Love and Destruction
Opening Prayer
Lord, I don’t always understand Your ways, but I trust that You are good.
Read Genesis 19:15–29
[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. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” (Job 11:7). “How can a loving God kill people like this?” It’s a familiar challenge to Christians, either aboutbelieving the Bible or about claiming to love such a vengeful, destructive God.The Lord judges and is also full of grace—extraordinary, undeserved kindness. Both are true atthe same time, all the time. In these nightmare verses, can you glimpse God’s grace?The night before the destruction, the angels give advance warning to Lot’s family to get out. Inthe morning, Lot is hesitant about leaving, so the angels grasp his hands and gather up the rest ofhis family to lead them out. The whole valley is under judgment and should be destroyed, butLot doesn’t understand how far the destruction will extend. He heads for the small town of Zoarnearby. God spares Zoar because of Lot. God always provides a way out for those who arewilling to take it.Perhaps the longer our walk of faith, the more we’re able to hold his justice and grace together inour understanding. How true is this of you?“How can a loving God kill people like this?” It’s a familiar challenge to Christians, either about believing the Bible or about claiming to love such a vengeful, destructive God.
The Lord judges and is also full of grace—extraordinary, undeserved kindness. Both are true at the same time, all the time. In these nightmare verses, can you glimpse God’s grace? The night before the destruction, the angels give advance warning to Lot’s family to get out. In the morning, Lot is hesitant about leaving, so the angels grasp his hands and gather up the rest of
his family to lead them out. The whole valley is under judgment and should be destroyed, but Lot doesn’t understand how far the destruction will extend. He heads for the small town of Zoar nearby. God spares Zoar because of Lot. God always provides a way out for those who are willing to take it.
Perhaps the longer our walk of faith, the more we’re able to hold his justice and grace together in our understanding. How true is this of you?
Apply
Choose your favorite three ways of describing God. Thank him for the Scriptures that show us what he is really like.
Closing prayer
God, show me how I can offer “the way out” of sin through Jesus’ salvation to those around me today.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.