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- [00:06]
A
Hey, this is a year in the Bible with daily grace. I'm Shelby and I'm here with Scott. We are making our way through the book of Genesis, which has been such a joy so far. I'm learning new things, being reminded of old things. Today we're in chapters 19 through 21, and we see Lot rescued, we see Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, and we see the birth of Isaac. So as we've said in many episodes so far, a lot going on here.
- [00:33]
B
There's a lot that happens in these chapters.
- [00:35]
A
Shelby? Yeah, yeah. Will you walk us through it, Scott?
- [00:37]
B
Yeah. I want to go back first just to chapter 18, which we talked about yesterday. But, you know, I've heard this a lot and I'm sure you have too. Just this idea that in the Old Testament God is just this very vengeful, wrathful God who's kind of easily set off and walking around looking to smite different people. But know, Shelby, the more time I spend in the Old Testament, the more I see that that is just not at all who God is at all. And, and I think the end of chapter 18 is a good example of that. That conversation we talked about yesterday between Abraham and God about Sodom and Gomorrah. And, you know, it says that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense and their sin is extremely serious. And so God says he's going to go down to see if what they've done justifies the cry that's come up to me. And if not, I out. And what some commentators are pointing out is it's like God's on a fact finding mission here. He's coming to check out Sodom. He's heard it's a wicked city. He's going to see if it's true. And so we talked about this a couple episodes ago. I think once again, you just see God being very calm and collected. It's like, I've heard bad things. Are they true? We're going to find out. Exactly. And so he's going to find out this area is worthy of judgment. And, you know, over the course of chapter 19, it is found worthy of judgment and Sodom is destroyed.
- [01:59]
A
Yeah. So we see God's judgment against sin. We see this like horrible destruction, but we also see God's mercy through these chapters. Right?
- [02:08]
B
Yeah. I mean, he rescues Lot. Like these angels forcibly remove Lot and his daughters. You know, they rescue his wife too. She turns back and is destroyed. And what happens there, you know, then you get the very sordid scene with Lot and his daughters, this incestuous relationship from where you get the Moabites and the Ammonites who end up becoming big enemies of God's people throughout the Old Testament. And so, I mean, there's a lot of really stupid things that happen with Lot, a lot of foolish choices. And yet I think just looking at the Bible as a whole, Shelby, like, even there, you see God's mercy and specifically with the Moabite people. From the Moabites, you get a woman named Ruth who joins herself to the people of Israel. And from Ruth you get a king named David, the greatest king in Israel's history. And of course from David, you get the even greatest king, Jesus Christ. And so Lot's actions, you know, after he's rescued from Sodom, are of course, despicable. And yet I think you see, just in the broad scope of Scripture, God working to bring good out of an evil situation. And I think there's a huge comforting reminder there, shall we? That, like, nothing is too broken for God. There's no. We can't mess up so badly that God can't fix it. And I need that reminder so often because I. I just. I constantly feel like I've screwed things up in my life, you know, big ways or small ways. Nothing is beyond repair in God's hands.
- [03:50]
A
Yeah, that's such a comforting reminder. And we really see the faithfulness of God come out in these chapters too, through the birth of Isaac, this son who has been prom. And we've seen Abraham doubt that, we've seen Sarah doubt that. We've seen them wait quite a long time, but Isaac arrives.
- [04:07]
B
Yeah, he does. And it's been about 25 years at this point since God initially called Abraham, gave him this promise of descendants. And, you know, again, I think there's an important reminder there too, that we will never be let down by trusting in God like Abraham. I think there's many ways in which we are just waiting. As for nothing else, we're waiting on Jesus to return. We've been longing for that. We have the promise that he will, but we are currently just kind of waiting for that. And waiting's hard. Like, this is a. Even at its best, this world is broken and we're craving Jesus to return and set things right. But we saw God come through for Abraham and Sarah after decades of waiting, probably when it seemed like it would never happen. And yet he came through. And he'll come through by sending Jesus to us. And until then, we walk by faith, but we walk knowing that our faith will be rewarded. We won't be disappointed by hoping in God.
- [05:09]
A
Yeah. I think my takeaway from these chapters, I love what you said. Nothing is too broken that God can't repair it or restore it. And our hope that God will repair and restore is in his faithfulness, which we just see all across Scripture and we see really, really clearly in these chapters today. So what an encouragement that is for the places that feel broken, for the places that we're waiting in our very own lives today. All right, that concludes chapters 19 through 21. And we'll be back tomorrow for more from the book of Genesis.