COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 50 - WOULD GOD DESTROY THE RIGHTEOUS WITH THE WICKED

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

After The Lord and the angels had given Abraham and Sarah the good news that they were soon going to have a son, they turned toward Sodom and Gomorrah.  The glad tidings for Abraham and Sarah had been the pleasant part of their journey.  They had a mission and The Lord thought maybe He should explain this mission to His friend Abraham who was now walking them to the road. 

Perhaps the visit with Abraham and evidence that he had truly repented and turned and was not caught unaware or unprepared for The Lord Himself to visit his home had pleased God.  Perhaps it had given God enough hope that He did not feel the need to destroy the whole earth again.  Isn't it amazing to think that God too needs hope?  How tragic that He must look for it in people.  Only God living inside of people can bring this about.  Fortunately, God saw His Spirit living inside of Sarah and Abraham.  It must have made His heart glad.  It had brought enough hope that God had granted them a son and a way to increase the people who followed God in the future. 

The things that were being reported from Sodom and Gomorrah were in total contrast to the godly way that Abraham was living.  Satan had been hard at work stealing souls in the land.

The Lord pondered the fact that Abraham was a righteous man and he would raise his family to be righteous and nations would come to the earth that were righteous from them.  He was pleased with the state of Abraham’s life.  Yes it gave God pleasure; but He also thought it would be good for Abraham to know the consequences of grievous sins and what became of those who chose that path.  He had shown these things to Adam and Eve after the fact, He would show them to Abraham BEFORE the fact.  He spoke to Abraham telling him that the cries of the prayers of the people in the cities around Sodom and Gomorrah had risen to heaven.  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were very wicked and their sin was great.  So great was their sin and so hopeless was the state of their hearts that they must be destroyed and not exist on the earth anymore. 

What were these horrible sins?  Abraham didn't even have to ask.  He had probably seen first hand from visits to Lot how this was going.  Greed was probably the most evident and prevalent.  They were greedy, selfish people living wasteful and unproductive lives.  They gave no thought to the future generations.  Homosexuality, adultery and fornication were everywhere.  There were no morals.  The hope of a strong family unit living under the ways of God was virtually impossible in the area of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Everywhere you turned there was the stench of filth and evil.  People idolizing themselves and their own bodies, with no respect at all for God or God’s ways.  They had each chosen their own paths and those paths were taking humanity straight to self destruction.  It was all an abomination to God.  He detested seeing the good creatures that He had created become evil and perverse.  He knew the father of all lies was the cause of it and God knew that these people had chosen to follow the greatest liar of all time.  They did not believe in God, not one of them.  Lot had possibly tried to talk to them, but not one had listened or turned.  They chose their evil.  They cherished it actually, even above their own lives.  

God would not let the earth be completely covered with evil again.  He would remove the cancer before it grew this time.  The fire and the brimstone that would burn up every trace of these civilizations was being held back until God could personally examine the circumstances and see for Himself that they were true.  He is a righteous judge.  He calls evil evil and good good.  He saw more evidence than He had ever wanted to see.  It must have broken His heart.

He sent the two angels ahead of him and he spoke longer with His dear friend Abraham.  Abraham had questions:

“But Lord, will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?”  he asked. “What if there are 50 righteous men in the city?  Will you not spare the city for their sake?”  Abraham’s greatest gift was his compassion for others.  Perhaps too, he was thinking of his hopeless nephew Lot who never made the right decisions in spite of all of Abraham’s persuasions.  Abraham had rescued him so many times now.  Need he have to do this again?  And how many times after this?  Perhaps Abraham understood a taste of how God could become impatient with mankind because of his dealings with his nephew Lot.  Still he loved him and still he stood up for him.  Abraham kept trying to persuade God to be merciful to these sinners.

Abraham was even bold enough to say:  “Shall the judge of all the earth do not righteousness?”  He was implying that God had commanded righteousness and perfect justice and if he destroyed the righteous with the wicked that it would not be fair at all. 

The Lord knew and understood what Abraham was saying.  He had already pondered this question and had already made the decision.   He was God.  He knew what He was going to find, His going was simply to display his righteousness to mankind who has such a limited understanding sometimes.   “No Abraham, if I find 50 righteous men, I will not destroy the city for their sake.”

Maybe Abraham sighed a small sigh of relief here.  Dare he question the Lord further?  Fifty was a pretty big number, he very cautiously asked about 45, then 40, then 35, then 30, then 25, then 20.  The Lord must have been very amused at Abraham trying to whittle away at saving the lives of hopeless men.  God must have also been pleased at the love and hope and compassion that Abraham had for his fellowman.  How God must have WISHED to find 50, or 45 or even 20.  He patiently told Abraham each time he asked that he would not destroy the city if he could find even 20 righteous men.

Then Abraham questioned God one last time and asked if he would save the city if He could only find 10 good and righteous men.  God assured Abraham that he would spare the whole city even if He could only find 10 good and righteous men. 

Perhaps this is where the Hebraic people came up with the idea of a minion.  A minion is a count of 10.  It takes 10 or more people (a minion) to form a proper synagogue.  Jewish families were based on using rules formed by a minion of 10 or more respected family leaders that made up the governing of the family affairs.  The oldest righteous father was always the head of the minion.  The sons followed the wisdom of their fathers.  The children and the wives responded to the headship of godly men, and the input of the women was welcomed and respected. 

I had a personal epiphany here.  I counted up the members of my immediate family, my husband and me, our four children, their mates and their children.  We are now 10.  We are now a minion!  In pondering this I got the concept of how many families left on earth that believe in God and how many of them could bring their families to righteousness before God if each family started with their own home.  I think this is truly God’s intention.  It all starts with the family sanctuary and spreads into the world that way.   We have 10.  Once God spared cities if only 10 godly people were living in them.  This gives me great hope when I look around our evil world.  How many in your family?  Every soul counts!  Each saved soul that is living for the Kingdom of Heaven is part of a number that adds up to 10 that spares judgement for a city!  Consider this!  It is amazing to think about. 

It is not about random acts of kindness folks; it is totally about the intentional following of God.  There is NOTHING random about this.  It is a choice.  This was what Abraham and Sarah had done.  They had brought themselves first, then their whole household under the submission of God.  This is what pleased God so much that He PERSONALLY visited the tents of Abraham.  Can you imagine how awesome that is?  It is totally possible for you today.  All you have to do is turn, repent, believe and follow.  God never leaves His own stranded or alone.  He will always be there for you, just as He was there for Abraham and Sarah.

   

There was no minion to be found in Sodom and Gomorrah.  Except for the home of Lot, the family units living in that area were completely broken and perverted.  When the angels arrived on the scene it was obvious there was not one godly man left in these cities, except for the weakened state of the one called Lot who was Abraham’s nephew.  

It was Lot that the angels greeted first.  They were probably thinking of Abraham and approached Lot with mercy and grace.  Lot, after all, had not fallen into the numerous evil sins that surrounded him on all sides, though they probably affected his family and his lifestyle more than he realized.  This was counted to him for righteousness.  He simply loved the lush area where he lived.  He was a city dweller and did not do well in the countryside.  Lot had a lot of flaws, but he was not totally evil like those that lived on all sides of him in this awful city.  I guess you could say God still had hopes for Lot.  He could go one way or the other, but he had not completely given himself over to evil.  Lot was a lot like our watered down Christians today.  He knew what was right, avoided extreme evil but did not worry too much about it as long as it wasn't under his own roof.   There is a difference in foolishness and carelessness and evil.  Lot was not evil, like those around him, but he was careless and foolish.  God can help the careless and the foolish if they chose to turn.  God cannot help those who consistently chose evil.

This simple fact was what saved him from destruction, but it was a close escape, and there were consequences from living in a sinful place that Lot could never go back and undo or change or correct, even after he fled with an angel on each side of him.  His bad choices would bring him grief and loss.  It was his choice just the same.   Once again the righteousness of  Abraham prevailed over the foolishness of Lot.  The angels looking out over the lush city ruined by depravity urged Lot to escape.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 38 - WHO WILL GO WITH ABRAHAM

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

While we have been studying the biblical  Abraham (and we will continue on - I promise) who rescued Lot from King Cherdorlaomer and his allies, I have also been reading about current day battles going on in modern times in the same area of the world.  I have pondered the way both times seem so similar in nature.   I have wondered about the prophetic significance of it all for the Christian people who claim to be The Church of today’s world.  

Will we be like Abram?   

Will we go to rescue God's people in need?

As I studied modern times, I read a modern-day story about another man named  Abraham.  The words printed in the next paragraph are from some of the writings of Mat Staver.  Mr. Staver speaks of a ministry he is trying to help called RUN Ministries.  RUN Ministries is now sending people over to these war torn and terrorized lands that are living right in the midst of a horrid nightmare.  These people are voluntarily risking their lives to help our brothers and sisters in need.  Many of them have also been killed and/or tortured in the process.   They are trying to help people who have been run off their land simply because they are Christians with humanitarian relief, shelter and food.  

Many of the people they have helped are recovering from months of torture and seeing the ones they love being murdered right before their eyes.   RUN Ministries has a mission to help the helpless.  This is an excert from the borrowed story that I read:

“Abraham had been working non-stop for more than two days and was completely exhausted. But he knew that he could not rest; he had to go out one more time to look for those hiding in the Sinjar Mountain area of northern Iraq.  Earlier that day, he had gotten word that families may be still be hiding.  So he and his teammate set out in the middle of the night. Within a couple of hours, Abraham spotted a family huddled together, eyes closed and trying to hide silently to avoid terrorists or wild animals. Abraham approached them and quietly announced that he was there to help, offering food, water, and safe passage to a peaceful camp.  Their fears subsided, and then the long journey through the mountains began. Hours later, as the sun began to rise, the "Community of Hope" refugee camp appeared. Abraham had rescued another family and led them to safety.”

This modern-day family must have felt like Lot did when the ancient Abram came with his army to rescue him and bring him and his family and many others back to safety.  It is nice to know there are still people like this around.  You may help their cause if you wish.  Their website is:  www.runministries.org.

As I read this article pertaining to the horrible times we are living through and prayed and thanked God for this ministry,  I thought of how Abram and his men attacked in the middle of the night, and brought the captives home with their possessions restored.  Perhaps RUN Ministries thinks a lot like our Father Abraham.  I’m sure they are both listening to the same God.  Their actions certainly seem to state this.  They trust in God and have no fear in rescuing God’s people from terrorist.  These good people are risking their lives to help save people who have not sinned or committed no crimes other than being Christians. They are fighting a growing cancer spreading across the land.  Today this is in a far away land, tomorrow who knows?  Oh Church - Arise!

Abram’s plot was similar in many ways.  His men also voluntarily risked their lives in order to save God’s people from danger.  They too attacked the enemey in the night and brought the captives to safety.  God never forgets of forsakes his children in need.  He uses His church as hands and feet.  A church is not a building full of members, a church is a land of people full of The Holy Spirit.  Abram was not the "organized" force in this battle, yet he won because he followed a God who knew all things.  No king ruled over him and no taxes supported him.  He was simply a good and godly man using the abundance provided to him by a Mighty God.

I thought of the name RUN Ministries and I remembered that one of the Jordanian kings who won with the help of Abram was Shemeber and his name meant "gazelles" or "strong and fast."  

Please pray for these people who have been terrorized for being believers.  As you consider how Abram rescued Lot pray for the same for them.  Pray for God to provide for those who are willing to risk their lives in His name.  

As I pondered all of the above, we were going through the time of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).  I celebrate the Christian understanding of this day.  It is customary to read the story of Jonah at Yom Kippur.  Of course, it is because the story relates to repentance, but as I studied Jonah this time I also read an  up-to-date modern article about the city in his story called Ninevah.  It seems that ISIS has driven all Christians out of Ninevah and it has been proclaimed that communion is no longer held in that city.  I thought of Melchizedek coming to Abram after the battle was over and offering the blessings of God and bringing bread and wine.  How sad to learn that a city that Jonah preached to so long ago which had repented at one time was now desolate of the people of God and that no more communion (handed down from Melchizedek to Abram to those of God's church) was taking place in that land.   It seems that the enemy would like to wipe out the name of God in association with this old ancient city.  They have even gone so far as to blow up the burial place of Jonah in this land.  

My friends who seek God with the heart of a child, please pray for them.  History is repeating itself.  This often happens, first God will show us a physical situation and then it will be repeated so that we will understand the spiritual significance of it all.  This story says the same thing to me that it did to Jonah.  People MUST repent and turn to God.  All people.  All nations.  Can we drink this cup?

The whole earth must be restored to knowing and serving a loving and merciful God.   Ninevah and their king believed the truth of God that Jonah brought to them.  For the short span of about 100 years they turned and repented.  Can it happen again?  Pray that God's will prevails and these people will be restored.  Pray that God's people all over the world come together in repentance and turn from evil and spport their brothers and sisters who are staying true to the course set before them.  Pray that the evil be ended by a mighty God, The One True God of Heaven and Earth.  Pray that we are worthy to be left standing when it is done.  

Also pray that America, who is showing the same ugly immorality that existed in the city of Ninevah in the days of Jonah, will be led to repentance as a nation.  Do we stand like hypocrites praying for another third world country without first repenting in our homeland?  God forbid.  We must repent and turn.  This is where our hope for the future lies.  

COME AS A CHLD - LESSON 37 - LOOKING BACK AFTER THE BATTLE IS OVER

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

We have spoken previously about the fact that Abram went to war against a confederation of kings.

He won the war (against all odds) and brought his nephew, Lot, as well as all of the other captives back home to their land in The Jordanian Valley along with their possessions that had been taken as spoil.  

The king that had been defeated and  lost his city, the King of Sodom, came out to greet Abram after the battle.  Possibly he came out to thank him; even though he was publicly thanking Abram, it is also very possible he was just there to have the people and goods of his lands returned to him.  He was a selfish rotten king and somehow he had managed to escape the slime pits where he had been driven and Abram had successfully brought the people of his city out of captivity and recovered all of his goods while he was fighting his way through the quicksand and slime of the asphalt pits.  Some of his men who had escaped had informed him and he goes out to The Valley of The Kings to meet Abram who has rescued the people.  

All of this rescue had happened simply because Lot, Abram’s nephew, was

among the people of Sodom taken into captivity.  There was really nothing about Sodom or it’s people that Abram thought worth saving.  He had simply come after his family, and as he did the other people involved benefited from his actions.  This is so often the case.  A whole community will be blessed and receive goodness if even only one godly person lives among them.

 

We can look at this whole scenario and see typology of The Last Days and End times and The Battle of Armageddon and the end of the kingdoms of this world and the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. 

Abram was living peacefully and happily in a world where he had established a godly kingdom.  Most all of those he loved were safe and well cared for, except for Lot who had struck out on his own because He had to do things his own way.  In this story, Abram is much like Christ before the incarnation.  Christ was living a blessed life in heaven before he looked down and saw the state of mankind and had pity on them
 and quickly came to their rescue.

 The three allies of Abram who helped him in battle, Eschol, Aner and Mamre are comparable to archangels who  come and go on the earth and inform God in heaven of the things of the earth.  Perhaps  Mamre had become  Abram’s closest friend in a foreign land.  It was one of these three men who came to Abram with the news of Lot’s captivity.  This person was a messenger, and would be comparable to Gabriel in many ways.  The way they were mighty in battle could be comparable to Michael.  Their complete loyalty to Abram is like the loyalty of the angels of Heaven toward God. 

 

The King of Sodom is so typical of Satan.  How many lives had he wrecked with his evil ways in the City of Sodom?  How many souls had sold out to his immorality and lack of compassion and respect for God, holiness and the sacredness of life?  He was a nothing of a man who had narrowly escaped death in a slime pit while his people had been carried off captive and lost everything because of his selfish ways of feeding his own hedonistic desires instead of tending to the job of being king to a large city.

 

Lot in this story is comparable to the weak and fallen church.  Christ loved them unconditionally, just as Abram loved Lot.  He came to save them, to bring them out of captivity and to give them back what the evil one had taken from them.  Abram did this for Lot.

 

The city of Sodom and the area where Lot was living is comparable to an end-times earth that has lost all sense of godliness.  There is nothing worth saving about it, but Christ comes for the people, just as Abram came for Lot.  He is returning for us one day!  Look up!

When you think of all the people benefiting from their association with Lot you have to consider the story of Israel.  All the world has been saved because God has loved His people, Israel.  Because He has always rescued them, we too, the whole people of the earth that have evolved from the seed of Abraham have been blessed and saved.  The Son of God who walked the earth and saved us by giving His precious life and blood, came to live with us from them.  A whole world full of sinners benefited from the righteousness of one man.
  

Genesis 14 told the story many years ago, way before anything had taken place in history.

 

We all just never looked deep enough to see it.

 

There is SO MUCH to be gleaned from these scriptures!

      

Again we see the hospitality of Abram at work in the way he conducted his business.  He did not have to rescue everyone; he could have only taken Lot and his family, but Abram was gracious and kind to all.  He rescued the whole community of captives and brought them to safety, even though he did not agree with their lives and their lifestyles.  These men would never have come for Abram.  He did not take that into consideration.  Abram lived out the meaning of grace in his rescue of Lot.

 

We are told by some that the neighborhood of Sodom was just the opposite of gracious and kind and hospitable.  They did not like outsiders.  They were a closed city and did not want to be bothered by people traveling and passing through.  They had developed a world unto themselves and did not want interference from the outside.  Lot was an exception because he had come into the city gradually, first living outside the area but close, then moving closer, then living next to the gates then finally residing inside the city itself.  By the time Lot moved inside the city he was not considered a stranger or a traveler passing through.  Those living in the city had become accustomed to having him around and considered him to be one of them, even though Lot perceived himself as being different from them.  His association with them made him appear to be one of them to someone passing through.  Lot had probably paid heavy taxes to the King of Sodom in order to live in the area.  The closer you get to evil the worse things become over time.

Abram in his love for all mankind rescued them all, including Lot.  The King of Sodom came out to speak to him after the war.  He told Abram to keep the spoils and simply return his people.  Perhaps that was his way of buying his kingdom back from Abram.  Abram was not one who considered people for sale or trade.  Like Our Heavenly Father he believed in free will.  He had made a vow to God not to take one penny from this evil king.  God had been generous and allowed Abram to rescue Lot.  Abram honored his promise by not taking the King of Sodom’s money or treasures or the spoils of the war, but returning all of them, except for what his allies had taken.

Christ came into this world, rescued us by giving his life for us and left this world taking nothing.  He would not let us be bought by the enemy of our souls.  If your soul belongs to the devil, it is because YOU chose to let it, not because Christ has not tried to save you.  God gives us all free will.  Abram let the other captives chose either to stay in another place or go back with The King of Sodom.  Unfortunately, most all of them traded their souls for the lush lifestyle in the land of Sodom.  It is said that once you taste certain evils it is hard to walk away from them.  God is always there trying to help us with this, just as Abram was there for Lot, but we must make the choice. 

We have mentioned them before, but while we are looking at so many details, think a little further about the three allies.  Who were these allies of Abram that had ridden into battle so boldly with Abram and his 318 adopted sons?  Their names were Mamre, Eschol and Aner.    Mamre was from the land where Abram had pitched his tents near the old, old tree.  He was an Ammorite who had become friends with Abram.  He knew about  Abram’s belief in The One True God and respected and admired this.  Eschol and Aner were his brothers.  Eschol lived near Hebron and he most likely grew grapes.  His name in Hebrew means “cluster.”  Later the area where he lived was named for him. Aner’s name in Hebrew means “a young man.”  All three of these allies lived in the land where Abram had settled, the land that God has promised would be his as far as his eye could see in all directions.   These three were not opposed to Abram being in the land and felt blessed by his presence.  Again, I think of the angels.  I also think of those words of Christ in Luke 9:50 where Christ tells the disciples "whoever is not against us is for us."  He states that who ever helps one of His will not lose their reward.  I am happy for Abram's helpers whom I know God will reward for their kindness towards His people.  There are many such people walking the earth today.  God will not forget them when he makes up His jewels.   

 

The 318 adopted sons are surely the saints that have gone before us when we consider the prophetic meanings of this story.  They will be resurrected and we who belong to Christ will join in with them as Christ fights for us in end times.  They are the one’s who are faithful and true, loyal to the things that Abram has taught them from his own house.  Though adopted, they are loved and sit at his table with honor and respect and reward and can also be compared to the Gentiles who know Christ today.

    

We come to the most awesome part of the story:  Then another King appeared.  This King had not fought in the battle, for He was known as The King of Peace. 

His name was Melchizedek.  He was the King of Salem, better known as Jerusalem.  He came bearing bread and wine for he was also a priest of God Most High.  Wonder of all wonders - He blessed Abram!

This was the blessing he proclaimed:

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High possessor of heaven and earth.   And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” 

It is in Melchizedek that we see the pre-incarnate Christ.  There in the Valley of The Kings, Abram had paid tribute to no king, but to Melchizedek whom he gladly gave one tenth of his goods.  Many people think in error that Abram paid him a tenth of the spoils.  Scholars studying these passages tend to disagree.  We heard earlier that Abram did NOT take of the spoils of the battle but returned them to the King of Sodom.  How do you give a tenth from something that you did not have to start with?

 

No, many believe that Abram had been taught by this priest from God Most High, Melchizedek, how to tithe correctly.  You do not give the spoil, you give of your best.  We have heard this over and over now, all the way back to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.  Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe from the best of his best, of what he had already possessed even before the battle and that of which he had received because he had been blessed from God.  He kept nothing from the battle and gained nothing from the battle.

Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine from Heaven and sat at the table with Abram.  He confirmed and repeated the promise of God to Abram and Abram realized that in this battle God was saying to him, "I always keep My promises."  This is what will happen with Christ and the people who belong to Him when life's battles are over and the victory has been won and we sit with Him as the honored guests at his table in The Marriage Supper of The Lamb.   

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is the beautiful ending to the story.  

No; for every ending is just a new beginning in disguise.  From the blessed end of the Battle of The Nine Kings comes a Kingdom that will never end.  It is a Kingdom where the Most High King who was once a prophet and priest will reign forever.  A million new stories will be written about this kingdom and they will never, ever end.