Is what God calls sin still what you call sin?

Luke 17:20-37

Our second day on this Scripture, and you will recall we looked into what the days of Noah looked like and today we will explore the days of Lot.  “And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.” (Luke 17:22-26 ESV)

Picking up the story in Luke 17:28-30, “Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

This is what we know about Lot, his father was Haran a brother of Abram, who later had a name change by God to Abraham.  We know that Lot’s dad died in his native land of Ur of the Chaldeans while his grandfather Terah was still alive.  We know that Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, later to be named Sarah, and they left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan but never got there because they stopped in Haran, and we know that Terah died in Haran.  It is important to understand that God spoke to Abram and told him to go out from his land, his relatives, and his father’s house to a land chosen by God.  We know that Abram was 75 years of age when he left his father’s house and land looking for a better place, the place of promise.  We also know Abram took his nephew Lot with him, and at this point Abram saw himself as his protector.  Now they journeyed about 450 miles to Canaan and after many events and time, the land around Bethel and Ai was too dry for such a large number of people and flocks.  Quarreling between Abrams and Lot’s herdsman was breaking out, so Abram gave Lot a choice, and he was very ungrateful and took the best of the land.

Now Lot moved to the southern end of the Jordan Valley, an area that was well watered and had two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.  It seems Lot moved into the city of Sodom and kept his tent camp so that he had income from his large flock.  (Note: God has not changed, what was sin in the time of Lot is still sin.)  We understand Lot is a righteous man and what he is experiencing in Sodom and Gomorrah is bothering him greatly, and that brings up a question, are you bothered by what is happening in our culture, is what God calls sin still what you call sin?

This is what God is calling sin in Sodom and Gomorrah; self-centered pride, neglect of the poor and needy, and doing detestable things, like the homosexual trying to rape the two angels God sent to bring Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah before He rained down fire on them.  This righteous man Lot made some worldly choices, he associated with evil men, and yet God rescued him and his family, with the exception of his wife who disobeyed God.

Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:28-30 ESV)

From the back Porch,

Bob Rice