Lot’s Compromised Faith
May 26
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1). One of the most tragic figures in all of Scripture is that of compromising Lot, Abraham's nephew, who renounced the land of promise for the sinful society of Sodom, ultimately to lose everything of importance. His slide into apostasy, as traced in Genesis chapters 12-19, seems to parallel the progression described in our text as not becoming a godly believer. Lot is first mentioned as traveling with Abram and Sarai from their homeland to Canaan in obedience to God's command (Genesis 12:4-5; 13:5). A petty problem arises which surely could have been resolved (13:6-10), but Lot chose (v.11) to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (v.13). Lot soon found a home in the city itself, not content to merely herd his flocks in the fertile valley. By standing in the way of sinners, when Sodom was attacked by enemies, he was captured (14:12) and later rescued by Abram (vv.14-16).
God saw everything He created as good
May 12"And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31). On several occasions during the Creation Week, God had declared aspects of His creation as "good" (vv.10,12, 18,21,25). But once His crown of creation was in place, the very image of Himself (vv.26-27), He pronounced it all "very good" and ceased His creative activity (2:1-3). Just what does it mean to be "very good" in God's eyes? This term is used elsewhere in the Old Testament by men and regarding men, but here God Himself, the sinless, ever-living One, declares creation to be just what He wanted--able to accomplish and fulfill each of His plans and desires for it. Whatever else may be said about this creation, it, at the very least, must have been without death, being a phenomenon anathema to Him. Death is identified as "The last enemy that shall be destroyed" (I Corinthians 15:26). "Death reigned from Adam to Moses" (Romans 5:14), and "it is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27). Indeed, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22). The source of this condition is known as the curse pronounced on all of creation due to man's rebellion against God (Genesis 3) as had been promised (2:17). Even today "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and since all sin, all must die. Truly, sin has ruined God's original sinless, deathless, "very good" creation.
False prophets
May 05
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). In the apostolic period, two main gifts of the Spirit were those of the apostle and prophet. In fact, the church itself was "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 2:20). One function of these men was to receive and transmit God's revelation to His people--first verbally, then eventually written in permanent form in the New Testament. "Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:5). The apostle Paul revealed also that such prophecies would cease once they were no longer needed. "When that which is perfect |or `complete'| is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (I Corinthians 13:9-10). Clearly in the context, this refers to the complete revelation of God. When the last book of the Bible was transmitted to the church by the last living apostle, the Lord warned us neither to "add unto" nor to "take away from the words of the book of this prophecy" (Revelation 22:18-19). But many false prophets have indeed "gone out into the world" (I John 4:1), just as Jesus warned, and they have "deceived many." One of them, a self-asserted seventh century "prophet" from Arabia, received certain "revelations" from a "god" that were vastly different from those of the God of the Bible, and his followers now number over a billion.
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