Sermon: Decisions
Bible Passage: Genesis 13:8-13; 14:16; 18:22-25
I. The narrator juxtaposes Lot with Abram and shows how they had antithetical character traits
1. Lot’s style of decision making (13:10-11)
a. “Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld” the plains of Jordan (Sodom and Gomorra)
b. What Lot saw was a “well-watered land like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt”
c. Lot failed to see certain things:
i. The people of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord (verse 13; cf. 19:4-5)
ii. They were sinning greatly against the LORD (19:13b “The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it)
iii. The beauty of Sodom and Gomorrah was going to be destroyed by God by fire as a judgement for their sins (19:24-25)
iv. Lot saw beauty in Sodom (Gen 13:10); but later Abram would see smoke in Sodom (Gen 19:28)
d. Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan (verse 11) purely based on the externals
e. Lot separated himself from Abram (verse 11)
f. Lot dwelt in Sodom (13:12), eventually worked in Sodom (cf. 19:1), and got his daughters betrothed to men of Sodom (19:14)
2. Lot’s decision was primarily material, probably spirituality was not his priority (temporal advantages over spiritual welfare)
3. Lot sowed to his flesh, and eventually reaped corruption in abundance
4. Along the way, what he sought for his life he lost
5. The beauty of the land blinded Lot
6. What appealed to Lot was short lived—he had to flee Sodom and had a miserable end
7. Abram’s style of decision making
a. Listened to God before he made his decision (13:14-17)
b. Responded by faith
c. Began his new phase in Mamre by building an altar (13:18)
8. Abram’s timely intervention saved helpless Lot from his captors (Gen 14:16)
9. Sadly, even after his release from his enemies, Lot continued to live in Sodom (Gen 19:1)—so Abram interceded to God for his survival
10. Abram prefigures the Mediator who intercedes for the believers who sin (1 John 2:1; Heb 8:1)
a. We are the type of Lot (cf. Eph 2:1-10)
b. Jesus is the type of Abram
II. Theology/observations
1. All of us are Lots:
a. We make decisions based on sight, not necessarily on faith
b. World has a strong pull compared to faith and things related to God
2. All of us live in Sodom by choice, but feel miserable not being able to live the life of Sodom, but at the same time unable or unwilling to leave Sodom
a. While Lot was living in Sodom, he was uncomfortable with the unrighteousness of the people (2 Pet 2:7, 8)
b. We tolerate Sodom
3. Decisions have consequences
a. Sin that dwells in us causes us to make decisions based on externals and against God
b. Decisions based on mere externals may not always give us what it promises
c. Decisions based on God need not be attractive and appealing, but they provide what a child of God needs
4. God brings judgement upon wilful sinners (2 Peter 2:6)
5. God provides opportunities to believers who are living sinful in a sinful environment to repent and move away
6. God has provided us with Mediator, Jesus, to speak on our behalf
Take Away:
1. Those who are in Sodom, flee from influences quickly (19:22)
2. Avoid making decisions based on mere externals (13:10-11)