Escape from Sodom

Quite the story Sodom is, do you agree Izzy?

<= = = I certainly do Sir. Was it the most wicked city ever?

Oh, no, not by a long shot. One day the people of cities like Capernaum, Las Vegas, Mogadishu and Rome will be judged and it will be clear Sodom was not the worst of them. But Sodom was pretty bad and they were in the wrong place at the wrong time because Abraham is about to receive his son Issac, the laughing one. So today we learn about escape, failure to listen and some more indiscretion.
The city is about to be destroyed and Lot still hesitated. The angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful. "Run for your lives!" the angels warned. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley. And don't look back! Escape to the mountains, or you will die."

"Oh no, my lords, please," Lot begged. "You have been so kind to me and saved my life, and you have granted me such mercy. But, I have become a city mouse, I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don't you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved." "All right," the angel said, "I will grant your request. I will not destroy that little village. But hurry! For I can do nothing until you are there." From that time on, that village was known as Zoar which means little.

The sun was rising as Lot reached the village. Then the LORD rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life--people, plants, and animals alike. But Lot's wife looked back as she was lagging behind Lot, and she became a pillar of salt.

<= = = Salt? No brimstone just salt?

Salt indeed! Kosher salt. Pure salt. So many points to make, they had been living in this evil city and Haran's boy Lot was still considered righteous, but he was not a strong example at home and all three of the women in his life, his wife, and two daughters had a weakened sense of spirituality. When an angel tells you escape, "don't look back or you will die", it is a good idea to listen. But Sodom had its pull on her. Now why salt you ask.

First as a pillar, she was a milepost, a point to change direction, not that they did. And salt purifies. Izzy, can you have blood with the meat you eat? Of course not, but salt gets rid of the blood, dries it up. And that whole area is full of salt pillars, in fact if you take a tour the guide will undoubtedly point you to the one that was Lot's wife.

The next morning Abraham was up early and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the LORD's presence. He looked out across the plain to Sodom and Gomorrah and saw columns of smoke and fumes, as from a furnace, rising from the cities there. But God had listened to Abraham's request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.

AbrahamWanderer never really liked those guys in Sodom, but sort of sad to see them barbecued!

The two angels come to Sodom

Good afternoon Izzy, today we speak of judgment and wrath. But before that, how was your Pesach, your Passover Seder? I understand your family hosted two Seder's this year, so what is the most important lesson?

<= = = Pei-Samekh-Cheit, Pass over, pass through, spare or exempt, that if we did not have the sign of God on our doorpost, the firstborn in our own houses would be killed. And even if an Egyptian that had caused us pain, had the sign of God on his house the angel of death passed over the Egyptian's house.

Excellent Izzy, and tell me another important lesson of Pesach please.

<= = = The removal of Chematz, or Levin from our houses and lives, this reminds us not to be puffed up, this illustrates the importance of removing sin from our lives.

And that was the problem with Sodom Izzy, they tolerated sin and it went from tolerating to encouraging and then to needing. You can imagine that if Sodom hasn't got ten righteous it is a pretty bad place. The same evening they had eaten with Abraham the two angels finally came to the entrance of the city of Sodom ( they walked slowly in hopes Abraham would ask the LORD to spare the city on behalf of one righteous), and Lot was sitting at the gate to the city, a place where the elders judged between disputes as the angels arrived. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground.

"My lords," he said, "come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up in the morning as early as you like and be on your way again." "Oh no," they said, "we'll just spend the night out here in the city square." But Lot insisted, hospitality was very important in his culture, so at last the angels went home with him. He set a great feast before them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast.
After the meal, as they were preparing to retire for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have rough sex with them."

Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. "Please, my brothers," he begged, "don't do such a wicked thing. Look--I have two virgin daughters. Do with them as you wish, but leave these men alone, for they are under my protection."

"Stand back!" they shouted. "Who do you think you are? We let you settle among us, and now you are trying to tell us what to do! We'll treat you far worse than those other men!" And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door. But the two angels reached out and pulled Lot in and bolted the door. Then they blinded the men of Sodom so they couldn't find the doorway.

"Do you have any other relatives here in the city?" the angels asked. "Get them out of this place--sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. For we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place has reached the LORD, and he has sent us to destroy it." So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters' fiancés, "Quick, get out of the city! The LORD is going to destroy it." But the young men thought he was only joking. At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out of here right now, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city."

<= = = What sin was Sodom destroyed for?

All of their sins Izzy, the homosexuality which is the only thing most people focus on, but the lack of hospitality, the violence. Remember the previous wrath of God ten generations earlier with Noah, Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them." But Noah found favor with the LORD.
God is in the process of establishing His people on earth, Israel and we have this rich city in the same general area where all their thoughts were evil and violent and yet Lot has moved right in. God has to take Sodom out, Israel barely makes it as it is.

Three Visitors to Abraham's Tent

Well now Izzy, it is good to see you again, did you have a good day with your family on Sunday? Are you ready for your lesson today?

<= = = Yes sir, but I am still pondering the notion of Abraham not being a Jew, I realize the term comes from Judah, but . . .

As, I pointed out earlier, when he was still called Abram, the scriptures called him Abram the Hebrew, but never Abram the Jew. So, let's get started, this section, like Melchizedek's is quite mysterious and more than a bit sobering. The LORD appeared again to Abraham while he was camped near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day about noon, as Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, trying to catch a bit of the light breeze coming out of the east while still staying out of the sun when he suddenly noticed three men standing nearby. He got up and ran to meet them, and though Abraham was a great man himself as part of the act of welcoming them, he bowed low to the ground.

<= = = Is this just part of their culture, or did he recognize them as greater than he?

Abraham had a special gift to hear and obey God, he has met the LORD more than once so of course be recognized Him. "My lord," he said, "if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this oak tree while my servants get some water to wash your feet. Let me prepare some food to refresh you. Please stay awhile before continuing on your journey." "All right," they said. "Do as you have said." So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Get three pounds of your best flour, none of the moldy stuff, and bake some bread." Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a fat calf and told a servant to hurry and butcher it. When the food was ready, he took some cheese curds and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them there beneath the trees.

<= = = Why all the hurry, hurry, hurry, I thought God was outside of time, what harm could another half hour bring? Also, you can't serve meat and cheese together, that isn't kashrut.

The great I AM is indeed outside of time, but Abraham and all that is around him is not outside of time and that will be a point of this story. Now the meat and cheese thing, that is a big misunderstanding, when we wrote not to boil a young goat in its mother's milk we meant exactly that. You guys eat lox and cream cheese and no one gets excited, go ahead, eat a cheeseburger they are amazingly good, just try to skip the bacon, OK? All this talk of cheeseburgers is getting me hungry, let's get back to our story.

"Where is Sarah, your wife?" they asked him. "In the tent," Abraham replied. Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master--my husband--is also so old?" Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, `Can an old woman like me have a baby?'

Izzy, you can take one thing to the bank, when God asks you a question, and in your life that will happen more than once, He already knows the answer, He wants you to go through the exercise of developing an answer. My favorite question is part of the story of Adam: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" Adam answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Always remember, when God asks you a question, He already knows the answer. And Izzy, it is very important you are never somewhere that God has to ask you where you are, do you understand? Now, Abraham had quite the relationship with the LORD, because He chose to answer gently and to reaffirm their covenant even after Sarah's laughter and her later denial of her own words.

Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid and she had every right and reason to be afraid especially if she understood the mission at hand, so she denied that she had laughed. But God said, "That is not true. You did laugh."

That is enough for now, maybe I can slide by White Manna in Jersey and get a cheeseburger on my way to my next appointment. The bun is too big for the burger, but I usually toss the bottom bun and eat them upside down. And Izzy, really, make sure you never go anywhere that God has to ask you where you are, trust me, He knows!