Genesis 18-19

Night and day... literally and figuratively. Genesis 18 and Genesis 19 could not picture two more different worlds. Genesis 18 is a set in a seemingly peaceful open meadow by a forest of oaks. It is here that in the heat of the day as Abraham is sitting out in front of his tent that the Lord and two angels visit him. They come with news of a promised child. Abraham with the help of his kinsmen and servants prepares a meal for his guests. They eat, talk, and take a walk.

Genesis 19 paints a totally different picture. This time only the two angels come to town, without a physical presence of the Lord. It is evening, Lot sees them and quickly pulls them aside to spare them the humiliation and assault of his city. Hiding them in his house, the people of the city come demanding to "have their way" with them. After Lot tries to appease the crowd, the angels end up having to snatch Lot back into the house to safety.These angels have not come with a great and miraculous promise, rather they come with a grave and mortifying sentence of destruction.

One visit comes in the middle of the day. The sun is full and the news brought to Abraham is bright. The second visit comes at night. The sun has set and the news brought to Lot is as dark as the night sky.

If you remember from Genesis 13, after a scuffle between Abram's and Lot's shepherds Abram asks Lot to separate from him because the land could no longer sustain them both in the same local area. Lot chose the valley, home of Sodom and Gomorrah, perceiving that it was a good land. Abram went the other way.

Five chapters later we find now Abraham enjoying the blessings of God with a promised future. And Lot has been reduced to a cave in the mountains with only two daughters, daughters who get him drunk enough to lay with him to continue his line. (Eeeww!)

Wow, how life choices guide our future! What choices are you making today? Are you seeking God as you make them, or are you looking at the surface and making choices based only on the external? Never forget that God often calls His people to follow in faith rather than on logic alone.