Chapter 19:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis 19
We read, chap. 18. of God's coming to take a view of the
state of Sodom, what its wickedness was, and what righteous
there were in it: here we have the result of that enquiry.
I. It was found upon trial that Lot was very good, ver. 1, 2, 3. and
it did not appear that there were any more of the same character.
II. It was found that the Sodomites were very wicked, ver. 4-11.
III. Special care was therefore taken for the securing of Lot and
his family, ver, 12-23.
IV. The ruin of Sodom, and of Lot's wife, ver. 24-26. with a
general repetition of the story, ver. 27-29.
V. A foul sin that Lot was guilty of, in committing incest with his
two daughters, ver. 30-38.
Verse 1. And there came two - Probably two of the three that had just
before been with Abraham, the two created angels who were sent
to execute God's purpose concerning Sodom.
Verse
3. And he pressed upon them greatly - Partly because he would by
no means have them to expose themselves to the perils of lodging
in the streets of Sodom, and partly because he was desirous of
their converse.
Verse
4. Here were old and young all from every quarter - The old were
not past it, and the young were soon come up to it. Either they had
no magistrates to protect the peaceable, or their magistrates were
themselves aiding and abetting.
Verse
8. I have two daughters - This was unadvisedly and unjustifiably
offered. It is true, of two evils we must chose the less, but of two
sins we must chose neither, nor ever do evil that good may come
of it.
Verse
11. And they smote the men with blindness - This was designed to
put an end to their attempt, and to be an earnest of their utter ruin
the next day.
Verse
13. We will destroy this place - The holy angels are ministers of
God's wrath for the destruction of sinners, as well as of his mercy
for the preservation and deliverance of his people.
Verse
14. Up, get you out this place - The manner of expression is
startling. It was not time to trifle, when the destruction was just at
the door. But he seemed to them as one that mocked - They
thought perhaps that the assault which the Sodomites had just now
made upon his house had disturbed his head, and put him into
such a fright that be knew not what he said. They that made a jest
of every thing, made a jest of that, and so perished in the
overthrow. Thus many who are warned of the danger they are in
by sin, make a light matter of it; such will perish with their blood
upon their heads.
Verse
16. Tho' Lot did not make a jest of the warning as his sons-in-law,
yet he lingered, he did not make so much haste as the case
required. And it might have been fatal to him, if the angels had
not laid hold on his hand, and brought him forth. Herein the Lord
was merciful to him, otherwise he might justly have left him to
perish, since he was loath to depart. If God had not been merciful
to us, our lingering had been our ruin.
Verse
17. Look not behind thee - He must not loiter by the way; stay not
in all the plain - For it would all be made one dead sea: he must
not take up short of the place of refuge appointed him; escape to
the mountain - Such as these are the commands given to those
who through grace are delivered out of a sinful state.
1. Return not to sin and Satan, for that's looking back to Sodom.
2. Rest not in the world, for that's staying in the plain. And,
3. Reach toward Christ and heaven, for that is escaping to the
mountain, short of which we must not take up.
Verse
22. I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither - The very
presence of good men in a place helps to keep off judgments. See
what care God takes for the preservation of his people!
Verse
24. Then the Lord rained - from the Lord - God the Son, from
God the Father, for the Father has committed all judgment to the
Son. He that is the saviour will be the destroyer of those that
reject the salvation.
Verse
25. And he overthrew the cities, and all the inhabitants of them,
the plain, and all that grew upon the ground - It was an utter ruin,
and irreparable; that fruitful valley remains to this day a great
lake, or dead sea. Travelers say it is about thirty miles long, and
ten miles broad. It has no living creature in it: it is not moved by
the wind: the smell of it is offensive: things do not easily sink in
it. The Greeks call it Asphaltis, from a sort of pitch which it casts
up. Jordan falls into it, and is lost there. It was a punishment that
answered their sin. Burning lusts against nature were justly
punished with this preternatural burning.
Verse
26. But his wife looked back from behind him - Herein she
disobeyed an express command. Probably she hankered after her
house and goods in Sodom, and was loath to leave them. Christ
intimates this to be her sin, Luke xvii, 31, 32, she too much
regarded her stuff. And her looking back spoke an inclination to
go back; and therefore our saviour uses it as a warning against
apostasy from our Christian profession. And she became a pillar
of salt - She was struck dead in the place, yet her body did not fall
down, but stood fixed and erect like a pillar or monument, not
liable to waste or decay, as human bodies exposed to the air are,
but metamorphosed into a metallic substance, which would last
perpetually. Our communion with God consists in our gracious
regard to him, and his gracious regard to us. We have here
therefore the communion that was between God and Abraham in
the event concerning Sodom, as before in the consultation
concerning It; for communion with God is to be kept up in
providences as well as in ordinances.
Verse
27. And Abraham gat up early - And to see what was become of
his prayers, he went to the very place were he had stood before
the Lord.
Verse
28. And he looked toward Sodom - Not as Lot's wife did, tacitly
reflecting upon the divine severity, but humbly adoring it, and
acquiescing in it. Here is God's favourable regard to Abraham,
ver. 29. As before when Abraham prayed for Ishmael, God heard
him for Isaac, so now when he prayed for Sodom, he heard for
Lot.
Verse
29. God remembered Abraham, and for his sake sent Lot out of
the overthrow - God will certainly give an answer of peace to the
prayer of faith in his own way and time.
Verse
30. He feared to dwell in Zoar - Here is the great trouble and
distress that Lot was brought into after his deliverance, ver. 29.
He was frightened out of Zoar, durst not dwell there, either
because he was conscious to himself that it was a refuge of his
own chusing, and that therein he had foolishly prescribed to God,
and therefore could not but distrust his safety in it. Probably he
found it as wicked as Sodom; and therefore concluded it could not
long survive it; or perhaps he observed the rise and increase of
those waters, which, after the conflagration, began to overflow the
plain, and which, mixing with the ruins, by degrees made the dead
sea; in those waters he concluded Zoar must needs perish, (though
it had escaped the fire) because it stood upon the same flat. He
was now glad to go to the mountain, the place which God had
appointed for his shelter. See in Lot what those bring themselves
to at last, that forsake the communion of saints for secular
advantages.
Chapter 19:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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