The angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. (v1-3) When he chose to go there, he had simply looked and saw that the area was good for his flocks, but now he has been living there and even risen to a position of authority as he sat in the gate, where civil matters were discussed and decided upon. In the book of Ruth, Boaz went to the gate of the city to speak with the other kinsman-redeemer was prepared to fulfil the duty towards Naomi and Ruth, and it was there he made his covenant before the leaders. Lot was a righteous man (see 2 Peter 2:7,8) but he had compromised by being where he was.
We must be very careful that we, as believers, do not compromise with the world. We are ‘in the world but not of it’ and it is very easy to get caught up in the world and its values. As Christians we should stand up and stand out as followers of Jesus Christ and our lives should be a living testimony for Him.
We are not told that Lot knew who these men were, but he referred to them ‘my lords’ and he persuaded them to stay at his house and offered them hospitality. The Bibles says we should be hospitable ’for some have entertained angels unawares’ (Hebrews 13:2).
In verses 4,5 we read, “Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.””
You might think it is exaggerating to say, ‘all the people’ which in context would be ‘all the men,’ but it shows that the city was wicked and totally immoral as they surrounded Lot’s house and called for the two men who had come. It obviously didn’t take long for them to want to abuse the visitors. Some have said that the sin of Sodom was pride, lack of hospitality, injustice etc., but it is quite clear that this was sexual immorality, homosexuality between men.
The Bible condemns homosexuality as sin (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:26-28) and Jesus affirmed marriage as between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4-6 as laid down in Genesis 2:24). Let us remember that we are all born in sin so homosexuals are no more sinners than we all, but sin it is, and we cannot escape that. The world has hijacked the word ‘gay’ to make it more palatable, but happy and carefree it isn’t in the long run.
Sadly, even parts of the church have been persuaded to accept it but, however, we may try to avoid it, it is sin, and all sin will be judged by God and, unless we repent, we will be condemned.
Some would say that they are born homosexuals thus ‘blaming God’ for it but reputable writers say that it is ‘a learned disorder.’ A vociferous minority have persuaded governments, even church authorities that it is normal to be homosexual and laws should recognise that. Though this has done much harm especially to children and young people and is abhorrent, they need the liberating Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ, just as all sinners do.
Lot went out and shut the door behind him and pleaded with the people not to do this wicked thing. Good on him, but oh, calamity, he offers his two virgin daughters (v6-9) for them to do what they wished to them. This was disgraceful, what father would do that? Even though he is described as a righteous man the behaviour of the city had ‘rubbed off’ on him.
The people show their true colours as they mocked Lot saying, ‘this man came here to live and is now trying to be our judge.’ They attacked Lot and came to break down his door. His so-called ‘brethren’ had no respect for him. Doesn’t this show that we may try to reach others through being one of them, but it doesn’t work.
The men (angels) reached out and pulled Lot inside the house and shut the door. This would not have been an easy task with all the crowd at the door but these two were not mere men, they struck the crowd with blindness so that they couldn’t find the door (v10,11). The men asked Lot who else was in the house and urged him to get out of the place as it was going to be destroyed (v12-14). They told Lot that because the evil had come before The LORD, He had instructed the men (angels) to destroy it. In His mercy God was offering Lot and his family and friends the opportunity to escape.
Lot spoke to his sons-in-law, married to his daughters. Either he had other daughters beside the two virgin daughters mentioned earlier, or they were betrothed as was the custom but not yet married. Remember Joseph and the Virgin Mary, when Joseph was informed that Mary was pregnant, he thought to divorce her. The betrothal could only be broken by divorce. Unlike Joseph, Lot’s sons-in-law, didn’t believe the message and treated it like a joke. One wonders if this was indicative of Lot’s life of compromise that his sons-in-law treated him with contempt.
If our life is inconsistent, it is virtually impossible to witness for Christ when the opportunity comes. God says that we are to be salt and light in a perverse generation.
In His mercy, God even gave them until next morning to leave the city. The angels urged lot to hurry out with his wife and two daughters to escape the punishment of the city (v15,16). Even Lot dallied, so much so that the angels to keep their hands and brought them outside the city. The girls obviously left their men behind to face the destruction of the city. Even Lot showed a lack of urgency, maybe his heart was still in the city. When the angels had brought them outside, they told them to escape for their lives, “Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” When they got outside (v17-22). Lot pleaded that they wouldn’t have to go to the mountains, ‘lest some evil overtake me, and I die.’ Lot had just been saved from fate worse than death and now he’s afraid to go to the mountains.
Fear is a terrible thing. Jesus often spoke to his disciples when in difficulties and they were scared and told them to ‘fear not.’ In 2020/21 we have been led into fear by scaremongers. The coronavirus has caused great distress, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Some have been struck down with it and still suffer the consequences of it. Fear has gripped our nation. However, it seems to me that the authorities have made it far worse, people have been afraid to go out and meet others, largely because it was banned, but it has had an unfavourable effect upon humanity old and young. The ‘experts’ have led us into what might happen, sometimes it did but sometimes it did not. Have we failed to trust God and fear not? Those who have made the decisions have not taken God into account; in fact they have ‘played god’ and dictated to us what we could or could not do. We have had to go through, largely unnecessary isolations, when we have been perfectly well. It will take us some time to get back to normal. Our leaders in government were between a rock and a hard place, the scientists and medics told them what might happen, opposites said it was not so bad. If they didn’t go along with the ‘experts’ and it went wrong they would have been heavily criticised for taking little notice, so they really couldn’t win. A significant outcome has been the increase in mental health problems. I know that it can be a ‘band wagon’ to use for some sort of excuse, but some of it, like covid, is serious. Another outcome of the lockdowns was the isolation of those in care homes and hospitals who were not allowed visits from their loved ones. Many experienced funerals where family and friends were not permitted to attend except very few and even then, could not console each other but had to stay apart as they mourned their loss. Mask wearing has still not gone away for some even in 2022 and over the months many unimaginable rules over the wearing of them often mocked our intelligence. We are also learning that the isolation has a very damaging affect on children and young people, mainly by closure of schools.
Another and perhaps one of the most significant outcomes was the closure of churches for several months and severe restrictions placed upon church gatherings afterwards, particularly not being able to sing God’s praises. To recover puts a huge responsibility on us as Christians to encourage others to trust in God and seek His will for the future because He is still in control and will not let us down. Some of the things which have happened should throw us on the mercy of God and look for The Lord’s appearing. Even now some two years after the initial lockdown, many have not returned to our churches, preferring to sit at home and watch it on media, overlooking the fact that we need fellowship in person. We are ‘social’ beings and thrive on the fellowship of others, particularly like-minded people. Hebrews 10:25 tells us that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, especially as we see the day of The Lord approaching. God made us and he certainly knows what we need.
Lot asked if he could go to a nearby little city. The man reminded Lot that they had been favoured with God’s mercy in that the overthrow of the city had been held back until they had escaped, however, he gave permission for Lot to go to the city, which was then called Zoar, which means small or insignificant.
At sunrise, The LORD rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities in the plain, inhabitants and crops, it was complete destruction (v23-26). Sodom had been a fertile land, very beautiful (see 13:10) but because of their wickedness they were now destroyed. Some ancient writers believe that the two cities were buried beneath the Dead Sea. Sodom and Gomorrah had had great opportunities to turn to God, but they had not.
People today have similar opportunity to turn to God. How vital that we, Christians, spread and live out the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to a dying world. Hell, far worse than the judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, awaits those who refuse to believe and receive Christ as Saviour and Lord.
Sadly, that was not the end, they were instructed not to look back (v17) as they escaped but Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. The word implies she looked back intently. It seems that she regretted what was happening to Sodom and Gomorrah, maybe thinking of friends there. Anyone who doubts this even happened should go to the words of Jesus (Luke 17:32) “Remember Lot’s wife.” This was in connection with the end times. We must not be so much in love with the evil world which is not permanent. We are to look for our Lord not back at the past.
Abraham went early to the place where he had stood before The LORD and saw the smoke, like smoke from a furnace, come up from Sodom and Gomorrah (v27-29). He had prayed for the saving of the cities if ten righteous could be found. Only Lot and is wife and two daughters had been rescued so God carried out His judgment on the wicked cities. Abraham must have thanked God for meeting with him and for the safety of Lot and his family, now reduced to three at the loss of his wife. We cannot gloat over God’s judgment and punishment of wicked people, rather, it should fill us with sadness over lost souls, but it should also make us grateful for our own salvation. We are not left in any doubt as God’s holiness, justice, grace and mercy. None of us deserve to be saved, we can do nothing to earn it. We must be thankful for God’s love in sending His Son, Jesus to take our place and grant us forgiveness and redemption.
Lot and his daughters moved from Zoar (v30-32) and he went to the mountain and went to the very place where Lot didn’t want to go when the men (angels) told them to go to the mountains. For some reason he was afraid to stay in Zoar, so went they went to the mountains and lived in a cave. The older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
What a suggestion! Sadly, the wickedness of their previous home rubbed off on the two daughters. Sin always leads to consequences. It might have seemed innocent to give their father wine, but the reason was abominable. One has to wonder what Lot was thinking as they plied him with the wine. It was obviously a great amount as the eldest daughter lay with her father (v33-38) and he did not know what was happening. On the following day, the eldest told the younger daughter what had happened and suggested she do the same that night. It was plain to see that this was for sexual gratification as the aim was to preserve their lineage. The younger did the same that night and Lot was so intoxicated that he didn’t know what was happening, he obviously got much pleasure out of his two nights sleeping with his daughters, and before long they became pregnant. That’s what alcohol does, it dulls our inhibitions and leads to us doing things we would normally think twice about and probably would not do, especially if we are to follow Jesus Christ. It is so easy to fall into temptation. How we must be careful.
We might wonder why the Bible contains stories like this. It is better that children learn about the facts of life (sex created by God) from the Bible where God quite plainly condemns sin and how it leads to consequences, rather than from secular sources where it is made out to be doing what comes naturally whatever the circumstances and consequences. God’s Word is so clear that He hates sin, and Scripture is given to point us to Christ, the only One who can save us from sin. The Bible is written for our learning and understanding of every aspect of our lives.
Both Lot’s daughters gave birth to sons by their father, the elder one gave birth to Moab, who became the father of the Moabites. The younger one to Ben-Ammi, the father of the Ammonites. The consequences led to these nations being opposed to God and His people. That’s what sin does, it causes opposition to the things of God.
Lot’s descendants were a thorn in the side of Israel just like Ishmael and his descendants.
