Vineyard Church North Phoenix | January 5th, 2008

Genesis 17

Ten years after the promise of a son to be Abraham’s heir, Sarah suggested that Abraham take her maid, Hagar, as a secondary wife. This was by custom a moral action, and may have seemed to Abraham the way God would keep His promise. But it was not God’s plan.Sarah’s bitterness and her insistence that Hagar and Ishmael be expelled went against custom (21:10). God had to personally intervene to move Abraham to do what the patriarch felt was a wrong action.

Abraham’s statement in 16:6, “Your servant is in your hands,” was not, however, permission to mistreat Hagar. Instead it recognized the existing legal right of Sarah to “deal harshly” with a slave.

Genesis 18

The picture of Abraham and Sarah themselves preparing a meal for the three strangers reflects a strong cultural emphasis on hospitality.

Genesis 19

The city gate, where Lot met the two angels who came to search out the righteous in Sodom, was a place where men of the ancient world gathered to talk, conduct business, and settle disputes. It was the focus of city life.

The heavy doors on Lot’s own house (v. 9) are also interesting. Archeologists have found that homes of a later date were not hung with heavy doors. But homes in Palestine in Abraham’s day were so protected.

Leon Wood describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and shows how the biblical description fits geological and other data:

The destruction of Sodom was effected by a rain of “brimstone and fire.” In examining the meaning of the phrase, scholars have ruled out volcanic action on the basis of geological indications. Many believe that it refers to an earthquake resulting in an enormous explosion. Several factors are pointed out as favoring this view. The idea of brimstone and fire suggests incendiary materials raining down upon the city as the result of an explosion. Another descriptive word used is “overthrew’ (Gen. 19:29), and this fits the thought of an earthquake. That Abraham saw smoke rising in the direction of the city indicates that there was a fire. Inflammable asphalt has long been known in the area. Records from ancient writers speak of strong sulfuric odors, which suggest that quantities of sulfur were there in past time. Further, the whole Jordan Valley constitutes an enormous fault in the earth’s surface, given to earthquake conditions. It’s possible, then, that God did see fit to miraculously time an earthquake at this precise moment, which would have released great quantities of gas, mixed sulfur with various salts found in abundance, and measurably increased the flow of asphalt seepage. Lightning could have ignited all, and the entire country have been consumed as indicated (A Survey of Israel’s History, Zondervan).""

Reflection

Is there anything that God is calling you away from that you still long for? How can you apply the story of Lot to your life? What is God calling you to do?