Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #29 of Genesis, chapter 19. We are going to read Genesis 19:20-25:

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.

In our last study we were looking at this interesting historical situation where God commanded Lot to go unto the mountain. Instead, Lot interceded for Zoar and God was accepting of that. We discussed that the reason is that Zoar is a picture of the eternal city, like we see in Zechariah 14:1-2 where we see the “two Jerusalems” and also in Galatians 4 where it speaks of Jerusalem above and earthly Jerusalem.

Lot had come out from the earthly Jerusalem, as it were, but that is not sufficient. Now there was a need to enter into the heavenly Jerusalem. It is as if God is telling all those that did come out of the corporate churches, “That is fine. You have done well. You have been obedient in that area. However, your fleeing is not complete. Your escape is not yet accomplished because you must enter into Zoar, this city of refuge, the eternal kingdom of God.”

It says in Genesis 19:21:

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

We saw that the word “thing” is the Hebrew word “daw-bar,” which means “word.” The word “accepted” is Strong’s #5375 and it is translated as “accept” in Malachi 1:6-9:

A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith JEHOVAH of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of JEHOVAH is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith JEHOVAH of hosts. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith JEHOVAH of hosts.

Our word #5375 appears twice in this passage; once translated as “accept” in verse 8, and once translated as “regard” in verse 9. Here, it has to do with the priests and leaders of Israel that were doing wrong in the sacrificial system and, yet, they thought that whatever they did God would accept. God said, “Will your governors accept you if you do this kind of thing?” To be accepted is to be received as approved by God. Consider the opposite. What does it mean if God does not accept you? Remember Abel’s offering and Cain’s offering? God accepted Abel and his offering, but He did not accept Cain and his offering. It is not the same word, but it is the same idea. It has to do with the “acceptable sacrifice,” who was the Lord Jesus Christ, that was performed on Abel’s behalf. But Jesus did not die for Cain and pay for his sins, so the “work” of Cain was completely unacceptable.

So, when God said to Lot, “See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing (word) also,” it is very significant. It is not a minor thing to be accepted of God, especially in a matter of life and death and the matter of pleading on behalf of a whole city. It was a little city, but God’s accepting of Lot’s request concerning the city Zoar was a very major thing. And it points to the very significant and important truth that God heard the Lord Jesus Christ’s request for a remnant of the whole of mankind. Therefore, when God brought judgment on the corporate church and then on the world, it meant He had accepted the intercession of Christ on behalf of the few. He heard the prayer to deliver the “little city.”

This word, Strong’s #5375, is also found in speaking of the Messiah in Isaiah 53:12:

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Here, it is the word translated as “bare” and it is the same word translated as “accepted.” I wanted to read that because it has to do with God’s salvation program. God says, “I have accepted thee,” or, “I have born thee.” I mentioned last time that the word “thee” is a translation of a word that can be translated as “face” or “presence.” So, it is as if God was saying, “I have born your presence in this word concerning the little city Zoar and its inhabitants. I will deliver them. I will spare them.” In saying this to Lot, who is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, God is indicating that He has born the sins of these few out all the cities of the plain (the elect out of the whole of mankind). The word “face” or “presence” can be better understood when we turn to 2Corinthians 4:6:

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This has to do with the light of the Gospel bringing salvation. It is worded in a very complex way and is hard to understand, but one thing we can see is that the “face of Jesus Christ” identifies with salvation. Just like in the Old Testament, the word translated as “face” can also be translated as “presence.”

So, here in Genesis 19, God said, “I have accepted (born) your face (presence) concerning this thing (word) also.” You know, the Word is the Lord Jesus and it is the Word of God that delivers the people of God. It is the Word that goes forth and accomplishes the purpose God sent it forth to do – it never returns void. It is the Word that delivers salvation: “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Again, it said, in Genesis 19:21:

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.

This is the declaration by Almighty God. And everything He says is faithful and true and can be trusted completely. He never lies. It is God declaring that He will not destroy the remnant. He will not destroy the “few” people that inhabit the city Zoar, because it is related to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ has interceded for the elect. The word “spoken” is related to the word “word.”

Then it says in Genesis 19:22:

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

And I will mention this again because some people just will not give up the idea that Zoar identifies with fellowships. Clearly, when we study “Zoar,” it is a place that identifies with salvation, deliverance, refuge and escaping the wrath of God. To say that it has to do with “fellowships” is not only wrong, but it is saying something these people do not want to say because they are trying to put down fellowship groups. They want to criticize them by saying they are unbiblical and no one should go to a fellowship. If they want to hold on to that idea, they do not have to go. It is sort of like Christmas, where God does not speak of it in one way or another; and if some people do not want to observe Christmas celebration, it is fine; and if they do want to observe it, that is also fine. The problem comes when people that do not want to observe Christmas begin to criticize those that do observe it, as if there was a commandment against the keeping of such a holiday. And there is not. For those that do not want to be part of a fellowship, that is fine, but then they turn around and criticize those that do. God does not speak of this one way or the other, and He permits people to have fellowships through a Bible study in their home or in a fellowship somewhere. I would be interested to know if those that do not approve of fellowships would be willing to meet with a few other people in a home for a little Bible study. If they do, then they have a fellowship and they are contradicting their own doctrine.

The problem is that that way the Bible speaks of Zoar, it is a place that identifies with salvation. To say it represents fellowships is to say that if you came out of the churches and found your way into a fellowship, you would be delivered from the wrath of God – you would find salvation. You can see how wrong that conclusion is, but some people are so caught up in their desire for a specific doctrine, they will not let go of it even when the Bible proves it wrong. Anyone that holds that idea cannot work their way through these verses and address all these words we have looked at, such as God’s statement, “See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also,” referring to Zoar. Does that mean that God has accepted him concerning fellowships? You will not hear these people addressing these things and going, verse by verse, through this passage. They will simply make some general statement to avoid it and they will not correct themselves because they are being blinded by their own ideas and their own lusts concerning the gospel that they want and not the Gospel in the Bible.

Again, we see that it says in Genesis 19:22:

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

What is God saying? He cannot do anything insofar as destroying the cities of the plain. We know this is in view because of what it says in Genesis 19:23-24:

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;

Do you see the word “then”? As soon as Lot entered into Zoar, then the Lord rained down fire and brimstone. That can only identify with one thing and it certainly is not “fellowships.” Then you would have to conclude that as soon as everyone came out of the churches and entered in to a fellowship, then God brought Judgment Day, May 21, 2011, and shut the door of heaven. No – it had nothing to do with fellowships.

What does it have to do with? Let us go to James 5:7:

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

God is the Husbandman. Just as in Genesis 19, God said He could do nothing and He could not judge the world because He was a Husbandman that was looking for fruit, which points to the elect. That fruit would not come in until He had received both the early and the latter rain. The “early rain” identifies with the 1,955 years of the church age and the Latter Rain points to the second part of the Great Tribulation, the period of about 17 years in which God saved the great multitude. There was a need for patience, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Christ would come, but His judgment would not take place until He completed the early rain in the churches. What happened after God received the firstfruits? Christ came May 21, 1988 as Judge within the churches and congregations; judgment began at the house of God as soon as the completion of the rain that produced the firstfruits. But it was not just the early rain, but He had to receive the fruits of the Latter Rain. The Latter Rain fell beginning September 7, 1994 through May 21, 2011. God saved the great multitude which brought in the final harvest of all those saved from the nations of the world, a tremendous number. The Latter Rain ceased to fall at the end of the Great Tribulation on May 21, 2011 after 23 years (8,400 days) and on May 21, 2011 the rain ceased. God could do nothing until that point because He was still saving people: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day,” Jesus said in John 9:4. He also said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” But the night comes in which no “man” can work because the rain is complete, and the fruit has been brought in. The last one of the elect to be saved has become saved. Lot had reached the city Zoar and then JEHOVAH rained fire and brimstone from heaven.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will continue to look at this. This is a very important truth that God is presenting in these verses, as we see the spiritual meaning of these things (by His grace).