FOOD ART AND FAMILY TRADITION - EASY MEALS DINNER COLLECTION MEAL NO. SEVEN - SQUASH, PEPPER AND TOMATO SURPRISE

Salad:

RAINBOW CHOPPED SALAD

Ingredients:

for ORANGE-OREGANO DRESSING:

         1/2 teaspoon orange zest

         1/2 cup orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed

         1/4 cup cider vinegar

         1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

         2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped, or 3/4 teaspoon dried

         1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

for sALAD:

         1-1/2 cups bell peppers, chopped

         1-1/2 cups broccoli florets, chopped

         1 cup shredded carrots

         1/2 cup radishes, diced 
          2 cups chopped purple cabbage
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Directions:

     To prepare dressing: Place orange zest and juice, vinegar, oil, oregano, mustard, salt and pepper in a jar. Cover and shake to combine. (Makes about 1 cup.)

      To prepare salad: Combine bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, radishes, cabbage and onion in a medium bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve. ( You can refrigerate extra dressing for up to 1 week.)

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Bread:

HEALTHY CINNAMON NUTMEG MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups whole-wheat white flour

1 cup wheat germ

1/3 cup chia seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup soymilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.  In large bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, chia seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In medium bowl, beat egg  with brown sugar, oil, applesauce and soy milk.  Mix with dry ingredients just until evenly moistened.   Spoon into muffin tins.   Bake for 15 to 17 minutes.

Main Dish:

SQUASH PEPPER AND TOMATO SURPRISE

Ingredients:

         1-2 pounds lean ground beef (cooked and drained)

         2 large garden tomatoes

         1-2 yellow squash, sliced

         1-2 bell peppers, chopped

         1 onion, chopped and cooked

         1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

         1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

         1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Place tomatoes on foil lined baking sheet and put in oven under broiler for five to eight minutes while you cook and prepare the ground beef and onions.  Remove tomatoes from oven while ground beef is cooking and set aside to cool slightly. Once cooled, carefully peel skin off and slice into large wedges.  Add tomatoes to ground beef and onions in skillet and continue cooking over medium high heat.   Add salt, parsley, black pepper.  Stir well and cook for about ten minutes. Add squash and bell pepper and stir well. Cook until squash is lightly translucent and bell pepper is just tender, about ten more minutes.

 Side Dish:

BACON BOURBON BAKED BEANS

Ingredients:

1 pound dry navy beans

10 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups water

3/4 cup of BBQ sauce

1 cup loosely packed brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup bourbon

1 1/2 tablespoons ground mustard

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

The night before, add beans to a large pot and cover with water. Drain the next morning.  Bring beans to a boil in a large pot of water, let simmer for 30-40 minutes, then drain. While beans are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add bacon. Cook until crispy and fat is rendered, and then remove bacon with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel. Reduce heat to medium-low and add onion, cooking for 8-10 minutes, until caramel-like and soft. Add in garlic, cook for 30 seconds, and then turn off heat.  Add water, bourbon, brown sugar, BBQ sauce, ketchup, ground mustard, vinegar, molasses and Worcestershire sauce to a crock pot and whisk well to combine. Add in beans, onions (and all of the bacon fat) and bacon to the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours, stirring occasionally. After 10-12 hours, turn crock pot to “warm” setting or turn off completely and let sit anywhere from 30 minutes-2 hours, which will help the sauce for the beans thicken even more. These taste even better the next day!  Note: after 10-12 hours the liquid may still seem “to much liquid.” It is imperative to let the beans sit for a while on the lower setting (or on the off setting, still covered) so they become thick and syrupy like traditional baked beans.

Dessert:

BANANA PUDDING

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

¾ cups sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

40 vanilla wafers

4 medium bananas 

Directions:

In a sauce pan stir together ½ cup of sugar, salt and flour.  Separate yolks from whites of 3 eggs and set whites aside.  Add one whole egg to the remaining egg yolks.   Stir egg yolk mixture and milk together and add to the sauce pan.  Cook about 10 minutes, stirring until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Layer one third of the pudding, one half of the vanilla wafers and one half of the banana slices and then add the last 1/3 of the pudding on top of all.   Make the meringue by beating the reserved egg whites with just a pinch of salt until they are stiff.  Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until the egg whites will not slide out of the bowl when it is tilted.  Spread the meringue mixture over the pudding with a spatula and bake until the meringue is slightly browned (approximately five minutes.)

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 51 - THE NARROW ESCAPE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

 So the angels went ahead to Sodom and Gomorrah and when they entered the city Lot was sitting at the gate. 

To “sit at the gate” in ancient times usually meant to hold an office or some form of civic or governmental leadership.  Apparently Lot had just been appointed to the office of a judge and he was sitting with all the other elected officials and politicians of the city at the gate.  Most scholars believe that Lot was new to this office, had just been appointed, and that he was elected as a “fall guy” or someone who would be easy to push around to help pass the laws of the city the way the residents wanted them passed.  After all the cities did have to conform to the rules of the region, and we have previously discussed that there were kings in charge of all the regions of the area. 

Perhaps the citizens of Sodom thought Lot, being an outsider and not native to the area, could negotiate with these kings and keep them out of their business.  The faithful men of Abraham had come to the aid of Lot earlier when Sodom had been in trouble.  Perhaps Lot used this as leverage to gain in politics.  Maybe the corrupt city leaders thought the kings of the region ruling over the area of the Jordanian Plains would listen to Lot because he was Abraham's nephew.  More than likely they wanted to use Lot to present a false front where they could twist justice into their own definition.  Who knows?  It is possible Lot had decided for once in his life to try to make a change.  

Lot seemed to be gullible, perhaps he even thought he could make a difference; there is no way to know for sure.  What we do know is that Lot had a past history of being a push over, one who was weak and unwilling to take a strong stand, and he was one who could not defend himself when push came to shove.   Money and material blessings seemed to be very important to Lot, important enough to ignore his own heritage and make his home in a completely different culture.

Everything that Lot had gained in life was the product of Abraham’s hard work and generosity.  A lot of people probably gave Lot grace because of Abraham's reputation in the land.   Maybe this was yet another reason that God wanted to remove Lot from this wicked place.  His rule would have probably brought shame and disgrace to Abraham’s family.  Perhaps God had another plan for Lot, a better one that Lot had not anticipated, but as usual, we know that Lot just kept trying to make his own plans instead of listening to God.  Otherwise, Lot would have left this wicked region of Sodom of his own accord long ago.  Now he was in a place where he could be used by the enemies of God, and if he was not removed, he would fall with them. 

God sent the angels ahead to remove Lot and his family, mostly for the sake of answering the many pleas and prayers of Abraham.  The best thing most fools have going for them is a good godly person who cares enough about them to intercede.  God had heard the intercessions that Abraham lifted up for Lot and had decided that he and his family would be spared.

When the angels saw Lot and greeted him he did display the best traits that he had learned from Abraham.  Lot was hospitable to the angels, and that fared well for him.  Even fools do well sometimes because they conform to the teachings of their youth.  Lot had grown up observing the godly traits of hospitality that Abraham and Sarah had always given their guest.  Lot had seen that the house of Abraham had often been visited by angels and he knew how to recognize this when it happened.  He seemed to be aware that even though they looked like men, they were angels.  This immediately put Lot on guard to protect them from the evil devices of those living in Sodom.

Lot’s natural instincts and learned habits from childhood came into play and he invited the two angels to come and be the honored guests of his home. 

The way Lot offered hospitality to the angels is very interesting.  He did the very same things in presenting his hospitality that Abraham had done when they came to his tents.  He honored them by bowing low and greeting them.  He invited them into his home.   He offered them water for washing their feet and rest from their travels.  He fed them a good meal of fresh baked unleavened bread. 

Isn’t this interesting?  Why do we always think of Abraham being the hospitable one?  Why do we not hear more about Lot’s hospitality?

The reason is not obvious until you look at the details.  Lot was doing all the things that he had been taught while growing up in the tents of Abraham.  He was presenting himself as he had seen a good example of a successful man do.  It was all rote.  It was all habit.  It was all mechanical in nature.  He did it because it was the thing that he was trained to do.  The words and the motions were right, but they probably did not mean anything to Lot.

Have you not ever done this yourself?  Are half the churches in America not simply doing the things that they have been trained to do?  The seats are full of courteous people, they bow their heads at all the right times, they utter prayers together, they sing, they listen, or they appear to be listening.  Are all these motions genuine worship from the heart?  What carries over into these people's homes?   Could the worship of many modern churches today not be like the external trappings of Lot's up-bringing?  How many church members are just attending because their parents taught them it was the thing to do?   Are they just done because they are expected and they help to keep the peace?  Are these deeds of worship not just ways to make the individual more socially acceptable to the community?  Where is the sense of conviction or compassion from the heart toward God?  Is the Name of God even mentioned or thought of during the rest of the week?  Lot was simply following what he perceived to be the politically correct traditional thing to do.  It was his trained custom to behave in this manner and that had nothing at all to do with his belief in God.

 

Abraham, on the other hand, had no training in these things.  He had grown up under the roof of a pagan father who worshiped idols.   He had been convicted of the truth of the One God of Heaven and Earth and had proceeded to worship Him from the heart.  Abraham had done these things, not from rote mechanics but straight from his genuine desire to please God and to be His servant.  His bow was one of genuine honor and respect.  His hospitality came from love and obedience to God and true compassion for his fellowmen.  He had studied Torah and his every action emanated this fact.   He lived it and breathed it.  It was his nature, not just his custom. 

Before the angels arrived, Abraham had sat inside his tent and waited to see what God would do next.  Following a time of repentance and a time of turning he had submitted to a painful circumcision that was a sign of his obedience to God in all circumstances.  That act was a sign that he had put all future generations of his family within God’s hands and let go of any of his control over them or his own plans for them.  Abraham was truly trusting God for every next second of the ticking hand of the clock.  

Lot sat in his honored position at the gate of a wicked, selfish, greedy and materialistic city expecting no one to visit or interfere with his seemingly good fortune that he had sought out on his own.  He probably gloated with pride and beamed at the new found fame, even among the pagan.  He actually sat in the city gates to be used by evil and corrupt men in order to make it easier for them to carry on their evil and corrupt lives in the way they desired.  Lot was proud of his own foolishness.  There was no obedience or love for God in Lot’s heart.   He was a puppet for those who were opposed to God’s will.  He stood for nothing.  It was all about his own importance and material gain.

There was a vast difference between the state of Lot’s heart and the state of Abraham’s heart, just as there is a huge difference between mere habitual behavior and true, genuine love.  Those sitting on the outside looking in cannot always see or tell the difference, but those who have the discernment from heaven can and usually do know when this happens.  Lot was addressing angels.  They must have known and seen the difference, but they desired to show their love and mercy to Abraham who had prayed to God, and they had been commanded by God to honor Abraham’s prayer requests.  Lot was spared because Abraham prayed.  It had nothing to do with his hospitality to the angels, though his sudden bravery and willingness to stand up for their protection does seem to be a change toward a more acceptable attitude.   Lot DID know how to be righteous, he just did not make righteous choices when the time came to take a true stand.

So what exactly transpired that day?

The angels came to Lot and greeted him at the gate and Lot showed them hospitality and insisted that they stay in his home instead of the streets of the city.  Whether from the heart or not, this was a righteous thing to do.  Lot knew the pattern that Sodom had for strangers who entered their gates.  The people of Sodom considered themselves to be a private city and strangers were not welcomed or invited.  They did not like to entertain strangers, and they made this known whenever a stranger entered their gates often in very cruel ways.  There was nothing hospitable or just or right about their actions toward new people in the area.   Lot's desire to protect the angels from this shows a new-found compassion that has not been seen in him before.  Was it for self gain too?  Did Lot know that the angels could help him in ways that the citizens could not?  Had Lot observed the blessings that came from angels while living with Abraham and Sarah and did he desire some of that for his own personal gain?  Or was it maybe fear?  Lot DID understand that God existed and he knew from Abraham's teaching that it was healthy and wise to fear God.  What were Lot's true motivations?  Had he suddenly become more righteous?

This tells us that Lot understood the difference between right and wrong and that he DID honor it in some strange twisted foolish sort of way even though he lived in a place that the scriptures say was inhabited by “wicked great sinners against the Lord.”  This made Lot stand out as righteous among the other citizens.  Even the smallest gestures could make a difference in such a city.  The hospitality of Lot, though not perfect, was considered good and appreciated by the angels.    

When the angels had came to Abraham and Sarah’s tents earlier they had delivered an announcement.  It was a happy announcement, an announcement about the birth of a child, an announcement that would bring new life.

When the angels came to Lot’s house later they had come to deliver another type of announcement.  This was a sad announcement; the announcement to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the great sins of the city had come up before God.   It was an announcement of death.

The sins of the city became even more evident as the angels were staying in Lot’s house for the night.  These are the scriptures that describe what happened:

 Genesis 19:4-7:   But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.   And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, “ Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.”

The word used here as “know” has sexual connotations.  In so many other passages of the bible we have seen that the word "know" was used when people were sexually intimate with one another.  This was usually the word used to describe the proper relationship between a husband and wife, but not here in Sodom.  This was a perverted city full of immorality of every kind.  Homosexuality was only one of the immoral sins of the city.  It was a piece of the whole pie of adultery, fornication, incest, rape, etc.  This night the citizens had chosen homosexuality with angels as their entertainment for the evening. The scriptures become clear and make more sense as you read further:

Genesis 19:8:  And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him.  And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.  Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”

Again, we see Lot’s character flaws and hypocritical ways in this crazy situation.  He offers the depraved men his own virgin daughters in order to protect the angels!  

It is worthy to think that he wanted to protect his divine guest, but it is horrible that he would be willing to sacrifice his innocent daughters for this cause.   

Why does that sound familiar?  We honor the divine in our worship services, yet some of us walk out the door and destroy new life with abortion.  Just as it was convenient for Lot to offer his daughters to protect the angels, it seems to be convenient for the citizens of planet earth to destroy life when it is inconvenient and interferes with our own plans.  Dare we to point a finger at Lot?   Is this not hypocritical?  So many things in this picture are wrong and the answers can only be found at the foot of the cross where there is mercy, grace and forgiveness.  This can only happen with repentance and people who are willing to turn.  God can do anything with people who repent and turn from their sins.  That was the problem with Lot's city and that is the problem with the world today.  Sin is so common and so accepted that no one is repenting, much less turning away from it and going in the other direction.  We leave God with only one option.  


Lot had not been willing to turn from a place of sin to a place of godliness.   He would not turn from the evil place where he was living without compassion or trust in God and the generation that he had fathered would suffer the consequences.   Was Lot's situation so unusual and different than many situations across the world today?  What are we teaching our children by our own actions?  If we are not backing up those words from all those worship services with every day actions we waste our breath and we curse our children's future.  They listen and they see.  What are we teaching them?

What was Lot thinking? 

Perhaps he knew the men would refuse his daughters, after all they had lived in the same community for awhile now and they had been safe and unharmed.  No man had shown them any interest.  Lot’s two other daughters had found husbands and married,  but these two had found no husbands.  The men were obviously not interested in the female sex or they would probably have taken up Lot’s offer and fulfilled their desire for lust by abusing his daughters.  It was a different kind of lust that they had in mind.  All lustful sins are equally punishable by God.  He abhors immorality of any kind.  None of us are innocent, but again, the answer lies in repentance and turning.  Lot could not turn away from the evil place.  He needed help and intervention.  God had sent it thanks to the prayers of Abraham.

The angels saw that Lot might lose his life defending theirs.  This was a new and noble and admirable trait for Lot, but it was unnecessary.  They had come to protect Lot, not for Lot to protect them; so they quickly reacted by making the depraved mob blind and grabbed Lot and pulled him back inside the house and shut the door.   

I find it interesting that the depraved mob was made blind.  They were made not to see.  When you think of the people of sin that they represent this seems very appropriate.  Most of the time those who are living in immorality like to be blind.  They refuse to see their own sins.  They try to justify it in a million different ways and want to act as if those who can see are the ones who are blind.  

Without the help of the angels Lot would have been killed.  He was over his head and up to his neck in trouble.  Have you ever been in over your head?  It can happen if you find you can't walk away from evil.  Sometimes God intervenes.  If this is the case you have been blessed!

Once Lot was safely inside the angels announced that they had been sent from God to destroy Sodom because of the wickedness found there.   When Lot heard this announcement concerning the destruction of the city, he quickly went out to his son-in-laws and married daughters and told them that the city was about to be destroyed. He tried so hard to reason with them.  Have you ever tried in vain to reason with people about a message from God that they do not want to hear?  It is never easy.   Are any of mankind listening to the good news of the gospel anymore?  Typical human reaction to such warnings is "that is something that happens to someone else; not to me." Satan's demons are kept very busy stopping up people's ears and distracting them from the truth.    

Like Sarah in the tent when the angels came to Abraham, the son-in-laws of Lot laughed.  That the city could be destroyed was unbelievable to them.  They were natives to Sodom.  They had witnessed lots of revenge on strangers who had tried to change things.  They had probably looked at Lot's new position as a judge in the gates as a joke.  Maybe they had laughed behind his back before this night.  Things never went well for the strangers of Sodom and the city itself always kept thriving on.  They had no interest in listening to Lot or his stories of angels and danger just as most men living today do not really believe that there is a hell and that the wicked will again be destroyed by fire.  They thought Lot was delusional.  They did not believe a word he said!  They laughed and ignored him until it was too late for them to be saved.  

I wonder if Lot thought about the fact that he had raised his daughters in a community with only these choices for husbands.  These foolish men were probably the cream of the crop for the young girls wanting to marry in Sodom.  It was too late for Lot to change any of this.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  There was nothing he could do.  "Too late" comes quickly.

There is a day coming on the earth when many men will be in the same situation as Lot as he tried to convince his daughter's husbands to leave.  It will be too late.  All the deeds of life will be done.  There will not be a way to go back or undo the past at that point.  There will only be sure judgement and fire and brimstone ahead.  I pray that we all may believe the messages from Heaven that we are sent supernaturally and that all people will decide to turn in their hearts and leave the places of evil and go toward the place where God dwells before it is too late.

When the sun rose the next morning the angels urged Lot to take his wife and his two single daughters out of the city immediately.  When they hesitated the angels took their hands and supernaturally delivered them to a place that was outside the city and then told them to hurry and escape for their lives.  They were told to run to the mountains and not stay in the plain and not to even look back as they went. 

By now you know how stubborn and unwilling Lot could be to follow any plans but his own.  He was afraid to go to the mountains and asked the angels to let him escape to a smaller city on the edge of the plains called Zoar.  

The angel, probably tired of Lot’s stubborn ways, agreed to this and sent them quickly on their way.  

How many times have we all been like Lot, trying to stay in the low valley and the plains when God wants to send us up to the mountaintop?  For fear of the unknown we hesitate and huddle in our own little plans, but if only we would go as God commands without question!  

What do you think God had in store for Lot on that mountain?  

We will never know; Lot did not listen.  He missed the blessings of the mountain that day and opted for the little insignificant city of Zoar.  God allows us choices and Lot chose Zoar, a little town whose name meant "insignificant and small."   

Lot; the man who knew righteousness but never lived very close to it, was now having to run with his family.  As they saw the sun rise over the plains they also smelled the smoke of burning sulfer and they knew hail and brimstone were falling from the sky only miles behind them.  

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.