Burning Desire

Burning Desire

Genesis 19: ²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

 

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

 

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

 

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Sulfur was poured out on the city by GOD. HE then took fire from heaven, possibly lightning, and lit the city ablaze. No one was spared. All buildings, people and vegetation were burned up. The manmade Garden of Eden was no more. Lot’s wife looked back and instantly turned into a pillar of salt.

 

My Observations:

• Lot’s wife had remorse over leaving the Sodomite lifestyle.
• Lot’s wife did not want to leave the stuff or the ways of Sodom.
• Lot’s wife may have enjoyed being known, so she looked back to Sodom in a longing way.

 

Looking back meant she desired to be in Sodom versus wherever the angels told them to go. It probably wasn’t the glance that caused her to turn into a pillar of salt, rather her desire. I would have been curious, like seeing a traffic accident. But it did not seem like curiosity that the LORD had a problem with. It may have been her desire to be in Sodom.

 

Lot may have tried to block the view, but Lot’s wife struggled to get around him to look towards the city with sadness. Abraham got up the next day and looked towards the city and did not become a pillar of salt. He never wanted anything to do with Sodom and Gomorrah. It was because of Abraham that Lot was spared.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses this level of detail in the destruction of the city and the demise of Lot’s wife?
• Have you ever really, really wanted something that may not be good for you?
• Is your heart looking forward to where GOD is taking you or backward to something GOD is moving you from?

Passed Inspection

Passed Inspection

Genesis 7: Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. ² You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; ³ also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” ⁵ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. ⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

 

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Patience was given to Noah from GOD. It seems that GOD did not rush Noah in completing the ark, rather HE waited for him to complete the ark before giving him final instructions. The LORD must have entered the ark and saw that it was complete. “Come into the ark” let’s me know the LORD was inside.

 

My Observations:

• GOD waited for Noah to complete the ark versus giving him a deadline.
• GOD inspected the ark, not for HIS sake, but to let Noah know it was ready.
• GOD gave Noah the final instructions which may have caused Noah to act differently.

 

Assurance was probably needed after expending this great amount of effort. Noah had probably become comfortable with the building process, but now it was time to execute GOD’s plan. Noah may have been nervous about his work, so the LORD calmed him down. Noah no longer had time to try to convince his siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, and neighbors that GOD was about to wipe out everything.

 

“It’s going to work” was the implied feeling because GOD told Noah that prey and predators were supposed to be gathered together in the quantities HE commanded. GOD had changed the animals during the curse. HE then explained something that was strange. “I will cause it to rain.” It had never rained before. There was no need because plants grew themselves, even after the Garden of Eden. GOD was confident that the plan would work.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about this conversation with Noah?
• Has GOD ever told you to do something and you did it, but was unsure that what HE told you to do would actually work?
• Are you willing to trust in the LORD will all your heart and not lean on your own understanding today?