This article is part of a series of articles
that resulted from my time preaching through the book of Genesis. The
commentary on the passage is my own, resulting from hours of research and
exegetical study. It is my intent to draw a biblical theology chapter by
chapter through the book of Genesis that places the events of the narratives
into the broad picture of the entire Bible, demonstrating the progressiveness
of theology and the sufficiency of every Word of Scripture. It is my prayer
that these articles are helpful to those seeking a better understanding of the
book of Genesis and of the Bible as a whole. The sermon series and other
resources can be found at www.fbcroxana.com.
God destroyed the world by a Great
Flood when His Spirit was no longer able to strive with mankind’s wickedness
(cf. Gen 6:3, 7). He made a covenant with all living creatures that He would
never again destroy the earth by a Flood (cf. Gen 9:11). This begs the question:
if mankind became so vile in their depravity after 1600 years that God had to
destroy the earth, how would God stop the earth from being overrun by
wickedness again so that He would never again destroy every living thing as He
had done (cf. Gen 8:21)?
This answer is found in Genesis 10
and 11. God commanded the people to scatter across the face of the earth, but
some disobeyed and began to build an empire that had Babel as its capitol under
its leader, Nimrod (Gen 10:9-10). God confused the language of the earth, so
that they all spoke different languages and had no choice but to obey His
command to scatter. The result of this is that the peoples of the earth dwelled
apart from one another and were secluded from each other because of language.
Thus, they were unable to cooperate
with each other in evil, and their wickedness would not overrun the earth as it
had previously—at least, not until mankind could unravel the language barrier
and overcome the geography problem. But during this time, there would be no
necessity of a worldwide judgment, for the people could not work together toward
their evil goals. However, societies tend toward evil, and once a society is
overrun by evil, God blots it out (cf. Gen 15:16). This is the case in this
chapter with Sodom and Gomorrah.
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in
the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose
to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he
said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and
spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your
way.”
Lot had not only moved into the city
of Sodom, but he was now sitting at the gates of the city as an elder among the
people. Only Lot demonstrated the same hospitality as Abraham toward the two
angels. It must have been apparent to all that these two men were angels, and
Lot may have caught onto the lust that was already developing in the hearts of
the people.
They said however, “No, but we shall
spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so
they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for
them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
This is more than courteous
hospitality. There is an urgency in Lot’s refusal to let the angels spend the
night in the square. He wanted to protect these strangers to the best of his
ability.
4 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; 5 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
have relations with them.”
The text is clear that all the men of
the city had Lot’s house surrounded. There was not one who had declined the
invitation of lustful revelry. The men did not hide their intentions from Lot.
They wanted to have sexual relations (literally “know” the men as a man ‘knows’
his wife) with the angels. Whether they realized the men were angels in
disguise or not, this is a perverted request that only demonstrates what the
LORD already knew about the people of Sodom.
6 But Lot went out to them at the
doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my
brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now behold, I have two daughters
who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and
do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they
have come under the shelter of my roof.”
Lot was attempting to act
righteously, although he missed the mark. In a cowardly act of attempted
appeasement, he offered his own virgin daughters to the crowd of men. However,
his protection of the strangers is commendable.
9 But they said, “Stand aside.”
Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting
like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.”
Such is the reaction of the depraved
mind of unregenerate men. Anyone who would admonish them to cease from their
sin and be righteous is attacked as too judgmental and intolerant. And the
depraved mind’s only acceptable reaction to perceived intolerance is
retaliation.
So they pressed hard against Lot and
came near to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands
and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They
struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small
and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.
The angels step in on Lot’s behalf.
He had tried to protect them as a good host should, but it was too much for
him. The circumstances demanded miraculous intervention, so the angels blinded
the men so that they could not see. Amazingly, the mob was so caught up in
their raging lust that they were still trying to find the doorway to break it
down.
12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom
else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and
whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for
we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before
the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out
and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up,
get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.” But he appeared to
his sons-in-law to be jesting.
Lot believed the word of the angels,
and went to wake up his future sons-in-law. But when he told them of the
imminent wrath of God upon the city, they laughed at him. They thought he was
joking. When he continued to prepare to leave the city, they probably started
thinking he was insane. But the point is that they did not believe him.
15 When morning dawned, the angels
urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or
you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he
hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of
his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they
brought him out, and put him outside the city. 17 When they had
brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you,
and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be
swept away.”
Lot was quick to believe, but slow to
obey. It was only the compassion of the LORD that saved him that day. The
angels now gave him a simple command and an assurance. They told him to flee
from the mountains where the judgment would not harm him, and they assured him
that the judgment would not begin until Lot and his family were well away from
danger.
18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my
lords! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight,
and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving
my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake
me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee
to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my
life may be saved.” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this
request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22
Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”
Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
The angel allowed Lot’s request,
assuring him that judgment would not befall the town of Zoar. The people there,
being in proximity to Sodom, were likely as wicked as Sodom, but now there
would be righteous people dwelling among them and saving them from judgment.
23 The sun had risen over the earth
when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew
those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and
what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked
back, and she became a pillar of salt.
What is interesting about this verse
is the presence of two LORDs, one on earth and one in heaven. This was always a
problem that the Rabbis went to great lengths to resolve. However, there need
be no resolution when the fullness of revelation is brought to bear,
specifically the doctrine of the Trinity. There is only one LORD, but He is
three persons. And we have two identified in this verse, acting in concert to
bring about the will of the Godhead.
Fire and brimstone rained out of the
sky to fall upon the cities, the valley, the people, and the vegetation. It was
total destruction. There was nothing left. Only salt. This destruction is still
evident on a map of the Promised Land. Lot’s wife also suffered the same fate
as the city when she turned to look at it.
27 Now Abraham arose early in the
morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28
and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the
valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of
a furnace. 29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of
the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the
overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
In this way, Lot was blessed because
of Abraham. There were only three who did not perish in the judgment of Sodom
and Gomorrah. The LORD had told Abraham that He would spare the city if there
were ten righteous. But there were not ten righteous people to be found. So God
spared righteous Lot and his family on account of Abraham.
30 Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in
the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in
Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.
After making such a fuss about
fleeing to Zoar instead of the mountains, Lot ends up going to dwell in the
mountains. It is unclear as to whether he feared the wickedness of the people
would spark another judgment or if he feared that the people would blame him
for what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps he feared both.
While they were living in the cave,
things must have seemed rather bleak. The family had lost everything. Lot had
lost his wife and the girls had lost their mother. The two girls had lost the
prospect of marriage. They had lost their servants and their wealth. They had
lost their home and position in the community. What was to be done? How would
their family reorient itself? They were close to being completely destroyed, so
they needed heirs to carry on the family name. But where were these heirs to
come from? They were living in seclusion. So the two girls hatched a scheme.
31 Then the firstborn said to the
younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us
after the manner of the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink
wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our
father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the
firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay
down or when she arose. 34 On the following day, the firstborn said
to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink
wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our
family through our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine
that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know
when she lay down or when she arose. 36 Thus both the daughters of
Lot were with child by their father.
It was probably easy to get Lot to
drink. He was mourning the death of his wife and the loss of his possessions.
He probably succumbed quickly to the urging of his daughters to drink enough
wine to completely black out. Through the incestual acts that followed, both
daughters became pregnant with sons.
37 The firstborn bore a son, and called
his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 As
for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the
father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
Both of these boys would multiply and
become nations. And both of these nations would be bitter enemies of Israel.
Conclusion
God punishes unrighteousness, and He
will not punish the wicked while the righteous are in their midst. None are
righteous on their own. Everyone has sinned, and deserves death at God’s hand.
But God, full of grace and mercy, sent His Son to take away the sins of all
those in the world who believe so that they would be righteous. Jesus died on
the cross, the spotless lamb offered unto God to make propitiation. In doing
so, He took the wrath of God upon Himself so that those who believe in Him will
never have to face it. God counts the sins of the sinner as paid in full and
attributes Christ’s righteousness to the sinner so that no longer is he a
sinner, but a son. It is a free gift from God. All one must do to receive it is
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent from sin.
Read Chapter 20
