Genesis Part 2 - Week 4

Day 1 

READ 

Genesis 19:12-14 

¹² Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. ¹³ For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking. 

The two angels urged Lot to get his relatives out of Sodom before they destroyed it. His daughters’ fiancés, two local men, liked Sodom so much they thought Lot must be joking. Even though the warning was that the city would be destroyed the warning meant nothing to those who were engaged to Lot’s daughters. 

REFLECT 

Do you know of some today who think believers are only joking about the Lord returning someday? They are like Lot’s future sons-in-law. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 19:12-17. This passage reveals more warnings of the two angels. They removed Lot’s two daughters from the city even if their fiancés would not come. Think how sad it will be someday for believers to be separated from their unbelieving loved ones. 

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 19:18-22 

¹⁸ “Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. ¹⁹ “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. ²⁰ See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.” ²¹ “All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. ²² But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”) 

Lot did not want to flee to the mountains as the angels said to do. Permission was granted Lot and he was told Sodom could not be destroyed until he was out of the city. This reveals God’s protection of His own. 2 Peter 2:7-8 refers to Lot as “a righteous man” and that he was tormented by the wickedness he saw and heard.  

REFLECT 

Is your soul tormented by the evil you see and hear all around you today? The closer you move to God the more that will occur. 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 19:18-29. This passage tells what happened to Lot’s wife because she disobeyed the instructions of the angels. Perhaps she wanted to stay in Sodom. The destruction of Sodom included Gomorrah and the cities on the plains. 

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 19:30-32 

³⁰ Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. ³¹ One day the older daughter said to her sister, “There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. ³² Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” 

Lot was afraid to live in Zoar so he and his daughters went to live in a cave in the mountains. The angels had told him to flee to the mountains but he wanted Zoar then. Now he’s in a cave in the mountains. His daughters now panic about not being where they could have husbands so they came up with a plan. 

REFLECT 

Think how Lot wound up in a worse place than what the angels had in mind. Sometimes the desires of the flesh do not lead to the will of God. 

RESPOND 

Read Genesis 19:30-38. This passage reveals how the plans of the daughters worked and the descendants who came from them.  

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 20:1-5 

¹ Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, ² Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace. ³ But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” ⁴ But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence! My hands are clean.” 

Abraham was a slow learner. He had done the same thing before as recorded in Genesis 12:11-20. Why would he do this? King Abimelech quotes Sarah as saying, “Yes, he is my brother.” Both Abraham and Sarah are in agreement with their plot to deceive others because of her beauty. 

REFLECT 

Does it not seem strange that Abraham and Sarah deceived in the same way as before? Have you ever done the same thing wrong twice? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 20:1-18. This entire chapter tells about Abraham and Sarah’s deception. It also describes in verse 12 what Abraham might call today a “half-lie.” Notice also that they had agreed to do this from the beginning of their traveling together. 

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 21:1-7 

¹ The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised. ² She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. ³ And Abraham named their son Isaac. ⁴ Eight days after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. ⁶ And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me. ⁷ Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby? Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age!” 

This was the fulfillment of God’s promise that Abraham and Sarah would have their own son. Abraham had him circumcised according to God’s instructions. Abraham was 100 years old at the time of Isaac’s birth. Sarah had laughed when she heard the promise that she would have a son, but now God had brought her laughter, which is what Isaac’s name means.  

REFLECT 

Have you prayed for something for a long time, and then when it finally happened it made you laugh or at least smile about God’s goodness? 

RESPOND  

Read with your friend Genesis 21:1-21 to see what the relationship with Hagar and Ishmael would be after Isaac was born to Sarah and Abraham.