Genesis 19
The Wickedness of Sodom
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. So when he saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed with his face toward the ground.†
2 Then he said, “Behold, my lords, turn in to your servant’s house and rest and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”†
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they went to sleep, the men of the city, the Sodomites, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
5 Thus they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.”
6 But Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,
7 and said, “By no means, my brethren, do not act wickedly.
8 I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 But they said, “Stand back! You came in to sojourn among us. Was it also to be making judgments? Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
10 But the men reached out their hands, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 Then they struck the men at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, and they became weary trying to find the door.
12 Now the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here in the city: sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone? —then take them out of this place!
13 For we will destroy this place, because their outcry has become great before the Lord, and the Lord sent us to destroy it.Ӡ
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord is about to wipe out this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 Now when the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and the two daughters you have, and get out, lest you be destroyed with the transgressions of the city.”
16 But they were thrown into confusion, and the Lord being merciful to him, the angels seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and two daughters, and brought them outside the city.†
17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, they said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be overtaken.”
18 Then Lot said to them, “I pray, O Lord,†
19 since Your servant found mercy in Your sight, and You magnified Your righteousness which You showed me by saving my life, nevertheless, I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.
20 See now, this city, which is small, is near enough to flee to for refuge, and I shall escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”
21 And He said to him, “See, I have acquiesced to you on this matter also, in that I will not overthrow this city, concerning which you have spoken.†
22 Therefore, hurry to escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” For this reason he called the name of that city Zoar.†
23 Now the sun rose upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven.†
25 Thus He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.†
27 Then Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, a flame was ascending from the land, like the smoke of a furnace.
29 So it came to pass, when God wiped out all the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when the Lord overthrew the cities where Lot had dwelt.
The Sons of Lot
30 Then Lot with his two daughters went up from Zoar and settled in the mountains; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters.
31 Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us, as is the custom of all the earth.
32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may raise up seed from our father.”
33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the elder went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 It happened on the next day, the elder said to the younger, “Indeed, I slept with our father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may raise up seed from our father.”
35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger went in and slept with him; but he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
37 Then the elder bore a son and called his name Moab, saying, “He is from my father.” He is the father of the Moabites to this present day.
38 Now the younger also bore a son and called his name Ammon, saying, “The son of my family.” He is the father of the Ammonites to this present day.
Psalms 21
1 For the End; concerning help in the morning; a psalm by David. †
2 O God, my God, hear me; why have You forsaken me? The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation.
3 O my God, I will cry out by day, but You will not hear me; And by night, but not for a lack of understanding in me.
4 But You dwell among the saints, O praise of Israel.
5 Our fathers hoped in You; They hoped in You, and You delivered them.
6 They cried out to You and were saved; They hoped in You and were not ashamed.
7 But I am a worm, and not a man; A reproach of man and despised by the people.
8 All who see me mock me; They speak with their lips and shake their head,
9 Saying, “He hoped in the Lord, let Him rescue him; Let Him save him since He delights in him.”
10 For You are He who drew me from the womb, My hope from my mother’s breasts;
11 I was cast upon You from the womb, From my mother’s womb You are my God.
12 Do not stand off from me, for affliction is near; There is no one to help.
13 Many young bulls surrounded me; Fat bulls encircled me.
14 They opened their mouths against me Like a raging and roaring lion.
15 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are shattered; My heart is like wax, melting into my stomach.
16 My strength is dried up like an earthen vessel; My tongue cleaves to my throat; And You led me into the dust of death.
17 For many dogs surrounded me; An assembly of evildoers enclosed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.
18 I numbered all my bones, And they look and stare at me.
19 They divided my garments among themselves, And for my clothing they cast lots.
Proverbs of Solomon 4
Obedient Thinking
1 Hear, my children, the instruction of your father, And pay attention, that you might know his thinking;†
2 For I offer a good gift to you; Do not forsake my law.
3 For I was a son, and I was obedient to my father, And beloved in the presence of my mother,
4 Who taught me, saying, “Let our word become firmly planted in your heart;
5 Guard our commandments; do not forget them; Neither disregard the word of my mouth,
6 Nor forsake it, and it shall cleave to you; Love it, and it will keep you.
7 Secure it, and it shall exalt you; Honor it, that it may embrace you,
8 And give your head a crown of graces, And cover you with a crown of delight.Ӡ
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.†
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.
8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Mystery of Parables
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.†
12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.†
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;
17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
The Sower Explained
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
The Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;†
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”
I would love your commentary about Lot and his daughters as that has always disturbed me.
I made some comments on the podcast. We need to remember that God did not direct this. It was their decision, not God’s. I will give a bit of commentary on January 30 on this as well, when we get to the part about Rachel and her sister Leah. We need to remember that there is a lot going on in these stories that just are not right. There is bad stuff toward women. And there is bad stuff toward men too. There is simply a lot of nasty stuff that the Bible does not filter out because we may feel uncomfortable. This was a different time and place, a different culture, just the beginning of a culture. There is an evolution in thought and ethics they they have not yet reached. We will see that with with Abraham and Sarah, too, tomorrow. And Joseph and his brothers in a few weeks. We are going to read some raw and unfiltered stories that will be especially distressing when we place our sensitivities and understandings in a people that lived thousands of years ago. One of the points is to show how evil the world is becoming. And it’s not just a male-female thing. And one of the points is also as we get to Joseph, we see how light can shine in the darkness, that in the midst of evil, there can still be good. Isn’t that a lesson we can think about today. Thanks for being on the journey, Rebecca. Christ is in our midst! – Fr Alexis
Thank you. I must have missed the comments in the podcast somehow and will re-listen!