A Journey Through the Bible, Part Ten

Old Testament

Genesis 19, 20, and 21

Genesis 19:8—The words of Lot to the men of Sodom who wanted to "know" the two guests Lot had invited to lodge with him:  “Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing, forasmuch as they are come under the shadow of my roof.” As incredible as this sounds to us, hospitality was an almost sacred custom in ancient Asiatic culture. A man who invited guests into his home at night was bound to defend them even at the expense of his own life. It’s only in this—very dim—light that Lot’s offer can in any way be excused.

A word about Lot. We don’t have very much information about him in the Bible, which is evident because II Peter 2:7 calls him “righteous.” There is very little about his conduct in any account we have of him in Genesis that leads us to believe he deserved Peter’s compliment. But, of course, the Holy Spirit knows more of Lot’s life than we do. Apparently, in a crisis, he just wasn’t a strong man, not uncommon even among the most upright of people. This chapter ends with his two daughters getting him drunk, laying with him, and having children by him; apparently, he didn’t do a very good job raising his family, either. His wife wasn’t much help, as she apparently loved Sodom more than she did the holiness of God which demanded that such a filthy, wicked place be destroyed. She’s the lady who was turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying the angelic command not to look back as Sodom and Gomorrah were being annihilated (19:26).

Genesis 20:2—“And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.” As noted in the study of chapter 18, Sarah, even at an advanced age, must have still been a very attractive woman. We see another weakness here of Abraham; this is the second time he’s pulled this stunt, i.e., lying about his wife, claiming she is his sister, in order to protect his own hide (see Genesis 12:10ff). He thought he would be killed if it was known she was his wife; it’s not quite clear how announcing her as his sister would have made any difference. But, the point is, where is his faith in God? To allow for a minimal amount of fairness here, Abraham only told a half-lie, if there is such a thing; Sarah was his half-sister (Gen. 20:12). But at best, Abraham is being deceptive and disingenuous, both of which are close synonyms of “lying.”

Genesis 21:2—“And Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.” God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and Sarah. It was 25 years between promise and realization; God does things in His own time and we must wait patiently for Him (Psalm 27:14).

Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar, and he through whom the Arabic people descended (or so it is claimed by Muslims, see the note on Genesis 16), would have been about 13 years old now. Sarah sees him “mocking” or “scoffing” (21:9), apparently in some way making fun of her son (Jews and Arabs have been fighting each other ever since the birth of Isaac!). Sarah thus boots Hagar and Ishmael out of Abraham’s camp, but God promises Hagar that a multitude of peoples will come from her son. Whether these peoples really are today’s Arabs is unknown, but again, Islam maintains that they are.

Isn’t it incredible that, in one sense, it is possible Abraham is the “father” of three great religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

New Testament

Matthew 12

Matthew 12:37—“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” The tongue is a very dangerous, deadly thing. James 3:1-12 gives us a solemn warning about the proper use of words. Read the book of Proverbs and notice especially how much Solomon has to say about the tongue. Of the seven things that are an “abomination to the Lord” in Proverbs 6:16-19, three of them pertain to an improper use of our speech. I suspect everyone who reads these lines can think of countless examples of how a word maliciously spoken has destroyed a relationship or caused untold hurt or damage to an individual or group. Lying, gossip, slander, cursing, backbiting, false teaching—reader, add more sins of the tongue to the list, and perhaps some of your own. And, according to Jesus in our verse under consideration here, our words can save us—or condemn us. Think before you speak. And it is often better not to speak at all. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” (Colossians 4:6).

It is worth noting that Jesus’ stricture about words would apply equally to the written as well as the spoken word. Truth will offend some people; but if someone must be offended, let it be by the truth and never by our harsh, unkind use of it.