INTRODUCTION: When we were children we liked to have campfires in the back yard. In these fires we liked to melt glass bottles from a dump in the woods nearby. We were little pyromaniacs.
One day we threw a bottle in there and it had a cap on it. It started making weird noises and fortunately we started to back away from the fire. The explosion was loud and sudden and sent glass fragments traveling at high rates of speed. These fractured glass shards blew by our heads so I’m glad we backed away and no one got hurt
I hope we’re smart enough to back away from evil. Because calamity can be sudden and swift and certain patterns of behavior make it more likely.
READ: Genesis 19
CHALLENGE: Don’t Deliberately Keep on Sinning
I read an interesting verse in Isaiah that referenced Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah 3:9 – The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.
The Sodomites didn’t even try to hide their sin. They deliberately did the wrong thing. We read a few weeks back that that their sin led to an outcry against the people. It was not an outcry from the city, it was an outcry against the city. Their evil was grievous, meaning severe.
We start at the end of the sin cycle now. Two angels are dispensed and they arrive to destroy the city. Since destruction is coming in less than 24 hours, this is the tail end of a long cycle of evil.
On that same day, Abraham and Sarah were told that they would have a son together. Sodom and Gomorrah would get destroyed. These are two polar opposite messages but both the result of behavioral patterns. Abraham lived in such a way that God could bless his life. Sodom and Gomorrah lived in such a way that God had to judge them.
How could it get so bad? Let’s talk about the dangers of sinful choices.
DANGER #1 – EVIL INCREASES INCREMENTALLY
Vv 1-3 – The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” 3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
Does anyone remember the classic song Piano Man, by Billy Joel? It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday and the manager gives me a smile ‘cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been coming to see to forget about life for a while. And the piano it sounds like a carnival. And the microphone smells like a beer. And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar and say, “Man, what are you doing here”?
That’s the question I have for Lot. “Man, what are you doing here”? He’s at the gate of the city so he’s respected and well known. He has a place of prominence among the rabble that live there. But regardless of how high his position in that city was, it’s still a condemned place with no future. You can be the top rat in a sewer, but it still stinks to be there. So, what are you doing here? He didn’t belong there.
Two angels visit and he recognizes that they are special. He bows and calls them lords. And let’s remember, they are coming in the evening because earlier they shared a meal with his uncle, Abraham.
What do we know about this place at this moment? Harm has been done to innocent people. It’s not a safe place to visit and God has heard about it. What do you think the chances are that Lot has not heard about it? He knows. He knows it’s too dangerous to stay in the square and that’s why he adamantly invites these men in to his house.
He knows how evil it is but he chooses to live there in this vile den of iniquity anyway. Why? It was “well watered” there. It was good for his herds. Obviously, it may have started out as repulsive but he learned to block it out. I can hear him justifying it. I’m not doing they evil, I’m just here. I’m being a light to these people as if the darkness won’t rub off. And yes, sure, I’m benefiting. Business is good. Someone has to provide the food, right? And wool for clothing? I’ll just keep my mouth shut and stay in this place because I’m making money and making a name for myself here. So what if it’s wicked beyond imagination?
Why are you there?
- Get Away from Evil
When it comes to wickedness get away from it. You can look all day long at what’s good in the evil, but it doesn’t stop the evil from becoming a real problem. Lot has clearly not embraced the culture of Sodom. His daughters are virgins in an immoral world. However, he’s close to it and he’s part of it. By that I mean that his finances and life are entangled with it. His future son-in-laws are there. His future family would have been born into this lawless mindset. He is certainly assisting them in their lifestyle by his presence there.
2 Peter 2:7-8 – and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
Lot was known as being righteous. He was tormented daily by what he saw and heard. So why stay? When he flees for his life from that city, his wealth will be gone. His wife will die. His daughters later get him drunk and sleep with him. It’s a DISASTER! He was WAY to close to evil and when it blew up, his family was hurt. Why you there again?
Proverbs warns men about the adulterous woman – Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house. (Proverbs 5:8). What’s the counsel? Stay away!!
Psalm 1:1 – Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers
What’s the counsel? Stay away!
2 Chronicles 19:2 – Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, “Should you help the wicked and love[a] those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is on you.
Jehoshaphat was helping bolster Ahab. Why are you helping the wicked? Why were you there? Jehoshaphat will ally his son with Ahab’s daughter. She will kill her grandchildren and extinguished the line of David. Keep getting close to evil and see what happens.
First words of advice would be to stay away from temptation. If that’s social media for you. If that’s alcohol. If that’s drugs. If that’s from a situation of temptation. Stay away from it. Evil comes with hooks and consequences so stand back.
- Guard Against the Slide
It’s a slippery slope! The danger is that we get used to it. Just like we get used to a bad odor. We see evil or hear it so much that it doesn’t bother us. We become conditioned. Complacent. Apathetic. It starts to seem normal. And if we’re not careful, we might get OK with what’s not OK.
When you would tell a Christian not to get drunk but now you get drunk with your own kids. When did the bad choices become good choices? When did you lose your bearings? It’s incremental.
Perhaps we become OK with women being demeaned at work. Or racist comments. Perhaps we become OK with all the immorality on TV. We wouldn’t actually allow someone to do those things in our house but if it’s on TV, it’s OK for it to be in the living room.
Please don’t ignore sin and temptation. It would be like ignoring that there’s poison ivy. When you’re allergic to it, ignoring it doesn’t make it less painful or itchy
I love what the Proverbs say about adultery. Can you scoop hot coals in your lap and not be burned? The answer is, “no”. You really cannot. Pay attention to what’s going on around you and to you!
You go out onto Lake Erie, pay attention to what your eyes are seeing. They pulled 14 people out of Lake Erie the other weekend. One drowned and one was missing last I heard. The forecast wasn’t THAT bad but the waves were bad. You have eyes, don’t you?
DANGER #2 – EVIL SPREADS
V4 – Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.
- Men – We Need to Guard Ourselves
All the men from every part of the city of Sodom. Did you notice that it’s the men, not the women. It’s the men who struggle more with these type of sexual addictions and perversions.
It’s men who are fueling much of the porn industry and sex trafficking. It seems the world is sexed crazed. Perhaps that’s why Job made a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a woman. Let’s not be dominated by lust and pornography. Proverbs says to guard your heart as it’s the well spring of life. Men … WAKE UP!
- Nothing Good Happens After Midnight
They come in the evening under the cover of darkness. My dad said this to me so many times, “There’s nothing good going on after midnight”. How often do we hear of accidents happening after midnight. You were out late, you start getting carried away, alcohol factors in. Why you there?
- Evil Knows No Limits
It infected young and old so there was no age limit in perversion and sin. Anyone can be caught up in it and engaged in it. Realize that your children can get caught up in the smut too. Protect them. Protect them from the evil that so easily can catch them.
What are we allowing children to watch whether it’s video games or television? Be careful because the innocent are certainly susceptible to influence and temptations.
- Evil Likes Numbers
They collectively surrounded the house and it wasn’t so they could shake hands and say hello. Now you’ve got all the men surrounding the house. Let’s note that everyone going the wrong way doesn’t make it the right way. “Everyone is doing it: is a phrase I’ve heard so many times. So my parents would ask, “If everyone were jumping off a cliff, would you”? No!
Everyone else was having sex. Everyone else was smoking weed. Let’s assume that this is true. You really want to be like everyone else who is going the wrong thing? Jesus said that broad is the way that leads to destruction. There is a lot of immorality in high school and college. Large groups practicing sleeping around doesn’t make it right, happy, or healthy.
1 Peter 4:3-4 – For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.
Group thinking is not always the right thinking. Our state legalized marijuana smoking and abortion. Both are wrong. Since we are influenced by our relationships – pick the right friends. Bad company ruins good morals.
- Horrible Evil Can Get Fashionable
You do the wrong thing enough for long enough and it’s going to begin to feel normal for you. As the Bible says, you can sear your conscience to the point where you feel nothing. You no longer have empathy for others.
The evil isn’t surprising to you anymore – what’s surprising is doing the right thing. It’s the people who actually stand against what you’re doing. That’s what you can’t tolerate!
It’s like getting into a hot tub and it’s so hot you can barely stand it. But you get used to it. I wonder how much we have become OK with? Are we the frog in the boiling water? This is a super dangerous place to be.
Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
DANGER #3 – EVIL SHOWS NO TRUE LOVE FOR OTHERS
v5 – They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
This is homosexual behavior and gang rape. It’s wrong. But more than that – there is zero regard for the humanity and dignity of others. You’re not asking what they want, you’re just taking. Your power over them disregards them completely.
It shows the power of sin unchecked and the need of the church to be a guard rail. Christians teach love and unselfishness and consideration for others. We actually love the sinner. We would not hurt other people. This would never happen when you follow Jesus.
Evil is so perverse that it wants to damage others. Human trafficking is case in point. How you could do these things to another human is shocking. In our own county there was a van going around with two people. One distracting the parent or grandparent while the other sneaks around trying to nab the kid.
In San Francisco, a mob entered into a store and ransacked it for 40 minutes. They did 100K in damage to the business. Do they care? No. How’s the business owner supposed to survive? You just take it even though it’s not yours?
There were four men who gang raped a drunk girl in Louisiana. They had their way with her, recorded it, tossed her out of the car on the side of the road like she was a McDonald’s bag. She then got hit by a car. They had no concern for her or her rights. They didn’t look out for a person who couldn’t look out for herself.
Out in Washington. A ryde share driver was assaulting a man’s daughter. He tracked her down and shot the guy. Why did that man think he had a right to do whatever he wanted to that woman?
I remember hearing the stories of men who deliberately got girls drunk so they could have their way with them. It was unbelievable! And it’s like acceptable to this day. But it’s wrong.
When love for others is gone, sin is running rampant.
DANGER #4 – EVIL MOCKS ANY ACCOUNTABILITY
Vv6-9 – Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
He offers his daughters but their tastes were way warped. And it shows that the sin of Sodom is clearly sexual! They were twisted way outside of God’s design.
Look at the desperate predicament he is now in. He offers his daughters to protect his guest. Lot put himself here. He probably thought no such day would come because business was good. Perhaps lied to himself that his location wasn’t really hurting him or anyone else. This is the problem with sin. It’s deceitful and we easily justify remaining in the wrong places. He was part of all of this! He wasn’t saving people – he needed saved!
What do they say? Who made you a judge? Don’t judge me. We’ll do worse to you. Don’t judge me! Those steeped in sin don’t want to hear the truth. This is our world – you go along or you’re the problem. You can barely have a conversation these days. Who made you a judge?!
You do you and I’ll do me. This is the mantra of moral relativism. There’s no accountability. We need to get back to norms of mom and dad sticking together and raising their children. Be faithful and committed.
DANGER #5 – EVIL LEADS TO BEING COMPLETELY WARPED
Vv10-13 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. 12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
God doesn’t need anyone protecting him because he can take care of himself. The worse thing about this. Even blind they were still trying to find the door. Instead of repenting, they remain desperate to do the sin. This is the final nail in the coffin.
When we become this blind. The only hope is revival! Jesus said that if Sodom and Gomorrah saw him they would have repented. Let’s pray for our nation and pray for revival. There is nothing we can do other than to be a light and plead with God.
We are the church. We are the check against evil behavior. We don’t need to be joining in on the behavior. How about this alternative. We pick up our cross and follow Jesus Christ.
You look at houses or barns in the country side that are literally caving in. The walls are split out. The roof caving. There are gaping holes in parts of the wall. Did it start like that or get like that? It started with a leak in the roof unattended. That’s what evil is. In Sodom – society has now collapsed. Guaranteed it didn’t start that way.