24 Dec (Revelation 14)

Revelation 14

v.1 We see the Lamb again...this is Jesus! He is seen as He had been slain in Rev 5:6 by His Church, and was referenced as such by John the Baptist in John 1:29, 36 and here as the Savior of Israel and Mankind.

This is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to explain to our kids, but if we keep in mind that all the imagery is Jewish, and from the Old Testament, the types and images make much more sense. If we refer to Daniel 3 where Daniel's three friends were saved and "sealed" by Christ (a theophany), we see the typology coming to fruition. Daniel's friends (a type for Israel) were thrown into the great fire (Great Tribulation) while Daniel was away (the Church raptured). Jesus saved them as He does again in the last days!

v.3 Your kids may wonder why certain people or groups of people have their own special songs for the LORD, and no one else can learn them or sing them...they may think that God shows favoritism. First of all, all the saved in heaven have their own song...so there is no one left out. Secondly, we all have different experiences and means of salvation: The Jews in the Tribulation have a different experience than the Church before the Rapture. We sing to God about how He saved us from what we were experiencing.

v.4 The Tribulation saints, the sealed Jews during the Tribulation, are walking with God...the Lamb. Like the Church before them, they are seen as righteous because they are walking with the Son, and are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. John 1:29, 36

v.7 God gives mankind a "Last Call" before everyone's eternal fate is sealed...God is patient and kind, wishing for no one to go to hell. However, throughout all our lives, we have multiple instances to accept His love for us on the cross, so some choose salvation, and others choose damnation.

This reminds me of the famous C.S. Lewis quote:

In the end, there will be some who say to God, "Thy will be done" and others to whom God says in the end, "Thy will be done."

Each of us, individually, must choose to follow God or reject Him...our eternal destiny is not God's choosing, but ours! Choose wisely! This is important for our kids to understand, for during times of crisis, where natural disasters happen, and many people die, kids may wonder why God did that. He didn't create this world with sin and death...that was a result of Mankind's rejection of Him. However, God provided a way out of death for our souls...His Son, if we choose Him!

v.8 Babylon is where the beginning of mankind's open rebellion of God occurred...the Tower of Babel. Gen 11 All cults and false religions have roots in Babylon...God will rid the earth of this actual place (modern day Iraq) and also the spiritual Babylon.

v.11 It is important to teach our kids that hell is a real place...and it's forever. Hell is the absence of God, and eternal torment, knowing that pride brought them there.

v.14 Scholars debate who this person is...is it Jesus or an angel?

First of all, the wording is like the Son of Man...not THE Son of Man.

Secondly, if we look at what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 13, He says that He instructs the angels to reap. Matt 13:39

If this is confusing to your kids, what matters most is that God will separate His followers from the unbelievers...make sure you're in the right harvest pile!

9 Dec (Hebrews 5-7)

Hebrews 5

(v.1) Depending on the age of your kids, use discretion on describing the practice of killing and sacrificing animals for sin. With that said, God ordained and commanded this...why? To show the Jews (and all believers) that there is a cost for our sins.

This started in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve tried to clothe themselves from their shame, and God killed a lamb and gave them it's hide to wear to cover their sin. Gen 3:21

God later put it in writing by the pen of Moses, to offer animals as sacrifices for sin. These practices only "covered up" sin, but it took the blood of God Himself to wash away the sin! John 1:29

(v.8) It's hard for us to fathom that Jesus learned obedience, since He is God, a part of the Holy Trinity. But when He became man, He lived as we are to strive to live...in obedience to the Father, loving and serving others.

(v.14) When we are new to Christ, we only understand the basics. God is showing us that like a baby, we can only take easy to digest wisdom. Later, as we mature in Christ, we are to be hungry for more meat and solid food, so we can grow and understand God's character better.

Hebrews 6

(v.6) This is a difficult section of Scripture, for there are many opinions and theories about salvation. Some people (the Calvinists for example) believe that God called some people to salvation, and not others...there is no way of changing who He called...there is no way for those who weren't called to be saved.

Others, the Armenians, for example, believe the opposite. They believe that we can attain and lose our salvation at will...it's a daily struggle. This also means that what God sanctifies, can be changed by man.

In each case, both are correct, and both are false. Only God can save us, but He does wish for all of us to be saved. John 3:16

What I have learned from some great Bible teachers, is that what the author is saying here, is when we are saved but fall away, or go back to some sinful lifestyle that prevents us to grow in the LORD. This is key...we are still saved, but we are not walking or growing in the LORD. Only when we repent of that sinful lifestyle, can we again be walking with God, and having fellowship with Him.

Hebrews 7

(v.1) Here is an example of the translators creating chapter breaks incorrectly! Nonetheless, the important thing to show our kids, is that Melchizedek is really Jesus in the Old Testament...a theophany or Christophany! Abraham gave tithes to Mechizedek, and Melchizedek performed communion. Melchizedek had no beginning or end, and he was both a King and a Priest...unlike the roles for the sons of Judah and Levi. Gen 14:18-20

(v.25) Jesus is our King, but He's also our High Priest. Because of this, Jesus is able to save us from sin, and speak to the Father on our behalf.

(v.27) This is one of many verses that rebuke religions and churches that say that the communion actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus! No, He died once and for all, and we only take communion to remember what He did for us.

22 Jul (Zechariah 1-2)

The book of Zechariah is the most Messianic book of the Old Testament. In case your kids don't know what the word Messianic means, it means it describes the coming Messiah, or Savior...Jesus. Isaiah was the most quoted Messianic book of the OT, but Zechariah is the equivalent of Revelation in the Old Testament.

Zechariah 1

(v.1) Zechariah speaks of a time of repentance...the Day of the LORD. The names in Hebrew here are very telling:

Zechariah = Whom YHWH Remembers

Berechiah = YHWH Blesses

Iddo = The Appointed Time

So if we start from Zechariah's grandfather, and go through his father to himself, we get:

At the appointed time, YHWH blesses whom YHWH remembers.

God will remember His own...those who have faith and trust in Him. However, we must stress to our kids, that God loves all His creation, and He wishes for none to perish. 2 Peter 3:9

God is now dealing with Israel again in the last days...the Great Tribulation, for His Church, His Bride, is in heaven with Him!

(v.3) God pleads with us daily to Return to Me...this is the definition of repentance...to turn back to God and abandon our earthly, sinful ways.

(v.8) As with the book of Revelation, there are deep meanings of this vision that God gave Zechariah. Here are some key points to stress to our kids:

~ At nighttime, when darkness reigns, a Man was standing beside a red horse.

~ Red is symbolic of war and death...the judgment is upon the world. This Man is Jesus Himself, for He is getting reports from the other riders as to the status of the world. Also, Jesus is described in Isaiah 63:1-6 where His robe was red with the blood of the unbelievers.

(v.9) Don't confuse the angel who talked with me, with the Man standing next to the red horse. The angel who talked with Zechariah was an interpreter for him, as he saw the vision.

(v.11) Here again, in the OT, we see the definite article of angel...not an ordinary angel, but THE Angel of the LORD...Jesus in the OT. This is another theophany or Christophany.

(v.12) Zechariah hears Jesus speak to the Father!

(v.13) We don't know what the Father said to the Son, but we see that Jesus tells the angel speaking to Zechariah, that it's a good report...the time for redemption is at hand!

(v.15) We have a bad view of the word, jealous, since we associate it with pride and selfishness. But the Hebrew meaning for this word means devoted...that paints an entirely different picture! Jesus is our Intercessor to the Father, and He is looking out for us! Rom 8:34

(v.17) Jesus confirms His plan for Jerusalem...He has been angry, but He will return and establish peace and righteousness again in the Millennium. Once the Church is raptured, He will again focus on Israel.

Zechariah 2

(v.1) This angels is measuring Jerusalem...this is an angel, not Jesus, for He was giving orders. This angels is acting on orders. Angels were created to worship God, and serve Him by ministering to us! Heb 1:13-14

(v.8) God chose Israel to be the people He would reveal Himself through to the whole world! Therefore, He has a special place in His heart for Israel...they are the Apple of His Eye...they are special to Him.

(v.11) During the Millennium, Israel, and all the peoples from the Gentiles, who believe in God, will be His people. The Church will be in heaven at this time, but we are His as well. As God called Abraham the Father of the Faithful, so are all of us His people if we believe as Abraham did!

(v.12) Judah and Jerusalem is God's land...not the Palestinians' nor the Muslims' land...He gave it to Israel to inhabit, but Jesus purchased that land by His blood!

16 Jul (Daniel 10)

Daniel 10

(v.5) Daniel shows us that fasting and seeking the LORD is when He will speak more clearly to us. The appearance of this "man" is the same as what the Apostle John documents in Rev 1:15

This "man" is Jesus Himself! This is another theophany or Christophany! Jesus in the Old Testament.

(v.8) I think of the great song by Mercy Me, called "I Can Only Imagine" where the words wonder if we will stand before our King, or if we'll even have the power to. Perhaps we will fall on our faces, and like here, Jesus will lift us up with His power.

(v.11) As I shared before, only two men in the Bible were called beloved by God...Daniel and John. Both of them were given exclusive and detailed visions of the end times.

(v.13) The Prince of Persia is a reference to Satan, so many people think that this person with Daniel can't be Jesus. But the description of Him is exactly the same as in Rev 1:15 and I believe other scholars who feel that Jesus didn't deal with Satan right then, because it wasn't the right time. So instead, God sent Michael, another cherub, to deal with Lucifer the cherub. This was a confrontation of mighty angels!

(v.16) Daniel wouldn't have called an angel, My lord. Also, when angels had people bow down to them, they would quickly rebuke them, and tell them that only God is to be bowed down to...this had to be God Himself...Jesus...the Son.

(v.20) If we remember, Babylon was conquered by Persia, and Persia by Greece. So Jesus is telling Daniel that He has been working and fighting with the power behind these empires...Satan.

Feb 22 (1 Sam 3-4)

1st Samuel 3

This was a dark time for Israel and Eli. Not only was God not talking to them because of their disobedience, but Eli was going blind. But here now is Samuel, whom God brought up to serve Him. My kids like the way I act out the scene of Samuel running into Eli's room three times and waking him up!

I also point out, that God does speak to us often...in His Word, in prayer, and through other people and events...we just need to be open and receptive.

(v.10) Here we have another theophany since the LORD "stood" and called out to Samuel.

We see further evidence of this when (v.21) says that the Word of the Lord was revealed to Samuel. I then point out John 1:1 to my kids to show them who the Word of the Lord is!

1st Samuel 4

The Israelites made a big mistake here, and it's all because they didn't know God...they trusted in the ark of the covenant more than God Himself. God was not with them because they were not following Him...the ark that used to be a symbol of God's love for Israel, was reduced to an ineffective box.

This was a tragic time for Israel...they lost many men in battle, Eli's sons were killed, but most of all, the ark of the covenant was taken. To Eli's credit, he reacted to the loss of the ark instead of the loss of his sons...perhaps he finally put God ahead of his sons?

Feb 16 (Jud 13-16)

Judges 13

These chapters are about Samson. He was a mighty man of God, but as with us and all the people of the Bible, he had his shortcomings (pun intended).

(v.18) We see the appearance of the Angel of the Lord again, and He confirms to us that He is Jesus in another theophany, but calling Himself "wonderful." I reference Isaiah 9:6 to tie this in with my kids.

(v.22) We see again that this was Jesus, since if they had seen the face of the Father, they would have died.

Judges 14

Samson led with his head more than his heart, and it got him in trouble. God forbade the Israelites to marry the Philistines, but Samson wanted this woman, so he demanded that it be so.

Judges 15

God works a great victory through Samson, and at the end He even provides water to sustain Samson...much like He split the Rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17) for His people.

Judges 16

This is a tragic story, and one that is often misunderstood. Many people think that Samson's strength was from his long hair...that is partially correct. Samson took the Nazirite vow, which meant that he would never cut his hair as long as he was committed to the Lord. The actual cutting of his hair didn't make his muscles and strength decrease...it was his cutting of the Nazirite vow...his commitment to the Lord, that made him weak.

When his hair grows back, and he commits himself again to the Lord, he brings down the house in a final act. We all can learn from this, that our strength is in God, not of our own.

Feb 14 (Jud 4-7)

Judges 4-5

Deborah is an amazing woman. My girls like to take note that she is a prophetess AND a judge of Israel! Barak was the commander of the army, but he wasn't very brave.

Deborah warned Barak that he wouldn't get the credit for the victory that God gave them, it would go to a woman!

There is another brave woman, who acted like a warrior for Israel...Jael. She gives Sisera milk and a blanket, instead of water. This made Sisera sleepy, and she planted his head to the ground like a tent!

Jael, not Barak, got credit for the victory...just like Deborah said!!!

Judges 6

(v.1) Once again, after Deborah dies, the Israelites go back to the pagan practices. This is a pattern throughout the book.

(v.6) So God let's Israel's enemy enslave them, but He provides another deliverer when they cry out...Gideon!

(v.11) The Angel of the Lord is Jesus in another theophany.

(v.12) Jesus calls Gideon a "mighty man of valor" when here was Gideon, hiding from his enemies, dirty and sweating! Gideon had no reason to even think he would be used by God, and that's probably why God chose him!

(v.22) Gideon sees that this wasn't a normal angel, since angels are messengers, and they can't consume with fire like this one did. We know this Angel of the Lord is Jesus, since Gideon saw him "face to face" and didn't die. Remember, Moses would have died if he saw the Father's face, so He let Moses see the back of Him (Ex 33:23).

(v.31) Gideon does what the other men should have done long ago...tear down the Baal altar. Gideon's father makes a great point, where he says if Baal is really god, then he will punish Gideon.

Sometimes the scene where Gideon is "testing" the Lord can be seen as unfaithful and even disrespectful. But God doesn't see it this way. In fact, God follows through with Gideon's requests as proof of who He is. I like to point out this verse as a reference to my kids:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
~1 John 4:1

Judges 7

I love to show my kids how God thinks...He does have a sense of humor sometimes! I can just see Gideon's face when God told him that he had too many soldiers!

What Gideon didn't know, was that God wanted the odds to be so crazy that they could win, that it had to be only God who could have let them win.

Gideon showed great faith, and shows us that every good leader must follow God first!

Feb 13 (Jud 1-3)

Judges 1

The book of Judges covers the time between the death of Joshua, to the beginning of the kingly reign of the tribe of Judah. This spans around 450 years.

In this chapter, I point out to my kids that they didn't drive out all of the inhabitants. This would come back to haunt them.

(v.20) However, we see that the giants, the sons of Anak (Anakim) were driven out of the land. But they weren't eliminated...that will come back later.

Judges 2

The Angel of the Lord appears...this is another theophany...Jesus in the OT. Again, we know that this is not an angel, since He says that the Jews have not obeyed His voice, and He will allow the enemies they didn't eliminate, to torment them. This is going on to this very day.

(v.10) It only takes one generation to abandon all that was worked for and accomplished. The next generation after Joshua and his peers, didn't listen to what the Lord had done, and they went along by their own wisdom.

I point out to my kids, that we see this in America today. This country was established as a Christian nation. But over time, the parents failed to teach this, and now, we can barely recognize God in anything our government does. Even our culture and personal lives have excluded God. If we don't repent, we will have the same kind of troubles Israel did here.

(v.11) As God warned them not to do, they took on the pagan practices of worship. These are Satanic figures, and much of the world religions mirror what was done here. Jesus said that He is the only way to heaven (John 14:6), so all the other "faiths" are Satan's way of putting leaven into the loaf, to have uninformed people worship other things than God.

Judges 3

(v.1) Throughout the Bible, we see that God disciplines and tests His people by their enemies.

(v.9) Often we hear that the God of the OT is mean. Yet, here we are only one generation removed from Joshua, and they are acting like God was never with them! God was angry, and He let their enemies enslave them. However, God is merciful, and when He heard their cries, He provided for them a deliverer. First, Othniel, then Ehud and Shamgar. All did incredible things and showed the people that God was behind their actions, but they still slipped back into paganism each time their deliverer died.

Feb 10 (Jos 1-8)

Joshua 1

From my Chuck Smith Bible, there are a few things I discuss with my kids before we jump into this book:

~This is the first book of the Bible that is named after a person
~Joshua in Hebrew is Yehoshua, which means "Yahweh is Salvation"
~Jesus in Hebrew is Yeshua, which means "Yahweh Saves"
~As we'll see, Joshua is a type of Christ

(v.4) There is so much hate and fighting about the land that Israel now possesses, yet in reality, God gave Israel a much bigger area. From Turkey in the north, down through most of Syria, through Lebanon and out to the Euphrates (Iraq) is what God calls Israel. Today, Israel is only a fraction of what it should be in size.

I remind my kids that Moses represents the Law, and they didn't enter the Promised Land by the Law (Moses). They entered by the faith of Joshua (Jesus). Living by the Law doesn't save us and allow us to enter heaven, it's our faith in God and Jesus!

Joshua 2

Here we meet an incredible woman named Rahab. She is a Gentile and a pagan, yet she believes the LORD is the only God, and she helps these two spies (witnesses). Later, we learn that one of David's ancestors, Salmon, married Rahab (Matt 1:5). She went from being a pagan Gentile harlot, to an esteemed mother of Boaz, who is in the kingly line of David!!!

Joshua 3

Israel crosses the Jordan, and says goodbye to the old ways of Egypt. Of course, they still will have their moments, but through Joshua, they cross over and have a new beginning. This is like when we gave our lives to Christ, we crossed over and left behind our worldly dependence, and trusted in another Joshua...Jesus!

Joshua 4

Numbers represent things in the Bible. Here is a list of ones that we come across a lot:

3 ~ Sanctification, redemption (Jesus, Jonah, etc in the grave for 3 days)
6 ~ Incompletion (Six days of creation needed a 7th for completion, rest)
7 ~ Completion (Seven days of creation, seven cities of refuge, all the sevens in Revelation)
12 ~ Represents Israel (the twelve tribes)
40 ~ Testing and Judgement (Flood of Noah, the Jews, and Jesus in the Wilderness)

Here we have the 12 tribes being represented by the monument of 12 stones. This is the very spot, where centuries later, John the Baptist did his ministry!

Joshua 5

All the men who left Egypt with Moses were circumcised, but the children were not. These children were circumcised now, since their fathers abandoned the Word of God. This was a painful lesson for them to learn!

(vv.13-15) Here we see another theophany...Jesus in the OT! We know it's Jesus, since an angel would've reprimanded Joshua for worshipping anything other than God. Also, this Commander has Joshua take off his sandals, since he's on holy ground (Exodus 3:5).

Joshua is a type of Christ...he will lead the conquest of Jericho, which mirrors Jesus' conquering of Babylon and the world in Revelation.

Joshua 6

God has Joshua tell his army a very peculiar plan to conquer Jericho...my kids laugh when I act out this plan and show their faces when they hear it! But if we compare this event in the book of Joshua to Jesus in the book of Revelation, we see many similarities:

Yehoshua (Joshua) ~ Yeshua (Jesus)

Commander of Israel ~ Commander of the army of the LORD

Seven days ~ Seven years

Priests sent out in front ~ High Priest (Jesus) leads

First send in two spies ~ Two witnesses sent in first

Seven trumpet blasts ~ Seven trumpet judgements

Judgment by fire ~ Fire and brimstone judgment

Kings hide in caves ~ Leaders hide in caves

Joshua 7

Here we see Israel getting overconfident and not reliant upon God. Not only are they thinking they conquered Jericho instead of God, but they disobey Him by taking things from there. I point out to my kids that we do this ourselves all the time!

Joshua 8

After the culprit, Achan, is stoned, they then win easily. This is God's Word speaking to us that we need to include Him in all parts of our lives, at all times. When we do, we will see His glory manifested in our lives!

They won because they had faith in God, and let Him have the glory!

Feb 5 (Num 21-22)

Numbers 21

This is a fascinating chapter, and one I take some time explaining to my kids.

The Jews are murmuring and complaining again, and God has serpents (snakes) enter the camp and kill many people from their poisonous bites. They realize their sin, and they ask Moses to ask God to stop the serpents.

I wish I could have seen Moses' face when God told him to erect a pole, and put a snake on it. If we don't know our Old Testament and the culture of Israel, we will miss the significance of this event.

Brass/Bronze ~ this metal was symbolic for judgment. It was the only metal of that time that could withstand fire and extreme heat.

Serpent/Snake ~ It was the serpent who tricked Adam and Eve, and it was always connected to sin and the devil.

So why did God have Moses erect a bronze pole with a snake on it, and if a Jew was bitten by one of the poisonous snakes, where they to just look up at the snake on the pole in order to be saved?

Up until this point, and for the rest of the Old Testament, there is no explanation for this event. But Jesus tells us the reason for God's work here in the Wilderness:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." ~ John 3:14

I love to see my kids' faces light up when they see the typology here, mirroring what Jesus did for us on the cross!

The snake on the pole typifies the judgment of sin, and those who believed it would heal them were healed. Jesus was lifted up on a pole to take on ALL OUR SINS and those who look up to Him and believe in Him are saved as well.

Numbers 22

My kids laugh when I act out this event with Baalam and his donkey. They picture the donkey in Shrek talking to Baalam, and he talks back to the donkey!!!

I make sure to point out that the "Angel of the Lord" is really Jesus in another theophany, and that we see God working in this whole drama.

As we'll see in the next chapter, Baalam goes from righteousness for refusing to curse Israel (see Genesis 12) to letting his desire for money and fame to show the pagans how to bring the Jews down by having God remove His protective Hand from them.

Jan 12 (Genesis 31-33)

Genesis 31

Jacob and his wives are leaving Laban to go back to where he came from. Rachel does an interesting thing...she steals the pagan figurines called "gods." This shows the paganism that was rampant at the time, but these teraphim also represented something else...the heir to the family estate. Whoever these false "gods" were given to, was figured to have the right to ownership of the family fortune. No wonder Laban wanted those things back desperately!!! To make sure Laban wouldn't find them, Rachel sat on them. This made the "gods" unclean, and useless.

With Laban fearing that he would never retrieve these figurines back, he made sure to set boundries between his son's land and Jacob's.

Genesis 32

Jacob is again confronted with Jesus in another theophany, and this time confesses his unworthiness and humbles himself. God then changes his name from Jacob to Israel, which means "he who strives or wrestles with God"...isn't this indicative of us and all who follow God? We have faith, but we wrestle with our flesh, and wrestle with trying to please or help God.

Another meaning of the word, Israel, is "Ruled by God" which is also applicable to His followers.

We know that this "angel" is really Jesus in the OT, because Jacob says:

So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ~Gen 32:30

Genesis 33

This chapter speaks of the reunion of Jacob and Esau. It's good to point out that even though someone has hurt you and cheated you, there is always room for forgiveness.

Jan 6 (Genesis 17-19)

Genesis 17

(v.5) God changes Abram's name to Abraham. God inserted the Hebrew letter h which is pronounced like a breath. The Hebrew word for breath is ruach, pronounced "roo-ock" which also means spirit. This is the same word used in Gen 1:2 where the Spirit of God brooded over the waters.

In essence, God inserted His Spirit into Abraham and Sarah...they were His from that point forward. The great news is that once we ask His Spirit into our lives, we are His as well.

(v.12) Why did God instruct Abraham to circumcise a newborn on the eighth day? Well, modern science has discovered that the newborn boy will have the highest levels of vitamin-k and prothrombin which means that on the eighth day of life, the blood will clot the best! Isn't that cool?!? Here is a link that explains it in more detail:

http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2204

(v.19) Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor, and that He doesn't delight in His creation! God has Abraham and Sarah name their son Isaac...which in Hebrew means laughter! Probably a little reminder of their skepticism!

Genesis 18

Abraham encounters three interesting "men" in this chapter...but are they men?

(v.22) The key here is that Abraham stayed with the Lord...the other two "men" were angels, but the third One was not...it was Jesus!

(vv.23-33) Wouldn't you have loved to witness this scene of negotiation? Here is Abraham bartering with the Lord of all creation! One thing I share with my kids, is the incredible patience of our Lord, and the wonderful mercy He is willing to display to us sinners!

Genesis 19

(v.5) This is a tricky chapter, since these men of the town wanted to engage in homosexual activity with these two strangers. I tell my young kids that they wanted to harm them, which in reality, they did.

Homosexuality is a sin...it is a destructive and harmful lifestyle. Not only is it anatomically against the laws of nature, but it is contrary to the Word of God when He told us to be fruitful and to multiply. I'm sure the town had other sins that made it deplorable to the Lord for Him to want to destroy it, but homosexuality was so rampant and tolerated, that it probably was a town where ANYTHING GOES!!! Romans 1 goes into this in further detail.

(v.8) I always have trouble with this verse...I can't imagine offering my daughters in this way that Lot did. Perhaps Lot thought that anything was better than letting God's messengers to be harmed.

(v.22) Lot and his family have been compared to the church by some Bible scholars here...God's wrath upon evil couldn't occur until the righteous have been removed to safety first. First of all, it's hard to say that Lot was righteous after he offered his daughters to the blood-thirsty crowd earlier. But if we think about it, no matter how much we pray and strive to walk with God, we will never be perfect. I think that this typology is actually accurate of the state of believers and the Church before the Tribulation...God will remove His Church before He brings wrath upon the world of evil-doers. We may not be perfect, but our faith in His Son makes us righteous in our Father's eyes!

(v.26) Lot's wife shows us that we are in danger if we try to hold onto things of this world while trying to walk with God. We don't really know the reason she looked back, but she obviously felt some attachment to that place, and her unbelief and disobedience destroyed her.