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Genesis, part 2

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Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham. ... to Lot and asked, Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Genesis, part 2


1
Genesis, part 2
2
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar.
    Suddenly the LORD rained burning sulfur on the
    cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them
    and the whole valley, along with all the people
    there and everything that grew on the land. But
    Lots wife looked back and was turned into a
    pillar of salt. (Genesis 1923-26 GN)
  • Why? Was there no other way? What really
    happened?

3
Jesus, God of the Old Testament
  • I want you to remember, my friends, what
    happened to our ancestors who followed Moses.
    They were all under the protection of the cloud,
    and all passed safely through the Red Sea. In the
    cloud and in the sea they were all baptized as
    followers of Moses. All ate the same spiritual
    bread and drank the same spiritual drink. They
    drank from the spiritual rock that went with
    them and that rock was Christ himself. (1
    Corinthians 101-4 GN)

4
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar.
    Suddenly the LORD rained burning sulfur on the
    cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them
    and the whole valley, along with all the people
    there and everything that grew on the land. But
    Lots wife looked back and was turned into a
    pillar of salt. (Genesis 1923-26 GN)
  • Why? Was there no other way? What really
    happened?
  • Does God have another side to his character
    beyond what was revealed by Jesus?

5
Principles of interpretation
  • Take in the whole setting
  • Read everything around the story
  • Take the Bible as a whole
  • Compare and contrast Gods actions through all
    these many circumstances
  • Jesus is always the pinnacle of our clearest
    picture of God (Jesus glasses)

6
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • Kindness shown to the king of Sodom
  • The king of Sodom said to Abram, Keep the loot,
    but give me back all my people. Abram answered,
    I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High
    God, Maker of heaven and earth, that I will not
    keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a
    sandal strap. Then you can never say, I am the
    one who made Abram rich. I will take nothing for
    myself. (Genesis 1421-24 GN)

7
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • God and his friend Abraham
  • rest here beneath this treeAbraham hurried
    into the tent and said to Sarah, Quick, take a
    sack of your best flour, and bake some bread.
    Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf
    that was tender and fat, and gave it to a
    servant, who hurried to get it ready. He took
    some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the
    food before the men. There under the tree he
    served them himself, and they ate (Genesis
    184-9)

8
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • God explains to his friend
  • And the LORD said to himself, I will not hide
    from Abraham what I am going to do. Then the
    LORD said to Abraham, There are terrible
    accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their
    sin is very great. I must go down to find out
    whether or not the accusations which I have heard
    are true. Then the two men left and went on
    toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with
    Abraham. (Genesis 1817-22 GN)
  • I do not call you servants any longer, because
    servants do not know what their master is doing.
    Instead, I call you friends, because I have told
    you everything I heard from my Father (John
    1515 GN)
  • Did God really need to come down in person to
    check it out?

9
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • If we have a problem with this story, we can
    question God as Abraham did
  • Abraham approached the LORD and asked, Are you
    really going to destroy the innocent with the
    guilty? If there are fifty innocent people in the
    city, will you destroy the whole city? Wont you
    spare it in order to save the fifty? Surely you
    wont kill the innocent with the guilty. Thats
    impossible! You cant do that. If you did, the
    innocent would be punished along with the guilty.
    That is impossible. The judge of all the earth
    has to act justly. The LORD answered, If I find
    fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the
    whole city for their sake.I will not destroy it
    if there are ten (Genesis 1823-26,32 GN)

10
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • Wickedness of the people revealed
  • Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom
    surrounded the house. All the men of the city,
    both young and old, were there. They called out
    to Lot and asked, Where are the men who came to
    stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us! The
    men of Sodom wanted to have sex with them. Lot
    went outside and closed the door behind him. He
    said to them, Friends, I beg you, don't do such
    a wicked thing! Look, I have two daughters who
    are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you,
    and you can do whatever you want with them. But
    don't do anything to these men they are guests
    in my house, and I must protect them. But they
    said, Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are
    you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we
    will treat you worse than them. They pushed Lot
    back and moved up to break down the door. But the
    two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into
    the house, and shut the door. Then they struck
    all the men outside with blindness, so that they
    couldn't find the door. The two men said to Lot,
    If you have anyone else here---sons, daughters,
    sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the
    city---get them out of here, because we are going
    to destroy this place. The LORD has heard the
    terrible accusations against these people and has
    sent us to destroy Sodom. (Genesis 194-13
    GN)

11
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • What was the best that came out of Sodom and
    Gomorrah?
  • Lot and his two daughters
  • Moabites and Ammonites
  • Molech

12
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • How did God feel?
  • How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I
    surrender you and cast you off, O Israel! How can
    I make you as Admah or how can I treat you as
    Zeboiim both destroyed with Sodom! My heart
    recoils within Me My compassions are kindled
    together (Hosea 119 Amplified).
  • Say to them, As I live! declares the Lord GOD,
    I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
    but rather that the wicked turn from his way and
    live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!
    Why then will you die, O house of Israel?
    (Ezekiel 3311 NASB)
  • The people I love are doing evil things
    (Jeremiah 1115 GN).
  • Did God love the people in Sodom less than Judas?

13
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • 1. Possible interpretations
  • Gods vindictive/retributive punishment of sin
  • For we know Him who said, VENGEANCE IS MINE, I
    WILL REPAY. And again, THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS
    PEOPLE. It is a terrifying thing to fall into
    the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 1030, 31
    NASB)
  • So now, listen to what the LORD Almighty,
    Israel's powerful God, is saying I will take
    revenge on you, my enemies, and you will cause me
    no more trouble. I will take action against you.
    I will purify you the way metal is refined, and
    will remove all your impurity. (Isaiah 124,25
    - GN)
  • Problems God loves the sinner and is only trying
    to heal and restore. Sin is not an entity that
    requires punishment it is a disease in the mind
    that requires healing. God does not punish, he
    disciplines for our own good.

14
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • We are usually the ones eager to ask for fire
    from heaven
  • The disciples
  • And when His disciples James and John observed
    this, they said, Lord, do you wish us to command
    fire to come down from heaven and consume them,
    even as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked
    and severely censured them. He said, You do not
    know of what sort of spirit you are, For the Son
    of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but
    to save them (Luke 954-56 - Amplified)
  • Jonah
  • He yelled at GOD, GOD! I knew it--when I was
    back home, I knew this was going to happen!
    That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were
    sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich
    in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn
    your plans of punishment into a program of
    forgiveness! (Jonah 42 The Message)

15
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • 2. Possible interpretations
  • God did not send the fire (volcano, meteor,
    Satan). The people would not listen to Gods
    warnings to get out. Possible misinterpretation
    of the events by the author.
  • The LORD was angry at Israel again, and he made
    David think it would be a good idea to count the
    people in Israel and Judah. (2 Samuel 241 -
    CEV).
  • If we are tempted by such trials, we must not
    say This temptation comes from God. For God
    cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts
    no one. But we are tempted when we are drawn away
    and trapped by our own evil desires (James
    113,14 - GN).
  • Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of
    Israel, so he made David decide to take a census
    (1 Chronicles 211 - GN).

16
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • The death of Saul
  • By the living LORD, David continued, I know
    that the LORD himself will kill Saul, either
    when his time comes to die a natural death or
    when he dies in battle. (1 Samuel 2610 GN)
  • So the LORD killed him (1 Chronicles 1014 -
    GN).
  • The destruction of Jerusalem
  • The city of murderers is doomed! I myself will
    pile up the firewood. Bring more wood! Fan the
    flames! Cook the meat! Boil away the broth! Burn
    up the bones! Now set the empty bronze pot on the
    coals and let it get red-hot. Then the pot will
    be ritually pure again after the corrosion is
    burned off, although all that corrosion will not
    disappear in the flames. Jerusalem, your immoral
    actions have defiled you. Although I tried to
    purify you, you remained defiled. You will not be
    pure again until you have felt the full force of
    my anger. I, the Lord, have spoken. The time has
    come for me to act. I will not ignore your sins
    or show pity or be merciful. You will be punished
    for what you have done. The Sovereign Lord has
    spoken (Ezekiel 242,9-14).
  • Problems with this model
  • Who wrote this story? Credibility of scripture.

17
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • 3. Possible interpretations
  • A protective action on Gods part under a very
    unusual and desperate circumstance. There simply
    was no other way to keep the world from falling
    back into complete rebellion (pre-flood).
  • Medical illustration
  • Problems Gods methods are not force, fear and
    coercion..does he ever use them under extreme
    circumstances?

18
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • Then the Lord passed by and sent a furious wind
    that split the hills and shattered the rocksbut
    the Lord was not in the wind. The wind stopped
    blowing, and then there was an earthquakebut the
    Lord was not in the earthquake. After the
    earthquake there was a firebut the Lord was not
    in the fire. And after the fire there was the
    soft whisper of a voice. When Elijah heard it, he
    covered his face with his cloak and went out and
    stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said
    to him, Elijah, what are you doing here? (1
    Kings 1910-13 - GN).

19
Sodom and Gomorrah
  • What should be our attitude after reading about
    Sodom?
  • Read on.take the Bible as a whole with Jesus as
    the pinnacle
  • We can ask God!
  • Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him (Job
    1315 KJV)
  • Keep our Jesus glasses on as we watch him deal
    with a very serious rebellion among his children
  • There is no fear in love perfect love drives
    out all fear. So then, love has not been made
    perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has
    to do with punishment (1 John 418 GN)

20
Abraham and Isaac
  • Some time later God tested Abraham he called to
    him, Abraham! And Abraham answered, Yes, here
    I am! Take your son, God said, your only son,
    Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land
    of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show
    you, offer him as a sacrifice to me. Early the
    next morning Abraham cut some wood for the
    sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and
    two servants with him. They started out for the
    place that God had told him about. On the third
    day Abraham saw the place in the distance. Then
    he said to the servants, Stay here with the
    donkey. The boy and I will go over there and
    worship, and then we will come back to you.
    Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the
    sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and
    live coals for starting the fire. As they walked
    along together, Isaac spoke up, Father! He
    answered, Yes, my son? Isaac asked, I see that
    you have the coals and the wood, but where is the
    lamb for the sacrifice? Abraham answered, God
    himself will provide one. And the two of them
    walked on together. (Genesis 221-8 GN)

21
Abraham and Isaac
  • When they came to the place which God had told
    him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged
    the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him
    on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he picked
    up the knife to kill him. But the angel of the
    LORD called to him from heaven, Abraham,
    Abraham! He answered, Yes, here I am. Don't
    hurt the boy or do anything to him, he said.
    Now I know that you honor and obey God, because
    you have not kept back your only son from him.
    Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a
    bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered
    it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
    Abraham named that place The LORD Provides. And
    even today people say, On the LORD's mountain he
    provides. The angel of the LORD called to
    Abraham from heaven a second time, I make a vow
    by my own name---the LORD is speaking---that I
    will richly bless you. Because you did this and
    did not keep back your only son from me, I
    promise that I will give you as many descendants
    as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand
    along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer
    their enemies. All the nations will ask me to
    bless them as I have blessed your
    descendants---all because you obeyed my
    command. (Genesis 229-18 GN)

22
Abraham and Isaac
  • Would you kill your son if a voice in the night
    told you to?
  • Would Jesus test your faith in this way?
  • What was the point? Must we love God so much that
    we are willing to kill our children?

23
What was the setting?
  • Were sacrifices common in other cultures? Why did
    they sacrifice?
  • When the king of Moab realized that he was
    losing the battle, he took seven hundred
    swordsmen with him and tried to force his way
    through the enemy lines and escape to the king of
    Syria, but he failed. So he took his oldest son,
    who was to succeed him as king, and offered him
    on the city wall as a sacrifice to the god of
    Moab. The Israelites were terrified and so they
    drew back from the city and returned to their own
    country (2 Kings 326,27).
  • They took the bull that was brought to them,
    prepared it, and prayed to Baal until noon. They
    shouted, Answer us, Baal! and kept dancing
    around the altar they had built. But no answer
    came. At noon Elijah started making fun of them
    Pray louder! He is a god! Maybe he is
    daydreaming or relieving himself, or perhaps hes
    gone off on a trip! Or maybe hes sleeping, and
    youve got to wake him up! So the prophets
    prayed louder and cut themselves with knives and
    daggers, according to their ritual, until blood
    flowed. They kept on ranting and raving until
    the middle of the afternoon but no answer came,
    not a sound was heard (1 Kings 1826-29).
  • They have built altars to Baal in Hinnom Valley,
    to sacrifice their sons and daughters to the god
    Molech. I did not command them to do this, and it
    did not even enter my mind that they would do
    such a thing and make the people of Judah sin
    (Jeremiah 3225).
  • Does God need to be appeased?

24
What does God really want?
  • You do not want sacrifices, or I would offer
    them you are not pleased with burnt offerings.
    My sacrifice is a humble spirit, O God you will
    not reject a humble and repentant heart (Psalms
    5116,17).
  • What shall I bring to the Lord, the God of
    heaven, when I come to worship him? Shall I bring
    the best calves to burn as offerings to him? Will
    the Lord be pleased if I bring him thousands of
    sheep or endless streams of olive oil? Shall I
    offer him my first-born child to pay for my sins?
    No, the Lord has told us what is good. What he
    requires of us is this to do what is just, to
    show constant love, and to live in humble
    fellowship with our God (Micah 66-8).

25
The point
  • By contrast to the culture of the day, God shows
    that he is not the kind of God who needs to be
    appeased
  • God stoops to meet us at the level of our picture
    of God
  • God uses his friends to bring the people to a
    more elevated and true picture of himself
    (Abraham, Moses, Job)
  • God will provide

26
Abrahams trust
  • It was faith that made Abraham offer his son
    Isaac as a sacrifice when God put Abraham to the
    test. Abraham was the one to whom God had made
    the promise, yet he was ready to offer his only
    son as a sacrifice. God had said to him, It is
    through Isaac that you will have the descendants
    I promised. Abraham reckoned that God was able
    to raise Isaac from death---and, so to speak,
    Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.
    (Hebrews 1117-19 - GN)

27
Abrahams descendants
  • Isaac Rebecca
  • Jacob and Esau
  • Esau married 2 Hittites
  • They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca
    (Genesis 2635 GN)
  • Jacob steals Esaus blessing
  • But Mother, Jacob said, my brother Esau is a
    hairy man and I have smooth skin. What happens if
    my father touches me? Hell think I'm playing
    games with him. Ill bring down a curse on myself
    instead of a blessing. If it comes to that,
    said his mother, Ill take the curse on myself.
    Now, just do what I say. Go and get the goats.
    (Genesis 2711-13 The Message)
  • Jacob flees for his life

28
Jacobs Dream
  • And he came to a certain place and stayed there
    overnight, because the sun was set. Taking one of
    the stones of the place, he put it under his head
    and lay down there to sleep. And he dreamed that
    there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the
    top of it reached to heaven and the angels of
    God were ascending and descending on it! And
    behold, the Lord stood over and beside him and
    said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your
    father and the God of Isaac I will give to you
    and to your descendants the land on which you are
    lying. And your offspring shall be as countless
    as the dust or sand of the ground, and you shall
    spread abroad to the west and the east and the
    north and the south and by you and your
    Offspring shall all the families of the earth be
    blessed and bless themselves. And behold, I am
    with you and will keep watch over you wherever
    you may go, and I will bring you back to this
    land for I will not leave you until I have done
    all of which I have told you. And Jacob awoke
    from his sleep and he said, Surely the Lord is
    in this place and I did not know it. He was
    afraid and said, How to be feared and reverenced
    is this place! This is none other than the house
    of God, and this is the gateway to heaven!
    (Genesis 2811-17 Amplified)

29
What was the message to Jacob?
  • Did God approve of what Jacob had done?
  • Does God leave us when we leave him?
  • God is just like the Father in the story of the
    Prodigal son
  • So he got up and started back to his father. He
    was still a long way from home when his father
    saw him his heart was filled with pity, and he
    ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed
    him. (Luke 1520 GN)

30
What does the ladder represent?
  • Genesis 2812,13,17
  • And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on
    the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven
    and the angels of God were ascending and
    descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood over
    and beside him and said, I am the Lord, the God
    of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac I
    will give to you and to your descendants the land
    on which you are lying
  • This is none other than the house of God, and
    this is the gateway to heaven! (Amplified)

31
The ladder
  • And he said to them, I am telling you the
    truth you will see heaven open and God's angels
    going up and coming down on the Son of Man.
    (John 151 GN)
  • What does this mean?
  • From the very first day, we were there, taking
    it all in--we heard it with our own ears, saw it
    with our own eyes, verified it with our own
    hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our
    eyes we saw it happen! And now we're telling you
    in most sober prose that what we witnessed was,
    incredibly, this The infinite Life of God
    himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard
    it, and now we're telling you so you can
    experience it along with us, this experience of
    communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus
    Christ. (1 John 11-3 The Message)

32
The ladder
  • John 819 GN
  • If you knew me, you would know my Father also.
  • John 146-9 - GN
  • Jesus answered him, I am the way, the truth,
    and the life no one goes to the Father except by
    me. Now that you have known me, he said to them,
    you will know my Father also, and from now on
    you do know him and you have seen him. Philip
    said to him, Lord, show us the Father that is
    all we need. Jesus answered, For a long time I
    have been with you all yet you do not know me,
    Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
    Why, then, do you say, Show us the Father? Do
    you not believe, Philip, that I am in the Father
    and the Father is in me?

33
The ladder
  • And eternal life means to know you, the only
    true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you
    sent. I have shown your glory on earth I have
    finished the work you gave me to do. Father! Give
    me glory in your presence now, the same glory I
    had with you before the world was made. I have
    made you known to those you gave me out of the
    world. (John 173-6 GN)
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