Genesis 19
The Lord Destroys Sodom and Gomorrah
1The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Genesis 19 (NIV)
Two angels came to Sodom to see for themselves the nature of things going on there and Lot offered for them to stay with him.
While they were there, the men of Sodom came knocking at the door asking for Lot to hand the two men over so they could have sex with them. Lot tried to deter them, even offering his daughters instead but they (the people of Sodom) refused. By their actions, they indeed confirmed that Sodom was full of wickedness and perversion.
Lot was informed about the plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and he was asked to leave with his family and go to the mountains.
After they left, Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. He eventually moved to the mountains and his daughters ended up getting him drunk and sleeping with him to have babies.
Lessons from Genesis 19
- Question: How did both Abraham (Genesis 18) and Lot recognize that these people they saw were angels from God?
Answer: God’s people know Him. Think about someone you’ve known for a long time, someone you know very well. Most likely, you can recognize them by their face, voice, and even the sound of their footsteps. If you know them well enough, you may be able to recognize them even in a disguise by how they walk, talk, their mannerisms, voice, etc.
Similarly, close fellowship with God will enable you to recognize Him and His people. Sharpen your spiritual eyes through Bible study and meditation, prayer and fellowship, and you will be able to recognize God when He shows up at your door.
- Bowing down before the Lord is an act of adoration and worship.
- Persistence: by being persistent, Lot got the two men to go with him to his house even after they initially said no. Many times in life you will get a “no” for an answer. Just because you didn’t get a “yes” the first time, second time or nth time you asked or tried doesn’t mean you should give up. Just because you tried something once and failed doesn’t mean you need to give up. By being persistent, you could turn a negative into a positive. Just be wise and mindful of where and how you apply this principle, persistence does not justify harassment.
- It is a host[ess]’s responsibility to take care of those under their roof: when you invite guests over, take care of them. Make sure they are safe and provided for. There’s so much blessing in treating people well.
- As a guest in someone’s home you also need to be sure you are a blessing to them: when the two men saw and heard what was going on between the people of Sodom and Lot, they didn’t just sit back with folded arms, they intervened and helped Lot. Similarly, when someone invites you into their home you can’t just take advantage of their kindness and absolutely refuse to help them out. Be a good guest, clean up after yourself, help out with groceries or chores, offer to be a blessing in one way or another.
- In this passage we see another instance of the Lord telling His people about what was to come (verse 13). God likes to keep His people informed of things to come, just like He did with Noah, Abraham and now Lot.
- Freewill: when Lot learned about what was going to happen, he went out and told his future sons-in-law to pack up and get ready to leave but they didn’t because they thought he was joking. No one forced them out of there, not even God. That’s the power of freewill that God lets us have: even when He says “do” or “don’t”, the choice remains yours to honour His requests or not. Whatever decision you make, the consequences are yours to face.
- Question: Lot had hesitations about leaving too. Why did the men grasp his hands and those of his wife and daughters and lead them to safety? Why didn’t they let him perish with all the others?
Answer: the Lord was merciful to them (verse 16, 29). Remember that Lot was Abraham’s nephew, also, in Genesis 18, Abraham had pleaded that the righteous be not destroyed with the wicked Genesis 18:23. God chose to spare Lot despite his hesitations out of mercy for him and because God remembered Abraham.
Your family can receive favour because of you.
- Don’t be afraid to present your requests to God: God is open to conversation with us. Lot was bold enough to voice his concern about not being able to make it to the mountains on time and so requested that he be allowed to take refuge at a closer city instead and it was granted to him.
- The wrath of God: God is good, He is love, He is kind and merciful. However there’s also such a thing as the wrath of God and it is something you don’t want to experience. Good news is that it is only reserved for the wicked. If you obey God and do as He says, you will never experience His wrath.
- Don’t look back: Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. She was probably thinking of all the things she was giving up on by leaving Sodom (property, people, possessions, etc), harbouring feelings of regret instead of looking forward with hope to the future. When God delivers you from a situation, don’t look back. Don’t reminisce about “the days of old” and the different things you use to get yourself into with regret. Showing regret for what you left behind suggests that you are not grateful for the deliverance of the Lord and that often manifests as backsliding – going back to live the life God delivered you from. Also, don’t look back with an attitude of mockery or superiority; it’s by grace that we all come to Christ, being Christians doesn’t give us the right to look down on others. Instead, pray for those who are living in darkness, that they too will come to the light just like you did.
- Don’t become overcome with despair. Desperation makes people do some of the wildest things at times, like Lot’s daughters getting their father drunk so they could both have babies by him. Give room for God to act on your life. Take a few steps back and let Him lead you in wisdom.
Reflection
- Are you able to discern between what is from God and what is not?
- Do you live in regret?
Further reading
- John 10:27 NIV [My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.]
- Revelation 3:20 NIV [Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.]
- Romans 9:15 NIV [“For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”]
- Hebrews 4:16 KJV [Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.]
Prayer
Lord, give me wisdom to know what to do and vision to see things like you do. Today, I am letting go of the past: everything I have been holding on to that is not pleasant to you. I commit myself and all that I have to you. I commit my present and future you, lead me to where you want me to go and I will follow in faith. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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