JoeB131
Diamond Member
- Thread starter
- #701
....
Here is the OP's interpretation in a nutshell:
1) Lot offered to let a crowd gang-rape his virgin daughters rather than his guests.
2) Lot, in a drunken daze, later had incestuous sex with those same daughters, apparently on their instigation so they could get pregnant.
3) Lot was described as a "righteous" man, which, given the above, calls into question just what standard of "righteousness" is being advocated.
Now: just exactly how and why is that interpretation wrong? No platitudes, no unsupported statements, no reference to "the Holy Spirit" -- explain why and how the OP got it wrong. If you can't, you're just dodging.
The interpretation is correct. Lot said all of those things; and he and his daughters did those things.
It all began when there wasn't enough room for Abe's herds and Lot's, so Abe said you choose where to live and I take what is left. Abe had a good heart.
The Bible said that the city that Lot chose was one bad cesspool of sin, but Lot wasn't concerned about that. He thought that the land was great.
He didn't consider what was good for himself morally. He only looked at the short term benefits. (If you read the story in context, you will see that this is how it happened.)
In affect, Lot placed himself in a position whereby he could be influenced by the city. We know from what he said and what he and his daughters did that he was influenced. The influence was so great, that when God delivered him from one cesspool, he found another just like it. Then, he ended up with nothing. (This is also in the greater context.)
He had started out with herds so large that there wasn't room enough for both his and Abe's; but he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. (Do you think?)
The Bible says that that is what they said and did. It doesn't say that that is what God said and did, or that he even condoned it.
Nowhere in this portion of the Bible does God say that Lot was righteous. I expect that God didn't want to encourage us to do the same thing.
In 2 Pet 2:7,8 God calls Lot righteous. That's because he was 'vexed' (LKJ). I learn from this that if you are righteous, you will be bothered by wrong, but if you want to live a commendable life, you will actively seek to place yourself where you can be influenced by God, and actively shun places that can negatively influence you.
IN spite of 2 Pet 2:7,8, most people do NOT think of Lot as righteous. That is because he made too many wrong choices. Or, he made one wrong choice, and never made a choice to correct his life after that.
Some people think that if you Believe on the Son, you are righteous. I guess so. Lot was.
But, if you want to live for God and be a positive influence on others, you must be constantly on guard to seek a positive spiritual environment for yourself, and you have to discipline your self to make the right moral choices for yourself.
Your whole premise is based on the assertation that the God of the Old Testement is a benign being. Not one who kills children to teach people a lesson or just because they happen to be in the way of whatever awesome punishment he's ready to inflict on people.
Regardless of whatever excuses you want to make for Lot, his behavior was a lot worse than the babies that must have been in Sodom and Gomorrah that day. (Again, never clear what the Gomorrah people did that was so bad.) Even poor Mrs. Lot did nothing more than look back, and she got turned into salt. (Seriously, any of us would have done the same thing if we were running away and our home and all our neighbors were being wiped out.)
I think one of the biggest problems with Christianity is that it believes in a benevolent God, one influenced and molded by Zoroasterism and Greek Philosophy on what God should be.
Compared to the Bronze Age God of the Old Testement who is just an explanation for whatever natural disasters befell the Hebrews. Something bad happens, God must be angry, stone a sinner and sacrifice a bull and start praying things get better.