Facing the Enemy

"Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and because they did this evil the LORD gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years." Judges 3:12-14

In Day 5, No More of the Glimpse of Glory series I talked about how sexual sin has massive fallout. We see that shocking truth again today. King Eglon was a Moabite. Have you ever studied about their origin? Well, here it is.

Let's start with Abraham. Jesus and two angels appeared to Abraham. 99 year old Abraham runs to meet and serve them (check out the post where I wrote about that). This is when Sarah laughs and lies when Jesus said she was going to have a baby. Then, "the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom..." (don't you wonder what they felt? "and Abraham walked along with them..." (don't you want that to be you. If Jesus was leaving, wouldn't you want to go with Him, no matter who awful of a place He was going.?) Then the whole pleading for Sodom happens between the Lord and Abraham. 

The angels arrive at Sodom to get Lot out of there because they were going to destroy the city with fire. (Forshadow if I ever did see one. At the end of the world, the whole earth is going to be destroyed by fire. Just as it was destroyed by the flood in Gen. at the end it will be destroyed by flame. The great judgements of God, the flood and the flame.)

For a glimpse of the awfulness of the city, the men of the city are tearing the door down to Lot's house to rape the angels and he actually offers them his daughters if they would leave the men alone. How sick! (And did you know that same depravity exists today in places like Cambodia where the parents offer their 4 year old daughters to foreign men for sex? Please resist the urge to think Sodom is far worse than we are. Our world is in desperate need of Jesus and in desperate need to see God's wrath.) It was like a city full of Sandusky's.

"The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it... the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Hurry! Take your wife and your tow daughters who are here,or you will be swept away when the city is punished. When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his tow daughters and led them safely out of the city..." Gen. 19:13-16 So they escaped, headed to the hills and lived in a cave. And these daughters of Lot, the daughters he offered to the sicko Sandusky's got their dad drunk and raped him. Ahhhhh! 

And now, the point. The older daughter got pregnant by her dad and named him Moab. Who is the father of the Moabites, the great, great (not sure how many greats are in there) grandpa of Eglon. Our King in Judges who God uses to take over the Israelites. Sexual sin has massive fallout. The thing that seems to bring freedom really in turn brings bondage.

And don't think the younger sister's sin from Genesis 19 didn't also have massive fallout. She gave birth to Ben-Ammi, the father of the Ammonites who were responsible for human sacrifices/baby killing. The Ammonites joined Eglon to attack Israel in our Judges 3 passage. These two tribes were the Israelites biggest enemies.

Charles Spurgeon says it well, "God never allows His people to sin successfully. Their sin will either destroy them or it will invite the chastening hand of God." Sin has consequences. Always, though sometimes delayed. But God is still in control, allowing and shaping it to bring about redemption. 

Heavy stuff.

So what are we suppose to do with this info?

He could have left this awful stuff out of the Bible, but He didn't. So what does God want us to take from the detestable city and it's peoples sin with massive fallout? 

These verses give us a glimpse:
"People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." Luke 17:27-33

Live ready. Just like in the days of Noah, people were more focused on consuming (check out my new post about this under the Living Missionally tab) and doing as they pleased. And the same was true in the city of Sodom. Is it true for you? What are you most consumed with? What are your greatest passions and are you open-handed with them for the Lord to do with them as He pleases? 

and...

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient worldwhen he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment." 2 Peter 2:4-9

Trust the Lord can Rescue you just like He rescued Lot. His grace is sufficient for whatever you are facing now and whatever you will face 2 years from now. The Lord is Able. The Lord is Willing.

 And finally, sexual sin doesn't have a fill up point, it doesn't say 'that's enough, I'm full'.  Unless people stand up and take action and do what is right, things will get worse in our culture.  What would it look like for you to take action in saying No More?

I hope the Glimpse of Glory in Judges Series; A Bible study devotional through the book of Judges, has been a blessing to you so far. And I hope you will come by each weekday to get a glimpse of God's heart and character from the book of Judges.  And I hope you will invite others to join us. Because that is the beautiful thing about God's Word, it's eternal and wont return to the Lord void but will accomplish that for which it is sent.

Chapter One
{Day One} Delighting in God as the Know-er of All Things
{Day Two} Reliance 
{Day Three} Bigger Picture 
{Day Four} Prepare for Battle
{Day Five} No More 

Chapter 2
{Day Six} Revealer 
{Day Seven} The Lord's Anger
{Day Eight} Love Conquers All
{Day Nine} The Great Rescue
{Day Ten} The Big Test

Chapter 3
{Day Eleven} What God Can Do with the Willing & Available 

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I'm linking up with A Holy Experience, A Pause on the Path, The Beauty in His Grip, Nebraska Graceful, The Wellspring

Counting toward 1000 gifts:
#292 Our new bookshelf
#293 New staff in Durango, Malcolm & Leah at full support
#294 All the spiritual conversations sparking because of Tim Tebow's passion for Jesus.
#295 A husband willing to take Uriah to go initiate conversations about the gospel before the football game.
#296 All the incredible books at our church bookstore
#297 The yummy Christmas cookies and fudge from my mom and pete
#298 The kids books from my dad
#299 Date night and Jen watching the kiddos
#300 My to do list of 42 things. Ugh! But yet, opportunity to slow down and enjoy the Lord in the process.
#301 Email