Luke 17: How the ‘days of Lot’ prepare us for the Day of the LORD

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The Torah reading Vayera (“and He appeared,” Genesis 18–22) aptly describes how the Creator of the Heavens and Earth shows up “in the fullness of time.”

We will see messianic parallels between the “days of Lot” in Sodom, the “days of Noah” and the Day of the LORD preceding the return of Yeshua (Jesus), the Son of Man (Matthew 24; Luke 17).

In Vayera, we see how Abraham and his son Yitzkhak (Isaac), the promised one, trust in God’s promise. In Hebrews 11, we learn that Abraham’s trust was not only in the LORD the promiser but also in the LORD as resurrector. 

We will also see how Abraham has a very eventful lunch date with the Lord and intercedes for Sodom. God never sends judgement without knowing the intricacies of what is going on. We can learn from Abraham’s righteous example and pray for God’s mercy and deliverance for the righteous who live in the most wicked cities. Because of Abraham’s righteous prayer, Lot and his family were saved from the judgement the rest of Sodom reaped. 

When Abraham offered up his “only son” we see that God not only “shows up” at our time of need but that the Lord is prepared to pay the “ultimate price” while we were “yet sinners.” God’s salvation comes with a very steep price. 

Sodom Inc. weighed and sealed

In Genesis 18:16–19:38, Sodom was “weighed in the balance and found lacking,” to borrow words prophet Daniel interpreted about another evil kingdom. Abraham and God bargain over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is one of the most consequential bargains in history. 

We learned in the last lesson that Lot “pitched his tent towards Sodom” and eventually moved right into Sodom. Yet Lot maintained his dignity and was distinguishable from the other citizens of Sodom. 

““And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26–29 NASB)

Days of Noah = Days of the LORD

Building on what we studied in Parashat (Torah passage) Noach, we will see that Yeshua and later the Apostle Peter both compare the time of the end to the time of Noah and even the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. One pattern they noted was that how unexpected both the flood and the fires of Sodom were. When your community is under stress, that stress will test and reveal the truth under the veneer. 

The description of eating, drinking, buying, selling, plating, building and marrying suggests an obliviousness to the conditions of the world around them. The people were oblivious to the impending judgment. 

Are we so consumed with the busyness of modern life and squabbling over trivialities that we have become a part of the world? 

Why are we going over this again? When God repeats something, it’s because God wants us to make note and pay attention. It means that God is establishing something. 

When we die, that is our Day of the LORD because when we die the next thing we will experience is judgement. 

If we stumble in life, are we learning from those stumbles? When God tests us, do we try to cram for the test to pass by the skin of our teeth or do we study God’s word regularly so that we are prepare to pass the tests He puts on us? 

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.” (2Peter 1:2–7 NASB)

When we partake of the divine nature, and “be righteous in our generation” it means we reveal God’s character to those around us. God puts us with our nonsense for a long period of time and we can do the same for those around us. 

I would recommend strongly that you memorize this passage from apostle Ya’akov (James): 

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4 NASB)

The wisdom James longed for is a stark contrast to the Nephalim or “Fallen ones” and those whose yetzerim (intentions) were saturated in wickedness. 

Are we training ourselves to be complete and walking with God as Enoch, Noach and Abram did? 

God has seen fit to reveal to us truths, history and insights and hindsight that our forefathers only received in glimpses and promises. What are we doing with it? We are without excuse. 

Are we going to be scared of the big, evil people? We need a proper perspective in who really is in control. 

What sort of people should we be? Peter tells us that we should be holy in conduct and obedience to God. 

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (2Peter 3:11–13 NASB)

One key thing that is very challenging to overcome is something called “normalcy bias.” When something terrible happens, our default response, unless you are trained to overcome it, is to freeze and to do nothing. That frozenness can lead to a very bad place. 

““And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. “On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. “Remember Lot’s wife. “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. “I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. “There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. [“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”] And answering they *said to Him, “Where, Lord?” And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”” (Luke 17:26–37 NASB)

Is it better to be taken or left behind?

““Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate,” Declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones. It will come about in all the land,” Declares the LORD, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”” (Zechariah 13:7–9 NASB)

There is a messianic prophesy wrapped in this text but we are also shown that there will come a time when the leadership will be tested and the sheep will be left to wander. Yeshua was sent to the “lost sheep of Israel” because the shepherd had led the people astray. They were not teaching the truth about God. They were left to their own devises to try to walk in the truth. 

The Messianic prophesy here is that the shepherd who was struck down was the Messiah Yeshua and the fleeing sheep were the 11 remaining apostles after Yeshua’s arrest. 

There’s a “now and not yet” element to this prophesy. There was a time of testing in the lead-up and after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but that would pale to that pallor that will come with the Day of the Lord. What happened in AD 70 was a harbinger of the Day of the LORD. 

“Behold, a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.” (Zechariah 14:1–2 NASB)

There are shades of A.D. 70 in this text, but we will see this again in the Day of the Lord. God’s people will appear to be utterly defeated and the forces of evil will appear to have the upper hand. What do we do when it looks like the side we are on is defeated, will we give up and fly the enemy’s flag? 

Yeshua spoke to people for whom the return from Babylon and the civil wars that came thereafter was relatively recent history. They remembered when Rome was brought in to keep the peace because their own people couldn’t get along and govern properly. 

Offer your son, your only son

There are many shadows of the Messiah in the binding of Isaac (Genesis 22), and this is also revealed in John 1; Rev. 5:8; 13:8. 

Chiasmus of John 1:1–18

A (1:1-2) 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God  (ὁ λόγος)

B (1:3)  All things came to be through him (δἰ αὐτοῦ)

C (1:4-5) this life was the light of the human race (ζωὴ)

D (1:6-7) John (Ἰωάννης)

E (1:8-9) The true light was coming into the world (κόσμον)

F (1:10-11) his own people did not accept him (παρέλαβον)

F’ (1:12-13) those who did accept him (ἔλαβον)

E’ (1:14) the Word became flesh (σὰρξ)

D’ (1:15) John (Ἰωάννης)

C’ (1:16) we have all received, grace in place of grace (χάριν)

B’ (1:17) grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ)

A’ (1:18) only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father (μονογενὴς)

Lessons from the chiasmus of this chapter¹ include these:

• Torah shows us God’s grace and favor.
• God heaped unlimited favor and blessing on Abram and his family to bring them to the Promised Land and to protect the line that His promised Seed would enter the world.
• The Law came through Moses, and God’s grace came through the Messiah.
• Moses and Messiah are not in conflict with each other. 

Banner Photo: XX-34 BADGER (yield 23 kt) – an atmospheric nuclear test performed by the U.S. on 18April 1953 as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole at the Nevada Test Site. (Photo taken in 1953 by the US Government in the public domain)

Summary: Tammy