Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

All Scripture is inspired by God… it is verbally and plenarily inspired… inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed… it is the complete revelation to mankind

Scripture is filled with stories of humans throughout the Old Testament

God reveals things about Himself in various ways… by speaking, through the law,

Scripture is also filled with stories of humans throughout the Old Testament

Stories of courage… stories of lies and deceit… miraculous stories… stories of betrayal… sad stories… stories of murder… stories of forgiveness

Our humanity is very much reflected in many of these stories

It is easy to moralize these stories… draw lessons from the characters for examples in how we should live our lives

David & Goliath - we can overcome the giants in our lives

Joseph - forgiveness and running from sin is a path to success

Nehemiah - principles of effective leadership

Achan -

However, in doing so, we dare not lose sight about what God is revealing about Himself throughout the story as well

I believe the primary purpose of Scripture is to reveal the person, character, and work of God throughout the history of the world

I believe the primary purpose of Scripture is to reveal the person, character, and work of God through the history of the world

God reveals things about Himself in various ways… by speaking, through the law, through the prophets, and through the stories of the people throughout history

God reveals things about Himself in various ways… by speaking, through the law,

When we consider stories in Scripture, we should carefully consider what it reveals about who He is… about His character… about Him!

This morning we are going to look at the story of Lot...

… we are going to draw lessons from the story about Lot and what it teaches us

… we are also going to think about what this story reveals about God and what He wants to show us something about Himself through this story

Historical Setting

The story of Lot is intertwined with the story of Abram found in Genesis

The story of Lot is intertwined with the story of Abram and, in many ways, offers a contrast to Abram

Abram was the tenth generation after Noah

Lot was the nephew of Abram… the son of his brother, Haran, who died

Abram was without children, and Lot was fatherless… so Abram somewhat “adopted” him

The story of Abram is well-known and there is quite a bit written about him… There is relatively little known about Lot, and only a couple of references outside the story itself

As we look into the life of Lot, we will see how it contrasts with the life of Abram

I don’t know about you, but in many respects I would not characterize Lot positively… I don’t know of anyone named after Lot

In spite of that reality, I want us to first consider what Peter says about Lot - one of only two times he is mentioned in the New Testament

(ESV) For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

I would not describe Lot as a righteous man… neither do I think most of you would...

… through the inspired writings of Peter, God describes Lot as righteous

We don’t know by what standard, but he is called righteous

he was more righteous than the rest of the population in Sodom… God saved him because of this

There are countless details or circumstances in his life we have not record of and don’t know, but God does… and God calls Lot a righteous man!

There are countless details or circumstances in his life we have not record of and don’t know, but God does… and God calls Lot a righteous man!

God’s story and revelation about himself includes this abbreviated story of the life of Lot

The Journey to Canaan

Abram “adopted” Lot and treated him like a son or an equal

Abram was the tenth generation from Noah

and, in many ways, offers a contrast to Abram

(ESV) Now these are the generations of Terah.

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.

Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

And Abram and Nahor took wives.

The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.

Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

Here is the introduction to both Abram and Lot

MAP

Abram took Lot with him when his father relocated from Ur of the Chaldeans (actual location not certain)

Apparently, it was in Haran, where Abram was called by God

(ESV) Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

(ESV) Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.

Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.

God called… Abram went… Lot went with him

MAP

MAP

What does this reveal about God?

God introduced a part of His plan to Abram… but only a portion.

It was enough for Abram to respond in obedience, but it lacked details

Obedience precedes details… if Abram would not have obeyed this initial command and taken the journey to Canaan in faith, I don’t believe God would have revealed more

What do we see about Lot?

Not much… Lot went with his adopted father

Some speculate that Lot (and Abram) may have assumed that Lot would be the means to the great nation promised

It was not until later that God promised Abram and Sarai a son by birth

Parting ways

When there was a famine in Canaan, Abram and Lot and their caravan all travelled to Egypt where there was food… the narrative resumes as they return to Canaan from Egypt

NARRATE THIS PORTION OF THE STORY

(ESV) So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first.

And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock.

At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.

Is not the whole land before you?

Separate yourself from me.

If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar.

(This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east.

Thus they separated from each other.

Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”

So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram recognized the conflict between him and Lot was developing and offered Lot his choice of land for his herds