†. Gen 19:27-28 . . Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place
where he had stood before the Lord, and, looking down toward
Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke
of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.
Poor guy. Now he began the very same vigil that so many relatives of airline
crashes suffer, waiting for some news, hoping against hope, that their loved
ones somehow survived. And if they didn't, were their bodies recovered?
Abraham really did love his nephew. I think it really saddened the old boy's
heart when Lot went off on his own down into the valley. If only he had
stayed in the place of blessing, up in the highlands, this wouldn't have
happened. And you know what goes through your mind at a time like that? .
. . Would of - Should of - Could of. Sort of like closing the gate after the
horses are already out
†. Gen 19:29 . .Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of
the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was
mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the
upheaval.
Lot was very fortunate to have an uncle like Abraham. Funny though, I don't
remember Abraham praying specifically for Lot. In fact Abraham's
intercession was generic, targeting only the citizens of Sodom in general,
rather than Lot in particular.
Lady GaGa once sang that a boy she liked couldn't read her poker face. Well,
God looks on the heart instead of one's face. He saw through Abraham's
silence, and saw the old man's real concerns, and commiserated with him.
That's why believers should always be candid with God in their prayers. He
will find out what's really on our minds anyway no matter how hard we try to
camouflage it with smoke and mirrors; so we might just as well get down to
business and spell it out to begin with.
†. Gen 19:30a . . Lot went up from Zoar and settled in the hill
country with his two daughters
Apparently Zoar didn't turn out to be the Pleasantville Lot hoped it might be.
The word for "hill country" is har (har) which means: a mountain or range of
hills. It's the very same word used to describe the kind of terrain where
Noah's ark came to rest in Gen 8:4. Why Lot didn't move back on up to his
uncle's ranch is uncertain. You know, that kind of makes me wonder why Lot
stayed in Sodom after his uncle rescued him from the clutches of El Ched.
Surely they must have talked about Lot returning to the highlands with
Abraham where he and his family would be safer.
Genesis doesn't specify just exactly which direction Lot went. Both the east
and the west from the Jordan valley are hilly. But it was most likely the
eastern side, that is: if a later mention of Lot's domain is any indicator.
†. Deut 2:16-19 . .When all the warriors among the people had died off, the
Lord spoke to me, saying: You are now passing through the territory of
Moab, through Ar. You will then be close to the Ammonites; do not harass
them or start a fight with them. For I will not give any part of the land of the
Ammonites to you as a possession; I have assigned it as a possession to the
descendants of Lot.
Moab was a district east of the Dead Sea, extending from a point some
distance north of it and down to its southern end and is today part of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Its eastern boundary was indefinite, being
the border of the desert; which is irregular. The length of the territory was
about 50 miles and the average width about 30. It's a high tableland,
averaging some 3,000 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean and 4,300 ft.
above that of the Dead Sea.
The aspect of the land, looking at it from the western side of the Dead Sea,
is that of a range of mountains whose western side plummets very abruptly
down to the Jordan valley. Deep chasms lead down from the tableland to the
Dead Sea shore, the principal one being the gorge of the river Arnon, right
across from the kibbutz at En Gedi.
Ruth was from Moab, and it was also where Naomi lost her husband. The
Moabites were Abraham's kin because they're the progeny of not only his
nephew Lot; but also of his dad Terah (Gen 11:27). Unfortunately, there has
been some bad blood over the years between Lot's family and the people of
Israel. The most notable incident being when King Balak hired that wicked
prophet for profit Balaam to curse Yhvh's people as they traveled past his
country prior to entering the promised land after their exodus from Egypt.
(Num 22-24)
†. Gen 19:30b . . for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar;
Well I can believe that just from watching the recent news from Haiti. Large
scale disasters just seem to breed looting, theft, vandalism, and violence.
That entire region around Sodom was in utter chaos and the local farms and
ranches were destroyed so that fresh food was scarce.
Imagine the situation if all of a sudden supermarkets had nothing to
sell you. No meat, no produce, no milk, no cereal, no rice, no pasta, no
yogurt, no eggs, no bottled water, no batteries, no bathroom tissue, no
soap, no nothing. Whatever people have, they'll hoard. And the have-nots
would then begin to take it away from those who have. In Lot's day, there
was no such thing as FEMA, the National Guard, the Red Cross, nor any
other kinds of relief organizations. When the ancients were beset by
droughts and famines; the poor often had no choice but to migrate to new
diggings, indenture themselves, or turn to robbery and theft.
†. Gen 19:30c . . and he and his two daughters lived in a cave.
It's really not too bad to start out in a cave-- kind of like being born in a
barn --but it's sad to end up in one at the end of your days with nothing to
show for all of the years of your life. My own dad was a case in point. He
chased the brass ring all his life, and ended up dying penniless on welfare.
Lot and the girls became homeless drifters.
Cont.
/
where he had stood before the Lord, and, looking down toward
Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke
of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.
Poor guy. Now he began the very same vigil that so many relatives of airline
crashes suffer, waiting for some news, hoping against hope, that their loved
ones somehow survived. And if they didn't, were their bodies recovered?
Abraham really did love his nephew. I think it really saddened the old boy's
heart when Lot went off on his own down into the valley. If only he had
stayed in the place of blessing, up in the highlands, this wouldn't have
happened. And you know what goes through your mind at a time like that? .
. . Would of - Should of - Could of. Sort of like closing the gate after the
horses are already out
†. Gen 19:29 . .Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of
the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was
mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the
upheaval.
Lot was very fortunate to have an uncle like Abraham. Funny though, I don't
remember Abraham praying specifically for Lot. In fact Abraham's
intercession was generic, targeting only the citizens of Sodom in general,
rather than Lot in particular.
Lady GaGa once sang that a boy she liked couldn't read her poker face. Well,
God looks on the heart instead of one's face. He saw through Abraham's
silence, and saw the old man's real concerns, and commiserated with him.
That's why believers should always be candid with God in their prayers. He
will find out what's really on our minds anyway no matter how hard we try to
camouflage it with smoke and mirrors; so we might just as well get down to
business and spell it out to begin with.
†. Gen 19:30a . . Lot went up from Zoar and settled in the hill
country with his two daughters
Apparently Zoar didn't turn out to be the Pleasantville Lot hoped it might be.
The word for "hill country" is har (har) which means: a mountain or range of
hills. It's the very same word used to describe the kind of terrain where
Noah's ark came to rest in Gen 8:4. Why Lot didn't move back on up to his
uncle's ranch is uncertain. You know, that kind of makes me wonder why Lot
stayed in Sodom after his uncle rescued him from the clutches of El Ched.
Surely they must have talked about Lot returning to the highlands with
Abraham where he and his family would be safer.
Genesis doesn't specify just exactly which direction Lot went. Both the east
and the west from the Jordan valley are hilly. But it was most likely the
eastern side, that is: if a later mention of Lot's domain is any indicator.
†. Deut 2:16-19 . .When all the warriors among the people had died off, the
Lord spoke to me, saying: You are now passing through the territory of
Moab, through Ar. You will then be close to the Ammonites; do not harass
them or start a fight with them. For I will not give any part of the land of the
Ammonites to you as a possession; I have assigned it as a possession to the
descendants of Lot.
Moab was a district east of the Dead Sea, extending from a point some
distance north of it and down to its southern end and is today part of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Its eastern boundary was indefinite, being
the border of the desert; which is irregular. The length of the territory was
about 50 miles and the average width about 30. It's a high tableland,
averaging some 3,000 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean and 4,300 ft.
above that of the Dead Sea.
The aspect of the land, looking at it from the western side of the Dead Sea,
is that of a range of mountains whose western side plummets very abruptly
down to the Jordan valley. Deep chasms lead down from the tableland to the
Dead Sea shore, the principal one being the gorge of the river Arnon, right
across from the kibbutz at En Gedi.
Ruth was from Moab, and it was also where Naomi lost her husband. The
Moabites were Abraham's kin because they're the progeny of not only his
nephew Lot; but also of his dad Terah (Gen 11:27). Unfortunately, there has
been some bad blood over the years between Lot's family and the people of
Israel. The most notable incident being when King Balak hired that wicked
prophet for profit Balaam to curse Yhvh's people as they traveled past his
country prior to entering the promised land after their exodus from Egypt.
(Num 22-24)
†. Gen 19:30b . . for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar;
Well I can believe that just from watching the recent news from Haiti. Large
scale disasters just seem to breed looting, theft, vandalism, and violence.
That entire region around Sodom was in utter chaos and the local farms and
ranches were destroyed so that fresh food was scarce.
Imagine the situation if all of a sudden supermarkets had nothing to
sell you. No meat, no produce, no milk, no cereal, no rice, no pasta, no
yogurt, no eggs, no bottled water, no batteries, no bathroom tissue, no
soap, no nothing. Whatever people have, they'll hoard. And the have-nots
would then begin to take it away from those who have. In Lot's day, there
was no such thing as FEMA, the National Guard, the Red Cross, nor any
other kinds of relief organizations. When the ancients were beset by
droughts and famines; the poor often had no choice but to migrate to new
diggings, indenture themselves, or turn to robbery and theft.
†. Gen 19:30c . . and he and his two daughters lived in a cave.
It's really not too bad to start out in a cave-- kind of like being born in a
barn --but it's sad to end up in one at the end of your days with nothing to
show for all of the years of your life. My own dad was a case in point. He
chased the brass ring all his life, and ended up dying penniless on welfare.
Lot and the girls became homeless drifters.
Cont.
/
