years after Lot moved to Sodom we find he had actually moved into the city because he got mixed up in a war in the neighbourhood. Sodom and Gommorrah had been invaded by four kings just after Lot moved to the area. The cities had to serve these kings but after 12 years they rebelled for a year then the enemy kings returned with their armies and fought and defeated the king of Sodom and his allies. They then took everything from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They also carried off Lot and all that was his. But Abram armed all his servants and went and rescued Lot and all the other captives and recovered all that had been stolen from the cities.

See Lots progress. He began in Ur, an idolatrous city but was brought out with Abram to look for the land God promised. He then lived for awhile in Haran, another idolatrous city that worshipped the moon the same as the people in Ur. Then on to the land of Caanan, the land God promised to Abram. Once there he chose to live near a city full of the same kind of people as he'd left behind in both his home city and in Haran. He then moved into the city and remained there even though the things he saw going on really upset him because he could see how wrong they were before God.

Lot is described as a just man, a man who has been justified in the sight of God. The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. Lot had faith in God. Lot is described as a righteous man Only those who are trusting in God are truly righteous in Gods sight.

Lot got mixed up in the disputes of the city where he lived. This was all by choice. Lot needn't have been there at all! There was the rest of Caanan he could have lived in so long as he'd kept a reasonable distance from Abram they'd have had plenty of space. Lot chose to live by Sodom, he could have moved out again as soon as he saw what it was like, but he didn't. It seems he got to a position of some authority in the city-and he stayed put.

He was still there when the great wickedness of the city got to the point where God would allow it to continue no more. The time for Gods judgement arrived. We read that two angels and The Lord appeared as three men to Abraham as he sat by his tent. The Lord promised to Abraham that he would have a son even though he and his wife were old. Then The Lord went on to tell Abraham of His intention to examine Sodom and Gomorrah to ensure that these wicked cities were as bad as they seemed. Abraham then began to plead for the cities that they might be spared if there were 50 righteous people in them. Abraham must have known what the cities were like because he had very little confidence that there were very many righteous people in them at all. God said He'd not destroy the cities if there were 50 righteous there, then 45, then 40, then 30,then 20, then Abraham worked his way down to asking if there were but 10 righteous would God spare the city. God agreed. Then God went His way but He found less than 10 righteous in the cities. He commanded the two angels who were with Him to rescue Lot and his family. Lot, his wife, their two daughters and his sons-in-law. The sons-in-law refused to leave. Next morning The angels had to pull Lot and his family out of the city by the hand to speed them on their way to escape. They warned them to hurry away to the mountain and not to look back.

We read in Genesis 19:24-25 "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." So God judged these wicked people.

Lots wife did look back and became a pillar of salt. Salt melts at hundreds of degrees Celsius. A Lump of molten salt was shot out of the valley and it hit her then cooled on the ground to a pillar of salt. Lots wife was judged for her disobedience but Lot escaped with his life.

Sin brings terrible danger. Lot, a man righteous before God, came to such trouble because he lived so close to sin when he need not have done. The rest of the people, all unrighteous, were judged in Gods anger against sin. They left this life and went into eternity without turning from their great wickedness. Wickedness for which they had to give an account to their Creator.

The danger to our souls brought by sin is shown in a picture here. Sin brought Gods judgement on those exceedingly wicked cities. The end of Sodom and Gomorrah is a picture of how things will be at the end of the world when God comes to judge the world. It shows the mercy of God too. God sent messengers to warn of the judgement to come. There was the oppurtunity for those who were warned to escape to safety. The two sons in law thought Lot was messing about when he warned them. Lots wife really wanted to be in the city and so she disobeyed and looked back. Only Lot and his two unmarried daughters escaped.

The Lord Jesus Christ bore, once and for all, Gods judgement for the sins of His people Himself, even though He is perfectly sinless and unworthy of judgement. Through Him is the ONLY way of escape. John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Only those who believe the warning, trust in The Lord Jesus to forgive them their sin and ask God to help them to turn away from sin will escape Gods anger and judgement.