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           The chapter begins by Lot seeing two angels at the city gate of Sodom.  The notes state that for Lot to be watching over the gate shows that he held some high ranking amongst the city within the government, which could be why he was reluctant to leave Sodom, he held a small portion of power. Lot insisted the angles come stay with him and when the other men of Sodom heard that Lot had invited strange men to his home they demanded that Lot allow them to get to know these men carnally (sexually). Lot asked that the men take his unwed daughters and leave the men (angels) alone, but they wouldn't listen. For Lot to give his daughters to be ravished by these men shows how sin had altered his mind.

         It doesn't state why he was doing this, if it was to truly protect the angels or if because he knew that his daughters were engaged and maybe their fiances would come to the rescue, or maybe he knew they would turn the girls down because the men were interested in men, not women.  Regardless of his exact motives his train of thought to solve problems wasn't aligned with Gods word.  The angels told Lot to stand back and they closed the door, then made the men become blind so they couldn't find the door to enter the home. The angels then told Lot to take his family and leave the city, for the city was going to be destroyed due to its evilness and wickedness. Lots son in laws mocked him, and didn't take him serious. In the morning Lot took his wife and two daughters and fled from Sodom. The angels urged Lot to go to the mountains far away and Lot begged the angels to let him settle within a smaller city instead, he had been so used to living with ungodly people that he preferred that lifestyle rather than trust where God wanted him to go. God's plan for us is always better then our own, it might not seem like it in the beginning when he gives you knew plans, but trust that his knowledge and understanding is far better than
ours. He knows our needs better then we do and he knows our desires better than we do. But Lot didn't want to go where the angels told him to go, so he settled in another city rather than go to the mountains.

          God told Abraham that he wouldn't destroy Sodom if there were at least 10 faithful in the city, sense only Lot and his wife and two daughters left it goes to show just how corrupt the people had become. Yet God show to show mercy on Lot, even though he didn't live the way God wanted him to live and he didn't follow Gods full orders, he only partially followed them. God knows what we will say and do before we even say it, God knew Lot wasn't going to listen and go to the mountains, that he would beg to go to another city instead, yet God still showed mercy.

          Because Abraham was such a great follower to God and trusted him so much, God showed mercy on his family, even the ones who weren't as deserving. Lot hesitated when leaving and the angel had to grab his hand to get him to leave. It is easy to be tempted with the wealth and power and attractions of cultures to lure us from Gods plan, but thats why its so important to always seek Gods plan for us.

          Archaeological evidence shows that Sodom was an advanced civilization during Abrahams day.  Most research also confirms that somethings sudden devastated the entire city and it is now believed that the once thriving city is somewhere under the black Dead Sea.  Once they were out of Sodom and in Zoar the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels told Lot and his family not to look back, but his wife didn't listen and when she looked back she was turned into a pilar of salt. Her looking back indicated her clinging to the past and showed her unwillingness to turn away completely.   No one can serve two masters, when you get born again you are saying goodbye to your old life and being made new in Christ, to live a new life in Him.

          Once Lot and his two daughters settles in a cave in Zoar, the bible tells us that Lot was scared and afraid to stay there. Had he gone where God told him too, he wouldn't have been scared because he would have known he was where God wanted him to be.Lots two daughters were also scared that they weren't going to reproduce and keep the family line going, so they got their father, Lot, drunk and slept with him so they both would continue the family line. They both acted out of fear and in turn turned to sin and committed incest to have what they wanted. This shows how their morals were incredibly low due to their upbringing in Sodom. Their sons, Moab and Ben-Ammi later grew up to become the fathers of two of Isreal’s greatest enemies. Its important to learn how desperation can lead to a very bad and sinful path, don't allow yourself to become desperate in your desires, instead seek God and trust His plan for you.

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           Despite God’s judgment of sin with the flood, as the family lines were created, people still chose to sin and ignore God except for a handful of people who really tried to follow God, which leads us to Abram.

           Abram was in a time of transition. After his father passed, he moved to Canaan.  At this point he was in a transition time waiting for God to tell him what was to happen next. God will put us in times of transition where we are to seek Him and learn to trust Him, and by doing this and following His will, when He calls on us, we will be ready. God called on Abram and told him to leave what he knew and God would bless him and make him a great nation, and Abram himself will be a blessing. And in Abram, all the families of the earth will be blessed, anyone who curses Abram will be cursed themselves and those who bless Abram will be blessed themselves. Abram chose to step out in faith, leave the comfort of his home and family and trust in God. This is easier said than done, but when we step out in faith, God sees it and He helps us every step of the way.

          Abram took his wife, nephew, and the people who chose to follow to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through Canaan to the small town of Shechem.  The Canaanites were there, but God told Abram that his descendants will be given this land from God, and there Abram built an alter to the Lord. Then he moved to the mountains east of Bethel and put an altar there as well; then kept journeying south.

          Alters were used in many religions, but for God’s people it had a different meaning. They were more than just a place for sacrifices.   For God’s people it was a place that symbolized communion with God and was a place people could have encounters with Him. They were built of rough stones and earth, and would remain in place for years as reminders of God’s protection and promises. Regular worship reminds us of God’s desires and helps us to obey Him.

          After this point there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt. This was seen as a test, God moved Abram to a land that was then hit with a famine, but Abram passed the test and didn't question Gods plan for him. Instead he used the intelligence God gave him and waited in Egypt for the famine to leave. However, Abram lost faith for a moment and out of fear made Sarai, his wife, lie to the pharaoh about who Abram was to her. Abram thought they would kill him so they could have his wife because she was so beautiful, so instead of trusting in God he acted out of fear and lied, saying it was his sister. So Pharaoh took Sarai and blessed

Abram, her “brother” with animals for food and was later shown by God who Sarai was when the famine struck there. Pharaoh knew that Sarai wasn't Abrams sister and sent them both on their way hoping God would make the famine leave them.

          When Abram lied, his sins multiplied, sinning just builds up more sin. When we are tempted to operate in fear take a step back and remember how things got worse for Abram by choosing to sin rather than trust in God.

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          Chapter 10 is a short chapter and it’s all about the family line from the sons of Noah, which is why we will include chapter 11 in this week’s bible study.

          Chapter 11 begins by telling us that the whole earth had one language and one speech. Could you imagine how easy that would be to communicate with everyone?  Language barriers can make it hard to share God’s word and to hear God’s word, imagine a time when everyone had no language barriers and they could easily spread the gospel together. But this isn't what the people chose to do, instead of using their lack of a language barrier to bring people closer to

God, they chose to build a huge tower that would show their skill and honor rather than the Lord’s. God didn't like this. He didn't like that the people chose to use their time and language to promote themselves in a materialistic item rather than to honor God and share His word. So

God chose to confuse their language to force them to spend more time on learning to communicate with His people rather than to build materialistic items that honored people and pushed God out of the picture. This tower was called Babel, which means a confused sound.

Many people today are guilty of building their own “towers”, but in other ways, like buying expensive clothes, big houses, fancy cars, or placing their careers on a pedestal and replacing God. We all need clothes and a place to live, but when we put the desire or “need” for something that pushes us farther from God, then it creates our own Babel. For example, ask

God what job He wants you to have and He will honor you with that job and it will be great. But if you take God out of the picture and climb the job ladder on your own merit and spend all this time on a job that God maybe didn't even have picked out for you, you are creating your own tower of confusion. Things are so much better for us when we follow Gods plan for us rather than our own. We should put God first, seek His guidance and ask Him what He wants for us and it'll be far better then creating our own towers and doing things on our own merit without God. What “towers” do you have in your life?

          The chapter ends with some more genealogy that then leads us to the birth of Abram which will take us into Genesis chapter 12.