Genesis 19:1-29
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Summary
- God destroys Sodom and the surrounding towns, because their wickedness had reached the point of being irreversible.
- God rescues Lot and part of his family, for the sake of Abraham.
Details
- The angels visit the city; Lot shows hospitality to them.
- The men of the city demonstrate the irreversible depths of their depraved wickedness. There was no possible way to withhold judgment any further.
- With the coaxing of the angels, Lot and his immediate family flee for their lives. However, Lot's wife had a longing for what she had left behind, and ended up perishing in the destruction.
- Everyone else in the region can see what has happened. For them, it is a gracious warning, lest they also be judged.
Scripture
Genesis 19:1-29 - The destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and some other cities, by burning sulfur "raining" down on the cities.
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Gen 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
Gen 19:2 and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way." They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night." Gen 19:3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. |
These angels, as well as God in human form, had visited Abraham just previously to this (chapter 18).
In the culture of that day, hospitality, even to strangers or enemies, was a very important matter. The fact that nobody in Sodom, except for Lot (a foreigner - v. 9) was willing to show hospitality to the visitors indicates how wicked the people had become. Not realizing that the two visitors were angels in human form (and could protect themselves), Lot knew what would happen to them, if they stayed in the city square. |
| Gen 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
Gen 19:5 They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them." |
This graphically illustrates how depraved the city had become. However, the previous verses show us that they were also utterly self-absorbed in other ways - such as in their unwillingness to care about the needs of other people. (This disregard for others is the focus of Ezekiel 16:48+, where the name "Sodom" is figuratively applied to Jerusalem.)
Rarely (if ever) will people limit themselves to one type of sin. Wanton attitudes of the heart will lead to wanton conduct of all kinds, if left unrestrained. |
| Gen 19:6 Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him.
Gen 19:7 He said, "Please, my brothers, don't act so wickedly. Gen 19:8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof." |
Hospitality to one's guests was considered so important at that time (though not by the Sodomites) that a person would sacrifice his own family members, rather than breach his duty toward his guests. Reading into this passage modern concepts about women utterly distorts the significance of what is being said. |
| Gen 19:9 They said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
Gen 19:10 But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. Gen 19:11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. |
This is the same heart attitude as is expressed by many today, who have abandoned all moral restraint. They do not want to be reminded about the wickedness of their conduct, and will say things such as, "How dare you to judge me!" |
| Gen 19:12 The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:
Gen 19:13 for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it." Gen 19:14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. |
Compare to Isaiah 3:9. They flagrantly displayed their sin in the open - having no restraint at all, their consciences being so seared that they no longer hid it. God could no longer withhold judgment, without contradicting his own righteousness. |
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Gen 19:15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city." Gen 19:16 But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. Gen 19:17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!" Gen 19:18 Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord. Gen 19:19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. Gen 19:20 See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live." Gen 19:21 He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Gen 19:22 Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. Gen 19:23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. |
God had said that he would spare the city - the whole region - if even ten righteous people were present. There was only one. (Only Lot, his two daughters, and the smallest of the five cities were spared.)
Even with impending judgment, Lot was hesitant to give-up all his that he owned. "Zoar" means "small." Though Lot asked to go to Zoar, he eventually still ended up living in the mountains - v. 30. |
| Gen 19:24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
Gen 19:25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. Gen 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. |
This ecological disaster could possibly be explained in part by natural causes, considering that the region was known for bitumen (a petroleum-based product) - Genesis 14:10. Perhaps a severe earthquake and an explosion were partly responsible for it. Sulfur is mentioned in this passage.
Regardless of the potential explanations for this disaster, the ultimate cause is related to their moral conduct. God providentially determined when the devastation would happen - and that it would coincide with the need for judgment. When Lot's wife looked back, it was not just a glance, but a yearning. Perhaps she also was less eager to leave everything behind (though none of them really wanted to), and lingered behind the others. The "pillar of salt" - Her body was probably encrusted by the sulfur compounds that were raining down on everything. The body itself did not have to change its chemical structure. |
| Gen 19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh.
Gen 19:28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. Gen 19:29 It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. |
The visual appearance of the disaster, as seen from a distance.
For the rest of the region, this destruction was an act of grace. The other cities had not yet become as corrupt as had Sodom and its neighbors. (It would be 400 more years before they reached that irreversible condition - compare with Genesis 15:16.) There was still time for them to heed the warning and to repent of their ways. And if they didn't, they knew what they deserved. (Even the New Testament describes this event as a warning - see 2 Peter 2:6 and Jude 1:7.) It was because "God remembered Abraham," that he spared Lot. In the previous chapter, when Abraham prayed for God to spare the cities, his main concern was for Lot and his family. |
Scripture Passages
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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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