Sunday Livestream - Genesis 19 - The Judgement of the Wicked

Genesis 19 sets God’s salvation and God’s judgment right beside each other. God’s glory is displayed when he justly judges the wicked, and God’s glory is displayed when he mercifully saves guilty people from that judgment. Romans 3 gives the ground for this: God does not simply overlook sin, but provides an atoning sacrifice in Jesus Christ so that he is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Moses presents Sodom as a city wholly given over to wickedness. The men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surround Lot’s house. Moses piles those phrases on so that nobody misses the point. Sodom’s destruction is not arbitrary. God’s judgment is righteous because the city has been given over to its wicked preference for sin.

Romans 1 shows that judgment does not always begin with fire and sulfur. God gives people up to the lusts of their hearts, dishonorable passions, and a debased mind. Sinful people may call themselves wise while becoming fools, exchanging the glory of God for what cannot save. Sodom shows what such judgment looks like when sin is allowed to run where it wants to go.

The blinded men of Sodom reveal the enslaving nature of sin. The angels strike them with blindness, yet they wear themselves out groping for the door. Sin does not naturally bring sinners to their senses. Sin drives sinners onward, even when the warning is plain and the judgment is right in front of them. Hell is horrible not only because of fire, but because sinners are given over to the worst of their worst impulses in hatred of God.

Jesus calls sinners to be born again because flesh cannot free itself from flesh. Christ gives eternal life to those who believe in him, and his saving mercy does not cancel God’s justice. Christ bears the judgment sinners deserve, so that faith in him brings real forgiveness and escape from condemnation.

Lot’s sons-in-law treat the warning as a joke, and Lot’s wife looks back longingly at what God has condemned. Jesus therefore says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Ordinary life can continue with eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building, while judgment is nearer than anyone imagines. The day before God’s judgment looks like just another day.

Christ stands as the only hope before that certain judgment. The gospel is good news because Jesus brings sinners to God and rescues them from the just judgment of sin. God remains just, and in Christ he becomes the justifier of the one who has faith.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Sin wears itself out pursuing sin. The men of Sodom receive a terrifying warning when blindness falls on them. Yet blindness does not make them repent, because sin is not merely ignorance but bondage. The heart apart from grace can keep groping for the very door of its destruction. [57:19]
• 2. Judgment can begin with being given over. Romans 1 describes God giving people over to the desires they insist on pursuing. That judgment may not look like fire falling from heaven at first, but it is still dreadful. A debased mind and defiling passions are not signs of freedom but signs of ruin. [45:07]
• 3. God’s warnings are not a joke. Lot’s sons-in-law hear that destruction is coming and treat it as jesting. A darkened heart can turn the most serious reality into something dismissible. God’s mercy calls sinners to receive his warning while there is still time to flee. [63:15]
• 4. Remember Lot’s wife. Lot’s wife looks back because her heart remains tied to the world God is judging. Jesus uses her as a warning against trying to preserve a life that is already under condemnation. The love of the world cannot coexist with wholehearted escape to God. [66:37]
• 5. Christ is just and justifier. God cannot simply turn a blind eye toward wickedness, because his judgment is righteous. Jesus Christ bears the atoning sacrifice that sin requires, so that guilty people can be forgiven through faith. Salvation rests neither on self-rescue nor on divine indifference, but on Christ alone.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [30:56] - Genesis 19: Salvation and Judgment
• [32:57] - God the Just and Justifier
• [34:50] - Reading Genesis 19
• [41:29] - The Wicked Preference for Sin
• [41:59] - Romans 1 and Being Given Over
• [46:21] - Sodom Given Over to Wickedness
• [49:26] - The Persistence and Bondage of Sin
• [52:51] - Hell and Eternal Judgment
• [56:03] - Blind Men Groping for the Door
• [60:27] - Born Again Through Jesus Christ
• [61:43] - Treating Judgment as a Joke
• [64:05] - Remember Lot’s Wife
• [67:07] - The Certainty of Coming Judgment
• [70:14] - Christ, the Only Hope

Bible Reading

Genesis 19

Two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. [34:50]

Romans 1:24-28

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [45:07]

Romans 3:25-26

Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [32:57]

Observation questions

1. What repeated phrases does Genesis 19 use to describe the people surrounding Lot’s house, and what picture do those phrases give of the city’s wickedness? [46:56]
2. After the men of Sodom are struck with blindness, what do they continue trying to do, and how does the passage describe their effort?
3. In Romans 1:24-28, what does God repeatedly do in response to people who exchange his truth for a lie and refuse to acknowledge him? [43:38]
4. What two things does Romans 3 say God shows through the blood of Christ, and who receives this propitiation? [01:10:36]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does Moses emphasize that the men of Sodom included “both young and old” and “all the people to the last man”? How does this help explain why God’s judgment on Sodom is righteous rather than arbitrary? [47:14]
2. What does the image of blind men wearing themselves out while groping for the door reveal about the power of sin over a person apart from God’s grace? [57:12]
3. Romans 1 says that God “gave them up” to the desires they wanted. Why should this be understood as a form of judgment rather than freedom? [45:02]
4. How does Christ’s atoning sacrifice allow God to forgive guilty sinners without ignoring or minimizing their sin? What does it mean that God is both “just and the justifier”? [01:10:51]

Application questions

1. Sin can lead a person to keep pursuing what harms them, even when its consequences are becoming clear. Is there a temptation, habit, resentment, or desire that you are tempted to excuse or keep returning to? What would it look like to bring it honestly to Christ and seek help rather than keep “groping for the door”? [01:00:48]
2. Lot’s sons-in-law treated a true warning as though it were a joke. Are there ways that constant distraction, cynicism, entertainment, or busyness can make eternal realities feel distant or unreal? What would help you take God’s warnings more seriously this week? [01:03:01]
3. Lot’s wife looked back toward the city God was judging. Is there something from your old way of life that still has a pull on your heart—a pattern, relationship, identity, possession, or approval from others? How can you turn from longing for it and continue fleeing to Christ? [01:06:37]
4. Ordinary life continued in Sodom until judgment came. How can the normal routines of eating, working, buying, building, and planning become occasions to remember Christ’s return rather than reasons to forget it? [01:07:51]
5. Salvation does not rest on self-rescue, moral improvement, or God overlooking sin; it rests on the atoning blood of Jesus received by faith. Where are you most tempted to trust yourself instead of Christ, and how does Romans 3:25-26 call you back to faith and gratitude? [01:11:10]
6. Christ is the only hope for people under the just judgment of sin. Who in your life needs to hear the good news of Jesus with both clarity and compassion? What is one simple step you could take to speak, pray, or care for that person this week? [01:10:14]