This week we close out Genesis 19 and say goodbye to Lot. Sometimes it is easy to forget that this chapter of the Bible is about Lot and not about the wicked city he is living in. Lot isn’t done with his bad decisions, and some of the worst are yet to come. Why can’t Lot just trust God and obey? Why do there always have to be arguments and foot dragging? What can we learn from looking at the end of Lot’s life, as far as the Bible story tells us?

Lot is super irritating and what he does this week proves that just being unhappy with how people are acting isn’t enough to make a difference in a wicked place. No one respects Lot or takes him seriously—not even his future sons-in-law. Lot still isn’t willing to leave Sodom, even when his neighbors want him dead but God keeps forgiving Lot and giving him chances to do what is right. We’ll also be talking this week about what forgiveness is and isn’t.

There are a lot of bad dads and moms in the Bible but if Lot isn’t the worst one then he is near the top of the list. Being a young girl in the ancient world was a very dangerous thing and sometimes the members of your own family could be your worst enemies. How far will Lot go to obey the hospitality codes of the ancient world? Who is he willing to sacrifice in order to look good? And what can we learn about the men of Sodom from the way they reacted to what Lot tried to do?

This week we will be talking about the mysterious angels in disguise, what Lot did to make his neighbors angry, and what a city gate was. 

Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/05/06/episode-138-mysterious-strangers-in-sodom/

The truth is that we know more about angels on tv and in Christian art than we do about angels in the Bible, and so before we dive into our first real encounter with angels in Genesis 19 we’re going to see what the Bible does and doesn’t say about Angels. And we’ll talk about the three most famous angels of all!

Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/04/09/episode-137-talking-about-angels-in-the-bible/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/nGEpf1E44xI

Who is the first intercessor in the Bible? Abraham! He went to bat for the people of Sodom, appealing to and reasoning with God's mercy over His sense of justice. This makes him very different from everyone who went before Him--especially Noah!

Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/03/27/episode-136-the-one-when-abraham-tries-to-save-sodom/

Last year, we talked about the stories of Esther and Vashti, but this year, we are going to focus on irresponsible King Ahasuerus, Esther’s cousin Mordecai, who didn’t follow his own wise advice, and the wicked Haman.

Do you know what a prophet is? There are many stories going around that make it look like prophets were fortune tellers, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is going to name Abraham a prophet in chapter 21, but in Genesis 18, he is already being treated like one. Understanding prophets and what they are and are not will help you understand much more of the Bible than if you think they are all about predicting the future. And what does all this have to do with Sodom and what God is telling Abraham He expects from his family?

Most people look at Sarah’s laughter in Genesis 18 and think nothing of it. We think of what it looks like in the movies or in our picture books but what does the Bible tell us about Sarah laughing when she heard she was going to finally be a mom? Why are we so confused about what the Bible does and doesn’t say and what does it tell us about the story Moses was telling the children of Israel?

This week we are beginning Torah portion Vayera, which covers the time from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the Akeida in chapter 22. Today we start out with a very mysterious appearance of three strangers soon after Abraham circumcised all the men in his household. From the very first line, we know that one of the strangers is God but why is He there and how will Abraham react?

Transcript: https://contextforkids.com/2024/02/29/episode-132-abraham-and-the-three-mysterious-visitors/