The angels seized their hands and ran

Saturday 1-7-17, Home again, Modesto, California

Today we read Gen 18 – 19, Psalm 3 and Luke 7 

S = Scripture  O = Observation  A = Application  P = Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S. Gen 19:12-13 "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."

Vs 16-17 When 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." NLT

O. Obviously the “life style” of “all of the men” of Sodom, “both young and old” had evolved into the practice of mass raping. And our wonderful, loving, Creator God could no longer stand the stench of their sinful practices. He had promised to Abraham that if He could find even ten righteous people in the city, He would spare it. God’s angels grabbed the hands of Lot and his wife and two daughters and rushed them out of the city. Why? “for the LORD was merciful”.

A. What kind of odor is our country sending up to our Creator today? We can be sure that it is not always a sweet perfume. What is keeping this, our country, from a similar fate to that of Sodom? Perhaps it is the “ten righteous” who have not yet surrendered to “political correctness” and are willing to call sin, “sin”. When we express our concern for those who are being pushed, yes, even forced into this and other dangerous, evil practices, the public accuses us a hating the people involved. Only Christians seem capable of understanding that we can truly love the sinner, desire the best for him or her, and at the same time hate what God calls “sinful practices”, that some call “optional life styles,” that are destroying them.

P. Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that You have removed the curtain that seemed to hide the face of our Creator. You show us a Father God Who wants to protect us from the evils that surround us. When we look at You, Jesus, we see “the Father.” You showed us the face of “The invisible God”. Father, You care about Your creation. Even though we are all equally sinners, You loved us enough to sacrifice Your only Son to rescue us from the grasp of the evil one. For, as You were in the days of Lot, You are still our merciful God. One of these days soon, You may grab us by the hand and rush us away to safely before the final devastation. Amen.

Ralph