Genesis 19:1-29
One reason our pastor likes to go through entire books or the full lives of Biblical characters is that we see both good and bad. We see God's grace and mercy, but we also see His wrath. Sometimes pastors get stuck in the trend of preaching about only the positive things or only doing hell and brimstone sermons. But going through a series like this tends to reveal both. Today we see some of God's wrath.
God destroys: God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin (19:1-13, 23-29).... Lot had been living in Sodom for a while at this point and his own morals had taken a bit of a fall, as we see when he offers his virgin daughters to the men of Sodom in place of the angels that were visiting him. There are some trends in society that we can embrace, like fashion or haircuts, but our values should always remain grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Whenever we have a feeling or desire that runs counter to the Bible, such as unrighteous anger or, as in the case of Sodom, homosexuality, then one of two things will happen: 1) we submit our feelings to the Bible or 2) we submit the Bible to our feelings. If we choose option 1, we remain faithful to God, but option 2 puts our feelings above God, which is idolatry.
God offers a place of refuge from his destruction: God rescued Lot and his family and provided them a place of safety (19:14-22).... God offered Lot a way to survive this judgment and Lot tried to get his sons-in-law to come with him and his family, but they laughed. Lot's wife went but then looked back and turned to salt. Lot and his daughters kept going and survived.
Throughout the Bible, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is an example and a warning of God’s judgment:
Babylon (Isaiah 13:19), Moab (Zephaniah 2:9), and Israel (Isaiah 3:9) are warned of such destruction.
The destruction of Sodom is a preview of hell (Jude 1:7).
Jesus said Capernaum would face worse judgment than Sodom (Matthew 11:23-24).
The return of Jesus will be as unexpected and sudden as the destruction of Sodom (Luke 17:26-32).
This passage and these other verses show us that people respond to the offer of salvation in three ways. Some will never accept salvation, just laughing at the idea of it. Others will entertain the idea of it but ultimately won't persevere and will turn back (whether they were saved and lost that salvation or were never saved to begin with is another discussion). Only those who accept salvation and continue to obey God's commands will persevere.