sodom and gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hey all. Welcome back! Today’s story is from Genesis 18:16-33 and 19:1-29. Our lesson from last year can be found HERE.

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So our friend Abraham was getting ready to move to the next place God told him to go.

God said,  “Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and everyone else on earth will be blessed through him. I have chosen him, so that he will lead his children and his household to follow Me by doing what is right.”

God then told Abraham about two cities nearby. Sodom and Gomorrah. God told Abraham the cities were very bad and the people did terrible things to sin against God (disobey Him.)

Abraham knew his nephew Lot lived in Sodom and so he asked God: “Will you get rid of the good people just because some of them are wicked? What if there are fifty righteous (right with God) people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not save the place for the sake of the fifty good people in it?

The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will save the whole place for their sake.”

Then Abraham spoke up again: “What if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

Once again Abraham spoke to Him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

****Abraham knew God would do what He wanted…and he knew it was a bold thing to ask God to save the city. We know we can talk to God anytime and ask Him anything…even if it seems crazy because we know NOTHING is too hard for God. But like Abraham, we must also remember God is in charge. Abraham was talking to God on behalf of the people of Sodom–he was interceding…that means to come between and negotiate…or to come between and bring peace between two people. Abraham was trying to help save the people. Can you think of anyone else in the Bible who intercedes? Someone who talks to God for US?

Jesus! Jesus talks to God for us and we can also talk to God for other people. When we pray for our friends who are sick or sad…or when we pray that they come to know Jesus that is interceding…we are coming to God FOR them, to ask God to help them, just like Abraham did for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.****

Now let’s get back to the story….

Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot (Abraham’s nephew) was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. “My lords,” he said, “please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the middle of the city.”

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him to his house. He made a meal for them and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They tried to do very bad and mean things to Lot and his family. Lot even made a bad choice and said “Don’t hurt me or my visitors! Here take my daughters instead!” Isn’t that a terrible thing to say??

But the angels saved Lot AND his daughters. God was merciful (nice even when they didn’t deserve it) to Lot and his family. He saved them because of his promise and love for  Abraham…not because they deserved to be saved. Then the angels said “Do you have anyone else here in the city who belongs to you? Any family? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The people here are so bad that God has sent us to destroy it.”

So Lot went out and told his family, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking and they didn’t go.

When the sun was about to come up, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

When he hesitated, the angels took his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! DON’T look back, and DON’T stop anywhere on the way! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. (THIS is a video of what burning sulfur in a volcano looks like). The whole city, all the people animals and plants were destroyed. But Lot’s wife didn’t obey the angels and she looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. God had told them not to look back. He wanted them to obey Him. When it says she became a pillar of salt that could mean she was covered in the ashes from the sulfur and died, or that the burning sulfur overtook her…she didn’t obey and move fast enough. When God gives us clear directions, we should always obey Him, and keep our focus on Him…not on what we are leaving behind. God’s way is ALWAYS the best way.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah, and he saw the smoke from the land, like smoke from a furnace. When God destroyed the cities, he remembered Abraham and kept him safe, and he saved Lot and his family too.

 

In this lesson we learn the importance of obeying God and putting Him first..not thinking about other things that might seem better (like Lot’s wife who was so sad about leaving she disobeyed God). We can always remember God’s way is the BEST way. We also learned about God’s favor toward Abraham and how Abraham used that favor to help others. He KNEW God and talked to Him to try to help the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. When we love God and follow Him the Bible says we become God’s children and can come to Him anytime. (Hebrews 4:16) We should always remember to come to God to intercede for others–we can pray to God for the things we need, but like Abraham, we can pray for other people too. Jesus does that for us. (Hebrews 7:25) In everything we do, we try to be more like Jesus and when we pray for other people we are bringing them before God, just like Jesus does for us.

God’s way is the best way by Veggie Tales.

(Interestingly enough, I found a slew you tube videos about prayer for kids…but not anything about praying for OTHERS. So…if anyone finds anything…please feel free to share in the comments. I may need to make up my own song for that one!)

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all.

Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18/19)

~ hebidsthemcome ~ Leave a comment

Hi friends.

This month we are journeying through the books of Genesis and Exodus. Today’s story is from Genesis 18:16-33 and 19:1-29.

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If you remember from last time, Abraham and his wife Sarah had three visitors come to them. (Probably angels, possibly Jesus was one of them based on the text, but it doesn’t explicitly say.)

When it was time for the visitors to leave, they warned Abraham that the people of the city of Sodom and it’s neighbor Gomorrah were very wicked. They made REALLY bad choices and God was NOT happy. He said He would destroy the cities because the people were THAT bad.

But Abraham asked, “God, but what if there are 50 people who are making good choices? Who follow You? Will You save the city if 50 people love you?”

God answered, “Yes. For 50 people, I will save the city.”

Then Abraham asked “What if there’s only 45 people?”

God replied, “For 45 people, I will save the city.”

Abraham then asked “What about only 40?”

“For 40 righteous (people who make right choices) people I will not destroy the city.”

Then Abraham got bold and asked about 30, or 20….”or maybe God…what about even 10? Will you save the city if only 10 people follow You?”

And God once again answered “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

Isn’t God patient? He let Abraham ask and ask and ASK. This story also shows us that God is listening to us. He already knows what we’re going to say, but He is alive and real and His heart can be moved by people who love Him.

So then the visitors went to Sodom and stayed with Lot, Abraham’s nephew. The people in Sodom wanted to do very bad things to the visitors, but Lot stopped them. The people were so bad, they then threatened to do bad things to Lot, but the visitors pulled Lot back into his house and warned him to GET OUT because indeed these people WERE making terrible choices and God WOULD destroy the city.

(If you have older children, you can discuss how in order to save his guests, Lot offered his daughters to the bad men for them to do whatever they wanted to the girls. This is not ok and i don’t believe Moses or God is condoning with Lot did. We have to remember that everyone in the Bible (besides Jesus) sinned and was susceptible to making terrible choices. Characters (real people!) in the Bible stories are not portrayed as heroes or villains…though it sometimes appears or is taught that way. Everyone in the Bible is a complex person with real emotions, and choices. This was bad choice. We also need to remember when we talk to people who don’t believe in God, that we are no better than they are. Christians are often called hypocrites because we falter just as much as people who don’t follow Christ, but it is not our choices that give us our righteousness, but the grace and patience and mercy of God.) (Romans 5-6)

God had mercy on Lot and his family (which means He was nice to them even though they didn’t deserve it.) Lot hesitated leaving, but the visitors took Lot, his wife and their two daughters out of the city. Lot was more sure of his evil city than he was of God. But God saved Lot and had the angels move him out of there. They told them to go to the mountains, but Lot asked if they could just go to a different, closer city instead.

Again, God was patient and had mercy on Lot and his family and said ok. BUT, they were warned, when they left “DON’T LOOK BACK!”

When the sun came up the next day, God sent burning fire and sulfur like a volcano on the cities and it destroyed everything there…the plants, the animals, even the people.

As they hurried away, Lot’s wife disobeyed and she looked back and do you know what happened? She turned into salt. (In Luke 17, Jesus implies that she actually WENT back). Even though God was very patient to listen and merciful to Lot and His family, there are still consequences when we disobey God.

Even though God was angry at the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, He listened to Abraham because Abraham loved and served God. He also showed patience and mercy to Lot and his family.

When you talk to God, do you know that He is listening and He cares about what you have to say?

What does patience mean?

What does mercy mean?

God showed us mercy by sending His son Jesus to die in our place. He shows us mercy every time we make bad choices. If we ask for His help, He will lead us away  from sin, like He led Lot and his family away.

Thanks for joining us today. Love to you all!