"The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.) By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. Genesis 19:1-29
Up to this point in Genesis, we have met people and places that most people know even if they aren’t well versed in the bible. Adam and Eve are well known for being the first man and woman but also for doing wrong when they ate of the forbidden fruit. Eden is known for being a garden paradise. Adam’s son Cain is well known for murdering his brother. Noah is well known for building the ark. Abraham is well known for his faith. And now we come to two other famous places…places that were famous for all the wrong reasons: Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Genesis 18, God sends His angels to check out Sodom because He has heard of the city’s wickedness. As the angels enter the city, they are greeted by Abraham’s nephew, Lot, who shows the angels the same hospitality that Abraham had when they came to him. At first the angels decline but they agree after Lot persists in his invitation. Once at Lot’s home, it doesn’t take long for the evil of Sodom to reveal itself.
For scripture states that "all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Despite Lot’s pleas for them to leave which included an offer of his own daughters, they refused and even threatened to attack him. He is rescued by the angels who pull him into the house and then disable the men outside by blinding them. The angels had seen enough at this point and were prepared to destroy Sodom, Gomorrah and everyone there, everyone except Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family who were spared. The angels told them to "flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" Abraham convinces them to allow them to just flee to a nearby town vice the mountains and the angels allow it. So Lot and his family flee while the Lord rains burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. All seems well until Lot’s wife sins in disobedience and looks back against the orders of the Lord’s angels. She pays the price, turning into a pillar of salt. Her inability to follow the Lord’s guidance cost her and her family dearly.
So Sodom, Gomorrah and Lot’s wife ended up being remembered for all the wrong reasons. The scriptures try to teach us several lessons:
1. Wickedness will be punished by the Lord. Whether it’s individual wickedness (i.e. a person’s sinful disobedience in not obeying the Lord’s command like Lot’s wife) or collective wickedness (i.e. the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah), the Lord will punish those who are wicked.
2. Homosexuality is an abomination to God. We’re told Sodom and Gomorrah are wicked but we’re not told why. Genesis 19 highlights the men of Sodom as lusting to have sex with Lot’s two male guests or even Lot himself. They and the city are destroyed in return for their illicit sexual behavior. There is always lots of debate about the homosexuality issue and Christian living. The bible clearly makes a point that homosexuality is not acceptable to God and since God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same, then homosexuality is wrong no matter who we’re applying it to in the Trinity.
3. God stays faithful to His promises. God made a special covenant with Abraham, blessing him and his family. This got Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah before the destruction came. God stayed true to what He said to Abraham.
Question: How many places might qualify as Sodom and Gomorrah’s today? Is there anyplace that can be considered absolutely holy? One can only wonder what the Lord thinks when He looks down upon the world He created. Could He bring judgment on the earth again to evil places? Believe and trust that He can and could. We shouldn’t underestimate His power and absolute hatred for wicked living. If we do, we could feel the burning sulfur next.
In Christ,
Mark
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