Judg 19:24 An Unnamed Woman 5/31/2009 ßà
- The Levite from Ephraim, “Doubly Fruitful” (Judg
19:1, Eph 1:3-5, Col 1:15, Psalm 58:3, Rom 8:1-2, 1Sam 2:8, Gen 15:1,
Prov 25:2, Eph 1:6-8, Lev 17:11)
#1. The Concubine from
Bethlehemjudah (Judg 19:1, Eph 1:22-23, 2Tim 2:19-21)
- Spiritually Dead for Four Months (Judg 19:2)
#2. The Father in Law
(Judg 19:2-9)
- A Short Journey (Judg 19:10-15, Luke 4:24, Judg
19:14-25, Gen 19:1-11)
#3. Almost Saved
(Gen 19:15-26)
- What Was in Her Heart? (Luke 17:31-32, Rom
5:5)
Please open your Bibles to the Prophecy of Judges, Judg 19:1
(2X). Last week we began to study the parables of Judges 19, 20, and 21, and we
have seen that Judges 19 shows great resemblance to Gen 19. But since Gen 19 is
a series of pictures of end time events, we must relate Judg 19, 20, and 21
also to end time events. These are difficult chapters to preach from. I am
still struggling to work my way through this, and you must excuse me if I make
small corrections on things I have said last week. Today we will see great
similarities between the concubine of Judg 19 and Lot’s
wife in Gen 19. The first thing we notice is that both women have no name. And
thus the title of this sermon is, “An
Unnamed Woman” (2X). Let us again begin at verse 1 and work our way
through more carefully.
- The Levite
from Ephraim, “Doubly Fruitful” (Judg 19:1, Eph 1:3-5, Col
1:15, Psalm 58:3, Rom 8:1-2, 1Sam 2:8, Gen 15:1, Prov 25:2, Eph 1:6-8, Lev
17:11)
Jud 19:1 ¶ And
it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that
there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to
him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
We found last week that this certain Levite represented the
Lord Jesus Christ, and He was dwelling on the far side of mount Ephraim.
The far side with reference to Bethlehem and Jerusalem would be the
north side. The name Ephraim means “Doubly
Fruitful”. This does not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ will bestow on
every saint twice as much material wealth as He does to every unsaved person,
but it does indicate a double inheritance of spiritual goods for everyone who
belongs to Christ. What is that double inheritance? Everyone who is found “in
Christ” also bears His name. Who are those who are “in Christ”? Eph
1:3-5 tells us that they are those who were chosen by the Father to inherit
eternal life, through the cross of Christ. Christ is called the Firstborn
of every creature, according to Col
1:15, which does not refer to every creature in the absolute sense, but
only to those creatures who will survive the ball of fire on the last day. And
since He is called the Firstborn we are also called firstborn. But as firstborn
we have the right to a double inheritance, which we indeed receive. First we
receive God’s MERCY. The definition of mercy is that God is withholding
what we do deserve. You can check the dictionary on this definition. From the
day that we were born we sinned against God, according to Psalm 58:3,
and thus the longer we live the deeper the hole we dig for ourselves in Hell.
We deserve to go to Hell for our sins. And thus, if God is merciful to us He
withholds that penalty of Hell from us. That is the gift of mercy. But that is
only half of the inheritance we will receive. That takes us only from minus
infinity to ground zero. It is already a great blessing if we do not have to
pay the penalty for our sins. It means we do not have to suffer for having
slapped God in the face, for Christ paid that penalty on behalf of us on the
cross, according to Rom 8:1-2. But now God gives us the second half of
the inheritance, and that is GRACE. The definition of grace is that God
is giving us what we do not deserve. Again, you can check the dictionary on
this definition. We do not deserve eternal life in the NH&NE. But this is
what God gives us as the second part of our inheritance. According to 1Sam
2:8 God will take us from ground zero, from being the beggar on the
dunghill, and God will elevate us to being sons of God, and making us inherit
the throne (singular) of glory, where the throne is really His throne. God
confirms this truth in Gen 15:1, where God says, “I am thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward.” And thus if we summarize the concept of “Mercy”,
we would say it is “Unmerited Pardon”, whereas if we summarize the
concept of “Grace”, we would say it is “Unmerited Favor”. I am giving
you all these references, because God says in Prov 25:2, “It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a
matter.” And thus all of you have not only the honor, but the duty to search
out if my statements are correct. And thus we read in Eph 1:6-8 that we
receive this double inheritance because Christ paid for it through His blood,
that is through His life, according to Lev 17:11. Let us now return to Judg
19:1 and look at the concubine which the Levite chose for Himself.
#1. The Concubine from
Bethlehemjudah (Judg 19:1, Eph 1:22-23, 2Tim 2:19-21)
Jud 19:1 ¶ And
it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that
there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to
him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah.
The Levite, the Lord Jesus Christ, took to Him a concubine out of
Bethlehemjudah. Was Christ doing something illegal here? No! The Hebrew
Interlinear explains that there are two Hebrew words left out of this verse.
The Masoretic Text says, “Who took to himself a wife, a concubine out of
Bethlehemjudah”. In other words, Christ took to Himself a wife, which was
someone else’s concubine. Whose concubine was she? She was Satan’s concubine,
for Satan used her because she was unsaved. But notice that God throughout this
chapter speaks of her as a concubine. In other words, she remained the unsaved
concubine, even after Christ chose her to be His wife. We could point to the OT
nation of Israel which was
called the wife of Jehovah, until the cross, and we know that the nation of Israel
remained for the most part still unsaved. But this story must relate to end
time events, and therefore the concubine cannot refer to the nation of Israel, for Christ divorced Israel at the cross, and thus the nation of Israel
does not play a dominant role at the return of Christ. Who then does the
concubine represent? Please turn in your Bibles to the Epistle to the
Ephesians, Eph 1:22-23 (2X). The concubine represents the church, but it
is the unfaithful church, for later in this chapter she will be destroyed. Is
it certain that she represents the church? It is certain! Before Christ chose
her she was residing in Bethlehemjudah, which is the House of Bread in Judah; in other words it is the household of the
bread of life that is in Judah,
which points unmistakably to the church
of Christ. Christ chose
her out of that church to follow Him, to evangelize the world, and that is why
He chose her. But does Christ not know that she is still unsaved? Let us
consider this. At the incarnation the man Christ Jesus and God the Son were
united into one person, and thus the Lord Jesus Christ knows all things. We
read in Eph 1:22-23,
Eph 1:22-23 And (God) hath put all things
under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to
the church, Which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all.
In other words, Christ has been appointed as the head of the
church, and the church is called the body of Christ. But when we talk about the
church, we should understand that not everyone in the church is a saved
individual. A casual reading of the seven churches of Rev 2 and 3 quickly tells
us that not everyone that calls themselves Christians do really belong to
Christ. Only two of the seven churches turn out to be faithful churches, and
five out of the seven churches are apostate to some degree. And this was
already at the end of the first century after the cross. Today the fraction of
faithful churches must be much smaller. Please turn in your Bibles to
the Second Epistle to Timothy, 2Tim 2:19 (2X). It means that in those
five churches of Rev 2 and 3 there is a mixture of saved and unsaved
individuals, just like it was in the OT congregation. Does He who is the head
of the church not know who are saved and who are unsaved individuals? We read
in 2Tim 2:19-21,
2Ti 2:19-21 Nevertheless the foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only
vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to
honour, and some to dishonour. If a
man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour,
sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good
work.
Here are some principles to keep in mind: #1. Christ knows them that are His. #2. Each church has vessels unto honor and vessels unto
dishonor, referring to saved and unsaved individuals. #3. In order to be prepared unto every good work, each one
individually must purge himself from these vessels unto dishonor, so that we
are no longer unequally yoked with unbelievers. And since Christ chose all the
members of His church, like He did when He chose the members of His apostolic
band, so Christ chose the elect and the non-elect of His church. Let us now
apply this in Judg 19:1. When Christ, the Levite, chose to Him a wife, a
concubine out of Bethlehemjudah, He knew that she would remain unsaved. He knew
that the rigors of the work of evangelism would be too much for her to bear,
and that she would perish in the process. But the purpose for which Christ
chose her was to show to us what would become of the church near the end of the
world. Please turn again to the Prophecy of the Judges, Judg 19:2
(2X)
- Spiritually
Dead for Four Months (Judg 19:2)
So far we have covered only one verse because we first carefully have to
set the stage before we can continue to unravel this historical parable. We
read in Judg 19:2 (2X)
Jud 19:2 And his
concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her
father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.
This is a rather liberal translation. The words “And was there
four whole months” are not at all in the Bible. The Hebrew Masoretic Text says,
“And was there dead four months”. In other words, she was there, in
Bethlehemjudah, spiritually dead for four months. The word “dead” has
been mistranslated, because the translators did not know what to do with it.
But in the spiritual sense it is perfectly logical that we call this concubine
“dead” if she is engaging in sinful activities, for then she is dead in
trespasses and sins. Here is another proof that we must treat this story as a
historical parable. This woman was not physically dead, but spiritually dead.
The Levite’s concubine, consisting of unsaved people who were called to serve
Christ in works of evangelism, could not remain faithful in their work, and
they resorted to spiritual harlotry. For example, they went back to their old
way of drinking hard liquor during times when they needed to be sober, or they
engaged in fornication instead of brotherly love, or they were stealing from
the people whom they were supposed to serve, and so on. And so, they realized
that their service for Christ was a farce, and they returned to the place where
they came from. Perhaps the church at Bethlehemjudah made it easier for them to
hide among the masses, and she was there four months.
What is the meaning of these four months? The number “four”
indicates universality. In other words, this place, Bethlehemjudah, does not
refer to a single place there near Jerusalem,
but it refers to a condition of apostacy worldwide. The worldwide church became
a place where mostly unsaved people mingled and went through the motions of
playing church. But they were not evangelizing the Gospel, for only when
Christ, the Levite, called them would they be following Christ. This becomes a
condition of the church worldwide, and as a result very few people are being
saved. Secondly, the time period of this apostate condition is only four
months, thereby indicating that this shameful period of time is a relatively
short compared to the long history of the church. Nevertheless, it is a time
when people have drawn away from the true Christ. It is a time when their first
love for God and for Christ has given way to going through the motions. But
being busy for Christ does not mean that we love Him, or that we are focusing
on the things that Christ likes to be done. The things that are pleasing in the
sight of God, such as Bible study and prayer, are left undone in an apostate
church. Let us go on to the next verse in this chapter.
#2. The Father in Law
(Judg 19:2-9)
Jud 19:3 And
her husband arose, and went after her, to speak friendly unto her, and
to bring her again, having his servant with him, and a couple of asses: and she
brought him into her father’s house: and when the father of the damsel saw him,
he rejoiced to meet him.
Here we have to make one more correction on the translation. The
“servant” that the Levite brought with Him was not a servant, but a “young
man.” This is a word which frequently occurs in the Bible. It occurs 238
times in the OT, and overwhelmingly it has been translated “young man”. Why did
the Levite bring the young man? The concubine was a young woman. Was it perhaps
to indicate that the work of evangelizing for Christ would be carried out by a
team? We do not know exactly, for the young man does not play a big role in
this story. But the purpose of the Levite was a mission of mercy. He went after
her “to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again.” He was going
to reinstate her into her former position. Christ came to gather His church by
visiting her at her father’s house. And this He did even though He knew that
she would remain unsaved, but that the work of evangelism might not disappear.
“And she brought Him into her father’s house.” What was her father’s house? The
church, symbolized by the name Bethlehemjudah was her father’s house, according
to Judg 19:2. And thus the minister in charge of that apostate church
was the father of the concubine and the father in law of the Levite. But the
minister does not recognize Him as Christ, but as a fellow minister. And so
they get along.
Jud 19:4-9 And his father in law, the damsel’s
father, retained him; and he abode with him three days: so they did eat and
drink, and lodged there. And it came
to pass on the fourth day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose
up to depart: and the damsel’s father said unto his son in law, Comfort thine
heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way. And they sat down, and did eat and drink both of them together: for
the damsel’s father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry
all night, and let thine heart be merry. And
when the man rose up to depart, his father in law urged him: therefore he
lodged there again. And he arose
early in the morning on the fifth day to depart: and the damsel’s father said,
Comfort thine heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon, and they
did eat both of them. And when the
man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father in
law, the damsel’s father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening,
I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day groweth to an end, lodge here, that
thine heart may be merry; and to morrow get you early on your way, that thou
mayest go home.
What do we see in this passage? We see that the Levite lets the
third day come and go without emphasizing that it was a special day. Three days
would refer to the process of the atonement of Christ on the cross. But the
Levite allows the third day to go as easy as the fourth day. In this we can see
that forgiveness of sins is not Christ’s purpose in this parable.
- A Short
Journey (Judg 19:10-15, Luke 4:24, Judg 19:14-25,
Gen 19:1-11)
Let us now look at the short journey of the Levite, the young man, the
young woman, and the two donkeys. We read in Judg 19:10-15 (2X),
Jud 19:10-15 But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and
departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there
were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. And when they were
by Jebus, the day was far spent; and the servant said unto his master, Come, I
pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it.
And his master said unto him, We
will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of
the children of Israel;
we will pass over to Gibeah. And he
said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to
lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. And
they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they
were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in
Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there
was no man that took them into his house to lodging.
They left Bethlehemjudah late in the afternoon, and came over
against Jerusalem,
but the Levite did not want to stay in a city of strangers. He would have been
better treated in this city of foreigners than in a city of his own nation. The
Lord Jesus said in Luke 4:24, “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is
accepted in his own country.” He most likely gets a better reception in a
foreign country than in His own country. And so, they went on until they came
to Gibeah, of the tribe of Benjamin. Interestingly, Gibeah was also the
birthplace of Saul, the first king in Israel,
whereas David was born in Bethlehem.
But since Saul relentlessly persecuted David, and since David was a type of
Christ, the battle between Saul and David was a picture of the battle between
Satan and Christ, where Satan tries to destroy Christ. But now the Levite and
His company are entering Gibeah, of Benjamin. And here in the story from Judg
19:14-25, the storyline runs parallel to that in Gen 19:1-11. Let us
briefly summarize what similarities we found last week between those two
passages. In both cases the visitors planned to spend the night in the
street. In both cases an old man convinced them that they should come
into his house. In both cases the old man made them a feast. In both
cases their feast was interrupted by men banging on the front door. In both
cases the men were homosexuals who wanted to rape the visitors. In both
cases the old man went out to talk to these men. In both cases the old
man offered the homosexuals two women, either Lot’s
two daughters or the old man’s daughter and the Levite’s concubine. In both
cases the homosexuals were struck with blindness, physical blindness in Sodom and spiritual
blindness in Gibeah, for the homosexual men of Gibeah raped a woman instead of
a man. And from here the two stories again diverge. Lot
went to talk to his sons in law. Apparently Lot had at least two more daughters
who were already married with men of Sodom, and
Lot tries to tell them that the end of the world has come for the city of Sodom, and they need to
flee. But he seemed as one who was joking. This is also the response we get if
we say to people around us that the end of the world is near; they think that
we are joking. Please turn to the Prophecy of Genesis, Gen 19:15
(2X). We are now going to switch over to Gen 19 and follow the story of Lot’s wife. We are going to read Gen 19:15-26
(2X).
#3. Almost Saved
(Gen 19:15-26)
Ge 19:15-26 And when the morning arose, then the
angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy
wife and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity of the city. And while he
lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and
upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they
brought him forth, and set him without the city. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that
he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all
the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou
hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and
I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: Behold now, this city is near to
flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is
it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this
thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast
spoken. Haste thee, escape thither;
for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the
city was called Zoar. The sun was
risen upon the earth when Lot entered into
Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind
him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot's wife did not enter
into the picture until the angels grabbed her hand in verse 16. She did not
even enter the picture when dinner was prepared in verse 3. She seemed to agree
and went along with all the decisions that were made. She went along when the
angels grabbed her hand and brought her outside the city. She went along with
the decision to go to Zoar, instead of going all the way to the mountain. But
then we read in Gen 19:26 this BIG warning: “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar
of salt.” There are a number of questions we can ask at this point.
Why did she turn into a pillar of salt? Well, this verse says that she
disobeyed God's commandment, and that is why she came under the judgment of
God. Is that really the reason? And why salt. I have heard many preachers
comment on Jesus words when He said: "Ye are the salt of the earth".
They say that salt is good and pleasant, and that salt is a preservative, and
that salt enhances the flavor of whatever is being preserved. Well, you can
scrap that idea. From Gen 19:26 we can conclude that salt represents the
judgment of God. Why did God zap her for such a minor infraction? All she did
was one last look at the place where she lived for 23 years. Through all the
commotion she may not have heard God's command not to look back. Why was this
so bad? Was God unfair? Was God too strict?
Why did she disobey God's commandment in the first place? Was she curious
about the noise of fire and brimstone raining on Sodom?
No! There was no noise. She was walking behind Lot,
on the way to Zoar, and the fire from God did not come until they would safely
arrive in Zoar. Her daughters probably saw their mother being transformed in an
instant, and this was a reminder to her daughters that God means what He says.
Did Lot's wife assume that she was already
safe and in the favor of God her Father, and now she could risk being just a
little disobedient? Surely, God would not mind just a little deviation from
what He said. Our God is merciful. God will forgive. Is this not how people
live these days? Just a little white lie, just a little exaggeration to drive home
the point, just a little gossip, just one pen that I take home from my
employer, just one floppy disk that I take home from my employer. It does not
hurt anyone. God would not mind. It is for a good purpose. Have we not all
committed such apparently little sins? Never assume that you have this liberty
and that you are safe and secure.
Just a little deviation from what God has said in His Word would not
hurt, does it? Do we always have to be 100% correct when we explain His Word?
And so, you may hear from well meaning Bible teachers that Lot's wife came
under the judgment of God because she refused to leave Sodom.
That is a big fat lie! Gen 19:16 says that Lot
lingered. Lot was reluctant to leave Sodom,
and not a word was said that his wife was reluctant to leave Sodom.
His wife went along with everything that was said and done. Her first action in
this story came in verse 26. Was she destined to be rescued with Lot and her two daughters, and did she turn her destiny
around by looking back? Is it possible that she changed the plans of God? Think
about it: Can the creature change what God the creator has determined in the
first place? No! Was Lot's wife saved, and on
the way to safety she ruined her relationship with God and then she became
unsaved? No, that is absolutely not possible. When God saves us, He saves our
soul, and He gives us eternal life, which means life without end. We are not
able to undo what God has done in our soul. Lot's
wife was very close to being saved, but her actions showed that she was never
saved to begin with. God knew her heart, and God knew that she could not resist
the temptation to look back. God never planned to save her, and God never
planned to rescue her from the wrath of God that was coming on Sodom. God planned the future and God knows the future.
If God would not know the future He would not be God. It is significant that Lot's wife did not carry a name. This means that God is
using Lot's wife as representing a religious
group of people. God used Lot's wife as a
picture of people who think that they are saved, but they are not. Lot's wife
heard the same Gospel that Lot heard. She
lived in the same household as Lot did. She
heard Lot speak about Jehovah every day. Just
like there are people who attend a faithful church every week, and they live in
a Godly home every day, and they hear God glorifying music every day, and they
pray before their meals every day, but they are not saved, and they do not know
that they are not saved. What is going on? Not only have they been deaf and
blind to the principles of the Gospel, but also they are unwilling to submit
themselves to the authority of the Word of God. God's Holy Spirit has not made
their hearts willing. But their judgment will be greater than for those who
never heard the Gospel. All this flows from the simple statement of Gen
19:26, “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar
of salt.” Can we find in the Bible what went really on in her heart? Gen
19:26 does not really tell us what went on in her heart. Please turn
to the Gospel According to Luke, Luke 17:31 (2X).
- What Was in
Her Heart? (Luke 17:31-32, Rom 5:5)
The Lord Jesus tells us to look at Lot's
wife and learn a lesson from that event. Jesus makes it a BIG deal when He
stresses: "Remember Lot's wife". Of course it is a BIG deal, because
it is a matter of life and death. Let us look carefully at the words of Luke
17:31-32,
Luke
17:31-32, In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his goods
in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the
field, let him likewise not return back to the things behind. Remember Lot's wife.
At the end of verse 31 you should add four words: "to the things
behind" (2X). These four words are present in the Greek text. Both the
Textus Receptus of 1611 has it, as well as the more modern Greek texts, such as
the Revised Version of 1881. The KJV translators have omitted these four words
as if they were redundant, but in our day these four words are crucial to the
understanding of this verse.
Verse 31 begins with "In that day". What day is this? It
is comparable to the day that Lot, his wife and his two daughters were led out
of Sodom on the way to safety, which was
actually a picture of the day of the rapture of the believers out of this world
on the Last Day. Verse 30 says it is "the day when the Son of man
is revealed". Is Jesus saying: "On that day, when you are led to safety,
do not look back like Lot's wife did"?
Certainly, the Lord Jesus is not saying that. We know, because the Bible says
that on that day we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The next moment we will be with Christ
forever. There is no long road to the mountain that we have to travel. What
then does Jesus have in view when He warns us in verse 31? “In that day,
he which shall be upon the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not
come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not
return back to the things behind.” What is the focus of verse 31? The
focus is the desire for material things. Jesus is not warning us for the desire
of material things on that last day, but on everyday of our life. We must be
saved in this life. When the Last Day comes, it will be too late for salvation.
Christ must be number one in our life. If Christ is not number one in our life,
then covetousness, or the desire for material things will take the place of
Christ, and that is why God says that covetousness is identical to idolatry.
What did Lot's wife long for? She could
not let go of what was in her house. She longed for the material things she
left behind in Sodom, because the love of God
was not in her heart. We do not learn that from Gen 19, but we do learn that
from Luke 17:31. The focus of verse 31 is a warning not to be attached
to the material things in our house, or the material things of this world.
Don't become attached to it in this life, and don't feel sorry if it will be
destroyed. It will all go up in smoke.
And how does Lot’s wife remind us of the
concubine in Judg 19? In fact, both women represent the same persons.
Both women have no name. Each of these women represent churches full of people.
And both in Gen 19 as well as in Judg 19 these are people who are still
unsaved. They have heard the Gospel many times, but they have remained unsaved.
God the Holy Spirit has not accompanied the Gospel message when they heard
them. And so, they know the technicalities of salvation. They know the
requirement that we must be born again, but they do not know what it means, for
they have never experienced the new birth. And so it is with many who are in
churches today. Even in our church there will be people who have never
experienced the new birth. They have come so very close to being saved but they
are not saved. Like Lot’s wife they will come
very close to being raptured, but they will not make it, because somehow the
love of God has not been shed abroad into their heart by the Holy Ghost (Rom
5:5). Let us pray for the wisdom that comes from above, and let us pray
that this wisdom leads unto salvation for everyone who is here, old and young.
AMEN. Let
us turn to the Lord in prayer.