Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #22 of Genesis, chapter 19. Again, we are going to read Genesis 19:15-17:

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; JEHOVAH being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

I will stop reading there. We have been thinking about this and considering what God is telling us. We know that this is a true historical event that took place about four thousand years ago. We also know God wrote the Bible using historical events to teach spiritual truth. One of the clearest examples of that is probably seen regarding Sarah and Hagar and what God said of them in Galatians, chapter 4. Just to remind us, let us turn there where we see a statement regarding what we would have just considered to be Biblical history, as there was no indication in the book of Genesis that this historical account was to be understood spiritually. God said in Galatians 4:22-24:

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

God said it was an allegory pointing to two covenants. We can accept the Bible’s direction (in how to study the Bible) or we can listen to the churches and their theologians and accept their “rule” that says we must only look at the plain, literal understanding of a verse or chapter, unless there is some indicator it is a proverb, or it is hyperbolic language like the book of Revelation. If not, they only take it plainly, literally or morally and then leave it alone. That is the big teaching of the church today: leave it alone. In other words, do not get out your “pickax and shovel” and dig into it. Do not try to unearth a deeper, spiritual meaning: “Just leave it alone. Be satisfied and content with that. Is it not wonderful God has given us the Bible and told us all these things on the surface?”

Of course, that kind of understanding goes contrary to the fact that Christ spoke in parables and without a parable He did not speak. He is the Word made flesh and He taught us how to understand the deeper spiritual meaning of the Word of God, the Bible. It applies to the whole Bible, not just small portions. God expects those that are truly His people to have wisdom in this regard because He gives us that wisdom and we can then take warning and receive instruction. Christ spoke in parables and at one point He warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They thought of the plain, literal meaning and they thought it was because they had forgotten to bring bread. Then Christ said, “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?” He was speaking of the doctrine of these people. Every now and then, Christ would test them: “Have they been paying attention to the parables I have spoken? When I do not preface what I say by indicating it is a parable, will they be aware that they should be looking for a parabolic meaning?” His disciples did not, in this case, but they took His statement literally, so He corrected them.

This is how we must understand the Bible. It is the reason there is a book of parables. It is the reason Christ spoke only in parables. It is the reason God wrote of Sarah and Hagar and their two sons and He explained the allegoric meaning of it in Galatians 4. What is an allegory? It is a parable. It is the deeper, spiritual meaning of these things.

Likewise, what we read in Genesis 19 is an historical parable pointing to the end of the church age and God is instructing us that when we get to the time of the end of the church age there will be a tremendous urgency to depart out of the midst of the congregations. Only the elect people of God would discern it, because a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. There are others, like Lot’s wife, and they are not elect, and they came out of the churches for other reasons and God would deal with them at a later time.

God’s elect are given the ability to hear the voice of Christ and discern the teachings of the Bible and the spiritual nature of the command in Matthew 24:15-16:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

The elect are given the ability to discern spiritual things. Lot was a true child of God with a righteous soul that was vexed, day by day, with the unlawful deeds of the people of Sodom and, yet, he “lingered.”

The word “lingered” is Strong’s #4102. It is used in Genesis 43:8-10:

And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever: For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

This is referring to the time when Joseph was in Egypt. He had been sold as a slave into Egypt and he rose to be prime minister, second in command to Pharaoh. A famine occurred in the land of Canaan and the sons of Jacob went down into Egypt. Joseph “knew” his brethren and told them to return home and to bring his brother to Egypt. If they would do so, he would deal kindly with him, but if they did not bring back the younger brother, they were not to see his face. But Jacob did not want to let Benjamin go. Benjamin and Joseph were his only two sons born of Rachel and, therefore, he refused to send Benjamin. He feared to so because he thought Joseph had died, so he was very protective of his youngest son Benjamin.

So, this must have gone on for a while where they “lingered.” They needed the food, but they went back and forth in this decision and, finally, they did go down into Egypt. But there was a period of inactivity when they knew they needed to be active. That time also has to do with the judgment on the churches and the Great Tribulation, which was typified by this seven-year famine. It is the same word “lingered” that is used here. In the case we just read in Genesis 43, they lingered in the land of Canaan, which typified the churches and Joseph, a type of Christ, was making advances to set the stage to bring them into Egypt or “into the world,” spiritually. It is the same picture in Genesis 19 where they are coming out of Sodom and there is “lingering.” It was for a different reason, but it is the same effect – they lingered in the land of Canaan or lingered in the churches.

This Hebrew word is also found in Psalm 119:60:

I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

Here, our word that was translated as “lingered” is the word “delayed.” This is used in a positive way because he delayed not to keep the commandments. This is the reaction of the Lord Jesus Christ as He perfectly keeps the commandments of God. God’s elect keep His commandments in their souls, but as far as the outworking in our physical bodies in this world, there can be a delay to an obedient response.

It is also the same word used in Habakkuk, chapter 2 in an interesting passage. It says in Habakkuk 2:2-3:

And JEHOVAH answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

By the way, the “vision” represents the Word of God. When God would give a vision in the Old Testament, it was one of the ways He brought divine revelation at that time. The word “tarry” is the same word as “delay” or “linger.” The pronoun “it” should have been translated as the pronoun “he.” It is saying, “though He linger, wait for Him; because He will surely come, He will not linger.” God comes at the first available instant, according to His program of times and seasons. That is why the Bible said that immediately after the Tribulation, the sun is darkened. It was judgment at the first available instant.

Let us go back to Genesis 19:16:

And while he lingered…

Lot lingered for personal reasons. He had family in the city and he knew the men of Sodom would certainly not be concerned about his family. They were not going to warn and urge his family to leave, so he felt a personal responsibility and an enormous burden in his heart for his children. It is not an easy thing when your children are involved, because he loved them so much. It could also be that his wife was not completely “on board,” because later she would look behind to the city and God would turn her in to a pillar of salt. She was not truly saved, so she did not have a real understanding of why she needed to get out of the city. Even though she did leave with him, maybe Lot had to spend some time convincing her and pleading and reasoning with her. She finally did leave, but we do not know everything that took place.

It was sort of like Lot was in a burning building that was collapsing all around him and if he stayed, he would be burned to death along with those he cared about. God was telling him, “You must get out now before the building collapses and you are destroyed with everyone else.”

It was a very uncomfortable and troubling situation for him to be in. What should he do? He had an ongoing desire to do the will of God, but his wife may not have understood. His other daughters did not understand, nor did his sons in law. He may have had grandchildren in the city and they would have been under the control of their parents that did not understand. How could he leave? He had it fully in his mind to obey God, but he was “lingering,” as a result.

After God commanded us to get out of the churches, it says in Matthew 24:16:

Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

We can see the similarity to Genesis 19, where Lot was told to escape to the mountain. Then it goes on to say in Matthew 24:17:

Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

The house is a reference to the churches, the house of God. On the other hand, when we search the Bible we find that the “housetop” is a place of intense spiritual activity. Prayer takes place on the “housetop.” Men lowered a sick man down from the housetop to the Lord Jesus in order that the man might be healed, which is a picture of salvation. The Bible also says that what we hear in secret, we are to preach from the housetops, indicating the sharing of the Word of God, so the “housetop” is a place of spiritual activity. Therefore, God said, “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house,” which means that during the second half of the Great Tribulation we were to stay involved in prayer and proclaiming the Word of God that people might be saved. We were to continue the work on the housetop, but we were to make sure we did not go down to take anything out of the corporate church because the church was under judgment. Judgment began there. It was a dangerous situation, like we are seeing in Sodom, because very little time was left.

Again, God commanded us not to come down to take anything out of the house. In the parallel passage in Luke 17 we see verses that relate to Sodom and Gomorrah and it says in Luke 17:28-31:

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

What did God tell Lot? Escape to the mountain. Look not behind thee. Do not look behind thee. Go to the mountain and do not look back. Here, that same situation about being on the housetop and not going back down into the house is framed by language relating to Sodom and Gomorrah: “But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house.” In Matthew 24 it said not to take “anything” out of the house, but here it uses the word “stuff.” You know, today we use the word “stuff” and it is sort of undefined; people have all sorts of “stuff” or personal belongings. But that is not what this Greek word means. This Greek word is Strong’s #4632 and it is the same word found in Romans 9:21:

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Our word is the word “vessel” here and it is speaking of vessels of honour and vessels of dishonour. The context clearly shows that it is speaking of people. People are the vessels. You are a vessel of honour if you are one of God’s elect and you are a vessel of dishonour if you are not one of His elect. In either case, you are a person. This same word “vessel” is found in 1Peter 3, where God gives husbands command regarding their wives. It says in 1Peter 3:7:

Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

This word “vessel” is the same word translated as “stuff” in the context of Judgment Day, in Luke 17:31:

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house…

His “wife” (vessel) was in the house (corporate church). That is why I think it could have been Lot’s wife that he had to convince. Again, she was not truly spiritual because she was unsaved, and she did not understand, so Lot lingered: “O, my dear wife, do you not understand? God will destroy this city.” She hesitated. She was also thinking of her other daughters, her sons in law and, maybe her grandchildren. She was thinking of her house and the things in her house. How could she just abandon it all and leave? All kinds of things would have been going on in her mind, so he lingered. And this ties in to numerous cases that took place during those years leading up to May 21, 2011 when God opened His Word, the Bible, to reveal the end of the church age. Anyone that did not come out of the churches could not be saved because the Holy Spirit was no longer in the midst. They would have to come out of the churches and come under the hearing of the Bible for God to possibly save them, so there was a desperate urgency for all the people that were still in the churches and God’s elect realized it and, yet, many of the elect “lingered” because they had trouble (over this) with their wives and others in their families. Their “vessel” was in the house. God warned that if we were on the housetop, we were doing right. We were continuing to bring the Word of God, the Bible, at a time when God’s Word needed to reach all the inhabitants of the earth to save the elect. But the warning was to not go to down in to the house to get your “stuff” or your “vessel.”

Finally, we read that God was merciful to him while he lingered. Before we go back to Genesis 19, notice, again, what it says in Luke 17. God speaks of the days of Lot and He says in verse 30: “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Then God warns not to go down in to the house to get your vessel. Then He said in Luke 17:31-32:

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife.

Remember Lot’s wife! You see how it is framed with the things we are reading about in Genesis 19? It has everything to do with God’s command to Lot and his family to get out of Sodom and escape to the mountain and look not behind them.

This is the reason it is so sorrowful as we hear of so many reports of people returning to the churches. Do not believe what they are saying: “Oh, we were all wrong. We got it all wrong and we do not know the timeline of the Great Tribulation or Judgment Day. We do not know this and that.” What is going on is that in their hearts they were never truly saved and, therefore, they want to go back. They want to return like the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt. While the way may be difficult and grievous, and it is not pleasant to be “under the hot sun” experiencing severe testing, day after day, the Promised Land is not behind us, but the Promised Land lies ahead. That is where the land of Canaan (heaven) is found.