Genesis 19:1-29
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”
3 But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. 4 But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
6 So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 “Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”
9 “Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
10 But the two angels[a] reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. 11 Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.
15 At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”
16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.17 When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19 “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. 20 See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”
21 “All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22 But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
23 Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. 24 Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence.28 He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.
29 But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.
What do you gain from this?
Over years of pastoral ministry I have seen people behave in ways that seem completely strange. They pursue things that they know will hurt them. They refuse to do the things that they know will bring them life. However, whether it is a repeated sin or inactivity, I have realised that there is always a pay off. There is a reward to the activity or inactivity otherwise they would not do it.
What do you receive from procrastinating? Perhaps you are afraid of being judged or failing. What do you get from gossip? Does it make you feel better about yourself? Everything we do is for a reason. There is a reward to our behaviour and if we want to change it, we need to see what we are getting and weigh it against the cost.
Today’s passage is like something out of a B Horror movie. It is shocking at every turn. There is tension, fear, threat of rape and death, the destruction of a whole town and the loss of his wife. Perhaps the most shocking moment to me as I read this is the moment when the crowd swells around the house demanding to rape the angels and Lot offers his daughters to them. As a father, there is a rage that is evoked in me as I read this. How could a man would offer his daughters to be raped and killed by a mob of evil men? The whole story is carnal, broken, evil and shocking. Lot’s family did not escape unscathed, his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
In Luke 17 Jesus reminds us of this story.
31 On that day a person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!
She is the only person (besides Jesus) who we are told in Scripture that we should remember. In this passage, Jesus is talking about the end times and the coming destruction of the world and he warns us
33 If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.
Sodom and Gomorra seem like a place of pure evil. A place of distorted sexuality and violence. However, no one considers themselves to be bad and no one (even those you may consider to be most evil) act without a reason. Lot’s wife found herself caught in the tension between the life that would only lead to destruction and the freedom that would require sacrifice.
Jesus warns us that what we pursue may feel like life but will lead to death. There are times when the thing that we have to leave behind will be so difficult that it will feel like we are losing life and vitality. But they are a trap and can cost us the eternal life that truly long for. Remember Lot’s wife.
There was a big difference between Lot and his wife. Lot had such respect and reverence to Gold that he would sacrifice his own family in order to protect God’s honour. On the other hand, even while his wife was being rescued, she looked back with longing and regret. She wanted to hold onto what she had before. However, freedom is an all or nothing deal - there is no half way.
What do you find keeps calling you back from the freedom and life God is leading you into? What would you gain from it and what could you lose?
