The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 18:1-19:381
May 14, 2006


Today’s message is from Genesis chapters 18 and 19. The first part of chapter 18 tells about The Lord’s promise to give Abraham and Sarah a son in about a year. The rest of chapter 18 and chapter 19 tell us about the Lord’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We won’t read the entire passage, but I will quote parts of it as we go along. Remember that it’s the word of God. It’s the word of life! Let me quote what the apostle Paul has to say concerning the ‘word of life’. This is from Philippians 2:14-16:

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life— in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. (Philippians 2:14-16 –NIV)

As always, I urge all of you to read your Bibles every day. Read them all the way through and keep on reading them.  Carefully read the passage I’m going to talk about on Sunday before you get here. Pray about it and think about what it means. (I’ve been putting the passage on the calendar on the LHF website each week, so you can check it out. If you don’t want to do that, just read ahead from where we were the previous Sunday. Now let’s review what led up to today’s passage:

When the Lord called Abraham to go to the land of Canaan, he told him that he would bless him and make him into a great nation, that he would make his name great and that all peoples on the earth would be blessed through him. He promised him that his offspring would be like the dust of the earth, so numerous would they be. But after he had been in the land ten years, Abraham still had no children. According to the rules of his culture, Eliezer of Damascus, a slave born in his household, would be his heir.

But the Lord told him, “No, this man will not be your heir, but one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” He told Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord credited it to him as righteousness—and when we believe the Lord he credits it to us as righteousness also—and there is no other way that we can have righteousness in God’s eyes except by simply believing him! The Lord made a covenant with Abraham guaranteeing the he and his offspring would inherit the land of Canaan.

Abram’s wife Sarai—Abraham was still Abram at that time, and Sarah was still Sarai—Abram’s wife Sarai was impatient and gave her maid Hagar to Abram as an additional wife with the idea that if they had children, they would belong to Sarai. It was not a good idea. Abram and Hagar did have a son, Ishmael, and the result has been trouble that continues to this day!

When Ishmael was 13 years old, the Lord came to Abram and made it clear that Sarai would have a son. His name would be Isaac—laughter. It would be through Isaac that Abram’s offspring would be counted. It would be through Isaac and Isaac’s offspring that all nations on earth would be blessed. It would be through Isaac and his offspring that the word of God would come. And it would be through Isaac that God would send his one and only Son. It was through Isaac and his offspring that Jesus came to die on the cross and save us from sin and death and destruction—to save us from God’s wrath! The Lord told Abram that Sarai would give birth to Isaac and that his offspring would be reckoned through Isaac. It was then that the Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. (When Isaac had children, by the way, one of them was named Jacob. It was Jacob who the Lord later named Israel!)

Now let me read the beginning of today’s passage. Here’s what it says. This is from Genesis 18:1-8:

1Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3Then he said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant. 4Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
6So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” 7Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8Then Abraham took curds, and the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree. (Genesis 18:1-8)

Verse 1 says that the Lord appeared to Abraham while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. From the rest of the passage, it doesn’t sound as though Abraham recognized that it was the Lord. Verse 2 says that he looked up and saw three men standing near. As we go on, it’ll be clear that one of the men was the Lord. But I don’t think Abraham realized that right away.

Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. This sounds like the picture of lethargy to me. Nevertheless, when the men came, Abraham jumped up and ran to them and bowed down before them. He invited them to rest and refresh themselves and to stay and have dinner. I believe that it was customary for people to show hospitality to travelers in that culture and that Abraham would have treated these men the way he did regardless of whether or not he knew who they were.

Now, I want you to notice how Abraham served the men. Verse 6 says that Abraham ran into his tent and told Sarah to hurry and make some bread. Then he ran to select a calf and gave it to a young man who hurried to prepare it. Abraham set the dinner before the men, and according to verse 8, he served them.

One of the things I noticed here was the way Sarah and the young man participated in preparing the food. There were probably others too, or it would have taken hours to prepare the meal. And Abraham, who was the head of, the ruler over, a large household and who had an army of several hundred trained men, was the one who waited on the three men! I want you to remember Abraham and his household so that we can compare the way they did things with the way Lot did things when we get to chapter 19 where Lot invited two of the men into his home.

Now let’s go on to verses 9 through 15. Here’s what they say:

9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.
10The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
13But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But He replied, “No, you did laugh.” (Genesis 18:9-15)

At this point, it became obvious that one of the men was the Lord. The other two were presumably angels. They asked about Sarah. Then the Lord reaffirmed that Sarah would have a son and specifically gave the time frame. In about a year Isaac would be born. When Sarah, heard this, she laughed. She was too old to have children! The Lord asked Abaham, “Is anything impossible for the Lord?” The correct answer is that nothing is impossible for the Lord! Some people, people who have faith in God, question whether he is able to do certain things. But he is the Lord who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He made them out of nothing; and he made each of us too. Nothing is impossible for the Lord!

Now let’s go on. In verses 16 through 21, the Lord revealed to Abraham that he was planning on destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was extremely serious. (This was mentioned back in chapter 13 and is repeated again here.) The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was immense. (verse 20) The Lord said that he had chosen Abraham so that he would command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. (verse 19) But I think, in telling Abraham about Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord was giving him an opportunity to intercede on Lot’s behalf. Let me read verses 22 through 33:

22The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? 25You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
26The Lord said, “If at Sodom I find 50 righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord—even though I am dust and ashes— 28suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”
29Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.”
30Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”
31Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.”
32Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose 10 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.” 33When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place. (Genesis 18:22-33)

Abraham knew Lot lived in Sodom and would be destroyed with it if the Lord destroyed Sodom. His hope for sparing Sodom and, along with it, Lot, was based on his conviction that the Lord would not destroy the righteous along with the unrighteous.

Do you remember the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (the Wheat and the Tares you King James people)? The man whose enemy had sowed the weeds in his wheat field was asked by his servants whether they should go and pull up the weeds. He said, “No,” because they might pull up the wheat along with the weeds. He told them to wait until the wheat was ripe and then harvest it, and after that gather up the weeds and burn them. In the parable, the owner of the wheat field is Jesus, the harvest represents the end of the age and the harvesters are the angels. The wheat represents the sons of the kingdom of heaven and the weeds the sons of the devil. God will not destroy any that belong to him in order to destroy the sons of the devil! He will destroy the sons of the devil, but he won’t destroy us! He will save us!

Did you wonder why Abraham didn’t just ask the Lord to spare Lot? I think it was because Abraham did not believe that Lot was righteous. As you read about Lot, there isn’t a whole lot to make you believe he was righteous. But he was righteous. The word of God says he was. Listen to what the apostle Peter says. This is from 2 Peter 2:4-10:

4For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains until judgment; 5and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; 6and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly; 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral 8(for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. (1 Peter 2:4-10)

Lot was righteous and he was distressed at the sin in Sodom. He had faith in God, but he did not have the spiritual strength to move away from Sodom.

Now let’s go on to chapter 19.

In chapter 19, while the Lord stayed with Abraham, the two angels went to Sodom where Lot was. The Lord had said that he would go and see how serious the sin was—to see if what they were doing justified the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe the Lord certainly knew how serious the sin was, but he was giving them one more chance. He is not willing for any to perish, but wants all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

The angels found Lot sitting in the gate of the city. Maybe he was a judge or an elder, because that was the custom for elders and judges in those days—to sit in the city gate. That’s where they made decisions and judgments.

When the angels arrived, Lot bowed with his face to the ground, just as Abraham had, and invited the men to spend the night at his house. (Incidentally, Moses, who wrote Genesis, actually calls the angels men, but they were obviously angels, so that’s the way the HCSB translators render it. Lot probably didn’t know they were angels, but was simply offering hospitality.)

When Lot invited the men to stay at his house, they declined and said they would spend the night in the square. Lot knew what would happen to them if they spent the night in the square and insisted that they stay in his house. (The men knew what would happen to them too, but it would not have been a problem for them! This was part of the test to see whether the sin of Sodom was as great as the outcry against it.)

Anyway, the angels went to stay with Lot. Lot prepared food for them and they ate. (One of the things I noticed was that it says nothing about Lot’s wife or any servants helping him as was the case with Abraham. Lot had been rich and had had flocks and herds and servants when he separated from Abraham, just as Abraham did. That was the reason for their separation. But, I don’t think Lot was a real leader in his household. That’ll become more apparent as we see how his family reacted when the angels told them they had to leave Sodom.)

Verse 4 says that before they went to bed, all of the men of the city, both young and old, came and demanded that Lot send the men out so that they could have sex with them. These men (or angels) were something new, and the men of Sodom were always looking for some new experience. (They were about to have a new experience too, but not the kind they expected!)

Now listen to verses 6 through 8 as I read them:

6Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers. 8Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man. I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.” (Genesis 19:6-8)

Lot certainly knew that what the men wanted was evil, so he offered his virgin daughters to them in the hopes they would not bother his two guests. I think this is incredible. But evidently Lot was doing this as the lesser of two evils. I think it shows his extreme weakness.

The men of Sodom were threatening to break down the door, but the angels struck them with a blinding light so they couldn’t find it. Then the angels told Lot that he and his family had to get out of there because the Lord was going to destroy the city at the crack of dawn. Lot talked to his sons-in-law, but they didn’t take him seriously.

At the crack of dawn the angels urged Lot on: “Get up!  Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” (verse 15) But Lot hesitated. It doesn’t say why he hesitated, but I don’t think it was because he didn’t believe the angels. I think it was because he knew that his wife and family would not want to leave. I think he was torn.

Verse 16 says that because of the Lord’s compassion on Lot, the angels dragged Lot and his wife and his daughters out of the city by their hands and told them to run for their lives. They told them, “Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain!  Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” (verse 17)

Lot hesitated again. He didn’t think he could make it to the mountains. So the angels agreed to spare a small town so that Lot and his family could have refuge there. Then Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed as well as all the cities on the plain and all their inhabitants. The Lord rained burning sulfur from the sky on them. There was nothing left but a column of smoke. Abraham stood where he had talked to the Lord and watched it. It doesn’t say whether or not Abraham knew that Lot had escaped.

Now, the angels had told Lot to run and not look back. But verse 26 says that Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Why? Listen to what Jesus has to say concerning his second coming:

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: 27people went on eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah boarded the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot: people went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. 29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. 30It will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to make his life secure will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:26-33)

Lot’s wife wanted to make her own life secure! Her life was in Sodom. Her life was Sodom! That’s why she looked back! Anyone who wants to save his life in this world will lose it. Anyone who loses his life for the sake of Jesus and the gospel will keep it for eternal life. Jesus told his disciples that when Jerusalem was attacked they should run for the hills—that they should not even go into their houses to get a coat or anything else—just run. And according to what I’ve read—history—when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD, the Christians saw his army starting to surround the city and ran. They were spared, but the city was besieged and everyone else perished.

Are you ready to leave everything when Jesus comes? Will you be disappointed to leave all the ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated here on earth and in this life? Are you storing up treasure in heaven or are you storing it up on earth? Where your treasure is that’s where your heart will be too. (That’s from the Sermon on the Mount –Matt. 6:19-21.) Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)

The rest of Genesis chapter 19, verses 30 through 38, talks about what happened to Lot and his two daughters. They eventually left the small town where the angels had permitted them to stop and wound up in the mountains where the angels had originally told them to go anyway. They had lost everything, all the flocks and herds and servants and everything else. They lived in a cave.

Now, let me read verses 31 through 38:

31Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. 32Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.” 33So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
34The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” 35That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. 36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today. 38The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today. (Genesis 19:31-38)

This is terrible. But it also shows Lot’s weakness. Although he knew what was right and what was wrong, and probably avoided sin himself, he didn’t bring his family up to fear the Lord. Remember what the Lord said about Abraham in chapter 18: “For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just.” (Gen. 18:19) Lot hadn’t done that with either his family or with his household. What happened with his daughters was the result!

Let me tell you something about the two sons that Lot fathered. One was Moab. He was the father of the Moabites. The other was Ben-ammi. He was the father of the Ammonites. The Moabites and the Ammonites were both enemies of Israel. They are now both extinct.

But there’s something else. Our Lord Jesus is descended from Moab! If you read the Book of Ruth, you will find out that Ruth, who is the great grandmother of King David from who Jesus is descended, was a Moabitess! Ruth is one of only four women (besides Mary) who are listed in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1. The other three are Tamar, who pretended to be a prostitute in order to have children for her father-in-law, Judah, Rahab the prostitute who hid the Israelite spies when they were spying out Jericho, and Bathsheba with whom King David committed adultery and then murdered her husband rather than have him find out about it. Interesting the way the Lord does things, isn’t it. He uses sinners. He uses us!

Now I’m going to read some New Testament scriptures that talk about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. The first one is from Jude verses 5 through 7. (Jude doesn’t have any chapters, just verses.) Here’s what it says:

5Now I want to remind you, though you know all these things: the Lord, having first of all saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe; 6and He has kept, with eternal chains in darkness for the judgment of the great day, angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling. 7In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions, just as they did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5-7)

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because the people were practicing sexual immorality and perversions. Sodom and Gomorrah serve as example for us.

Now let’s look at Isaiah chapter 3 verses 8 and 9:

8For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they have spoken and acted against the Lord, defying His glorious presence. 9The look on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin. They do not conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves. (Isaiah 3:8,9)

The Sodomites not only were committing sexual immorality and practicing perversions, they were flaunting these things, not concealing them.

Now listen to Romans 1:18 through 32:

18For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
24Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual intercourse for what is unnatural. 27The males in the same way also left natural sexual intercourse with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their perversion.
28And because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong. 29They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, disputes, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. 32Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them. (Romans 1:18-32)

They not only do these things, but even applaud others who practice them! It sounds just like the world today!

Now I want to read just one more scripture. This is what Paul said immediately before what I just read. It’s from Romans 1:16 and 17:

16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 1 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16,17)

“The righteous will live by faith.” That’s a quote from the Old Testament—Habakkuk 2:4. Do you live by faith? Do you trust Jesus? If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive our sins, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all unrighteousness!

[Prayer]



END NOTES
1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.