Introduction:

When you are looking for a few important events of section of the Bible, it is hard to overlook the business of Sodom and Gomorrah. Given the climate of our culture, it is especially hard to pass this one by without comment. So I’m going to comment!

Background

To understand what happens here, you have to pick up some events that are given in chapters 13 - 18 of Genesis. That’s a lot of material, so let me just summarize some of it.

Key events

Abraham, who is a key figure in the second section of the Book of Genesis, was promised a son and many influential ancestors. He is getting quite old, as is his wife, and there is no son in sight. They had even tried to second-guess God by having Abraham produce a child with Sarah’s servant named Hagar. That pretty much led to nothing but trouble - a common symptom of not paying attention to God. This is in chapter 16 of Genesis.

Abraham and his nephew Lot had been in the livestock business together for a long time. When their businesses became too large to be together, they decided to split up. Abraham, though older, deferred to Lot and let him have first pick of the grazing areas. Lot picked the attractive-looking, but morally dangerous, cities of what was called "the plain of the Jordan." Abraham went west into Caanan. This is in Genesis chapter 13.

When Abraham was quite old, we read that "The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was siting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day." (18:1) This happens when "Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby." There has been a lot of speculation about just who these "men" are. They are representatives of "the Lord." They speak for the Lord. They could be three angels who appear as men. Some think one of them was the Lord Himself appearing as a man. Hey, it’s God - He can do things like that if He wants!

Two things happen with these "men."

First, the Lord told Abraham that within a year he would have the promised son. At this his wife Sarah laughed, and then denied she laughed when the Lord confronted her.

Also, as the "three men" are leaving, the Lord tells Abraham that he knows things are very bad down in Sodom. Abraham seems to know this too, and he assumes - and he is right - that God is going to destroy Sodom and its sister cities of the plain. So Abraham engages God in a bargaining session - maybe the most famous one of all times. "What if there are just fifty fairly decent people in Sodom," asked Abraham of God, "will you still destroy it?" God agrees he will not. Abraham seems to know just how bad these places are, and he also knows his nephew Lot lives there with his family. So Abraham keeps "bargaining" with God until he gets the number down to ten. And we read, "When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home."

Meanwhile, back in Sodom . . .

The two "men" who went on while Abraham bargained with God were angels, as we learn in 19:1. They arrive at Sodom in the evening and find Lot sitting at the city gate. Lot is no longer just living "near" Sodom in his tents (as he was in 13:12). He now dwells in the city. The fact the Lot is "sitting in the gate" of the city may imply that he was one of the "judges" of the city. Whether this was the case or not, Lot was now clearly involved in the life of the city of Sodom. This illustrates the point, in case you don’t know it, that sin will suck you in.

In 18:20 we have learned that the outcry against these cities was great and their sin "grievous." Just what this is we now learn.

1. We see here that once the word gets around that there are some strangers in town, men both young and old from all over the city come and very blatantly demand that Lot turn the strangers over to them so they can engage in not just homosexual sex, but homosexual gang-rape of the strangers.

2. This is apparently not a surprise to Lot.

In order to understand what is developing here, you need to understand that many cities had an enlarged street area with seats built in along the sides, often used for markets, official meetings or even just a place to "hang out", just inside the city gates (these were walled cities, also not unusual). It was common practice for travelers who were strangers in town to spend the night in this area.

It was supposed to be a safe place, but it was not in Sodom. This is why Lot insisted that the strangers come into his house. Gen. 19:4 reads, "Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom - both young and old - surrounded the house."

It seems that this phrase "the men of Sodom" already meant what we mean when we say "Sodomites."

Some claim that the moral problem presented in the Bible is not just homosexuality, but homosexual rape or homosexual promiscuity.

1.    While it is true that rape is the particular problem mentioned here, of Sodom, it is not the case that this is all that the Bible condemns. Paul makes it clear (Romans 1) that homosexuality is wrong per se, and is, in fact, "unnatural." [26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.]

2.    As Jude 7 puts the matter, "Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." The problem was not just rape, but also homosexuality itself. The implication is that the "men of Sodom" had "had" one another so long that they were looking for someone else to practice "Sodomy" on.

3.    Lot even offers of his daughters as a replacement for his guests. Lot’s offer is very shocking. People have tried to put a good "spin" on this to make Lot look better. While Lot is in a very dangerous and sensitive situation here, and he is probably desperate, I don’t see any need to defend Lot. The whole point seems to be that while Lot is not on the moral level of the Sodomites, Lot is slipping morally himself also. You can’t actively participate in a very evil society and not be affected by it. You just can’t. It will get to you like it got to Lot.

The Destruction

The two angels now tell Lot about the coming destruction. They even invite him to gather any family he has and get them out.

Lot has two daughters who are betrothed to a couple of men. When Lot tries to warn these two about the destruction, they think it is a joke.

People of God need to try to influence those around them. We are not supposed to be hermits, but here is a little hint: when the people you are trying to influence think what you are trying to tell them is just a joke, it’s time to move on to new people. Jesus said something like this when He told His people to go to a city, announce the good news, and if people won’t listen, just go on to the next city. Maybe Lot thought that he was going to make Sodom a better place. Sometimes, that just can’t be done. Sometimes, instead of you making it a better place, it makes you a worse person.

The destruction was on the way, and the angels told Lot to flee with his wife and daughters, and yet he hesitated. Genesis 19:15-16 reads, "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."

Why would Lot hesitate? Culture is seductive. Your culture is seductive too. Our culture is completely opposed to any moral evaluations of sexual behavior, heterosexual or homosexual. If you pay only the slightest attention to the climate on campus, you know there is an active defense of almost any sexual behavior. When you live in it, as you do, it can be very seductive.

You can wait too long. Lot’s wife waited too long, and she did not make it out of the destruction. I’m no revivalist, and I try never to put any kind of pressure on people. And maybe you are too young to understand this. When you are under 35 or so you think you are never going to die. But at some time your end will come, and you will have to "meet your Maker." While the Lord is merciful, no one has unlimited chances to repent.