Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #13 of Genesis, chapter 19. We will read Genesis 19:6-11:
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. 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. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
I will stop reading there. We have come to a point in history in the city of Sodom where God had come to visit them in judgment to destroy the city. He came to the gate of Sodom and He met righteous Lot, one of God’s elect, and He went into Lot’s house and dined with him. Lot made a feast and baked unleavened bread. We looked at the significance of those things. Lot was enjoying this spiritual communion with God. Keep in mind that this was eternal God in the form of these two men.
The two men were in Lot’s house. Then it said in Genesis 19:4-5:
…the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
We saw that the language that they “compassed the house round” relates to the language the Bible uses regarding the city of Jerusalem, which points to the churches and congregations at the time God’s judgment came upon them at the time of the end of the world during the Great Tribulation. The enemies of God compassed the churches around about. Historically, when an enemy nation did this, they cut off the supplies to the city and there would be no access to food and water and a famine would result. That is the picture of the judgment that came on the churches – it was a famine. It was not a literal famine of “bread and water,” but it was a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord, as we read in Amos 8:11. So, this is all illustrated in this true historical parable in Genesis 19. An historical parable is true history and these events took place and God allowed them to take place in this manner in order to teach spiritual truth.
The men of Sodom demanded of Lot that he bring the two men out to them that they may know them. We discussed how that could identify with them trying to have an intimate (spiritual) relationship with God. When the Bible speaks of “knowing” God, we are told it means eternal life. Jesus intimately knows everyone that He saved, whose sins He took upon Himself and paid for by washing their sins away. Likewise, Jesus is aware of all those for whom He did not die to pay for their sins. Of these latter people that would cry to Him, “Lord, Lord,” He replied, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Spiritually, there is an element of this seen in Genesis 19 where the men of Sodom are attempting to forcibly “know” God. Of course, this relates to the false gospels in the churches, like the free will gospels, as the churches try to do works to force their way into the kingdom of heaven. They try to force their way in to an intimate relationship with God, that they might know Him. This is what they are really saying when they say, “Accept Christ and you can become saved.” They are saying that you will then “know” God and have this intimate relationship with the God of the Bible through salvation.
Then it says in Genesis 19:4-5:
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
If we look to the Bible, Jesus said in John, chapter 10, “I am the door.” God’s people are doorkeepers. If God wants the door shut, then He issues forth a decree by opening up the Bible to reveal the information to His people that the door is shut. As doorkeepers, His people will relay that information and they will not try to open what God has shut.
Historically, Lot came out of the house and shut the door after him and said, “I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.” We also discussed that it does no good to tell those involved in their sins to stop sinning and not to do so wickedly. It has no effect or sway upon the unsaved of the world, because we are living at the time of the end when God has given men up these things. So, of course, it was not well received by the men of Sodom, so Lot went on to say in Genesis 19:8:
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man…
Did his daughters ever have any encounters with men? Did they not know that men existed? Of course, they knew there were men all over the place. They were aware of the existence of men, but often in the Bible the term “to know” means to experience an intimate relationship. They were virgins that had not experienced sexual relations, so they had not had this intimacy with men. Again, it says in Genesis 19:8:
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
I think I mentioned before that the word “nothing” is an attached “negative” to the Hebrew word “debar” and it literally means “no word,” so it would read, “only unto these men do no word.” Why would Lot say that? It is because on the spiritual level, these men are God Himself and the Sodomites are attempting to force their way into the kingdom of God, doing violence to the Word of God. So, Lot says, “Unto these men do no word; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”
Now this is very troubling to anyone that reads this, as we are very careful to protect our children. We watch out for them and we are very careful to protect our children. We want to make sure no harm comes to them. The last thing we would ever want to do is to turn them over to an angry mob, especially to the people of Sodom that had a reputation for doing evil. So, we read this, and we are stunned! How could a righteous man like Lot offer up his two daughters to protect these two strangers?
I am not even going to try to explain it on an historical level. I do not know. Lot was very keen to protect his guests and caring for these “strangers,” which is in accord with the Word of God. It was a very bad situation and no option seems to be a good option. Turning over these men to the wicked people of Sodom would not be a pleasant solution either. But, historically, we would think that Lot would have more attachment to his daughters.
However, God placed Lot in this situation with all these pressures on him to bring to pass this decision and force Lot to choose. So, Lot did say, “Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”
There is one possibility, although it does not really help to explain his action historically. At least if he gave his daughters to these men, that would have been within the natural realm of a man’s desire for a woman. But regarding bringing out the two men to them, that would not have been within the realm of nature and it was just an “unthinkable” thing. Maybe Lot was trying to reason along those lines. It is very difficult to say. You know, we have never been in that kind of situation, by God’s grace, but Lot was faced with this situation and this was the decision he made. And God inspired it because He wrote it in the Bible to teach a spiritual truth.
What spiritual truth could be in view regarding Lot’s willingness to offer up his two daughters to protect these two men? We do understand that the two men were God Himself. Remember, three men came to visit Abraham and Abraham called them “JEHOVAH.” Then two of the same men came to the city of Sodom. It was God making an appearance as two messengers or two men. So, Lot’s decision was not between two earthly men and his two daughters. On the spiritual level, Lot’s decision was made to protect God and to protect God, he was willing to give up what was dearest to him and that which he loved. I am sure he loved his children because God’s people do love their children. God places that love within us and He gives us direction to spiritually nourish our children and to pray for them and instruct them; it is all done out of love. God’s people know that children are a blessing.
Yet, God forced the issue for Lot to decide quickly, as the men were round about the house. They were getting violent. “Which will it be, Lot? God or your daughters?” This reminds us of what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-38:
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Again, it says in verse 37: “…and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” That was the situation for Lot. Would Lot give up God or his two daughters? Lot loved his two daughters, but he loved God more. And this is also true of all God’s people; we love our wife, our husband, our brothers, our sisters, our sons and our daughters, but we love God more. We love the Lord Jesus Christ more than these. Whoever does not love Christ more is not worthy of Him. That is what Jesus said. In fact, if you love your father or mother more than Christ, you are not worthy of Christ. If you love your son or daughter more than Christ, you are not worthy of Christ. When it comes to the point of making a decision between a family member or Christ, it must be Christ. Remember, Christ is the Word made flesh, so Lot had with him God in the form of two men, but we have God with us in the form of the written Word. God comes in to our lives in the form of doctrines and teachings and that is where we must make our decision.
When we read of Sodom, we know that Sodom is a type and figure of the corporate church. According to Revelation 11, when the two witnesses were lying dead in the streets of that great city, it was spiritually called “Sodom,” so Sodom is a picture of the corporate church. God had come to judge the churches and to destroy them and He had come to get His people out of there. In our day, God opened the Scriptures and He came to that gate, the portal between heaven and earth, which is the Bible, and He revealed to us that the churches had become “Sodom.” The Word of God was “dead” in the streets of Sodom and there could be no witness of the Gospel there because the Spirit of God was not there. When He commanded us to come out of the churches, what was the main “test” that people had to pass to be pleasing to God and to do His will? For many people, the main test involved our family members. A person might reason, “I understand these things because by God’s grace He has opened my eyes to realize that the church age is over, and that Satan is ruling in the congregations and I must come out. However, my wife does not see it. My children are little, and my wife refuses to take them out of the church. She will not leave and she will not allow them to leave. So I have a decision to make. If I leave the church, my wife has threatened to divorce me and leave me. It will cause trouble in our marriage and we have such a good marriage.” Do you see the decision that had to be made? Whoever loves their wife or mother or father or son or daughter more than Christ, is not worthy of Christ.
Historically, Lot was being placed in this very uncomfortable situation, but he was being used by God to picture what would happen at the time of the end when many would be placed in that same uncomfortable situation of making a choice to do the will of God, or not. In case you are wondering how we can show our love of Christ and be worthy of Him, He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” And Christ’s commandment was very clear during the second part of the Great Tribulation. We were to depart out of the midst and flee to the mountains. That was the commandment. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” God’s elect people kept that commandment, but many others failed: “I love Christ, but…ask me to do anything. I will give money or go on tract trips and stand on the street corner.” Yet, they kept back something they could not give up, just like the couple in the book of Acts that kept back part of the price of the land they had sold. They testified and said, “I gave it all,” and, yet, they held back, and they did not give it all to Jesus. Remember, God wants everything, as it says in Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, but some would say, “Oh, yes, I will present my body a living sacrifice, but when it comes to this situation, I must make sure I keep my marriage in tact and please my wife.” But they are certainly not presenting their bodies a living sacrifice. They are polluting it. They are holding back a portion of it for their own self interest and not trusting God with everything. Many failed on that point. And, of course, this trend is continuing in the Day of Judgment, where we are to sacrifice. Will we choose the commandments of Christ? The commandment of Christ and the revealed Word of God is telling us that the door of heaven is shut. That can only mean one thing: there is no more salvation for anyone that had not become saved before the door was shut. If the door is shut (and it is), there will be no more salvation for anyone. You cannot go around the door or through a window, because God says that only a thief tries to do that. You must enter through the “door,” who is Christ, and there is no other way to enter.
But the door is shut, and this is emphasized in Genesis 19 wherein He shut the door on the men of Sodom. Yes, we read that Lot shut the door when he went out to talk to them, but then the men of Sodom said in Genesis 19:9-11:
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. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
The men that put forth their hand was the two messengers, who are God. God put forth His hand (in the form of these two men) and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. Yes, God shut the door on the men of Sodom. Someone might say, “Oh, no, you must be reading that wrong. God would never shut the door.” After all, in the city of Sodom, there were men, women children, teenagers, toddlers, babies and a few pregnant women. “God would certainly not shut the door.” And, yet, we read that God did shut the door. First, He brought Lot back into the house. You know, there comes a time when you can no longer have a rational or reasonable discussion in the streets of Sodom, because the Spirit of God was not there. There was only chaos out there and, therefore, God brought His people out of the street of Sodom. Remember, the “street” has to do with the place where the Gospel had gone forth. God withdrew His Gospel. God withdrew His people who would carry that Word of God. He brought them back into the house and He shut the door. It is reminiscent of what God did after He brought Noah, his family and all the animals in to the ark. God shut the door.