January 10 - Morning
"Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived."
- Genesis 19:27-29
- Genesis 19:27-29
God Destroys Sodom but Remembers Abraham
From his location outside the city of Hebron, Abram could look down over the Dead Sea and south toward Sodom and Gomorrah. The day before Abram had stood here looking over this same city and its land with the three heavenly visitors (the Lord and two angels, Genesis 18:16-33). The site of the explosive destruction still smoldered into the following morning.
God had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but not without first rescuing Lot because the text says, God "remembered Abraham." The word "remember" is the Hebrew word zakar which is used in regard to a covenant. God "remembers" to be loyal and faithful to his covenant. God had "remembered" Noah during the Flood because he had given Noah a promise (Genesis 8:1) and "God remembered Rachel" in Genesis 30:22. This same word will be used in Exodus when God comes to the rescue of his people in Egypt. To "remember" means God is acting to fulfill the promise or covenant he had made:
"God heard their groaning and he remembered (zakar) his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob." - Exodus 2:24 (and, Exodus 6:5; 32:13; Lev. 26:42-45; Psalm 105:42; 106:45)
God remembered his covenant with Abraham when God rescued Lot from the city before he destroyed it. God honored his covenant with Abraham by delivering Lot, and then the Lord sent "the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived."
The point here is that Abraham had saved Lot just like a remnant of righteous people could have spared Sodom. Since that remnant did not exist there was no hope for that city. But, because of God's covenant with Abraham, there was hope for Lot. And, since there was hope for Lot there would be hope for the two nations that would come from him: Moab and Ammon.
It is interesting to mention that Jeremiah ends both of his prophecies about Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of Moab and Ammon (spoken by Jeremiah in 603 BC and fulfilled in 582 BC) with words of a promised restoration. Could it be that the same covenant Abraham had with God that spared Lot from Sodom will, in the future, restore Moab and Ammon?
" 'Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,' declares the Lord" - Jeremiah 48:47
" 'Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,' declares the Lord." - Jeremiah 49:6
Laqat (Hb) - Glean (Eng) - laqat is the Hebrew word that means “to glean” and “to collect.”
This word occurs 37x, but 10x in the book of Ruth. In Israel the Law of Moses used the practice of laqat as a form of ancient welfare program. When the owner had harvested his field, the poor would be allowed to go through the field and pick up what was left. This was called laqat, or “gleaning" and the word is used in these verses: Lev. 19:9-10 ; Lev. 23:22. (The word laqat is not used, but the practice of leaving something in the fields for the poor is taught here: Exodus 23:10-11; Deuteronomy 24:19-22)
This word occurs 37x, but 10x in the book of Ruth. In Israel the Law of Moses used the practice of laqat as a form of ancient welfare program. When the owner had harvested his field, the poor would be allowed to go through the field and pick up what was left. This was called laqat, or “gleaning" and the word is used in these verses: Lev. 19:9-10 ; Lev. 23:22. (The word laqat is not used, but the practice of leaving something in the fields for the poor is taught here: Exodus 23:10-11; Deuteronomy 24:19-22)
Do I pray for others? Do I bring blessing, peace and comfort to others?
Am I a spiritual blessing to other people? to my church? to my nation?
I will seek to intercede for others and make my presence in their life a blessing.
Am I a spiritual blessing to other people? to my church? to my nation?
I will seek to intercede for others and make my presence in their life a blessing.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Ask God to convict you of sin, error
Church
Opportunities to share the gospel in church
Nation
City governments
World
Great Commission
Someone to Quote
"When the faithful minister is properly exegeting the Word of God, it is God Himself who is speaking to His people! "
- Don Kistler
- Don Kistler
Something to Ponder
With the rise of Constantine in 313 AD, Christianity became, not only accepted and legal, but also popular and profitable. Faithful and true believers found themselves a drift in a “Christianized” culture that was still very pagan. People began to flee to the wilderness to live as hermits practicing self-denial. These extreme feats of self-denial made some hermits famous and, among other disastrous practices, spiritual competition between hermits set in. Monasteries began to form as hermits started to live together in communities. In 529 Benedict of Nursia set up guidelines to establish a balanced life in a self-contained, self-supporting monastery that would set the standard for European monks and monasteries.
Here’s a Fact
Proverb
"A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother."
- Proverbs 10:1
- Proverbs 10:1
Coach’s Corner
Whatever you do it should be done with faith in God and confidence in yourself, his creation.
Leviticus 19:9-10
New International Version (NIV)
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
New International Version (NIV)
9 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
Exodus 23:10-11
New International Version (NIV)
Sabbath Laws
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
New International Version (NIV)
Sabbath Laws
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
Deuteronomy 24:19-22
New International Version (NIV)
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
New International Version (NIV)
19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.
Genesis 12
New International Version (NIV)
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
New International Version (NIV)
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Abram in Egypt
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Genesis 19
New International Version (NIV)
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
New International Version (NIV)
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Job 25-26
New International Version (NIV)
Bildad
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2
“Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3
Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?
4
How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
5
If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
6
how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!”
Job
26 Then Job replied:
2
“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3
What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!
4
Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5
“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6
The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
7
He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
8
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9
He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.
10
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.
11
The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.
12
By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13
By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14
And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”
New International Version (NIV)
Bildad
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2
“Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
3
Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise?
4
How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
5
If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
6
how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!”
Job
26 Then Job replied:
2
“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3
What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!
4
Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5
“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6
The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
7
He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
8
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9
He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.
10
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.
11
The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.
12
By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13
By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14
And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”