God's Holy Wrath | Genesis 19:15-38

 

Wrath: ὀργή orgḗ, or-gay'; from G3713; properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment:—anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.

Wrath (Hebrew): קֶצֶף qetseph, keh'-tsef; from H7107; a splinter (as chipped off); figuratively, rage or strife:—foam, indignation, 

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.”

--John 3:16-21

 

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

--John 3:35-36

 

God has made it very clear how He becomes wrathful towards sin.  Sin deserves God’s anger, God’s judgement, God’s Holiness—yet He has given the world something more than His wrath—He has loved the world, He has loved those who are faithful to Him.  Jesus died on the cross to save the world from our sin BUT Jesus will also judge the world.  Jesus will one day turn unrepentant sinners over to His wrath for eternity. 

 

1. God’s Grace is Amazing.

 

“And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, ‘Get up, get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.’ But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.  Now at the breaking of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.’  But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of Yahweh was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.”

--Genesis 19:14-16

 

The angels’ mission is clarified in this text as Moses writes Genesis 19.  They have come to save Lot and his family—to pull them out from under God’s punishment.  If you look at the reactions of the family they think they are jesting, they don’t believe the angels.  Then there is a second warning, but there is still hesitation in Lot.  It takes the Angels to physically intervene to get them out of Sodom.

 

“This place teaches us, that the angels are the ministers of God’s wrath, as well as of his grace…For it must be maintained, that God causes his elect angels to preside over those judgements which he executes by means of the reprobate.”

--John Calvin

 

Punishment:  עָווֹן ʻâvôwn;  aw-vone'; from H5753; perversity, i.e. (moral) evil:—fault, iniquity, mischief, punishment (of iniquity), sin.

 

“Now it happened, as they brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away.’”

--Genesis 19:17

 

How many warnings does Lot need?  How many warnings does God give until someone finally listens, until someone finally listens.  Lot was in the worst of places. He had too much of the world to be happy in the Lord, and too much of the Lord to be happy in the world.

 

Look:ט nâbaṭ, naw-bat'; a primitive root; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:—(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see.

 

Lot has a conversation with the angels, one might call it an argument, from Genesis 19:18-20 stating he can’t make it to the mountains once again—he mentions a town nearby and the angels grant his request, they listen to him.

 

“Now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be preserved.’  And he said to him, ‘Behold, I grant you this request also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.  Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.”

--Genesis 19:20-22

 

This salvation of Lot; this patience to destroy Sodom until Lot is out of the city is an answer to Abraham’s question from Genesis 18:25.

 

“Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?”

--Genesis 18:25

 

 

2. Those who love their sin, who love the darkness will perish eternally in hell.

 

“And Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.  Then his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.  Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

--Genesis 19:24-28

 

We must notice that it was God himself who sent fire judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah.  He sent brimstone and fire which rained out of heaven. 

 

גׇּפְרִית gophrîyth, gof-reeth’; probably feminine of H1613; properly, cypress-resin; by analogy, sulphur (as equally inflammable):—brimstone

 

This was a literal fire, a literal calamity, that is historically proven.  God sent literal fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of their unrepentant sin and wickedness.  When Abraham looked, he knew that it was God’s work, because “the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”

 

“Now it happened that the sun had set, and it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.”

--Genesis 15:17

 

“That they may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me.

I am Yahweh, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these.”

--Isaiah 45:6-7

 

“I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should fear Him.”

--Ecclesiastes 3:14

 

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light lest his deeds be exposed.”

--John 3:18-20

 

This is the issue with Lot’s wife.  She looks back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The word used for “look” here is not simply to gaze—it is the same word used in the Angel’s instruction to them when leaving the city:  “Do not look behind you.”

 

Look:ט nâbaṭ, naw-bat'; a primitive root; to scan, i.e. look intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care:—(cause to) behold, consider, look (down), regard, have respect, see.

 

Lot was a terrible father, a terrible husband, he led his family straight into the sinful city of Sodom and he comprised his faith.  It is merely by the grace of God that Lot was saved.  But Lot’s compromise cost him his wife’s life and will lead him to have an incestuous relationship with his daughters (Genesis 19:14-20)—Lot makes poor decision after poor decision leading to awful consequences in his life.

 

 

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death… For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is at enmity toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.”

--Romans 8:1-2,5-8

 

“Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, and he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’”

--Revelation 14:9-11

 

3. Don’t look back. Don’t desire your sin, your pleasures, desire Christ—cling to Him

 

“…but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.  On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out, and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.  Remember Lot’s wife.  Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” –Luke 17:29-33

 

“Let love be without hypocrisy—by abhorring what is evil, clinging to what is good, Never paying back evil for evil to anyone, respecting what is good in the sight of all men, if possible, so far as it depends on you, being at peace with all men, never taking your own revenge, beloved—instead leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’”

--Romans 12:9,17-21 (Proverbs 25:22)

ἐκδικέω ekdikéō, ek-dik-eh'-o; from G1558; to vindicate, retaliate, punish:—a (re-)venge

 “Your Christian liberty is not primarily for you.  It’s primarily for others for their edification.”

--James Coates