PERADVENTURE TEN

So [Abraham] said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” 

And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord... Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. [Abraham] dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 

But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord."

Genesis 13:8-13

In Genesis 18, the angel of the Lord and two additional angels met Abraham to deliver the news of great blessing. But there were two matters on their agenda. The second item on their itinerary concerned Abraham's nephew Lot, and more specifically: the city he had chosen to dwell in. While the angel of the Lord remained with Abraham to inform him of the impending destruction, the two angels went into Sodom. 

• Genesis 18:20-22 PERADVENTURE TEN

The cry of the city was great, and the sin very grievous. Therefore, the angel of the Lord told Abraham that the city would be destroyed. Abraham nearly panicked, he had family there! But because he had such great faith in God, he ventured to understand the necessity of such widespread destruction. Abraham wanted to be sure, as he suspected, that God would not destroy a city full of righteous people. When God assured Abraham that he would not destroy a city that housed even "just" ten righteous people, Abraham returned to his home and God to his plans for Sodom.

The fact learned from God and Abraham's conversation was that there were fewer than ten righteous souls living in the city. God had no plan to destroy them, but to move them out, prior to the destruction. Those few belonged to Lot's family, and the two angels who were with God, were sent to not only to destroy Sodom, but to get them out. 

This is a dark and somewhat complex chapter in scripture if not viewed from the right perch. Understand that we have a powerful God who does choose and enact destruction when He deems fit. But the order of destruction comes from God's heart, not His fist. When God chooses destruction, it is actually the preservation of righteousness that He is chooses. God is able to discern the truth within each individual; no innocent will ever be caught in the crossfire of God's wrath for the guilty. Our God is equal parts power and compassion; He planned and delivered the destruction of Sodom with as much attention to detail as He planned and delivered the innocents within it. Therefore do not cower away from "Old Testament" God as many do; for even here in the dark, He is working to preserve the light He has planned for you.

• Genesis 19:1-11 INTO YOUR SERVANT'S HOUSE

As Lot sat near the entrance-gate of Sodom, the two angels walked in. Lot bowed himself to the ground in reverent greeting and invited them to his home. The angels declined, likely a test for Lot, and opted to remain in the street overnight. Lot pressed them to reconsider, he knew that it was a sinful city and they would not be safe. And though Lot was deeply flawed, he did have reverence for God and respect for his messengers. He evidenced that by his insistence on offering protection for them, even though it would make his home a target in the corrupt city.

And a target indeed his home became. A mass of sinful people from all over the city crowded around Lot's home. They knew that Lot housed two guests. By the size and fervor of the crowd, they knew these were not ordinary guests but angels. They demanded that Lot release the angels to them. Lot refused; in effort to protect the angels, he even offered to give the crowd his two daughters instead. This proved that while Lot had not yet reached the level of depravity that would harm angels of God, he had been severely influenced enough by the corruption of his neighbors as to be not far from it.

Nevertheless, the angels intervened: they pulled Lot into the house and blinded the crowd of aggressors, preventing their ability to find and compromise the shelter of Lot's house. Matthew 8:28-34 and Mark 1:24-28 help us to understand why this evil crowd so desperately wanted to have the angels in their possession.

Although the righteous often neglect to recognize the power of God, the truly evil do not: for to their deep annoyance and distress, they cannot forget how mightily they suppressed by it.

When He [Jesus] had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:28-29

Like the two demon-possessed men above, the evil people of Sodom recognized entities of God. They too knew that the time of their destruction had come. 

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,  saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Mark 1:23-26

Once again, the first thing evil does upon seeing a man of God is recognize its impending destruction. The city of Sodom knew that the arrival of the angels was the arrival of their end. In desperation, they attempted to resist it. But they could not. Like the men from the verses above, they wanted more time to languish in sin. They would not receive it.

• Genesis 19:12-26 OUT OF THIS PLACE 

With haste, the angels began to prepare Lot and family for departure, but Lot's family would not go. They were content citizens of the sinful city, as God knew. He had numbered the righteous in the city below ten. But Lot was distressed; his family did not believe his warning, and more importantly: did not want to leave. Lot lingered so long, trying to convince them, that if not for God's mercy, Lot would have been detained by their refusal and stuck in the destruction of the city.

The angels were able to remove Lot, his wife and two daughters from the city. Once again Lot had the chance to choose: follow God's orders, or choose his own way based on what his own eyes could see. Lot chose wrongly again; he asked if he could escape to another city, rather than the mountainous haven God had planned, and his request was granted. God does not suppress our free will! But life is so much better if we suppress our own will in favor of His.

Lot was not the only one to make a mistake. As the city crumbled, Lot and family were told not to turn back, not to look back, but to continue along God's route. But Lot's wife did look back... and died because of it; turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's wife "looking back" was a metaphor for the choice in her heart. She wanted to return to that lifestyle. She lamented the destruction of her life there. God had committed to comprehensively destroy Sodom and all corrupt members and she, in her heart, had declared to be one. Though she had physically left the city, she was stunned and reduced to particles of nothing along with it. 

• Genesis 19:27:-29 THE SMOKE OF THE LAND

And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 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. 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.

Genesis 19:28-29

It might not be outrageous for one to wonder whether Lot himself was innocent enough to deserve escape from Sodom. Ultimately, only God knows the answer to that. What is obvious, because scripture has told us so, is that Abraham prayed for his nephew and God answered affirmatively. Therefore, we also know that our powerful God puts power in our prayer. We do not waste our time when we intercede in prayer for others.

And therefore though we may witness darkness in life and scripture, like Abraham observing from the hill, we can have peace knowing that there is hope and purpose even in the smoke of the land. 

FACETS OF FORGIVENESS

How do we determine who deserves forgiveness? As humans, we have each needed both to give forgives and to receive it. Scripture has much to say on the subject of forgiveness; and the truth is that there are several facets of forgiveness. There are different perspectives from which to view the process and eligibility of forgiveness for ourselves and others. When it becomes necessary to forgive, therefore, we can contemplate our situation from the perspective of: the law of God, ourselves and Jesus.

• AS GOD

Repentance looks like a scary word. Many people have bad connotations of the word because it has been aggressively presented to them. But God never meant the word to be accusatory or used maliciously. He invented the concept for our benefit, so that we would stop being driven by unkind behavior, thus polluting the peace within ourselves. To live without kindness and remorse is an unhealthy life, and God would prefer that we were healthy... sustained by happiness born of kindness.

And of course ultimately, the only people who will exist in the kingdom are the kind. More than reward for the kind or punishment for the unkind, it is just the state of Kingdom of God: Only righteousness can exist within it. Our bodies need oxygen to survive the earth; our souls need righteousness to survive heaven. 

Repentance, by definition, means to be sincerely regretful and remorseful. Essentially it means accountability: an admission of a wrong. And to take accountability one step further by changing our behavior. The process of repentance is to admit, regret, and change. And that process leads to character growth and redemption.

So when John the Baptist enters the scene to prepare the way for Jesus' arrival, his plea is for humanity to repent "for the remission of sins", Mark 1:4. You see, though God loves each of us freely, forgiveness has certain requirements. You have to want it. And the person who wronged you has to want it. Sincerely. Enough to regret the behavior and to change it. 

And there are times in the Bible when forgiveness was sincerely earned and granted, but the relationship was weaker. There are times in the Bible when forgiveness was sincerely earn and granted and the relationship was stronger. Because there were incidences when people regretted their behavior because they regretted the consequences; they repented because it benefited them to re-adhere to the covenant. And there were incidences when people regretted their behavior because they understood it to be fundamentally wrong and were ashamed. As God discerns between the level of authenticity, so must we. 

The less sincere apology requires us only to settle with that person without animosity. They have apologized and meant it, even if not for the right reason. It does not, however, require us to continue to trust or even associate with that person. Conversely, the more sincere apology nourishes the ground of the relationship enough that trust can be re-grown if we choose to try. 

The verse, Mark 1:4, from above continues: then all ... went out... confessing their sins. But it is not merely the act of speaking of our sins that God requires in repentance. The confession is between self and God and often, the wronged person(s). The confession is  useless if not made to any/each of those three parties. Because the confession is the accountability, the remorse and the commitment to change that enables the remission of the sin.

• AS YOURSELF 

Forgiveness if often a difficult concept to wrestle with... and an even more difficult process to undertake. Scripture is quite comprehensive in its advice for every situation, but just in case it did not explicitly address each question we would have, Jesus left us this advice:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

So one: to love God with whole heart and souls means to live and operate within His law. Should we find ourselves in a situation that we are unsure if forgiveness is deserved, we can look to scripture. God certainly has not forgiven all people (Numbers 16:32). He has offered to forgive all (Romans 10:13), He has forgiven many (Revelation 7:9). But He has not forgiven all; there were people who did not want/ ask for it and therefore did not receive it (Joshua 10). There were people who expected it but did not deserve it (John 8:39-44). Their repentance was insincere.

The distribution of forgiveness can be difficult to discern. But with the exception of murders and the truly evil (Leviticus 24:17), God has not given us permission to kill or harm people who have wronged us or made mistakes. He has always discouraged us from malicious behavior. One of God's first charges to humanity was to never descend to the disgraceful behavior of their enemies (Romans 12:2). That is not a way to achieve solution or absolution. So at the very least, if we find ourselves unable to readily forgive, we must not retaliate. 

Jesus' second piece of advice from that scripture is to love your neighbor as yourself. This requires honest self-examination. It's easy to guess or say how you would behave in reverse situations. But often our idea of ourselves is more ideal, more polished than we actually are. When in doubt, Jesus advised, do as you would have someone do to you. Very rarely would we actually choose disciplinary action against ourselves, so we have to be careful in administering too-harsh disciplinary action against others. True, they (and we) need it sometimes and it is beneficial. But when someone wants to rebuild a bridge, or even just to apologize for its destruction, we should consider their apology with compassion.

• AS JESUS

And compassion is where it really gets sticky. The final facet of forgiveness is from Jesus' perspective; and His ability to forgive is essentially depth-less. Wrongfully captured, ruthlessly mocked, brutally nailed to a cross next to actual criminals... Jesus asked God to forgive the people responsible for all of it: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34

Now that level of forgiveness might seem inaccessible to us from our fragile, prideful humanity. But Jesus is the example of the ultimate. Of what we aspire to, even knowing that without Him, we would never reach it. Jesus, the embodiment of the word of God, of compassion, is able to forgive without the participation of the wrong-doer. 

In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him. Seven times? Jesus replied: seventy times seven times. In other words: endlessly. Over and over again. For whether the person actually or eventually regrets their actions, God's justice will and inevitably vindicate the innocent, the wronged and the righteous. 

Jesus' relationship was strong enough that He trusted in all of the promises scripture makes: God defends and avenges His children; God ensures that is meant for evil is turned to good for His children; God works all the for the good of those who love Him. And that kind of faith in God renders life so that even when we forgive the unforgivable... the unresolved consequences of their behavior do not prevent resolution in our lives. God arranges the resolution we need to have peace, to move on, to rebuild. 

God is aware of the conditions of the world. It's tumultuous down here so life can be difficult to navigate. Jesus therefore said this to us: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. God wants us to be harmless... but He knows that by others we will sometimes be harmed. While He wants us to have the capacity for forgiveness, He does not expect us to be unwise about it. To not do harm, but also to be vigilant of the harmful. 

He does not want us to allow people to walk all over us. He does not advise or command us to trust the people who have hurt us, or to invite them into (or back into) our homes our families. He only advises us to forgive them. Jesus asks us to love them, too. When Jesus had risen, He did not appear to the people who had wrongfully captured, ruthlessly mocked, and brutally nailed Him to a cross...even though He had forgiven them. He returned to the people who loved Him well. Jesus wants us to be with the people who love us well, too, without any noxious weeds of un-forgiveness in the periphery.

7 THINGS GOD HATES

The 10 Commandments are instructions God has given us to live a good life. Proverbs 6:16-19 gives us the further, sharpened, information we need to live as good people. This study begins with verse sixteen: 

These six things the Lord hates, yes seven are an abomination to Him. 

When God hates something, it is because that thing harms His children. God does not only hate it when we harm someone else, it bothers him when we harm ourselves too. Cruel behavior traumatizes, and harmfully rewires the brain of the doer and the victim.

With His wisdom and experience with humanity, He knows that the following behavior is toxic. Not only to the poisoned but to the poisoner. For while kindness proliferates, unkindness festers. God hates to see us live in festering chaos and evil because he loves us. Therefore receive these seven things he hates as fatherly discipline.

1. A Proud Look: Arrogance is ignorance. Ignorance is neglect. Neglect is wasteful. God does not want us to waste our lives. We each have the potential and the opportunity to make an impact on the people and thus world around us. Arrogance obscures reality; it disallows us to see life at is actually is. When we have a distorted view of the world, how we behave and respond does not match how we should.

Our placement is specific. All around us and within us lie the materials we need to work God will into the world. God has provided, and continues to uncover those supplies, abilities and opportunities as we seek them out. God would much prefer to spend his time and effort exalting us. But when we waste our time exalting ourselves, we cause Him to become busy trying to humble us. For God works tirelessly to restore balance in our lives. If we are willing to discipline ourselves in humility, God ensures that we are rewarded.  

Luke 14:11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

A prideful look dismisses another person's value. As God intricately, emphatically loves each of His children, He hates it when one of those children is disrespected. God has claimed humanity, each individual, even though He is fully aware of our proclivity for selfish behavior. To Him, it is nonsensical that we would dismiss a person because of a deficiency they have. Because we all have deficiencies, all except for Him, and He never dismisses anyone. 

A proud look does not acknowledge its tenuous grasp on that which it is so prideful about. Only faith secures blessing in our lives. Beauty, power, wealth are all useless but a proud man refuses to realize that until he is forced to. Until he is forced to realize that contentment, happiness, security never came from manipulative, self-motivated efforts.

2. A Lying Tongue: God instructs us to be honest and straightforward. If we adhere to the truth, it encourages us to live in a way we will not be ashamed to admit. If we have righteous intentions every time we act, justice will always defend our cause (even if no one else does).

Not only is lying a distortion, it is also ineffectual. A proper solution cannot come from a delusion. A problem cannot be tackled unless it is identified and captured whole. God wants us to have a clear and stable foundation whenever we begin something, especially a righteous life, because a house divided cannot stand, Mark 3:25. We cannot expect truth from others, or to have true, meaningful relationships if 

Lying inhibits the growth of a person, a relationship, a family, a community. 

3. Hands That Shed Innocent Blood: God has a gentle, yet fierce heart. He loves His children so much that when they are harmed, His indignation explodes. God has decided the tremendous value of innocent people; He has devoted His whole self to them. No person, institution, ideology or force should be so arrogant as to believe that they have a right to harm what He has claimed. 

4. A Heart That Devises Wicked Plans: God provides each individual purpose and potential while on earth. Those blessings should not be squandered away with useless, regressive, destructive wickedness. We can be productive here, impactful. God does not want us to waste our time and ability on ruining things and people. 

5. Feet That Are Swift in Running to Evil: We must never be eager to choose the deceptive choice, the greedy choice, or the cruel choice. Children of God understand that patience and humility generate blessings into their lives inevitably.

6. A False Witness Who Speaks Lies: God outlines the entire, detailed truth for us, Mark 13:23. If our Father sees no benefit to lying, why do we? We must never condemn others with untrue words. Communication is essential, and therefore out ability to communicate wisely and earnestly is one of our best tools and weapons to survive the world.

The seventh thing is an abomination to God.

7. One Who Sows Discord Among Brethren: The perpetuation of discord is regressive and foolish. The creation of discord is cruel. Peace on earth is tender and precious. In many places, it is rare. God considers it an abomination to create discord in the place of peace. The destruction of a loving relationship, friendship or opportunity deeply angers God. We must respect what is delicate and good, humanity's well-being depends on our ability to be respect sowers of harmony.