Genesis 19-21

.....and so the two angels go to Sodom....At the city gate is Lot...this seems to indicate that he had a high position, because if his "office" is at the city gate he was where all the action was politically.  Sadly, he is not just near Sodom, he lives in it.    The "world" and "temptation to fleshly desires" can be tempting and draw you in.   The city was so depraved that homosexuals wanted "fresh meat" and demanded that Lot release his guests.  I don't think they knew that the two men were angels....to me, their spiritual eyes were closed.  Again, hospitality was everything(protect the guests), and Lot offered his two virgin daughters instead.  Gross.  Scripture does not tell us why he did this, but scholars speculate that since the homosexuals wanted men, that the offer of daughters would be refused.  Seems like Lot is steeped in the worldy ways.....he didn't seem shocked or appalled that we know of....have you ever gotten numb to ways of the world and become overly accepting?  I know I have sometimes.

The angels hurry Lot, his wife, and two daughters out before the destruction of Sodom.  Would you say that there were 4 righteous people in Sodom?   Scripture doesn't tell us that these 4 were considered righteous, but we do know that Abraham interceeded for them.  To me, this tells me how intercessory prayer (definition of intercede is: act between parties with a view to reconciling differences) is so important.   Lot's wife makes the fatal mistake of looking back....she could not leave sin behind and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Lot's daughters are devastated. In Hebrew culture, you were blessed with children. These daughters lost their fiances and their mom.   They decided to take matters into their own hands.  They got Lot drunk and slept with him.  Again, yuck.  Once scholar I read said that these women were desparate....it was not for the lust, but to have children that they did this....hmmmm.  Anyway, remember the Moabites and the people of Ammon...they will be enemies of the children of Isreal.

whew...then Abraham proceeds to do something that he should have learned from.  Again, a king wants Sarah (this woman must be HOT, huh?).  God gives Abimelech a vision so that he does not touch Sarah (again, God is living up to his covenant-he DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE IS GOING TO DO) and Abraham clarifies his half-truth that Sarah really is his sister in that they have the same father but different mothers (Genesis 20-12).....I wonder if Sarah ever got irritated with Abraham for these things :-).   You know, typical woman..."Darn it, I'm stuck in a harem again today...bring me my veil and peel me a grape.

In my opinion, God was teaching.....the Old Testament people were in a wholly different position...they didn't have the Bible to learn about all the characteristics of God,or to learn from flawed people in the Bible...they were LIVE, and God taught them in relationships....Abraham is the patriarch of Jewish history....the one that will be fruitful and multiply...and hopefully multiply people in his household that know the Lord......Pretty Darn Cool.

Then, at last Issac comes on the scene, JUST AS THE LORD SAID.  Ishmael mocks Issac and Sarah has another hissy and sends Hagar and Ishmeal away.  My favorite part is 21:19 where God opens Hagar's eyes....a well was there all along.   We should know that there are things around us that we can't see until the Lord allows us to. Shoot, we heard about the heavenly councils in Job......just remember that our current bodies have limits (some days more so than others!)

A really cool interactive site you may be interested in is Blue Letter Bible....check it out; lots of tools if you have questions or are working with a difficult passage.  http://www.blueletterbible.org/.