Second Peter two, starting from verse four. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, And spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. and deliver just lot vexed with filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gospel of the great King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. We pray that we would not only submit to that King because we know that everyone one day will submit to that King, but we pray that we submit gladly rejoicing to King Jesus. We look for this day when you will put all things right again. Open our eyes, oh Lord, this morning to see great things, wonderful things in your word. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Last time, if you remember, we talked about Abraham, and we saw God's call to Abraham, especially from chapter 12, Genesis 12. Today we will continue our story of Genesis, but we'll not just talk about Abraham. We'll talk about Abraham and another important character or famous character in the book of Genesis, which is Lot. He's mentioned in a few chapters. Um, and we, we want to understand why did Moses mentioned lot in this story of Abraham, Abraham, we can say he is the center of attention from chapter 12 to chapter 25, almost chapter 25. But we see many chapters talking about lot, but in order to understand the importance of lot in this context, we need to remember again what happened with Abraham in chapter 12 after the Lord called him, Abraham went to the land of Canaan after his father's died in here in Haran. And in chapter 12 we know that Abraham built an altar for the Lord and he called upon upon the name of the Lord. Look with me in chapter 12 verse eight. And he moved from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent having Bethel on the west and I on the east. And there he built it an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. This is very, very important. Calling upon the name of the Lord means worship. We have worship here. And remember, this is coming just one chapter after what we read in Babylon. People are trying to make their own, um, tower and, uh, glorifying their own names. And here we see God is calling someone, he's building an altar to call upon his name. And every time in, as you read in the patriarch, in the, with the patriarchs, every time an altar is built for the Lord, it will be in Canaan in the land of Canaan. And here there is a worship to the Lord. But then we know Abraham, became weak, I would say in his faith. And he went to Egypt because of famine. And we saw last time how the Lord delivered him from Egypt. And we saw how the deliverance from Egypt was very similar to the deliverance that was going to happen 400 years later to the Israelites out of Egypt, right? Out of famine, he went to Egypt and Israel went to Egypt out of famine and there Pharaoh persecuted him. He wanted to take his wife from him and Pharaoh persecuted the Israelites and then the Lord bring the plagues against Pharaoh in the story of Abraham, and he bring the 10 plagues against Pharaoh in the story of the Exodus. And then with great wealth, with great possessions, the Israelites get out of Egypt. And Abraham get out of Egypt with great wealth. But now Abraham going out of Egypt, where shall he go? If this is quickly, he's coming out of Egypt, and he's going to Canaan again. And the text is saying in chapter 13 that he is building, or he's going to the place where he built the altar. So verse three, it says, he went on his journeys from the South, even to Bethel and to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and I, and to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. He's talking about what we read in chapter 12 and there, Abraham called upon the name of the Lord. Abraham is returning to Canaan and it's not just a geographical return. To return to this place, he's returning to the land where the source of blessing is. He's returning to the promise. The Lord promised him, I will give you this land. And he's returning to the promise. In fact, Abraham was returning to the Lord himself out of Egypt, to the place of worship, to the mountain of the Lord. It's a small picture, small picture, a shadow of returning to Eden. to where God is. But then the text says, after these events, returning there, he had his nephew with him going to Egypt. Lot went with him to Egypt when a famine happened and he returned with him from Egypt and the Lord blessed them. And then a conflict happened, not between Lot and Abraham in the beginning, but between their shepherds, between their servants. So at verse seven it says, and there was a strife between the herd men of Abraham's cattle and the herd men of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanites and Perizzites dwelt then in the land. And Abraham said unto Lot, well, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herd men and the herd men, for we be brethren. is not the whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." And here we see Abraham, he is very ready to give the land. God promised him the land. But Abraham knows that he's not going to take the land by his power, not by his craftiness. He's even willing. I will not fight for the land. The land will be a gift. Here he is. He's ready to give the land. Few chapters later in chapter 22, he's willing even to give his son Isaac. The Lord asked him, bring me Isaac. I will not to bring the blessings to my life by my own hands. I can't, and I will not do it in the wrong way. So this is Abraham. He's learning the lesson. His faith is growing, but let's see Lot. Lot was a righteous man as we read in second Peter. Let's see what he's going to do in verse 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zohar. Then Lot chose him over the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves, the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Lots of choices. What are the choices that we have seen in these few verses? First, it shows Sodom and Gomorrah. And what are the descriptions of Sodom and Gomorrah here? What does it look like? Well, it is like the land of Egypt. And think of Egypt. Think of Egypt for the Israelites at that time. Those who are being listening to these words written by Moses, they're coming out of Egypt with all its gods, with all its wickedness, full of treasures, full of possessions, full of wealth. But it's a wicked place. And he chose Egypt. He chose the land of wealth, not the land of the promise. This is the first thing. This was Sodom and Gomorrah. Knowing that, in the previous chapter, Lot himself saw persecution in Egypt with Abraham. He saw how Pharaohs dealt with them. He saw the wickedness. And he chose Sodom and Gomorrah. He chose the land of wealth, not the land of promise. Second, he chose a city that is doomed to destruction. See how it is said here? He chose this place in verse 10, and in the middle of the verse it says, before the Lord, thank you, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot chose a place which is doomed to destruction. It's going to be destroyed. And as we read this, if you read this for the first time, You may ask, if you don't know what was going to happen, you may ask, how this is going to happen? How the Lord will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? How he will make it? A whole city, it looks like Egypt with all its wealth, will be destroyed. No one would imagine at that time that Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed. But Moses is saying clearly, it's a place that will be destroyed. The Lord will destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And Lord chose a place doomed to destruction. Another thing which is noteworthy here, verse 11, then Lord chose him all the plain of Jordan and Lord journeyed east. And we have seen before, what does it mean to go east, right? Every time one of these people is who's going east, he's going away from the Lord. Adam was expelled east of the garden of Eden. Cain was expelled to the east of Eden. And the people of Babylon, what did they do after the ark? They went east to build the tower. Every time we see this story of going to the east, we're going away from the Lord. And again and again, let's remember the tabernacle, which represents the presence of the Lord. with the holy of holies and the holy, and the directions is the east, north, west, and south. And going to the east means going away from the Lord. And Lot chose to go east. He was not just going out of Canaan. Sodom and Gomorrah was around this Dead Sea. He was not just going away from Canaan, he was going away from the land of the promise. where the name of the Lord was called. He chose the land of wealth, not the land of the promise. The people at the Tower of Babel, they went east, they built a tower to make a name for themselves, to make a city. A lot did the same. So in all of these instances, whether Cain went east and built a city, The people of Tower of Babel, they went east and tried to build the tower and the city. And Lot is going east. And it says something about this land, it's even as the garden of the Lord in verse 10. But not just as the garden of the Lord, as the land, it looks like the land of Egypt. We are talking about a fake, fake garden. Man-made garden. man-made worship. A man means a man-made city doomed to destruction. And this, this story will continue to the end, to the end of the Bible. Cain, when he went east, he built a city and he named it after his son, Enoch. And the people of Babel, they went east and they built a city, they built a tower. And not choosing the city, east of Abraham's altar. And think of these three cities. What happened to these three cities? Cain's city was destroyed, right? In the flood. And the Tower of Babel, it was destroyed. This project did not continue. And Lot's city, the city that he chose, what happened to it? Sodom and Gomorrah? It was burned. The man-made city will burn. Till the end of the Bible, if you read the book of Revelation, you have Babylon and Jerusalem. What will happen to Babylon? It will be destroyed. The story comes again and again and again. And we are not just making this up. Jesus Christ himself in the gospels, when he explained, when he taught about the lost days, what's going to happen in the lost days, one of the pictures, one of the stories that he brought to our mind is this story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Luke 17, for instance, if you open Luke 17, Christ himself is making this connection between the city of man that will be destroyed in the last days. Luke 17 verse 28 Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed. This contradiction between the city of God and the city of man will remain to the last day, where people may choose the land of wealth. They will take their children, They will do their business, they will bring their families, and they will seek a place of wealth. We may not care as much to find a place where an altar of the Lord is, where a church is. We will just care to have this wealthy place. It's said that this is Lot who's doing this. A righteous person, a believer in today's world, he's a Christian. But he's making foolish, foolish choices. Foolish choices. He's choosing a land of wealth. The first question a Christian should ask if he's going to move for a job, for work, the place I'm going to, is there an altar of the Lord in this place or not? Or I'm just going, for a better salary or a better profit or a better house or a better job? Is there an altar of the Lord? This is the place where I'll take my wife, my children and raise them up there. What is more important, their university or their eternity? What would you benefit if you, if your son is the greatest ambassador, who will perish in hell at the end? What will you gain? Where are we raising our children? What are the most important values that we're trying to bring to our family? What is more important, to have very good grades in the school or to study the word of God? I'm not saying that this is wrong not to get good grades in the school, but what is more important? Where am I raising my children? Lot made foolish choices. And the Lord in his mercy, the Lord in his mercy disciplined Lot. In chapter 14, Lot chose this, chose this land. And we read then about a war between four kings and five kings, very, very savage kings, very wicked kings, very strong. And in this war, Lot was taken into exile. Hostage. He and his family. He's almost losing everything. Losing his freedom. He will be a slave forever. Who's in control of this to happen to Lot? It is God. But then who went and saved Lot? Abraham. God in his mercy. God in his mercy sent Abraham to save Lot. And in terms of numbers, humanly speaking, Abraham would be expected to lose this war. But amazingly, Abraham saved Lot and all his household. And if you read at the end of chapter 14, you may expect, then what will happen? Most probably now Lot learned the lesson. The discipline did something wrong to Lot. And he would return with Abraham. But surprisingly, Lot chose to return to Sodom and Gomorrah again. And then we, we go to the, this, this chapter 18 and 19 where the Lord came to Abraham and promised him affirming that I will bring you the son, the blessings that I'm going to, to, to bring, it will come, it will happen. Even your wife, this 90 years old woman will have a child. But at the same time he said, I'm going to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. And we remember this, this conversation between the Lord and Abraham. But at the end, We see what happened to Lot. Everything that he wanted to keep, all the positions that he had, what happened to them at the end? He left them. He lost everything. Everything he fought to keep apart from God was lost, was burned. He left everything. He left everything. He even lost his wife and his daughters. And it's amazing if you compare between Abraham and what happened to him versus Lot. Both of them are believers. Both of them, I would say, are justified by faith. But one of them lived in obedience to the Lord, and the other one was lingering, was not obeying, was not submitting. He lost everything. except his soul. But he lost everything. He vexed his soul. And think of the wives. In the presence of the Lord, a 90 years old woman bear a child. There is life. And this other woman who chose Sodom and Gomorrah with her husband, what happened to her? She returned to a pillar of salt. You may not expect in the beginning, this woman will have a child 90 years old? Yes. Not because she is good, but because where God is, life is. And where are you? Are you away from God? There is no life. What about the children? Let's read about Abraham's children in Genesis 18. What did the Lord say to Abraham about his children? Verse 17, and the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? And listen to this, for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and he shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. You see what Abraham is doing to his children, what the Lord, what's the report that the Lord is giving about Abraham? He will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord. What about Lot? He took his children to Sodom and Gomorrah. They were raised there to a people who are exceedingly wicked. He even, his daughters will get married to men from this place. becoming a family. He became a well-known man, not living in a tent anymore, but sitting at the gate of the city. What are the compromises that you did a lot to be in this place? What did you do to your family? And when the Lord sent his angels to save Lot and his, his family, he told his, his sons-in-law, let's get out of here. The Lord will burn it. You are talking about the Lord. Who is the Lord that you are talking about? You have been here for forever with us. And now you are talking about the Lord and this place will be doomed to destruction. They mocked him. They didn't believe him. Even when he went back or get out of this city, what happened to his daughters? What did his daughters do to him? We all know the evil that his daughters did. And what do you expect from someone who was raised in Sodom and Gomorrah? Not raise his children in Sodom and Gomorrah. Because he chose the land of wealth, not the land of the promise. He chose to go to the east, away from the Lord, to a fake garden. doom to destruction. But before I end, we need to know what the Lord did to Lot. It's amazing When we think of, we talked about Cain, we talked about the people of the Tower of Babel, and we talked about Lot. There's similarity, but there are differences. These people, we know that they were just wicked and they will perish forever. But we know that Lot was not, yet he chose to go away from the Lord. What is the difference? These people, the Lord will judge. But in God's mercy, he disciplined a lot. But in his mercy, he will save him. He will save his soul. One of the most beautiful verses for me in the book of Genesis in Genesis 19, see what the Lord is telling Lot. He sent the angels, get out of here. And Lot talked to his family to get out. His sons-in-law made fun of him. And then the time's coming, the place will be burned. Verse 15, and when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Get out of here. And verse 16, it begins, and while he lingered, and I wonder why, why did he linger? Was he trying to peck? What shall I get out of here before going? Am I going to leave all these things, all this wealth? Am I going to leave this car? Am I going to leave this house? Am I going to leave all these positions? I'll just leave. He lingered. And the Lord in his justice, after all this discipline, after all this warning, he could have just said, well, okay, Lord, so be it. You chose, stay, you will burn. but see God's mercy in the scene, what the Lord did to Lot. And while he lingered, the main lid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. And they brought him forth and set him without the city. It's kind of getting him out of the city, even against his will. like a father when he grab hold the hand of his son and remove him from a place where he's going to die in his foolishness. I'll get you out of here. The Lord saved Lot from himself. If Lot stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah, he would have burned with all his possessions, with all the things that he preferred. But why did the Lord did this? It's because of that. At the end of the story, we know why this happened, why the Lord did this to Lot. Verse 27. And Abraham gets up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of the furnace. And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. Why did the Lord save Abraham, save Lot? Because he remembered Abraham. It's not that he forgot and now he remembered, it's because of his promise, his covenant to Abraham. Abraham, I promise I will bless you and I will make you a blessing. And through your son, one of your seeds will be a blessings to all nations because of this covenant, because of the covenant. whose heart is Christ himself, the son of Abraham. The Lord saved Lot. Definitely, it was not because Lot's repentance, not because of his righteousness. Lot was lingering. But because of his promise, because of the son of Abraham, the Lord saved Lot. But Lot vexed his soul, and many believers live like Lot. We may, we may all go astray. Abraham went astray, right? He went to Egypt. He made many mistakes, but when the Lord disciplined him, he would learn the lesson and obey. Lot learned the lesson the hard way. He chose the land of wealth, not the land of promise. And what his daughters did, the adultery they committed with their fathers will stay a reason. The sons that came out of this adultery will become two nations that will always make trouble to the people of Israel, forever. They will always make trouble. What a price. What a price. Now we are even preaching about Lot, about his foolish choices. Some believers are choosing these fools choices. God in his mercy will save them by way. Why would you choose these choices? We know what we have. The Lord has been showing us the land of wealth is doomed to destruction if it is not a land of promise. So again and again, the book of Genesis is telling us there is always a mountain of the Lord. and a fake city, fake mountain, Garden of Eden, and then the city that Cain built. Mount Ararat, where the Ark was, and the Tower of Babylon. The altar that Abraham built in Canaan, the Land of Promise, and Sodom and Gomorrah. What will happen with this? It will be destroyed. it will be destroyed. And as believers, as Christians, we should always run to the mountain of the Lord where the promise is. Amen. Any questions before, before we close in prayer about Lot? Okay. No questions is a good sign or a very bad sign. Okay. Let's, let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we confess that we are prone to wonder. Our hearts are deceitful. How many times, O Lord, we go astray, and when you call us, we linger. O Lord, open our eyes to the treasures that we have in Christ. that we may do the right counting and choose the land of promise, the altar of the Lord, not the land of wealth. We thank you because of your promises to us in Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David, through whom you are bringing us back to the mountain of the Lord. You are saving us from this city that is doomed to destruction. Grant us, O Lord, to raise our children in the fear of the Lord, commanding them to obey your commandments. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.