Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: The years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. - Psalm 77:10, 11
He could not walk on water but...
I see him in my reflections— a colorful flag of bright swimming attire, wavy blond hair, and ripples of muscles. He is unfurled atop a midnight-blue lake encircled by evergreen mountains. The sun is sparkling on the waters like a billion diamonds dancing to celebrate the summer of my sister’s wedding engagement. In a few months she would marry this man who now was skiing on ONE SKI. Amazing!
First he is relaxed, holding the ski rope handle in the crook of his right elbow, waving to all; then he grabs the bar with both hands and swings out across the wake created by the powerful speed boat. With perfect style and grace he creases each wavelet until again he is the proud and streaming flag behind our craft.
I am amazed at his prowess, but at the same time, uneasy because the boat is now going at top speed. Suddenly Jack kicks off his ski! What?! He is racing across the waters on his feet alone. Olympic! Unbelievable!
The men in the boat laughed because my sister Mandy and I were so easily impressed. Was it nervous laughter? Could any of them ski without skis? We hardly noticed them. Our focus was on Jack, her fiancée, the rival of God. No, he could not walk on water, but with enough speed, he could blast across it on his bare feet.
Thirty years had passed and the flag had been lowered when I was thinking one morning about Jack and all that the Lord did for him and his family. I felt a desire to write down my remembrances.
In my reflections, I saw that Jack was like Lot, the nephew of Abraham. So, my written remembrance of Jack grew into a Bible study about Lot and his well known uncle, with the central message that Lot’s deliverance from Sodom depended upon Abraham’s faithfulness.
I hope that this Bible Study and the story of how Jack escaped the fire of God’s judgment when God remembered Mandy, will help you to hope and pray for family members or friends living figuratively in Sodom. Don’t give up on them. May they follow in Lot’s footsteps. May Mandy’s story may be theirs, too.
Why is the story of Lot in the Bible? Think about it…
Lot was Abraham’s nephew who journeyed with him from Ur to Canaan, the land that God promised would belong to Abraham and his descendants. It was a journey of a thousand miles.
They explored some of the area together, but then separated. Quarreling had begun between their herdsmen because each man had too many animals for the land to support them all.
Abraham graciously offered a way to resolve the overcrowding: “Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”(Gen. 13:9) Lot chose the lush plain of the Jordan River, and pitched his tents near Sodom, leaving Abraham to ranch in the hills of Canaan.
Later, Lot moved into Sodom where it was known that men were wicked. Even so, he escaped its fiery destruction with the help of angels. His wife became a pillar of salt when she disobeyed one angel’s command not to look back at the city while fleeing from it, but he and his daughters headed straight out, eventually migrating to a mountain where they lived in a cave.
On the mountain, both girls became pregnant by Lot while he was in an alcoholic stupor. The oldest gave birth to a boy, Moab, which sounds like the Hebrew for “from Father,” and the youngest bore Ben-Ammi or Ammon, “Son of my people.” So ends the story of Lot.
Understandably, we find no men in the Bible named in his honor, nor any men named “Lot” throughout history of whom I’m aware. Who would name their child for him?
After his dramatic deliverance from Death and Judgment, how disappointing to read of his drunken exploits on the mountain! We would have expected better from this man who escaped the wrath of God when fire from heaven consumed the legendary cities of the plain.
The story of Lot leaves us with a sad but knowing feeling. “Some people never learn” seems to be its message. Perhaps, though, by taking a closer look at the entire account, we will discover a fulfilling lesson and a better conclusion.
Our Bible study will be focused on the story of Abraham and Lot which is comprised in Genesis 11–19. To lead into their introduction in Scripture, we will begin with the first part of Genesis 11, verses 1-9.
1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.