Genesis chapter 19

The depravity of  Sodom. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The origin of Moab and Ammon.

 


 

THE DEPRAVITY OF SODOM

 

VERSE 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,

Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. Lot does not welcome these visitors nearly as much as Abram did.

Abram exhibits “Desert Hospitality,” but Lot only shows “ordinary hospitality.”

Abram ran to greet them, but Lot merely rose to greet them.

Abram served cakes of choice flour, but Lot served ordinary unleaven bread.

Abram stood by them while they ate, but Lot ate with them as if her were their equal.

 

VERSE 2. and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”

 

VERSE 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.

 

VERSE 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.

surrounded the house. This is a chilling scene.

 

VERSE 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.”

that we may have sex with them. What the men of Sodom want to do is rape. Gang rape. It is not homosexual activity.

Judges 19:22. As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain wicked fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and they spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we can have sex with him!”

 

VERSE 6. Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself.

 

VERSE 7. He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly.

 

VERSE 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.”

I have two virgin daughters. We do not understand how a father could offer up his daughters for sexual abuse.

 

VERSE 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 we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door.

 

VERSE 10. But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

 

VERSE 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.

They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness. It was a preternatural flash of light. It blinded the men. But it revealed their true nature to Lot.

Those who lived in the shadow of death were blinded by the light.

John 1:5. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.

 

THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH

 

VERSE 12. The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:

 

VERSE 13. for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

we will destroy this place. These two angels will destroy this entire city. Just two of them.

 

VERSE 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 the LORD will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.

he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. Perhaps they missed the point due to unbelief. If we lack faith, we miss out on the workings of God.

 

VERSE 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.”

 

VERSE 16. But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, the LORD being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.

the men grabbed his hand. Lot and his wife were deeply attached to the city of Sodom and the good life they enjoyed there. They were so attache to the past that they were not able to follow the call of grace voluntarily.

They knew what God was calling them to do, but with two heavenly angels dragging him by his arms, Lot still preferred to stay in Sodom.

Have you ever felt you needed to give up some sin or bad habit, but kept flirting with it?

Sin entwines itself into our lives, and we become comfortable with it. We feel the call of God, but we delay.

God, always respectful of our free will, isn’t likely to drag us away from sin by the arms.

Take that step of action faith. Just as Lot needed to flee to a new city, we too need to flee to the place where we are free. Make haste. Do not delay. Don’t look back! Act swiftly!

 

VERSE 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!”

Escape for your life. Sometimes we have no choice. We must flee. Right now.

We are to flee from doing the wrong thing. Instead, we are to pursue doing the right thing. This is part of being a disciple. It is action-faith. Read more »

 

VERSE 18. Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord.

 

VERSE 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.

 

VERSE 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.”

 

VERSE 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.

 

VERSE 22. Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

I can’t do anything until you get there. Sometimes the LORD God calls us to stop praying and start moving. It is as if fresh blessings are withheld from us until we take action. Read more »

Zoar. It means “little.”

 

VERSE 23. The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

 

VERSE 24. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of the sky.

rained on Sodom. What was the sin of Sodom? Why was destroyed? Many people assume it was due to homosexual activity. However, the Bible provides a different answer. Read more »

In the Bible, fire sometimes came down from heaven. It was a sign. Or it destroyed the wicked. Or it consumed a sacrifice. Or it was a counterfeit miracle. Read more »

 

VERSE 25. He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.

 

VERSE 26. But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Lot’s wife looked back. But the Lord Jesus did not look back:

Luke 9:51. It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem

 

VERSE 27. Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

 

VERSE 28. He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

 

VERSE 29. When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

 

THE ORIGIN OF MOAB AND AMMON

 

VERSE 30. Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.

 

VERSE 31. The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.

 

VERSE 32. Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”

 

VERSE 33. They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose.

 

VERSE 34. It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”

 

VERSE 35. They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up.

 

VERSE 36. Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.

Lot had offered to let the whole town rape his innocent daughters.

Now a kind of Old Testament justice is served. His two daughters rape him!

 

VERSE 37. The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

 

VERSE 38. The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.


next chapter »

« previous chapter


GENESIS

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 4950

RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.