Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #28 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are going to read Genesis 19:17-25:

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. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then JEHOVAH rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from JEHOVAH 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.

I will stop reading there. In our last couple of studies, we have been spending some time looking at this historical account and this interesting historical situation wherein God mercifully forewarned His servant Lot that He was about to destroy the city Sodom. He also commanded Lot to escape out of the city and take any of his family that would listen to him and follow him. So, he fled the city.

Spiritually, we have understood that this points to God’s command to His people to come out of the churches and congregations (during the Great Tribulation). In our last study we were thinking about why God commanded Lot to escape to the mountain and Lot said, “Oh, not so, my Lord,” and then he brought up the little city of Zoar. He said in Genesis 19:20:

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

Historically, we understand that the mountain was further away than the little city of Zoar and it was an urgent command from God; Lot had already delayed some, so Lot wanted to go to the nearest place to escape the destruction. So, he selected the city of Zoar. God accepted him in this thing and Lot then made haste to flee to the city Zoar. Once he entered the city, the Bible language appears to say that in that very instant God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed the four other cities. The only city not destroyed was Zoar.

We have been seeing that Zoar is a picture of deliverance. It was operating, in a sense, as a city of refuge, which points to salvation. We will spend some time looking at that later.

Right now, we are looking at Genesis 19:20:

Behold now, this city is near to flee unto…

Let us go to Deuteronomy 4:7:

For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as JEHOVAH our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

The word “nigh” is the same word as “near” in our verse. In the first instance, this is a reference to Israel and their relationship with God as the eternal outward representation of the kingdom of God on earth, which made them a great nation. However, spiritually, it refers to God’s elect people because God identifies His elect this way in Revelation 21:24:

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it…

Here, He refers to all the saved as “the nations of them.” They are His people. They are His “nation.” Remember what was said of the Lord Jesus when He was going to the cross. It was said, “…that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” Christ died for His people and we became His own nation, the nation of the kingdom of God. As it said in Deuteronomy 4, “For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them,” and God was “near” to the city Zoar because Lot, at this point, is a type and figure of the Lord Jesus making intercession for His people.

There are many similar verses to this, but it says in Psalm 34:18:

JEHOVAH is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

God is “near” to them of a broken heart. Who has a broken heart? They are all the people that have received a heart after His own heart. They have received a new heart and a new spirit as recipients of the grace of God.

In this case, righteous Lot is pointing to Christ, the Righteous One and Lot is saying, “Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” We have seen this word translated as “escape” a few times in this chapter. It is a word that is translated as “delivered” in Daniel 12:1 where it speaks of Michael, whose name means “who is God,” and it points to Christ. It says in Daniel 12:1:

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

“Thy people shall be delivered” or “escape.” (It is the same Hebrew word, Strong’s #4422.) So, the word “escape” does point to salvation or deliverance. It is the same word used in Joel 2:32:

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of JEHOVAH shall be delivered:

Again, Lot is saying, “Let me escape,” or “Let me be delivered” to that place: “Is it not a little one? and my soul shall live.” Remember that Christ has a “body.” The way God speaks of Lot, he is a picture of the elect and he is a picture of Christ and they can be used interchangeably because the elect are the body of Christ. We are delivered when God has mercy upon us by saving us.

It goes on to say in Genesis 19:21-22:

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The word “Zoar” is Strong’s #6820. It is derived from Strong’s #6819, which is a word that has all the same consonants. They are identical except for vowel pointing. The word #6819 is found in Job 14:21:

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.

Here, it is translated as “brought low.” We are brought low or humbled and God’s people are humbled before God.

Also, this word is found in Zechariah 13:7:

Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith JEHOVAH of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

This word is translated here as “little ones.” It is Strong’s #6819, which is related to the word translated as “Zoar.” We can see the emphasis, as Lot said, “Is it not a little one?” It goes on to say in Zechariah 13:8-9:

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith JEHOVAH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, JEHOVAH is my God.

It is a little difficult to see if the reference to “little ones” is related to the “third part,” but it is certainly in the context where God says He has a people, a “third part” out of the whole. And He identified these as the ones that will endure the fire and be left and be brought through the fire. Of course, the “third part” identifies with God’s elect.

The reference to “little one” in Genesis 19:20 is Strong’s #4705 and this word comes from Strong’s #6819; so, it is related to the word translated as “little ones” in Zechariah 13. Therefore, Zoar would be related to it, too. That is the emphasis. Zoar was a “little one.”

We talked about this a little bit in our last study, but the plain of Jordan that God is painting in this picture is like the whole world. It is as if these five cities are all that exist in the world. And in the world, there are the churches, so Lot was in Sodom; then He was commanded to come out of Sodom. God opened the Scriptures at the time of the end and commanded us to come out of the corporate church.

Lot was “without Sodom” and, yet, He had been commanded to flee to the mountains, but he said, “Oh, not so, my Lord,” lest some evil overtake him. Then he besought the Lord on behalf of Zoar. What God has done is that He has set up a dual picture here. In one, He is pointing to the corporate church throughout most of chapter 19 when God in the appearance of two men entered Sodom and commanded Lot to flee and escape to the mountain.

But once Lot was brought abroad or without the city, Lot was now “out in the world.” He was still in the plain of Jordan, but it is a picture of being out in the world, just like when the children of God came out of the churches we were still located in the world. And God had a continuing salvation program going on, unless someone came out (of the churches) on May 20, 2011, but many came out five or ten years later. But when we did come out of the churches, God gave us a task to perform. We had a duty as watchmen to warn our fellow man. The elect or the remnant that was out in the world were the “little ones.” There were elect in China, India, Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam and all over the earth. We had a concern for them. Christ Himself had a concern for them. It is as if God is saying, “Very well, you have escaped the churches (Sodom), but now there is another need for escape.” It is interesting that God says in Genesis 19:21-22:

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

You see, God is now giving another command. It is a second command: escape or be delivered by going to Zoar. Experience refuge, safety and salvation by making it to the city Zoar. As a matter of fact, God said he could not do anything until they did arrive at that city. With this statement, Lot is a picture of the whole company of the elect, the great multitude that was in the world. He was outside of Sodom in the plain of Jordan. So, all the elect children of God must first make it to the “little city.”

By the way, in our last study we went to Ecclesiastes, chapter 9 and I said it was not the same word for “little one,” (and it is not), but, again, it says in Ecclesiastes 9:14-15:

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city…

The word “delivered” is the same word translated as “escape” in Joel and in Daniel 12:1. He “delivered” the little city. That is the idea. Lot had delivered the little city Zoar by interceding to God on its behalf. Spiritually, it is as though Christ is interceding for His people. That is why God gave the second command: “Haste thee, escape thither” to the little city. Lot was already outside the church – he had already left Sodom, so there was no need to flee from the church any longer, but there was still a need for salvation. In other words, not everyone that came out of the corporate church was saved. The act of coming out of the churches did not save anyone, just like Lot and his family were not delivered simply by escaping Sodom. They had another “leg of their journey” and they had to make it to Zoar, which was acting as a city of refuge. They had to make it into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, it was basically a command of God to all that came out of the churches to make sure of their salvation and to beseech the Lord for mercy; do not think that leaving the churches was acceptable to God insofar as salvation was concerned. They must enter into this other city.

Lot’s wife is an excellent example of someone who came out of the city Sodom and, yet, was destroyed in the plain of Jordan (not in Sodom), because she was never saved. Someone might say, “Yes – but she entered into Zoar.” However, that is not the emphasis or focus. God’s command and emphasis was on Lot: “Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.” It does not mention his wife and two daughters, because Zoar is picturing that eternal, heavenly city and not everyone that left the churches would enter into the spiritual city of God, the new heaven and new earth. They came out of the churches, but then they were “caught” somewhere in the plain and were destroyed, as Lot’s wife was destroyed when she was turned in to a pillar of salt.

If we go back to Genesis 19:21, it says, again, in Genesis 19:21:

And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also…

The word “accepted” is also translated as “bear,” like bearing iniquity. It is a word translated as “forgive” a few times. It is also translated a couple more times as “accept.” We will try to look at this in our next Bible study, but it is important to know that where it says, “See, I have accepted thee,” the word “thee” is a word that can be translated as “face” or “presence.” God is saying, “I have accepted your presence concerning this thing also.” The word translated as “thing” is the Hebrew word “daw-bar” or “word,” so God is saying, “I have accepted your presence concerning this Word also, concerning the city for which you have spoken.” And the word “spoken” is related to the word for “word.” It is Strong’s #1696 and “daw-bar” is Strong’s #1697. So, we can see that Lot is a picture of Christ who speaks on behalf of His elect. He is the Word that was made flesh. He speaks on behalf of the “little city” Zoar where all will find refuge. The only ones that lived in the plain were those in the city Zoar. It is just like when God brings judgment on the world, the only ones “living” are the elect. It is like when 1Thessalonians 4 mentions those that are “alive and remain,” God is really saying it is the “living” and “remaining” ones, the elect, because when God shut the door of heaven He put to “death,” for all intents and purposes, all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.

Lord willing, we will look at this in more detail in our next Bible study.