# 20 - Sodom, Fire and Brimstone P. 1 - In this episode of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein we delve into the harrowing story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom, exploring the tragic consequences of moral compromise and the urgent call to align our lives with God's will. Join us as we unpack the deep lessons this ancient narrative holds for us today.
Episode 20 of The Chosen People with Yael Eckstein is inspired by the Book of Genesis.
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For more information about Yael Eckstein and IFCJ visit https://www.ifcj.org/
Today's opening prayer is inspired by Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
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Show Notes:
(01:58) Intro with Yael Eckstein
(02:58) Fire and Brimstone Part 1
(30:52) Reflection with Yael Eckstein
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen people.
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Speaker 2: So close to Sodom, Are you sure? I think, eh?
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Speaker 3: I think the proximity of the city would prove useful
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Speaker 3: to me. Yeh useful.
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Speaker 2: Be careful near those cities. I fear the influence of
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Speaker 2: their culture is more dangerous than their spears.
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Speaker 4: But I hear that the lands in Canaan are untamed,
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Speaker 4: and there are fortunes to be had if you're bold
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Speaker 4: enough to take it.
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Speaker 3: Wealth.
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Speaker 4: You can't even imagine wealth that would put Er and
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Speaker 4: Haran to shame.
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Speaker 5: The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense. The victims
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Speaker 5: of this terrible wickedness plead for justice. The sin of
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Speaker 5: both Sodom and Gomorrah is extremely serious.
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Speaker 6: Yes, my Lord, your judgment will be carried out according
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Speaker 6: to your will.
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Speaker 7: My Lord, would you have us continue on our way? Yes,
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Speaker 7: go ahead of me and scout out the city. See
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Speaker 7: what you make of it in its inhabitants.
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Speaker 2: My God, will you really sweep away the righteous with
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Speaker 2: the wicked?
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Speaker 1: After Abraham's God departed to see about Sodom, Abraham walked
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Speaker 1: for a long time on his own, processing what was
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Speaker 1: to come. He knew his God was right in his
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Speaker 1: authority and write in his judgment. But when he thought
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Speaker 1: of those who were oppressed and abused by the wickedness
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Speaker 1: of Sodom, for this was the need for justice, Abram
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Speaker 1: had to acknowledge that his heart was still broken.
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Speaker 3: You've read the stories right, are distant relatives, the line
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Speaker 3: of Ham, the cursed, Abram cursed, And yet there they are,
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Speaker 3: setting in seats of power. And then there's me. I
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Speaker 3: don't want to just be another name, Abram, just another
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Speaker 3: name in a long, endless list of men for the
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Speaker 3: line of Noah.
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Speaker 8: In the heart of a dark city, where shadows lurk
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Speaker 8: and sin rains, a family's faith hangs in the balance. Shallo,
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Speaker 8: my friends, from here in the holy land of Israel
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Speaker 8: i'm l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
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Speaker 8: Welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a
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Speaker 8: dramatic story inspired by the Bible, stories filled with timeless
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Speaker 8: lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through
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Speaker 8: Israel's story, we'll find this truth that we are all
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Speaker 8: chosen for something great. Let's begin today we venture down
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Speaker 8: the cobblestone alleys of Sidome. This story inspired by Genesis
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Speaker 8: nineteen one to sixteen is not just a tale of escape. Rather,
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Speaker 8: it's reflection on the human heart and how the world
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Speaker 8: around us can shape and misguide our own hearts.
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Speaker 1: This episode of The Chosen People with Yeil Extein contains
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Speaker 1: explicit content that may be triggering for some listeners and
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Speaker 1: inappropriate for young children. Listener discretion is advised. The day
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Speaker 1: had been sweltering, and even though the evening was nearing,
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Speaker 1: tensions still ran hot. Sweat beaded on Lot's forehead, and
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Speaker 1: he could even feel troplets sliding down the back of
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Speaker 1: his neck into his tunic. The two men before him
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Speaker 1: were nearly nose to nose, Their angry shouts reverberated off
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Speaker 1: the stone walls of the gate.
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Speaker 3: Brothers, please lower your voices. The entire city doesn't need
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Speaker 3: to know your business.
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Speaker 6: Maybe they should know.
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Speaker 9: Ah, yes, they should know.
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Speaker 2: Durak as a snake, and doing business with him will
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Speaker 2: only leave your bleeding.
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Speaker 8: Ha ha oh.
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Speaker 6: Don't be so naive, chouvar.
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Speaker 10: You can play the victim all you want, but even
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Speaker 10: a child could tell you that the price you gave
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Speaker 10: was too low.
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Speaker 1: That's your excuse for line for your teeth running to
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Speaker 1: weep into the skirts of a city judge.
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Speaker 10: Is your response here, man Chavar, you should have offered
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Speaker 10: more or known I would find another buyer.
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Speaker 3: You use my price to drive up the other bits.
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Speaker 3: We had an understanding.
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Speaker 2: We had no such thing.
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Speaker 3: They were witnesses, and how.
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Speaker 10: Much you hang them to pack your story?
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Speaker 3: Keep your fault time behind, John Steth.
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Speaker 2: I did none such shame, and I would never.
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Speaker 3: Need to do such good.
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Speaker 10: You're a cheap man who needs to pay for friends
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Speaker 10: as well as a stitch.
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Speaker 6: This is the only friend I need.
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Speaker 1: Chavar flashed a blade and dura follow sheet. Both men
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Speaker 1: were poised and ready to strike brothers.
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Speaker 3: That's enough. I've heard what I need to hear, and
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Speaker 3: I sighed with you. Chavar, Rah see.
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Speaker 10: The rak what you can't be serious?
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Speaker 3: Yes, Derek, you will pay for a fine for breaking
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Speaker 3: your agreement with Chavar.
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Speaker 10: This is outrageous lot and you're not I don't know
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Speaker 10: what kind of business you ran in Haran, But am
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Speaker 10: I not entitled to get the best price for my buyers?
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Speaker 3: But you had an agreement? You broke your word.
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Speaker 10: What do words matter when it comes to money? Any
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Speaker 10: businessman worth his thought would tell you that.
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Speaker 9: I suppose it pays to have the judgment of the lawn.
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Speaker 6: You saw.
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Speaker 3: We're like a bleeding heart Hebrew.
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Speaker 10: Where do you get off on this nonsense about word
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Speaker 10: and honor?
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Speaker 3: Enough, the matter is settled. It's the end of the day.
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Speaker 3: Go home. I'm sure we all have matters to attend to.
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Speaker 10: This isn't over, Lot, mark my words out.
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Speaker 1: Remember this Dark slunk off into the crowd in the
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Speaker 1: direction of the wealthiest part of the city, the part
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Speaker 1: of the city Lot not so secretly long to be.
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Speaker 1: Lot had done well for himself in the years since
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Speaker 1: his abduction and the invasion of the city. Sodom had
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Speaker 1: rebuilt and resumed its commerce, and Lot had ensured he
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Speaker 1: was a part of it. He no longer resided in
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Speaker 1: his caravan outside the city, but within its walls, and
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Speaker 1: held the position of a judge. Never again would Lot
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Speaker 1: not have a stone wall at his back or a
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Speaker 1: heavily guarded.
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Speaker 6: Gate before him.
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Speaker 1: Despite the comforts and securities he had worked tirelessly to obtain,
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Speaker 1: Lot still awoke screaming and sweating to nightmares of clanging
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Speaker 1: spears and bloodied knives being held to his throat. Rogues
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Speaker 1: like Durarch. He could stomach Sodom had no shortage of
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Speaker 1: cases to be heard here at the city gate. His
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Speaker 1: wealth and his connection to his uncle, Abram the war Hero,
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Speaker 1: or Abraham, as he was now called, had brought him
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Speaker 1: influence and favor with the city officials. Judging the back
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Speaker 1: dealings and corruption of the city helped quiet his fears
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Speaker 1: of inadequacy and helped him reclaim what was left of
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Speaker 1: his pride. Lot had finally achieved his dream, the one
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Speaker 1: of legacy and destiny he spoke of to his uncle
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Speaker 1: in his grandfather's house all those years ago. It wasn't
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Speaker 1: anything like he thought it would be, and so much
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Speaker 1: had happened that he had not anticipated. But he supposed
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Speaker 1: that was the way of dreams, and so he shrouded
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Speaker 1: himself in the air of importance and hid behind not
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Speaker 1: only the city walls, but also his righteousness. Lot found
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Speaker 1: it advantageous to follow in his uncle's footsteps and play
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Speaker 1: the part of the holy man, a man of faith.
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Speaker 1: He found it gave him an edge over the other
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Speaker 1: civic leaders, and he found that the more responsibility shifted
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Speaker 1: his way, the more pious and respected he became. Lot
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Speaker 1: didn't know whether to thank Abraham's God or his own
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Speaker 1: shrewdness for his rise. In his heart of hearts, he
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Speaker 1: thanked himself.
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Speaker 6: You know he won't forget this, Lot.
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Speaker 1: Chauvar's words brought Lot out of his reverie and back
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Speaker 1: to the present.
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Speaker 3: Eh, I'm sure he won't. That's future, Lot's concerned. He
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Speaker 3: can be my headache another day.
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Speaker 9: Well, you have my fags, Lot, and I'll need to
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Speaker 9: think of ways I can show you my face and
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Speaker 9: perhaps keep you in my good graces for any future
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Speaker 9: cases it might come to your gate.
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Speaker 1: Lot cringed slightly. Some customs in Sodom he would never
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Speaker 1: get used to. Before Lot could deny Chauvar's offer, he
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Speaker 1: noticed two last travelers were passing through the outer gates
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Speaker 1: up ahead. They were being questioned by the men on watch,
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Speaker 1: who seemed eager to move them along so they could
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Speaker 1: close the gates and change out the guard for the night.
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Speaker 1: Chauvar followed Lot's gaze and saw what drew his attention.
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Speaker 2: Well, well, well he's been and no ordinary travelers. Their
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Speaker 2: clothes and appearance are not fashionable in these parts, but
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Speaker 2: you are quite and so they will surely attract a
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Speaker 2: lot of attention in town. Who do you suppose they are.
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Speaker 6: I don't know.
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Speaker 3: I think you're right. Yeah, they are peculiar. I mean
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Speaker 3: look at them. No saddle bags, no mounts. I mean
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Speaker 3: they've got to have some sort of servants or a
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Speaker 3: larger company staying outside the walls. Right, these seem like
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Speaker 3: men of importance, dignitaries maybe, or maybe merchants. You know,
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Speaker 3: my uncle he was visited by a king once, and
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Speaker 3: let me tell you, he carried himself just like this.
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Speaker 2: Rats, This will be my first gesture of gratitude for
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Speaker 2: your favorable ruling earlier. You should host him, and I
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Speaker 2: would offer quickly before Duract catches word that there are
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Speaker 2: new merchants in town, swoop in and steal their business
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Speaker 2: with our second vault.
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Speaker 3: Oh yes, yes, yes, good idea, chav Our, very good idea.
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Speaker 3: I'll take your suggestion really, thank you, and I look
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Speaker 3: forward to our dealings in the future. Honorable men like
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Speaker 3: you and me, we got to stick together.
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Speaker 2: Indeed, we may be the very last ones in the
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Speaker 2: city of Sodom.
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Speaker 1: Lopa good naturedly as he hurried to meet the distinguished
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Speaker 1: men just clearing the city gatehouse. He bowed respectfully before them.
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Speaker 3: My lords, be welcome to the city of Sodom, the
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Speaker 3: pride of the great cities of the plain. Please allow
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Speaker 3: me to be your host while you stay here in
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Speaker 3: these walls. My name is Lot, son of Haran, of
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Speaker 3: the line of Shem.
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Speaker 6: So you are, and you are the nephew of Abraham,
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Speaker 6: the follower of the god olmedy Ah.
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Speaker 3: Yes, yes, ah, certainly, I am a faithful follower my lords,
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Speaker 3: of course.
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Speaker 11: And you are a city official here. You have come
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Speaker 11: to not only reside but represent the city.
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Speaker 1: Lot blinked at the non question. He also waited for
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Speaker 1: the men to offer their own names in kind, but
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Speaker 1: none came.
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Speaker 3: Ah, I, I am my lord.
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Speaker 1: Again, they offered up no further information and asked nothing
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Speaker 1: of Lot. They took his measure for a long moment.
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Speaker 1: Lot could feel the cheeks under his beard turned pink
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Speaker 1: at the stairs. This stilted conversation was drawing from the
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Speaker 1: smattering of people gathered along the stone benches lining the
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Speaker 1: gated walkway. The two mysterious men then inclined their heads
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Speaker 1: respectfully and made to turn and leave.
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Speaker 3: My lords, please tell me where do you plan to
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Speaker 3: stay here in the city.
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Speaker 12: In the city's square, Lot could feel the growing curiosity
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Speaker 12: of onlook and felt the need to redouble his efforts
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Speaker 12: as the accommodating host of his city the square.
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Speaker 3: Oh no, no, no, no, that will not do. Please
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Speaker 3: my lords, you must turn aside from your current plans
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Speaker 3: and allow me to be your host, your servant. I
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Speaker 3: will have you stay at my house. Wash if he'd
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Speaker 3: spend the night, then you can get up burly, Sure,
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Speaker 3: go on your way, no problem. But I can't. I
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Speaker 3: won't have you stay the night in the square when
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Speaker 3: I can wait on you personally. It's just not right.
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Speaker 11: The city square is enough for us. We want to
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Speaker 11: take in the city while we're here.
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Speaker 3: Ah, you won't take in the city. The city will
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Speaker 3: take in you. I assure you. The city can't can't
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Speaker 3: offer you the hospitality that I can. I mean my wife,
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Speaker 3: she's a fantastic cook. She oversees the most skilled cooks,
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Speaker 3: the best servants in the land. Even now, I bet
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Speaker 3: they're preparing the evening meal. I'll order them to prepare meat,
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Speaker 3: good meats, and extravagant courses so you'll taste the finest food,
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Speaker 3: drink the best wine this region has to offer our land. Oh,
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Speaker 3: it's well wadded and fertile, very fertile. The crops are
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Speaker 3: a unparalleled Listen, listen, I know you've traveled far, but
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Speaker 3: I humbly boast you'll want for nothing after a feast
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Speaker 3: in my household. How can you say no to this offer?
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Speaker 3: You can't. You just can't.
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Speaker 1: I suppose we cannot be the way Lort couldn't deny
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Speaker 1: the satisfaction he felt as he led the men through
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Speaker 1: the streets of the city. Chauvar was right about one thing.
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Speaker 1: They certainly drew a lot of attention. Their fine clothes
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Speaker 1: and exotic, handsome features drew the eyes of many double
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Speaker 1: takes and even open stairs from both women and men.
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Speaker 1: True to his word, Lot and his households sprang into
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Speaker 1: action and pulled together a great feast for these mysterious
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Speaker 1: distinguished guests. Lot was determined to serve them in a
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Speaker 1: manner that befitted his role as a city judge. If
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Speaker 1: he were able to secure their trust and their business
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Speaker 1: as well, then no one could argue that he did
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Speaker 1: not belong here, or that his uncle paved the way
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Speaker 1: for him to be here.
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Speaker 4: You must tell us what sort of merchants are you.
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Speaker 4: Lot can help you learn. All the players here in
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Speaker 4: Sodom if you're looking to set up shop.
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Speaker 6: We are not merchants.
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Speaker 4: Oh, I see, have you been to this region before?
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Speaker 4: I'm sure find men such as yourself have traveled far
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Speaker 4: and wide. It was much the same when we were
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Speaker 4: settled in Haran and Er.
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Speaker 6: Before that, we.
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Speaker 11: Have been many places.
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Speaker 4: Your wives must come with you next time you feast
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Speaker 4: with us. I would love to meet them, and the
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Speaker 4: same for my daughters.
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Speaker 6: We do not have wives.
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Speaker 4: Well, that is most surprising. I would offer you one
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Speaker 4: of my daughters if they were not promised already. They
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Speaker 4: are to marry the sons of a very prominent city official.
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Speaker 4: We're in the throes of arranging the wedding. I have
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Speaker 4: been working tirelessly. You could not imagine the intricacies. But
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Speaker 4: it is a labor of love. My daughters, Keziah and Milka,
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Speaker 4: deserve nothing less.
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Speaker 3: And they will make lovely brides.
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Speaker 4: Thank you father, Thank you father, and the match will
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Speaker 4: be most beneficial for both our houses. Of course, there's
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Speaker 4: our noble line. We can trace our family history back
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Speaker 4: to Noah, if you can believe that, through his son Shem,
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Speaker 4: our family was among some of the most prosperous in
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Speaker 4: er And when we settled in Haran, our fortune only
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Speaker 4: grew and now sodom. My husband Lot finds success wherever
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Speaker 4: he goes. We're most eager to join our house with
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Speaker 4: the nobility and wealth of this land. Who knows what
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Speaker 4: the future will hold for this family.
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Speaker 1: Wife carried the conversation for the rest of the meal,
00:16:03
Speaker 1: hardly noticing the scant contribution from the visitors. Lot found
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Speaker 1: it a little strange that they were so withholding, but
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Speaker 1: perhaps it would take time to earn their trust, and
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Speaker 1: they were guests under his roof, which placed them in
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Speaker 1: a higher place of honor and respect than even his family.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: According to the customs of their land. Lot was so
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Speaker 1: unattuned to the presence of God that he hadn't noticed
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Speaker 1: what Abraham noticed. He did not recognize the divinity veiled
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Speaker 1: behind their handsome faces, or the authority vibrating from their
00:16:37
Speaker 1: voices as they spoke. Lot was too consumed with self
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Speaker 1: to see what was right in front of him. When
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Speaker 1: the household began to settle in for the evening and
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Speaker 1: the servants were taking away the remnants of their meal,
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Speaker 1: Lot heard a familiar voice shouting from the street.
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Speaker 6: Ye yea, let's go see it.
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Speaker 10: Lot, it is stupid friends.
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Speaker 6: You're singing the city and stuff.
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Speaker 10: What who is it you're hosting in there?
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Speaker 6: Who does?
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Speaker 2: Pretty men?
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Speaker 6: You're keeping all to yourself.
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Speaker 13: You you treat these strangers like kids and then steal
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Speaker 13: money from my theairy hands.
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Speaker 6: You would turn your back on those.
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Speaker 10: Who built, and they built this city in favor of
00:17:26
Speaker 10: a foreigners.
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Speaker 2: Foreign birds flop together.
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Speaker 3: Maybe we should make sure they are on spies.
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Speaker 10: Say send them, send them out to us so we
00:17:38
Speaker 10: can question them.
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Speaker 2: I'll hold them down so you can find out.
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Speaker 6: Then I'll be.
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Speaker 3: Sure to leave one for you, coussim I won't deny
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Speaker 3: you the enjoyment of taking one of them. They're so fair, fine.
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Speaker 14: Figures of men, Derek, Will you want to turn to
00:18:00
Speaker 14: Will let you pick the one you want.
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Speaker 1: Horrified of both what they were saying and how loudly
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Speaker 1: they were saying it, Lot ran to the front door
00:18:08
Speaker 1: and into the street, slamming the door firmly behind him,
00:18:11
Speaker 1: as if that could drown out the crew jeering. Seconds later,
00:18:15
Speaker 1: drunken knocks pounded against the door. Lot could smell the
00:18:19
Speaker 1: wine on their breath from the doorway and see the
00:18:22
Speaker 1: glassy lust in their eyes through cracks in the wood.
00:18:25
Speaker 1: They meant to defile his guests and humiliate them, and
00:18:28
Speaker 1: by extension him.
00:18:30
Speaker 3: Brothers, please don't do this what you're suggesting, it's evil,
00:18:35
Speaker 3: it's foul. Who even told you about my guests?
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Speaker 15: Sir?
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Speaker 6: Who are you to say?
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Speaker 10: What's foul?
00:18:44
Speaker 3: You parded them through town?
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Speaker 10: What are to see you think?
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Speaker 16: My men?
00:18:50
Speaker 10: Cosine wouldn't tell me of your comings and goings.
00:18:54
Speaker 6: I have eyes all our brother city loves.
00:18:58
Speaker 2: You don't realize what a power enemy you've made here today.
00:19:01
Speaker 14: Lot, Now don't make us ask again and over your
00:19:09
Speaker 14: pretty guests.
00:19:12
Speaker 1: Lot's stomach turned as the man grabbed himself in a
00:19:15
Speaker 1: vile gesture. There was no mistaking his intentions with Lot's guests.
00:19:20
Speaker 3: Look, look, I have two daughters, virgins. I'll hand them
00:19:24
Speaker 3: over to you instead, but you'll not take the name.
00:19:28
Speaker 3: They are my guests and therefore, under my protection cannot
00:19:34
Speaker 3: mean to violate their rights. Has madness taken you over?
00:19:38
Speaker 16: Yeah, auret of my word? Of course you claim guest rights.
00:19:46
Speaker 16: You're always hiding under the protection of.
00:19:49
Speaker 6: Proprid to you, the lie, the image of honor.
00:19:54
Speaker 2: Is everything You've flount around like a host when you're
00:19:59
Speaker 2: a mere thorough in our land.
00:20:02
Speaker 10: You can play it.
00:20:03
Speaker 2: Being a judge all evans, but you'll always be even outside.
00:20:08
Speaker 3: We should take him too.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: I like that plan initiation if you will make him
00:20:18
Speaker 2: arry of Sandomites, Lots.
00:20:21
Speaker 13: If you don't get it, I'll have my men rape
00:20:26
Speaker 13: you two eh when they had their film, I'll kill
00:20:30
Speaker 13: you myself.
00:20:33
Speaker 1: The wood of the door was immediately met with the
00:20:35
Speaker 1: dull funk of the blade of a dagger, followed by
00:20:38
Speaker 1: two pairs of fists. Terror shot through Lot's slims and
00:20:42
Speaker 1: his vision narrowed to a point. He could hear Durak
00:20:45
Speaker 1: struggling to remove his blade from the soft wood of
00:20:47
Speaker 1: the door as he shouted for more men to join him.
00:20:51
Speaker 1: Lot could see the light of torches from the street
00:20:53
Speaker 1: through the cracks in the door, and hear more men
00:20:56
Speaker 1: joining him. Their bloodlust whipped into a frenzy to the
00:21:00
Speaker 1: edge of Durak's blade appeared in the door crack by
00:21:03
Speaker 1: the frame and began to pry it open. To Lot's
00:21:06
Speaker 1: further dismay, Calculated fingers began to claw their way into
00:21:10
Speaker 1: the opening, and the door strained against its lock, groaning
00:21:13
Speaker 1: and whining at the force he wasn't dealing with men
00:21:16
Speaker 1: but animals. Regret cascaded into Lots. He should have known
00:21:21
Speaker 1: better than to make his home in a wall's den.
00:21:24
Speaker 1: The crazed men would soon have their hands on Lot
00:21:27
Speaker 1: and would surely drag him into the street to his
00:21:30
Speaker 1: death or worse. Gasping for air, Lots squeezed his eyes
00:21:34
Speaker 1: shut as he struggled in vain against the door's movement
00:21:37
Speaker 1: behind him. Every second he was losing ground. He felt
00:21:41
Speaker 1: the door go slack for a moment while the men
00:21:43
Speaker 1: outside pulled back to gather their strength to surely strike
00:21:47
Speaker 1: the door and serve the final death blow to both
00:21:49
Speaker 1: the lock and the door.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: This is it, and this is where I die. Being
00:21:55
Speaker 3: captive to a psychotic king seems like paradise to the
00:22:00
Speaker 3: horrors awaiting me.
00:22:02
Speaker 1: Just then Lot felt a pair of strong, sure hands
00:22:06
Speaker 1: grasped his shoulders and hurl him aside. His eyes snapped open,
00:22:11
Speaker 1: and he saw that his guests had stepped in and
00:22:13
Speaker 1: secured the door themselves. Lot couldn't believe his eyes. They
00:22:18
Speaker 1: had shoved it shut, and somehow the lock was holding fast,
00:22:22
Speaker 1: as if the massive stress it had just undergone had
00:22:25
Speaker 1: never happened. One of them threw a hand in the
00:22:28
Speaker 1: air and pulled down forcefully. As his hand soared down
00:22:32
Speaker 1: to his side, a blinding light illuminated the street behind
00:22:35
Speaker 1: the door. The light that refracted through the door frame
00:22:39
Speaker 1: and the front windows was brighter than even the sun.
00:22:42
Speaker 1: At it Zeneth Lot had to shield his eyes with
00:22:45
Speaker 1: his hand as light flooded into his entryway. The flash
00:22:49
Speaker 1: was gone as suddenly as the mysterious guest had summoned it.
00:22:52
Speaker 1: He heard the startled cries of the men outside.
00:22:55
Speaker 15: Why I heard?
00:22:57
Speaker 2: Had fled?
00:22:58
Speaker 6: What happened?
00:23:00
Speaker 3: Been blinded?
00:23:01
Speaker 11: Can you see anything?
00:23:02
Speaker 6: Well? Where is the daughter?
00:23:04
Speaker 13: Lot?
00:23:04
Speaker 6: What the dodos?
00:23:06
Speaker 2: What for an sacery?
00:23:09
Speaker 3: Is this fret?
00:23:10
Speaker 2: I think it's only here?
00:23:12
Speaker 15: Where are you?
00:23:13
Speaker 3: I'm here? Where?
00:23:16
Speaker 1: Lot gaped in amazement as the sounds of the knob
00:23:19
Speaker 1: faded away. In their blindness, they lost their bearings and
00:23:24
Speaker 1: were miraculously led away from the house. He then turned
00:23:27
Speaker 1: his attention to his two guests.
00:23:30
Speaker 15: What what was that?
00:23:32
Speaker 3: What happened?
00:23:34
Speaker 6: Listen to me?
00:23:35
Speaker 17: Laugh?
00:23:36
Speaker 6: Do you have any one else in the city, Your
00:23:39
Speaker 6: sons in law, other sons or daughters, any one else
00:23:42
Speaker 6: in the city who belonged to you?
00:23:45
Speaker 1: Lot was still in shock over what he had witnessed.
00:23:49
Speaker 1: He then noticed his wife and daughters were crouched in
00:23:52
Speaker 1: the stairway further inside their home. They had undoubtedly witnessed
00:23:56
Speaker 1: both the confrontation in the street and all that had
00:23:58
Speaker 1: come after. They looked equally bewildered.
00:24:02
Speaker 11: Lot, Listen, this is important. Who else in the city
00:24:06
Speaker 11: belongs to you?
00:24:07
Speaker 13: Ah?
00:24:08
Speaker 4: The girls is betrothed, ye, yes, yea.
00:24:13
Speaker 3: The two brothers who are promised to my daughters and
00:24:16
Speaker 3: their families.
00:24:18
Speaker 6: You need to go get them right now. You need
00:24:21
Speaker 6: to convince them to leave this place.
00:24:24
Speaker 11: Yes, you and those who belonged to you, we need
00:24:27
Speaker 11: to get out of the city.
00:24:29
Speaker 6: The evil and vile atrocities have caused a great outcry
00:24:34
Speaker 6: against its people.
00:24:36
Speaker 11: It has become so great before the God Almighty that
00:24:40
Speaker 11: he has sent us to destroy it.
00:24:42
Speaker 4: Destroy it.
00:24:44
Speaker 6: Yes, the city, the city will be destroyed.
00:24:49
Speaker 1: Lot's mouth was still hanging open in disbelief as he
00:24:52
Speaker 1: absorbed the men's words, the power they wielded, the certainty
00:24:56
Speaker 1: with which they spoke. Lot didn't know many things at
00:25:00
Speaker 1: that moment, but one thing he knew for sure. These
00:25:03
Speaker 1: were not men. They were messengers of God Almighty, sent
00:25:08
Speaker 1: here to exact judgment upon Lot's home. The adrenaline from
00:25:12
Speaker 1: the confrontation still pulsed through his veins as he grappled
00:25:16
Speaker 1: with this new information. He gaped at the other worldly
00:25:20
Speaker 1: messengers standing in his entryway as he again slumped to
00:25:24
Speaker 1: the ground.
00:25:26
Speaker 4: Lot, what are you going to do?
00:25:28
Speaker 3: I I think I must go. I must go to
00:25:31
Speaker 3: our sons in laws of arm In Lovin have gott
00:25:33
Speaker 3: to warn them.
00:25:35
Speaker 4: Please, Father, go and warn them, tell them what they
00:25:38
Speaker 4: must do.
00:25:39
Speaker 2: Tell them to come to us.
00:25:41
Speaker 1: One of the visitors approached Lot and offered him a
00:25:44
Speaker 1: hand and pulled him to his feet. The other similarly
00:25:47
Speaker 1: helped his daughters and wife.
00:25:49
Speaker 17: Stand, you should go now. We would see you after safety,
00:25:55
Speaker 17: and as soon as we do that, we can get
00:25:58
Speaker 17: to our task.
00:26:00
Speaker 11: Yes, we would not delay the hour of judgment a
00:26:03
Speaker 11: moment longer than we need to. The vile corruption he
00:26:06
Speaker 11: of his flower and the rot is all consuming.
00:26:10
Speaker 1: The visitor who helped Lot to his feet ushered him
00:26:13
Speaker 1: towards the door and opened it. Lot then stumbled into
00:26:17
Speaker 1: the street beyond his front door and made his way
00:26:20
Speaker 1: toward the household of his sons in law. Lot stumbled
00:26:24
Speaker 1: through the streets of Sodom to his son in law's house,
00:26:27
Speaker 1: Durac and his angry mob mercifully had been led astray.
00:26:31
Speaker 1: He forced himself to repeat the stranger's words in his
00:26:34
Speaker 1: head over and over. Destroy. They were going to destroy
00:26:39
Speaker 1: the city. Everything he worked so hard to build rebuild
00:26:44
Speaker 1: was going to be taken away from him again. But
00:26:48
Speaker 1: he would be under their protection. He was being given
00:26:51
Speaker 1: a way out. This wasn't like the last time strangers
00:26:55
Speaker 1: hell bent on destruction had come to Sodom. This time
00:26:59
Speaker 1: would be different.
00:27:00
Speaker 3: Zaran, Lavin, Jetharin, everybody.
00:27:05
Speaker 1: Despite the late hour, Lot pounded on the front door
00:27:08
Speaker 1: and his son in law's house.
00:27:09
Speaker 3: But what is the meaning of this?
00:27:12
Speaker 2: The hour is late.
00:27:14
Speaker 11: Our father is already in bed.
00:27:16
Speaker 3: Oh, my sons, My son's listening to me. This is important.
00:27:19
Speaker 3: We need to leave the city right away. I've just
00:27:22
Speaker 3: gotten word that the god of my uncle Abraham is
00:27:25
Speaker 3: going to destroy the city.
00:27:29
Speaker 2: A god has come to speak to you.
00:27:32
Speaker 3: Who do you think you are an oracle? You can
00:27:35
Speaker 3: see the future now?
00:27:38
Speaker 2: Either that or he's drunk sleeping up. Old man.
00:27:42
Speaker 3: Oh, no, what I'm telling you is true. You have
00:27:45
Speaker 3: no idea what I've seen, Oh the things I've seen.
00:27:49
Speaker 3: What these men are capable of get your belongings. We
00:27:53
Speaker 3: need to get up and leave the city as soon
00:27:54
Speaker 3: as we can.
00:27:56
Speaker 2: This is a bore.
00:27:58
Speaker 1: I'm going back to bed.
00:28:00
Speaker 3: Come now. How many cups of wine have you had?
00:28:05
Speaker 14: Or is it the spirits brood in the high temples
00:28:07
Speaker 14: that have you hallucinating like this?
00:28:10
Speaker 9: What?
00:28:11
Speaker 3: No, No, I'm sober and I'm telling you the truth.
00:28:15
Speaker 3: Wake your father and mother, Wake the whole house. We
00:28:18
Speaker 3: need to leave.
00:28:20
Speaker 1: Lot watched as the brothers exchanged long glances, assessing what
00:28:25
Speaker 1: to do with him. Lot hardly blame them. He could
00:28:29
Speaker 1: only imagine how deranged he appeared and sounded, banging on
00:28:32
Speaker 1: their door in the middle of the night and shouting
00:28:34
Speaker 1: promontory nonsense.
00:28:37
Speaker 3: Lot, We're not doing that, crazy old goat. You need
00:28:45
Speaker 3: to get home.
00:28:45
Speaker 12: Lot.
00:28:47
Speaker 14: Out of respect for you as our future father in law,
00:28:49
Speaker 14: we'll turn a blind eye to this outburst. But I
00:28:53
Speaker 14: know I speak for Lave and when I say, I
00:28:56
Speaker 14: hope this will not happen again.
00:28:58
Speaker 1: With that, they slammed the or in his face. Lot
00:29:02
Speaker 1: was dismayed. What was he going to do now he
00:29:05
Speaker 1: had failed his daughters, not to mention men who at
00:29:08
Speaker 1: once respected him, thought he was losing his grip on reality.
00:29:12
Speaker 1: They had not even offered to walk him home. They
00:29:15
Speaker 1: couldn't be bothered. Lot knew it was the least of
00:29:18
Speaker 1: his worries, but that was indeed a blow. He had
00:29:21
Speaker 1: risen up the ranks in this town, only to be
00:29:23
Speaker 1: treated like a pariah. Lot stewed in his thoughts all
00:29:27
Speaker 1: the way home. Just as the night sky was beginning
00:29:30
Speaker 1: to lighten, he found his wife and daughters being conjoled
00:29:34
Speaker 1: around into packing and gathering their things by the two visitors.
00:29:38
Speaker 11: Lots, have you told those in your family to leave?
00:29:42
Speaker 6: Your wife and daughter are almost ready here.
00:29:46
Speaker 12: You need to leave now, take.
00:29:49
Speaker 6: Your wife and your daughters, or you will be swept
00:29:52
Speaker 6: away in the punishment of the city.
00:29:55
Speaker 1: Despite all Lot had seen earlier that night, with the
00:29:59
Speaker 1: mob and the blinding, and even all the acts of
00:30:02
Speaker 1: Abraham's God in the years since they left Haron, he hesitated.
00:30:06
Speaker 1: His wife and daughters were in their traveling clothes, supplies
00:30:10
Speaker 1: and packs slung over their shoulders and in their arms.
00:30:13
Speaker 1: The reality of the situation was right before his very eyes.
00:30:16
Speaker 1: But yet Lot hesitated. He thought of all he had
00:30:20
Speaker 1: won and lost and won again. He thought of the
00:30:23
Speaker 1: horrors he had faced and the life he had built here.
00:30:27
Speaker 1: Could he really leave it all behind because of a
00:30:30
Speaker 1: single night of panic. What would his peers or even
00:30:33
Speaker 1: his enemies say if he ran like a coward in
00:30:35
Speaker 1: the night. What if all of this was a misunderstanding,
00:30:39
Speaker 1: or perhaps something could be worked out. Surely Sodom was
00:30:43
Speaker 1: not so violent as to warrant total destruction. The visitors
00:30:47
Speaker 1: watched his silent calculation, and as if in response, they
00:30:52
Speaker 1: swooped upon him, grabbing his hands and dragging him from
00:30:57
Speaker 1: the threshold of their home into the streets the sitting.
00:31:08
Speaker 8: What a dark story, unsettling and profoundly sorrow unsettling and
00:31:16
Speaker 8: profoundly sorrowful, and was. Perhaps the most disturbing part of
00:31:20
Speaker 8: the entire story is the quiet, nearly imperceptible way that
00:31:27
Speaker 8: evil crept into Lot's family, distorting their values and warping
00:31:33
Speaker 8: their sense of right and wrong. The angel's visit feels
00:31:37
Speaker 8: like elastic divine effort at redemption, a desperate attempt to
00:31:43
Speaker 8: pull Lot and his kin from the quicksand of corruption.
00:31:48
Speaker 8: But Lot and his family were already compromised long before
00:31:52
Speaker 8: the final night. This slow burning tragedy speaks volumes about
00:31:57
Speaker 8: the human condition. Are soet receptibility to the world's influence
00:32:02
Speaker 8: and the slow and silent erosion of our moral compass.
00:32:07
Speaker 8: Because this didn't happen overnight. There were no flashing neon
00:32:12
Speaker 8: signs or blaring alarms to signal their descent into moral
00:32:15
Speaker 8: ambiguity instead, and it was a series of small compromises,
00:32:21
Speaker 8: little concessions made in the name of survival or comfort
00:32:25
Speaker 8: eventually that led to a profound loss of integrity and identity.
00:32:34
Speaker 8: It's easy to judge Sidom, to point fingers at its
00:32:37
Speaker 8: overt depravity, and to feel a sense of righteous indignation.
00:32:43
Speaker 8: But today's story forces us to confront a more uncomfortable truth,
00:32:48
Speaker 8: our own imperfection. How often do we allow the world
00:32:54
Speaker 8: around us to shape our thoughts, our actions, and our opinions.
00:32:59
Speaker 8: Where made compromises, let down our guard and allowed the
00:33:03
Speaker 8: values of a broken society to infiltrate our hearts and minds.
00:33:08
Speaker 8: Look's story is a somber reminder that we are all
00:33:13
Speaker 8: susceptible to our environment's subtle, corrosive influence. It's a call
00:33:18
Speaker 8: to vigilance, to self examination, and to a relentless pursuit
00:33:23
Speaker 8: of integrity, even when the world around us seems irredeemable,
00:33:30
Speaker 8: and it makes me wonder, how do we protect our
00:33:33
Speaker 8: souls in such a world? How do we stay true
00:33:37
Speaker 8: to our values when everything around us is telling us
00:33:42
Speaker 8: not to. Let's look a little deeper and try to
00:33:46
Speaker 8: find some answers. If we look at the Hebrew text,
00:33:49
Speaker 8: we see something really interesting. Genesis nineteen fifteen to sixteen
00:33:54
Speaker 8: reads as follows. As morning dawn, the angels urge look saying, up,
00:34:01
Speaker 8: take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
00:34:03
Speaker 8: lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.
00:34:07
Speaker 8: But he lingered. So the men seized him and his
00:34:11
Speaker 8: wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord
00:34:14
Speaker 8: being merciful to him, and they brought him out and
00:34:16
Speaker 8: sent him outside the city. Did you hear those three
00:34:20
Speaker 8: words that are really important in this conversation? That phrase,
00:34:26
Speaker 8: but he lingered is critical to understand what happened here.
00:34:32
Speaker 8: In the original Hebrew, it's marked with a special symbol
00:34:36
Speaker 8: that we only find four times in the entire Torah.
00:34:41
Speaker 8: It's called a shalischellet. It's a musical note, a wavering
00:34:46
Speaker 8: sound between two notes in a musical number. In each
00:34:51
Speaker 8: of the four times we find the shalichellet. In the Torah,
00:34:55
Speaker 8: we find someone hesitating in their actions, just like Loa
00:34:59
Speaker 8: did in this story. The wavering sound of the shall
00:35:03
Speaker 8: shelle it captures loots internal conflict. The lingering sound in
00:35:09
Speaker 8: the air mirrors loots ambivalence. Lots hesitation wasn't just a pause.
00:35:16
Speaker 8: It was a profound back and forth struggle deep down
00:35:21
Speaker 8: in his soul. Look was torn. On one hand, he
00:35:26
Speaker 8: had built a life in Sedame, with all of its
00:35:28
Speaker 8: comforts and corruptions, and on the other hand, he kneved
00:35:33
Speaker 8: the looming judgment and God's call to leave everything behind.
00:35:38
Speaker 8: It's hard to admit it, but aren't we often a
00:35:41
Speaker 8: lout like look, hesitant, caught in the middle, like a
00:35:47
Speaker 8: shall shellet, that sound, caught in the tension between what
00:35:51
Speaker 8: we want to do and what we should do, what
00:35:55
Speaker 8: we are already comfortable in, and what we know we
00:35:58
Speaker 8: should change. But why would Lot hesitate, you might ask.
00:36:05
Speaker 8: The entire city's about to go up in fire and brimstone.
00:36:09
Speaker 8: It's about to be obliterated. Lot knows that. Why wouldn't
00:36:14
Speaker 8: he just leave? Jewish commentaries through the century say that
00:36:20
Speaker 8: Lout wanted to save his wealth. They wanted to save
00:36:24
Speaker 8: his material possessions, which lay in his home and Sedome.
00:36:28
Speaker 8: You see, despite the influence of his uncle Abraham, Lot
00:36:32
Speaker 8: was never comfortable with Abraham's priorities. Abraham put life and
00:36:37
Speaker 8: family first, Loot put comfort and wealth first. Well, we
00:36:43
Speaker 8: see in the scriptures that Lot does escape at the
00:36:46
Speaker 8: very last minute, but not before his story shows us
00:36:49
Speaker 8: the stark difference between these two outlooks on life, Lots
00:36:55
Speaker 8: or Abraham's. We have to choose two wavered like the
00:37:01
Speaker 8: shall shell it note or Abraham, who wasn't perfect and
00:37:04
Speaker 8: who made dire mistakes, but who always followed God's call
00:37:09
Speaker 8: with an unwavering faith, a faith that he would pass
00:37:14
Speaker 8: down to the chosen people. And that's the thing about
00:37:19
Speaker 8: God's word, even in dark stories such as these slivers
00:37:24
Speaker 8: of Light breakthrough. And that's the thing about God's word,
00:37:29
Speaker 8: even in dark stories such as these Slivers of Light Breakthrough.
00:37:35
Speaker 8: Let's turn to Bishop Laneer to shed a bit of
00:37:38
Speaker 8: light on this story.
00:37:40
Speaker 15: Well, we're now entering one of the darkest portions of
00:37:44
Speaker 15: scripture to be found anywhere in the Bible, and the
00:37:48
Speaker 15: central character of this plot is none other than Lot.
00:37:55
Speaker 15: That's fine, The nephew of Abraham. You can't help but
00:38:00
Speaker 15: think of that moment when God called the Abraham, and
00:38:04
Speaker 15: one of the stipulations was Abraham, leave your family behind,
00:38:10
Speaker 15: And yet he brings Lot, his nephew with him. Now,
00:38:16
Speaker 15: of course, I realize that in the Christian scriptures there
00:38:19
Speaker 15: is that reference that if a man dies, that it
00:38:23
Speaker 15: is his brother's responsibility to inherit that family and to
00:38:28
Speaker 15: raise them as his own. I don't know if that's
00:38:31
Speaker 15: at work, that's at play here, I don't know. I
00:38:35
Speaker 15: do know this, there's never a moment in this situation
00:38:38
Speaker 15: where a Lot ever brings value to Abraham's life. In fact,
00:38:46
Speaker 15: Lot is continuously perpetually a dishonoring force in Abraham's life,
00:38:55
Speaker 15: and God will not honor a dishonoring person.
00:39:01
Speaker 6: Or people.
00:39:03
Speaker 15: He must have been the most failed family man to
00:39:09
Speaker 15: be found in the Bible. I think of that David,
00:39:13
Speaker 15: who had to be the worst father. I mean, consider
00:39:17
Speaker 15: the sons and the daughters that were continuously rising in
00:39:20
Speaker 15: rebellion and contention and dissension within the family, until ultimately
00:39:25
Speaker 15: one of his own sons, Absalom, organizes an army to
00:39:29
Speaker 15: kill his father, the king.
00:39:33
Speaker 6: David.
00:39:35
Speaker 15: But where was David supposed to learn family life. Please,
00:39:39
Speaker 15: we don't even know who his mother was. His father, Jesse,
00:39:44
Speaker 15: never really believed in him. His brothers minimized him. Oddly enough,
00:39:50
Speaker 15: it was not until Bathsheba and Solomon meaning wisdom that
00:39:57
Speaker 15: David began to understand little bit more. And He's spent
00:40:02
Speaker 15: some of the final seasons of his life finding and
00:40:07
Speaker 15: accumulating and gathering those essential things that his son Solomon
00:40:13
Speaker 15: might need to build, to erect, to construct and present
00:40:20
Speaker 15: unto God this extraordinary, sophisticated, glorious temple. But this Lot,
00:40:30
Speaker 15: this Lot. Can I tell you I have a problem.
00:40:36
Speaker 15: I'm a Christian. I look to the New Testament, and
00:40:39
Speaker 15: there's actually a verse in there that refers to Lot as.
00:40:46
Speaker 11: Righteous.
00:40:48
Speaker 15: Now I bow myself humbly, completely immediately to the scriptures.
00:40:54
Speaker 15: But I'm telling you, in my own sense of reasoning,
00:40:58
Speaker 15: I can't find one thing in the life of Lot
00:41:03
Speaker 15: that's remotely righteous. He's sitting at the gate when those
00:41:08
Speaker 15: two angelic beings who had left Abraham and the other
00:41:13
Speaker 15: and those two angelic beings have arrived to Sodom, and
00:41:17
Speaker 15: there is Lot sitting at the gate, more like at
00:41:20
Speaker 15: the town hall. Listening, watching, discerning, navigating, and all of
00:41:26
Speaker 15: a sudden he looks up and with the discernment he
00:41:30
Speaker 15: probably got from his uncle Abraham, like every other good
00:41:34
Speaker 15: thing in Lot's life, he realizes, we've got a problem.
00:41:40
Speaker 15: Holiness just entered the city and this is not a
00:41:44
Speaker 15: holy city. So he rushes, and you can almost feel
00:41:48
Speaker 15: the panic and the hectic sense in his life. And
00:41:53
Speaker 15: he looks at them, and I can hear him say,
00:41:56
Speaker 15: what are you doing here? I've got to get you
00:41:59
Speaker 15: out of this space. This is not good. You'll come
00:42:03
Speaker 15: home with me. You'll go into my house and we
00:42:06
Speaker 15: will wash your feet, we will prepare a meal. You
00:42:10
Speaker 15: can sleep in our beds, and the next morning early
00:42:14
Speaker 15: you can get out of here and everything.
00:42:16
Speaker 11: Will be fine.
00:42:17
Speaker 15: Why was Lots so panicked? Where we had learned earlier
00:42:22
Speaker 15: that one of the beings said to Abraham, the stench
00:42:25
Speaker 15: of sin in that city has already reached heaven, and
00:42:30
Speaker 15: we've come to deal with it. You know, there there
00:42:33
Speaker 15: are neighborhoods and cities, even nations, who have lost themselves
00:42:37
Speaker 15: to darkness, to debauchery, and this sodom and Gomara is
00:42:44
Speaker 15: one such place. A Lot brings them into his house,
00:42:50
Speaker 15: and it doesn't take long before some of the residents
00:42:52
Speaker 15: who have watched them into his space began pounding on
00:42:57
Speaker 15: the doors and demanding saw visitors come into this city.
00:43:02
Speaker 15: Open your doors and let us in, and let us
00:43:06
Speaker 15: have those visitors to ourselves, that we can have sexual
00:43:12
Speaker 15: relations with them. And Lot says, no, you can't have
00:43:18
Speaker 15: these men. Look, look, I have daughters. They're virgins, they've
00:43:23
Speaker 15: never been touched by a man. I'll give them to you,
00:43:28
Speaker 15: and you do with him whatever you want to do. Please,
00:43:34
Speaker 15: can someone tell me how a father, I don't care
00:43:38
Speaker 15: the circumstance, could say I will sacrifice my own virgin daughters.
00:43:45
Speaker 15: And it becomes unnecessary for a Lot to sacrifice his
00:43:49
Speaker 15: daughters because these angelic beings have the power to blind
00:43:54
Speaker 15: these men who are obsessed and already blinded. And these
00:43:59
Speaker 15: angelic beings say to Lot, judgment has come.
00:44:04
Speaker 6: To this city.
00:44:05
Speaker 15: Now used talk to your family, you prepare them, you
00:44:10
Speaker 15: get your things together, and we have come to help
00:44:13
Speaker 15: you escape. We are your arc and you're going to
00:44:19
Speaker 15: miss the flood if you get in the boat. Now,
00:44:27
Speaker 15: this Lot, this Lot, this dishonoring lot, you remember the
00:44:40
Speaker 15: blessings of God upon Lot's life had nothing to do
00:44:42
Speaker 15: with a conversation from God to Lot. This's never a
00:44:46
Speaker 15: moment of a divine dialogue with Heaven. In Lot's life,
00:44:50
Speaker 15: He's prospered, he's multiplied, he's increased, he's privileged simply because
00:44:56
Speaker 15: he's related to Abraham. And the blessing began to expand
00:45:01
Speaker 15: and extend. It became a point of contention between Lot
00:45:05
Speaker 15: and his servants. Humility would have said, hey, listen, I
00:45:09
Speaker 15: wouldn't have anything in my life if it weren't for
00:45:13
Speaker 15: my uncle. So there's not going to be any arguing
00:45:16
Speaker 15: or bickering or debating. Whatever belongs to my uncle belongs
00:45:21
Speaker 15: to my uncle. And I will even seed my blessings
00:45:24
Speaker 15: into hum There'll be no arguing between our servants. When
00:45:29
Speaker 15: it came to choosing the land, Humility would have said,
00:45:33
Speaker 15: choose the land. I don't have a place to lay
00:45:36
Speaker 15: my head unless my uncle provides for me. So no, Uncle, Abraham,
00:45:43
Speaker 15: you choose what's right for you.
00:45:46
Speaker 5: But he didn't do that.
00:45:48
Speaker 15: He's kidnapped, and when he's returned, I don't remember seeing
00:45:51
Speaker 15: anything about Lot ever being grateful for his rescue, and
00:45:59
Speaker 15: he just sits at the gate and tried to rush
00:46:04
Speaker 15: the angels away, and stood at the doorway negotiating away
00:46:09
Speaker 15: his virgin daughters. And he couldn't even influence his sons
00:46:14
Speaker 15: or sons in law to leave that city against the judgment.
00:46:20
Speaker 15: And when the angels are leading them out, he hesitates,
00:46:25
Speaker 15: and his wife turns and looks the other way. His
00:46:29
Speaker 15: daughters end up using him to impregnate themselves. This is
00:46:34
Speaker 15: a failed family man. And that's all I'm going to
00:46:38
Speaker 15: say in this section. Right now, this is a bad situation.
00:46:42
Speaker 15: This is as dark as you get. But hear me,
00:46:47
Speaker 15: there's a lot of us who've made horrible mistakes. Maybe
00:46:51
Speaker 15: you have. Maybe your family is in trouble because you
00:46:56
Speaker 15: said the wrong thing, you went the wrong place, you
00:46:58
Speaker 15: had the wrong relationationship, and right now you're in a crisis.
00:47:02
Speaker 15: I'm telling you, I'm convinced God will dispatch his mercies,
00:47:08
Speaker 15: his love and angelic force to find a way to
00:47:12
Speaker 15: take you from the darkness and to lead you to
00:47:17
Speaker 15: that place of redemption. I declare it by God.
00:47:22
Speaker 1: Amen.
00:47:25
Speaker 8: I want to end by talking about Abraham's view from
00:47:29
Speaker 8: above Sidome. He sees the carnage from a distance, thinking
00:47:34
Speaker 8: that his prayers to God have gone unanswered. Each year,
00:47:38
Speaker 8: I have the privilege of standing before the ancient stones
00:47:41
Speaker 8: of the Hotel the Western Wall in the Old City
00:47:43
Speaker 8: of Jerusalem, the privilege of bringing the prayers of the
00:47:47
Speaker 8: Fellowship's friends and supporters to this holiest place in the world,
00:47:52
Speaker 8: of adding the prayers of my faithful friends today to
00:47:56
Speaker 8: the prayers of generations which came before us. Read a
00:48:00
Speaker 8: few psalms, David's timeless words resonating deep within my soul,
00:48:05
Speaker 8: And then I take these prayers, your prayers to God.
00:48:11
Speaker 8: I think of the countless times I've prayed for those
00:48:13
Speaker 8: in dire need. Often God answers with the resounding yes,
00:48:18
Speaker 8: but sometimes the response is silence. When our prayers go
00:48:22
Speaker 8: what feels like unanswered, it can shake the very foundations
00:48:27
Speaker 8: of our faith. We find ourselves questioning is God even listening?
00:48:34
Speaker 8: When we find ourselves asking if God is listening, Let's
00:48:37
Speaker 8: try to remember Abraham, a man of profound faith facing
00:48:42
Speaker 8: a heart wrenching situation. He had pleaded with God to
00:48:48
Speaker 8: spare Sadom and Gamara, only to rise the next morning
00:48:51
Speaker 8: and see smoke ascending from the city's ruins. Abraham's prayers,
00:48:57
Speaker 8: it seemed, had gone on answer God's answer had been no.
00:49:03
Speaker 8: But Abraham doesn't rage against God or even challenge his will.
00:49:09
Speaker 8: There is no crisis of faith, no wavering in his devotion.
00:49:14
Speaker 8: Despite his fervent prayers. Abraham's faith remains unshaken, steadfast, even loyal,
00:49:23
Speaker 8: in the face of apparent silence. And then the Bible
00:49:28
Speaker 8: tells us that God remembered Abraham and saved his nephew Lot.
00:49:36
Speaker 8: Let's all remember that God remembers us too, that he
00:49:40
Speaker 8: hears our prayers, and he has plans to bless us
00:49:44
Speaker 8: even when we think his answer is no. So I'll
00:49:48
Speaker 8: leave you with this blessing IV Hashem vischmerchra Yeah her
00:49:55
Speaker 8: Hashem panave e y sa Hashem.
00:50:02
Speaker 1: Salon.
00:50:03
Speaker 8: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the
00:50:05
Speaker 8: Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be
00:50:08
Speaker 8: gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards
00:50:12
Speaker 8: you and give you peace.
00:50:14
Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Eckstein
00:50:18
Speaker 1: add free by downloading and subscribing to the prey dot
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Speaker 1: Com app today. This Prey dog comproduction is only made
00:50:25
Speaker 1: possible by our dedicated team of creative talents, Steve Gattina,
00:50:30
Speaker 1: Max bard Zach Shellabarger and Ben Gammon are the executive
00:50:34
Speaker 1: producers of The Chosen People with Yiel Eckstein, Edited by
00:50:38
Speaker 1: Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by
00:50:43
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold,
00:50:48
Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradoc and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore.
00:50:52
Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Bree Rosalie and
00:50:56
Speaker 1: Aaron Salvato. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinia, Robin van Ettin,
00:51:01
Speaker 1: kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, and the team at International Fellowship
00:51:05
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