Two Righteous Men Two Wicked Cities

Scripture does not share the account of Abraham and Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah simply to entertain us with an intriguing story. The better part of 15 chapters in the first book of the Bible are absorbed in conveying these remarkable annals in order to teach future generations how to truly live life in rewarding fellowship with our Creator. The Old Testament records of the history of God’s people are meant to show us what to pursue, and what to avoid. In the midst of a reference to Israel’s fall into idolatry, Paul affirms this fact in I Corinthians 10:6: “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”

The divine truths discovered through our prayerful study of the events covered in the biblical story of two righteous men and two wicked cities, should be applied to every era of human existence. We must especially acknowledge that even today there exist parallels to this biography of two individuals and two communities. We’ve already occasionally touched on the application of these truths to us in previous chapters, but in this chapter we’ll probe these issues in greater depth and detail as they apply to our country as well.

God relates to human beings in their various units such as: individuals, families, communities, and nations. Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of those societies who, whether ignorantly or knowingly, have chosen the way of Satan and thus come under the dominion of a world system that has rejected God’s Kingdom. Abraham and Lot on the other hand, represent not only two general types of Christian individuals, but two kinds of Christian families and spiritual brotherhoods... even two categories of nations.

It’s critical that we identify the current entities which correspond to those in the story we’ve just examined. That’s the only way to learn how to become the people the Lord wants us to be, and to have a godly impact in 21st century societies. Otherwise we may choose the wrong paths, and when we do so, we can negatively impact others around us as well.

Everything good or evil that occurs in the human realm begins with individuals. From there it spreads to families, communities, and nations. As we pointed out in chapter one of this book, the inception of the dark side of this process is to be observed in the account of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Eve decided to buy into the philosophy espoused by Satan, who subsequently became the God of this world. From there it spread to Adam, then to the children of the first couple, and eventually to all their offspring in all the generations which followed.

While each person has always had the God-given gift of free will by which (through faith and repentance) to reverse this sinful trend, the capacity of peer pressure from the unredeemed to persuade individuals otherwise, remains powerful. So we must decide whether to yield to the influence of the seductive false propaganda of this fallen world, or instead respond to the spiritual appeal in the righteous truths of a loving, holy God. The choices we make will not only determine the course of our own lives, they can encourage others around us to follow that same road, whether it’s the one that leads to heaven, or the one that leads to hell.

In this chapter we aim to recognize that the legacies of Abraham and Lot, and Sodom and Gomorrah are still at work in our world many centuries later. Once again I’m reminded of the old saying we mentioned in chapter 3: “History repeats itself.” This fact is pronounced in Scripture. “Whatever has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account” (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

If we honestly accept this truth, we need to consider how we, and those around us, may fit into the ancient paradigm of this revealing story we’ve just studied. Then we need to decide whose legacy we personally will emulate. Will we follow the path of Abraham the faithful, or Lot the wanderer? Will we accommodate the prevailing ungodly culture, or stand strong against sin, while loving sinners? Will we be a friend of God, or a friend of the perverse world system? Our individual life choices will have broad potential influence, reaching from our family, to our church, to our community… even to our nation!

In dealing with the above questions, we’ll primarily take a look at two critical modern entities dramatically affected by our individual choices in these matters: the American nation and the American church. We’ll consider the origins, and current broad decline, of these two powerful entities. We’ll also determine what we as individual believers should do to help reverse their tragic downward trends. May God use His precious Holy Spirit to anoint the vital truths of His Word in speaking to our hearts!