The Bible Recap - Day 018 (Genesis 19-21) - Year 3

Episode Date: January 18, 2021

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap. Today's reading covered some really sensitive topics, so if you have young ears nearby, user discretion is advised. Yesterday, we wrapped up with a bit of a cliffhanger. God told Abraham he was going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, and Abraham was trying to negotiate with God not to destroy the city of Sodom in particular, because that's where his nephew Lot lived. We know Abraham really cared for Lot, because as you may recall, Abraham traveled hundreds

of miles with 318 of his warrior servants to rescue Lot and his family when they were kidnapped and taken hostage during a war. So here we are today, with two angels showing up in 191, and again, they appeared as human males. We know this because that's how they're referred to in verse 10. Verse 5 gives us reason to believe that the human appearance they took on was probably physically attractive because the local men demanded to have sex with them. This is another scenario where, like in Genesis 6, humans are attempting to have sex with angels, but this time it was human males.

The enemy has shifted his strategy a bit. Sodom is a city that was known for several types of sin, and this can be a pretty divisive subject in society today and even within the church itself. One type of sin Sodom was known for was homosexuality. We haven't gotten to Leviticus 1822 yet, but it uses the same Hebrew word when addressing this topic in detail. And then again in the New Testament, Jude 7 through 8 also points to this. But it's not fair to say that this was the sin they were known for at the time.

Ezekiel 1649-50 says, Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom. She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned, they did not help the poor and the needy, they were haughty and did abominable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen. We definitely see those things displayed in the way the local men of the town treated their visiting angels. Nothing is more inhospitable than being gang-rate. That's horrific. And we even see Lot himself, who, by the way, was saved from the punishment that God brought on Sodom, demonstrating his own wicked response to this wicked suggestion

by the local men. He offered them his virgin daughters. It's unfathomable. Many commentators think this was merely a bluff on his part, or maybe an offer he expected to be rejected by them, but regardless what his intentions were, God's power intervenes. God's angels struck the local men with blindness in 1911, which seems like an appropriate penalty for their lust and greed. God can't even find ten righteous men in the city. This is reminiscent of the days of Noah and the flood where only eight people survived. God could have destroyed the entire city, but he mercifully sent his angels to warn Lot and his family. Unfortunately, Lot only

took them halfway seriously. He dilly-dallyed until the angels forced him out. God destroyed Sodom and its neighboring city Gamora, but he was merciful to Lot and his daughters, despite Lot's rebellious ways. Lot's wife had a different outcome. She was killed when she disobeyed the angels' command not to look back as they were leaving. It almost seems like she was looking back longingly for the city. Sometimes people get frustrated when God destroys entire cities or people groups, but we have a glimpse here not only into God's motives, but God's mercy. After the destruction, Lot and his daughters moved to the mountains and the daughters dispaired that there was no one they could marry.

Their fiancee had been destroyed in Sodom because they didn't heed the warning, so they took matters into their own hands, much like their great aunt Sarah did with Hegar. Scripture hasn't yet forbidden incest, but there's still a lot of wrong happening in this passage, and there's some mirroring here of what happened after the destruction of the flood between Noah and his son Ham, who was cursed because of his actions, whatever they were. Moving on to Chapter 20, we zoom in on Abraham who is on the move again, this time he's in King Abimelex territory, and he gets flashbacks of when he was in Egypt and Pharaoh stole his wife Sarah.

So Abraham goes back to his old tricks, pretending she's not his wife, and King Abimelex stole her away just like Pharaoh had. But one major difference is that King Abimelex didn't sleep with wife, and King of Emileek stole her away just like Pharaoh had. But one major difference is that King of Emileek didn't sleep with her, and we have reason to believe that Pharaoh did since scripture says he took her to be his wife. Sarah's kidnapping could really put a wrench in God's plan for her to have a baby with Abraham.

So it's a good thing God's plans can't be stopped. God rescued them again by appearing to the king in a dream. In verse 6, God tells Abimelek that he kept him from sinning. God boarded his efforts to sin. I love that. And as for Abraham, he kept trying to use his own plans to protect himself and Sarah. But both times, his efforts only got them both into deeper trouble, and it was only God who got them out. his efforts only got them both into deeper trouble, and it was only God who got them out. In verse 7, God refers to Abraham as a prophet, and this is the first time this word is used in Scripture. It carries the meaning and the weight of being a truth speaker, a human messenger of God to the people. I find this slightly ironic since Abraham had twice told half truths, but that just goes to show God's mercy

and grace toward Abraham. By the time we hit chapter 21, Abraham and Sarah are about 100 and 90 years old, respectively, and finally, their long-awaited son is born, Isaac. Despite Isaac's birth being a huge blessing in the fulfillment of a 25-year-old promise from God, it throws more fuel on the fire between Sarah and Pagar, who still lives with them, along with her

son Ishmael, who's now about 14 years old. After a couple of years of their strife, Sarah hears Ishmael's mocking laughter toward Isaac, and she tells Abraham to kick them out so that Isaac doesn't have to split his inheritance with Ishmael. Then, God, interestingly, tells Abraham to do whatever Sarah says. But God himself does not forget Hagar and Ishmael. God tells Abraham that he will make two nations from his two sons, the line of Isaac and the line of Ishmael.

So Ishmael's line was promised descendants, and Isaac's line was promised descendants and land. One quick sidebar. from what I understand, Muslims believed that Ishmael, who was the first born, was the child of the promise. We're gonna talk about this a little more in the days ahead, so hang on to that thought. Hey, Gar, an Ishmael, flee to the desert

where Ishmael almost dies, but then the angel of God shows up, listens to their cries, and provides for them where they've been cut off. He is still attentive to them. Meanwhile, Abraham wants ownership of a well, so he makes a treaty with some locals, one of whom is named fecal. There are some strange names in the Bible, which is one reason why reading genealogies can sometimes be more entertaining than you'd expect. What was your God's shot for today?

Mine was in chapter 20, where God told Abraham to pray for Abimalech. Had Abimalech hurt Abimalech? Absolutely. Had Abimalech also taken action against God himself? Absolutely. This shows me God's great forgiveness. It reminds me of when God had Joe pray for the friends who had wronged him. And it reminds me of John 1720, where Christ prayed for me,

the very one who sins are responsible for his death. Not only does God forgive, but he wants to display his heart of forgiveness to a broken world through us, his people. Even though all God's children are children by adoption, he still wants his kids to look like him. He wants us to point others to his heart, because only then can they see that he is where the joy is. No matter how long you've been doing TBR, chances are you'll start to ask some good questions,

like, what version of the Bible do you use? Or which study Bible do you recommend? Or does she go by terror or terrorly? Good news, we have an FAQ page for all of that. So check it out at thebibelrecap.com forward slash FAQ. The Bible Recap is brought to you by D-group, discipleship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week. ship and Bible study groups that meet in homes and churches around the world each week.