SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS --- LESSON 14
JUDGMENT AND MERCY
THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM
From Genesis 19
Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom that evening when the two angels arrived from Abraham’s tent. As soon as he saw them, he stood up to greet them, bowing with his face to the ground. [Please come to my house tonight,] Lot said. [You may spend the night with me, then rise up as early as you wish and be on your way.] [No, we will spend the night in the street,] they answered. But Lot insisted, so they went with him to his house where he prepared a feast for them with baked, unleavened bread. The angels ate the dinner, but before they lay down to sleep, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. There were young men and old men, from every part of the city. The Sodomites called out to Lot: [Where are those men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out so we can know them.] Lot stepped outside the house, closing the door behind him. [Please, my brothers, don’t do such a wicked thing,] he said to the villagers. [You may even have my two virgin daughters, but don’t bother these men, for they are my guests.] [Stand aside!] the men of Sodom ordered. They grumbled among themselves, [This fellow moved into our city and now he acts like a judge. Let’s treat him worse than his guests!] The Sodomites pushed so hard against Lot that they almost broke down the door. But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot to safety, and bolted the door. Then they blinded the Sodomites so they grew tired trying to find the door. [Find your relatives in the city and get them out of here,] the angels warned, [for we will destroy the city completely. Get your daughters, sons-in-law, sons, or other relatives away, for the cry of evil has grown loud to Adonai and He has sent us to destroy the city completely.] Lot first went to the young men who were about to marry his daughters. [Get out of the city, for Adonai is about to destroy it,] he warned. But the young men looked at him as though he were joking. By dawn the angels began to insist that Lot get out of Sodom. [Take your wife and two daughters and get out of here!] the angels urged. [Otherwise, you will be destroyed when the city is punished.] But Lot still lingered; so, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and daughters, for Adonai had compassion on them. The angels led Lot and his family outside the city. [Now run for your lives!] one of the angels said. [Do not look behind you and do not stop in the valley. Escape to the mountains or you will be carried away with the destruction.] [Oh, please, no,] Lot pleaded. [You have been gracious and kind to me, but if I escape to the mountains, I am sure some harm will come to me there. Look, there is a small village over there. Please let me go there, for it is nearby. It is a small village, and my life will be spared there.] “Hurry then, escape to that village, for I cannot do anything until you are safe there,” the angel said. The name of that village was Zoar, which meant Little Village. The sun was rising by the time Lot reached Zoar. When he had almost reached the village, Adonai began His destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, raining fire and brimstone upon them. Adonai destroyed those cities, the valley, and the other cities and villages of the surrounding plain. Everything was destroyed, including people and plants. Lot’s wife was lingering behind him. Longingly she looked back at Sodom, and she became a pillar of salt. Early that morning Abraham arose and hurried to the place where he had talked with Adonai. As he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of the valley, he saw the smoke from the destruction rising like the smoke of a great furnace. But YHVH had remembered Abraham’s request and had rescued Lot from the cities He destroyed. Later Lot left Zoar and went to the mountains with his two daughters. One day the older daughter spoke with the younger. [There is not a man in this part of the country that our father would permit us to marry,] she said. [If we are to have children, we must have them through our father and he will soon be too old. Let’s get him drunk with wine and have children by him so that our family may continue.] They gave their father wine that night until he was drunk. And the older daughter went and lay with her father. But Lot did not know when his older daughter came to him or when she left. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, [Last night I lay with my father. Tonight, we will give him wine again and you can lie with him so that our family will continue through him.] That night they made Lot drunk again so that he did not know when his younger daughter lay down or when she arose. Both daughters conceived this way. The older daughter had a son and called his name Moab. He became the ancestor of the Moabites. The younger daughter also had a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the people known as the Ammonites.
COMMENTARY
THE LAND OF PALESTINE
The wickedness of Sodom is clearly portrayed in the Bible. YHVH’s terrible judgment of fiery destruction was well deserved. But even in His anger, YHVH remembered mercy. Lot and his family were led out of the city to safety. The land known as [the Holy Land] has changed names and borders many times since the days of Abraham. Israel, the Promised Land, Canaan, and Palestine are all familiar terms. From west to east, this land has a fascinating pattern, moving upward in steps until it drops abruptly into the Jordan River Valley on the eastern side, far below sea level. Starting at the west, the land begins at the shore of the Great Sea, now known as the Mediterranean Sea. Moving eastward, the next step upward is the broad, level Plain of Sharon. Next comes the Shephelah, the lower foothills. After that, the hill country, a mountainous region stretching from north to south. From these mountains, the land drops to the Jordan River Valley, with the Dead Sea at the southern end and the Sea of Galilee and Galilee at the northern end. These steps are interrupted in the north by a great valley, known as the Jezreel Valley, Plain of Megiddo, or the Plain of Esdraelon. In the south they are interrupted by a great wilderness known as the Negeb, gentle in the west and rugged in the east.
Thought for Today: Monday December 05:
YHVH has Promised us to meet all our needs according to His glorious riches. Our deepest most constant need is for His Peace. He have planted Peace in the garden of our hearts, where He lives; but there are weeds growing there too: pride, worries, selfishness, unbelief and many others. He is the Gardener and He is working to rid your heart of those weeds. He is doing His work in various ways. When we sit quietly with Him, He shine the Light of His Presence directly into our hearts. In this heavenly Light, Peace grows abundantly, and weeds shrivel up. He also sends trial into our lives. When we trust in Him in the midst of trouble, Peace flourishes and weeds die away. Let us together thank Him for troublesome situations; the Peace they can produce far outweighs the trials we endure.
Hi everyone, my mother passed this morning and I need prayer. I am her only child and daughter... If any Sabbath-keeping congregations in the Big Bend Florida area believe in the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues, Jesus Christ being the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit/Ruach Hakodesh being female and His mother please feel free to introduce yourself. I am in urgent need of a strong community of like-minded believers. Thank you.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/Uob2p1Ji7uWj/
Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares YHWH.
Obadiah 1:4
It is impossible to escape God's judgment. No amount of money, influence, or political power can save anyone, any nation, or even all of humanity if God decides to destroy them. You can't hide beneath the sea or among the stars. God spoke it all into existence, and he can command it all right back out again.
The most annoying "feature" in #microsoft365 (MS Office) is the floating button that appears by default when you copy and paste things. Particularly in Excel. Change my mind.
Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Obadiah 1:2-3
That which you hold most dearly is the very thing you must give up for God. Edom refused to let Israel pass because they feared Israel would once again take away their inheritance (remember Jacob and Esau?), but because they refused to risk their inheritance on behalf of Israel, God took their inheritance away anyway.
I started seeing "conservative" news sites put up phony images of the #twittergate documents. I have to be blunt, I suppose, but many so-called conservative sites and YouTube apostles routinely lie to gin up web hits and followings. If you want to see the document dump, here it is. If you read it elsewhere and it doesn't link to this guy's feed, well, it's probably lies. https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/st....atus/159882295986668
1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES
Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022
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