Life
Lessons: God’s Judgment
Genesis
18:1—20:18
SITUATION: God planned to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for
their many sins. Abraham pleaded with God for Sodom in order to save Lot’s
life. God completely punished the city but rescued Lot by sending two angels to
escort him away.
OBSERVATION: God punishes sin but protects righteousness.
God destroyed entire cities because the evil practiced in them was great.
INSPIRATION: Though God’s people often forget their God,
God didn’t forget them. He kept his word. . . . He could have given up. He
could have turned his back. He could have walked away from the wretched mess,
but he didn’t.
He didn’t give up.
When he became flesh and was the victim of
an assassination attempt before he was two years old, he didn’t give up.
When the people from his own home town
tried to push him over a cliff, he didn’t give up.
When he was accused of blaspheming God by
people who didn’t fear God, he didn’t give up.
When Peter worshiped him at the supper and
cursed him at the fire, he didn’t give up.
When people spat in his face, he didn’t
spit back. When the bystanders slapped him, he didn’t slap them. When a whip
ripped his sides, he didn’t turn and command the awaiting angels to stuff that
whip down that soldier’s throat.
And when human hands fastened the divine
hands to a cross with spikes, it wasn’t the soldiers who held the hands of
Jesus steady. It was God who held them steady. For those wounded hands were the
same hands that had . . . brought light into thick and dreadful darkness. They
had come to do it again.
APPLICATION: Does the place where you live resemble Sodom?
Stand against evil in your town or city. Be a voice for righteousness.
Brainstorm with a friend how you can make a difference.
EXPLORATION: God’s Judgment: Deuteronomy 7:2; Judges
2:1-3; 1 Samuel 2:25; 1 Kings 22:34-38; 1 Chronicles 13:10-14
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