I'm referring to the Bible ...as I'm sure you've noticed I often do. And though I'm going to mention Abraham also, it begins when he was Abram.
The Book of Genesis, Chapter 11, verses 26-31
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
So, Abram and his nephew traveled together.
(As you can also see, Sarai and Iscah are mentioned in the same sentence. So, I don't see where some interpretations say that Sarai and Iscah are the same person. And it also mentions that Abram's dad, Terah, also took with him on this journey ---Sarai, referring to her as his 'daughter-in-law', his son Abram's wife. Chapter 12, verses 11-13 speaks of Abram referring to Sarai as his sister ---a plan to spare his life as they entered into Egypt. After Sarai was taken into Pharaoh's house, God sent a plague upon him, and Pharaoh asked Abram why he said Sarai was his sister ...which is a bit interesting, as the Pharaoh's often married within their own families, as they felt they were deities and needed to preserve their bloodline. Yet, again, after Abram was given the covenant, and was to be called Abraham ---in Chapter 20, he did it again, this time telling Abimelech that Sarah was his sister. God warned Abimelech in a dream ...and in verse 12, after Abraham is asked why he had said she was his sister, his answer is: "And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." Yet, in Chapter 11, we clearly see she is a daughter-in-law, not a daughter. So, when reading the Word of God, we have to be careful to distinguish between when the Word of God is God's own Word, and when the Word of God is accurately giving us God's Word as to what Abraham's words were.)
But, I digress ...
This was supposed to be about Lot's thoughts, not mine.
Back to Lot, in Chapter 13, there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle.
There was much land for the cattle, so Abram suggested they each take part of the land ...to separate, to avoid the quarreling between the cattlemen.
Abram was the elder, and likely could have chosen first, but he allowed his nephew to choose. And it appears that Lot chose what likely was viewed as the better land, as verse 10: "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where ..."
I certainly would not know what Lot thought, but God is presenting it this way, so it does seem to show Lot's thoughts.
Verses 12-13, "Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly."
And of course, as cities grew, they also sought after leadership. And with growth and leadership combined, there is usually conflict. With conflict, there is usually an incentive to build alliances ...at least for the moment, for mutual benefit.
And so, the cities had kings ...and four kings formed an alliance, to which five other kings formed an alliance. One of the kings with the five, was the king of Sodom ...but, when things weren't going well, he fled to the mountain. Yet, Lot and others with him were taken captive.
When Abram heard this, he armed 318 of his trained servants to do battle to get Lot out of captivity ...which they did.
As we read on, it is about Abraham and Sarah (among other things), but we are not hearing much about Lot. The next we see is in reference to where Lot is living ...as obviously, he went back to live in Sodom. And God tells Abraham that the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin very grievous.
Abraham asks whether God will destroy the righteous with the wicked?? And verses 24-32 of Chapter 18 show how God is allowing Abraham to understand. And the answer of the 'righteous' question is answered in 2 Peter 2: "He rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) ..."
Now, I'm not going to pretend I understand how this all goes, but Chapter 19 (of Genesis) tells of Lot sitting at the gate of Sodom. Whether he knew they were angels at that time, or not, Lot showed his hospitality by inviting them into his home overnight, instead of them sleeping in the streets.
In verse 7, Lot has a knock on his door, to which he responds by acknowledging their wickedness. Verse 8, I can read clearly what is said, but this blog I'm writing is about Lot's thoughts. And I can not even ...nor do I even want to attempt to think what was on his mind when he says: "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing ..."
I also have two daughters, and there is no way I would ever consider trusting wicked men to do what is good in 'their' eyes. If someone is wicked, it seems a bit obvious that they feel it is good for them to be that way ...and they are not concerned with what is good for others, only advantageous for their present wicked desires.
I am troubled by why Lot continued to live in Sodom up until that point. Why didn't he move out?? Couldn't he have dwelt with people who followed God??
Yet, let's look at another Chapter 19, from the Book of Judges, verses 20-22: "And the old man said, Peace be with thee; howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the donkeys: and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him."
Verses 23-24: "And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing."
These were God's people ...the tribe of Benjamin, who were supposed to be following God. And the discourse seems disturbingly similar to the events of Sodom.
My question is, where should people go ...where should we live, and how should we live???
I worked in the field of Mental Health. Yes, everyone's personal experience is unique ...everyone has feelings ...and everyone struggles in their own particular way. I don't claim to know the answers. Yet, it is often frustrating to watch others who feel they do have the answers. I was an unwelcome voice trying to express how on more than one occasion the treatment plan devised by those with higher educational degrees than me ...was simply not working. (I recall two instances of working with anorexia cases.)
I also saw painful failures to provide any real help to someone who had almost completed their gender affirmation or sex reassignment multiple surgeries (it was called 'sex change' back then) ...and to defend the 'right' at any cost, and it was indeed at a high cost. On that particular issue, though I did not mention the names of those I worked with, there is a person who does want you to know ...and you can easily look up the articles about her, as she has come forward to speak on the tragedy that is going on. Her name is Chloe Cole.
At age seven, she was diagnosed as having both ADHD and autism ...and she struggled with a sense of uneasiness about her gender identity, often labeled as 'gender dysphoria'.
“The gender clinic presented my parents with the classic false dichotomy: Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living son?” said Chloe.
Chloe was put on puberty blockers and testosterone at just 13 years old.
Chloe continues to experience joint pain from weakened bone density — a known side effect of puberty blockers — as well as certain allergies and ongoing urinary tract infection symptoms.
But all of this pales in comparison to the double mastectomy she underwent at age 15, which permanently removed both of her breasts.
The article told much more ...but, how many people actually want to hear it?? I wish everyone would hear of the horrific ordeal that Chloe went through ...but, does everyone want to hear it? Or when hearing it, will we then hear similar to what the Doctor told Chloe's parents?? Why do we accept so many false dichotomies?? Why are only certain narratives pushed??
What kind of Mental Health affirms itself ...as Chloe states it, by accepting without question the 'so-called' experts???
The same thing happens in schools, where the parents are not often invited, and often are not permitted to give their input.
I'm thankful that my children don't go to the streets to protest ...and therefore they will not get caught up in a mob-type movement where some of the people get violent, beat on others, and destroy property. Though for those who do get involved, what do you do when someone does something you don't agree with ...and hopefully that would include destruction of property??
We have police forces ...but, why are they often told to 'stand down'? And in Sodom, there was likely no real authority ...and I know they didn't have phones ...but, we do have both phones and a police force we can call. Why am I against the hate against police, and statements like 'defund the police'?? I think it is clear the point I am making.
In the two examples I referenced from the Bible, they were knocking on the door. Today, the techniques don't seem as intrusive, but in a way I think they are. Look what happened to Chloe. She was diagnosed with (ASD) autism spectrum disorder ...which classifies them as having problems with social communications and interactions. When a person has problems with interactions, it is not always because of themselves ...but sometimes because of the way others accept them, often called 'peer pressure'. When I was in school, the way I often responded to peer pressure was not to socialize with them. I am thankful for those choices ...as I think many of them had more of an identity problem than I did. And I still don't identify with drugs, alcohol, or immoral behavior. Maybe there were real reasons why Chloe didn't identify with those in school with her. What the 'so-called' experts did to Chloe does not border on criminal ...I think it crossed way over the line, and was brutal, and I am rather appalled that others don't think so.
Where do we live ...and how do we live??
Do we actually even have much of a voice??
There are so many conveniences and freedoms that I have ...and I've thanked my Dad often for his 'service' to help protect those freedoms during a time when insane wickedness was attempting to spread ...World War II.
And though I may be censored by being unable to fully express what I consider important issues on social media, and may be locked out from Facebook for who knows what reasons (they would not tell me, only locked me out again for much longer) ---yes, though there have been times throughout history where freedom of speech was not tolerated, I thank God that at this time in history, in the country I live in ---I am free to meet with others & to worship Him, I am free to pray with others about their loved ones & those various concerns, and I am free to study the Bible with others who seriously believe we should follow His Word.
Yes, in those ways I do have a voice ...and I thank God for it. And I have the freedom to live my life ...in a way that is not free from sin, but in a way that does not promote or celebrate what God has clearly directed us away from.
I know it is unpopular to talk about sin, but it is also disturbing when we try to redefine it. I know sometimes it has been defined in an extreme way that is legalistic ...yet, that hasn't always been defined accurately either.
All this may not be an easy discussion, but it is one that I feel is important. And I see that it is very important that we not view the Bible as being inaccurate. If we don't believe the Bible, then we are left with making up whatever we want as true, moral, and acceptable ...and the Bible is target for those who do not value the fact that there are those who sincerely want to seek out the truth about God.
I will take a break here ...and later read to see if I said what I wanted to say, but putting my thoughts down helps me to formulate them.
God bless!!!
