Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #2 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are continuing to look at Genesis 19:1-3:

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

In our last study, we were looking at verse 1. First, we saw that God is the one who was coming to visit the city of Sodom in the form of two angels or two messengers, as the Hebrew word “mal-awk” can also be properly translated as “messenger.” Of course, it is the same God who visited Abraham in the previous chapter in the form of three men. Then we looked at how the Bible speaks of every word being established in the mouths of two or three witnesses. In other words, truth is confirmed when you can find agreement with “two” or “three.” This would have been true regarding cases of crime in Israel of old. One witness was not sufficient to put someone to death, but it required the witness of at last two or three witnesses. We see this, historically, with the Lord Jesus Christ when false witnesses rose up against Him. They were false witnesses and their witness did not agree together. Last time we discussed how this ties in with God’s methodology for studying the Bible.

Rather, we must compare Scripture with Scripture or “witness with witness” and there must be harmony within the witnesses as we go here and there in the Bible. If there is agreement, we can normally find truth, but we must note that we cannot just find two or three or four Bible verses that agree and ignore a fifth verse that does not agree. But it is a principal that God is establishing in which there must be agreement. If you have any disagreement among the witnesses of the Word of God, then you do not have truth and you should not proceed as if you have found truth and develop your doctrine. You cannot do that. You must make sure your conclusions harmonize with all the Bible.

We saw that the two messengers came to Lot in the city of Sodom at “even” and that is a picture of God coming through His Word, the Bible, to the righteous ones at the time of the end. The righteous are those that are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we are only made righteous by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The destruction of Sodom typifies God’s end-time destruction during Judgment Day. The visit of God to the righteous one (Lot) within the wicked city of Sodom points to God’s coming at the end as He shows Himself to His elect through His Word, revealing what He is about to do during Judgment Day.

We saw these things clearly in our last study, but we ended our last study with the curious information that Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. I will read it again, in Genesis 19:1:

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

This is all we are told. We are not told that Lot sat in the gate with the elders of the city or a few other men. Only Lot is mentioned, and God made a point in 2Peter, chapter 2 to emphasize that Lot was just. Lot was righteous. So, it is as if the elect are sitting at this gate (and no one else) at the time when God will visit in judgment. We do not know the population of Sodom, but there were certainly a good number of people, perhaps thousands of people and, yet, no one else was at the gate at “even” except for Lot. We wonder why. I mentioned this last time, but let us look at Ruth, chapter 4 where Boaz went to the gate of the city to discuss with the elders or rulers of the land the situation regarding Ruth the Moabitess. It says in Ruth 4:1-2:

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders of the city, and said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.

The ten men that were elders of the city and Boaz, a mighty man of wealth and his kinsman were all in the gate of the city to take care of important business. This highlights the fact that the gate of the city was a place where the elders and other people of authority would gather and where determinations and judgments would be made. And, yet, Lot was there, alone, and the people of the city did not respect Lot. I read this verse last time, but let us read, again, what the men of Sodom said in Genesis 19:9:

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

First, they are showing him no respect. He was a sojourner or a stranger, a “late arriver” to the city of Sodom. They were well-established there and, perhaps, they had grown up in the city and then came this “sojourner.” When people come from foreign lands, it takes a while to become respected in a city and to be well-thought-of and to rise to a position of authority. And, sometimes, that never happens. Here, the men of Sodom pointed out that he had only recently come there and then they said, “and he will needs be a judge.” Remember, the elders of the land in the book of Ruth sat in the gate to make judgments and determinations concerning Boaz and his situation. Lot is sitting in the gate and, in the Bible, “sitting” has to do with “ruling.” Lot is conducting himself in that way as he is telling them that they are doing wrong by demanding that the two messengers come out: “And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.” They are showing Lot very little respect, if at all. He is lowly esteemed in their sight. We can understand why. Lot was a righteous man (through the righteousness of Christ) in a wicked city. In 2Peter, chapter 2 the Lord points out how wicked the people of this city were, as it says in 2Peter 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;)

God points out that the wicked in this city had “filthy conversation” and they were full of “unlawful deeds.” If they are full of unlawful deeds, it means they were breaking the law and doing evil. This is the reason Lot is such an excellent example as he pictures God’s elect, whom the Bible says shine as lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. God’s elect are also righteous through the righteousness of Christ; their sins are all paid for and washed away. It is not based on our own merit, but it is based on what Christ did for us in making us righteous. The rest of mankind are wicked because they do not have their sins washed away by Christ. Therefore, there are none righteous; no, not one.

So, there was Lot in an extremely wicked place. The Bible emphasizes Sodom’s evil, perhaps, like no other city. He is a righteous man, sitting in the gate. Why is he there? Why did they allow Lot to be there? They did not like him. They did not regard him or his opinion. He was lowly esteemed, but he is sitting in the gate of the city, a place where judges would sit to rule. He is all alone and there is nobody else there. Why are the people of Sodom permitting him to do this?

Let us look at a couple of related verses. It says in Genesis 22:17:

That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

It says, “and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies,” and the seed of Abraham are God’s elect. Remember, it said in Galatians, chapter 3 that all those that are saved are counted for the seed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the seed (singular) and we are counted for the seed (plural) in Him. The seed are the elect of God and they will possess the gate of their enemies.

It says a similar thing in Genesis 24:60:

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

Do you see how these verses fit perfectly with Lot sitting in the gate of the city Sodom? The people of the city were certainly not his friends. They were opposed to God. Lot was identified with God and aligned with God and, therefore, they hated him. It is very clear, as they push him and try to break into his house. They hated Lot, so these verses have everything to do with Lot sitting in the gate – he is possessing the gate of his enemies. What does that mean? There is another interesting verse in Genesis 28:16-17:

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely JEHOVAH is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Jacob was sleeping in this place and God came to visit him in a dream. God was communicating with Jacob there and Jacob was led to say, “This is the gate of heaven.” Where God communicates is the “gate” or “portal.” It is the entry way between heaven and earth. This is why I pointed out that when God came to Abraham in the form of three men or when he came to Lot in the form of two messengers, the spiritual picture is that God is communicating with the righteous through His Word, the Bible. It is very similar to Genesis, chapter 18 when the Lord showed Himself to Abraham in the form of three men, in Genesis 18:1:

And JEHOVAH appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

A “door” and a “gate” are very similar, are they not? You open a door to enter in or you open a gate to enter in. Abraham was sitting in his tent door and then it said in Genesis 18:2-3:

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

JEHOVAH God had made an appearance in the form of three men, pointing to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and we see Lot is sitting in the gate of the city of Sodom. Sodom was a wicked and evil place and, therefore, it is an excellent picture of this world, which is extremely wicked and evil; it is full of unsaved mankind. And, yet, in this evil world, there is a “gate” of heaven. There is a “door” that God opened to minister entrance into His heavenly kingdom in various times and seasons. He opened a path into the heavenly kingdom and individuals experienced eternal life as they entered. We read in John 10 that Christ is that “door,” but He is also the Word made flesh. We cannot emphasize this enough. Jesus completely identifies with the Word of God, the Bible, and it was through the hearing of the Word of God that people became saved: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” People would hear, become saved and enter in – they would go through that door God had opened.

I think we can see how this all fits together. We can also see why the people of Sodom wanted nothing to do with the gate. They were not there when the two messengers came. They were not watching at the gate. Only Lot was watching. He was the only one that had his eye on the “gate” or the “door.”

Lord willing, as we continue this study, we will see how this relates to Christ’s command to “watch,” in relationship to the end of time. Lot was watching the unsaved inhabitants of the city of Sodom. Remember, Sodom is also identified with the apostate corporate church, according to Revelation, chapter 11 where the two witnesses were lying dead in the streets – the city was called “Sodom and Egypt.” The churches refused to watch. They ridiculed and reviled those that were occupied in actively “watching” in the Word of God for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. They called the elect people of God “apostates” because we are “date setters.” However, they are like “dumb dogs,” ignorant of times and seasons. They could not warn anyone of judgment because they were blind watchmen that could not sound the trumpet because they insist that they cannot know anything about the day or hour. It is all foolish. It is all the doctrines of men that are designed to keep the focus on this world and not on the world that is soon to come, the new heaven and new earth. They keep their eyes firmly planted on this world that is passing away and the lusts thereof. That is why the churches and their members do not want to look seriously in to the Word of God, the Bible, to check these things out.

So, Lot found himself all alone at the gate, keeping watch, when God came in judgment. There is so much more information related to this, so we will have to look at it during the next few studies. When we get together in our next Bible study, we will continue to look at why Lot is sitting in the gate by himself.