Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 18:1–15 Shortly after the events of chapter 17, three men appeared to Abraham. Actually two of them were angels and the other was the Lord Himself. With typical Middle Eastern hospitality, Abraham and Sarah entertained the angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2) and One who was greater than angels. When Sarah overheard the Lord say that she would have a child within a year, her laughter betrayed her unbelief. She was rebuked with the searching question, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" But the promise was repeated in spite of her doubting (vv. 9–15). Hebrews 11:11 indicates that Sarah was basically a woman of faith in spite of this momentary lapse.

Genesis 18:16–33 After the Lord revealed to Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom, and while the two angels were walking toward that city, Abraham’s great intercessory countdown began—fifty ... forty-five ... forty ... thirty ... twenty ... ten. Even for ten righteous people the Lord would not destroy Sodom! Abraham’s prayer is a wonderful example of effectual intercession. It was based on the righteous character of the Judge of all the earth (v. 25) and evidenced that boldness, yet deep humility which only an intimate knowledge of God can give. Only when Abraham stopped pleading did the Lord close the matter and depart (v. 33). There are many mysteries in life for which the truth of verse 25 is the only satisfying answer.

Don’t miss the tribute God paid to Abraham as an outstanding family man (v. 19). Something worth coveting!

Genesis 19:1–11 The name of Sodom has become synonymous with the sin of homosexuality or sodomy. But sexual perversion was not the only cause of the city’s fall. In Ezekiel 16:49,50, the Lord describes the sin of Sodom as "pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness."

Lot received the two angels and insisted that they spend the night in his home, knowing all too well the danger that would face them otherwise. Even then the men of Sodom sought to commit homosexual rape against these heavenly visitors. In a desperate effort to save his guests, Lot shamelessly offered his two daughters. Only a miracle saved the day; the angels struck the Sodomites with a temporary, confusing blindness.

Both in the Old Testament (Genesis 19:1–26; Leviticus 18:22; 20:13) and in the New Testament (Romans 1:18–32; I Corinthians 6:9; I Timothy 1:10), God condemns the sin of homosexuality. He showed His wrath against it by destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Under the law of Moses, sodomy was punishable by death. No practicing homosexual will inherit the kingdom of God.

So-called "gays" pay a high price for their immoral lifestyle. Paul says that they receive in themselves "the penalty of their error which was due" (Rom. 1:27b). This includes venereal diseases, pneumocystis, Kaposi’s sarcoma (a form of cancer) and AIDS. It also includes haunting guilt, mental and emotional disturbances, and abnormal personality changes.

Like all other sinners, a homosexual or lesbian can be saved if he or she repents of sin and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior. God loves the gay person and the lesbian even if He hates their sin.

There is a difference between being a practicing homosexual and having a homosexual tendency. It is the practice that the Bible condemns, not the orientation. There are many who have an attraction to their own sex but refuse to give in to it. By the power of the Spirit, they have disciplined themselves to resist the temptation and to live in purity. Many Christian persons of homosexual orientation

"... have regarded their condition with sorrow and contrition, but, unable to change, have drawn on the Spirit for the power of forbearance and chastity, which is sanctification indeed ... . In commitment to Christ, [they] have offered an enduring inner blemish for God’s use that divine power may be perfected in human weakness."

Some blame God that they were born with this tendency, but the fault does not lie with God but with human sinfulness. Every fallen child of Adam has evil tendencies. Some have a weakness in one area, some in another. The sin is not in being tempted, but in yielding to the temptation.

There is deliverance from homosexuality or lesbianism, as there is from any form of lust. However, ongoing godly counseling assistance is very important in nearly every case.

Christians should accept gays and lesbians as persons without approving their lifestyle. Because they are people for whom Christ died, believers should seek in every possible way to win them to a life of "holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14).

Genesis 19:12–29 The angels insisted that Lot and his family leave the city. But when he tried to persuade his sons-in-law (or perhaps prospective sons-in-law—see RSV), they thought he was joking. His backslidden life nullified his testimony when the crisis came. When the morning dawned, the angels escorted Lot, his wife, and daughters out of Sodom. Even then Lot temporized, preferring to stay in Zoar, one of the satellite sin cities. Not even ten righteous men were found in the city of Sodom, so God destroyed it. But Abraham’s prayer was not unanswered, for God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.

Though Lot’s wife left the city, her heart was still in it, and she fell under the judgment of God. In the words "Remember Lot’s wife" (Luke 17:32), Christ held her up as a warning to all who trifle with His offer of salvation.

Genesis 19:30–38 Leaving Zoar, Lot fled to a mountain cave. There his daughters made him drunk and enticed him to commit incest with them. The older daughter subsequently bore a son named Moab, and the younger ... bore a son, Ben-Ammi. Thus began the Moabites and Ammonites, who became recurring thorns in Israel’s side. It was Moabite women who later seduced the men of Israel to commit immorality (Numbers 25:1–3) and Ammonites who taught Israel the worship of Molech, including the sacrifice of children (I Kings 11:33; Jeremiah 32:35).

We know from II Peter 2:7- 8 that Lot was a just man, but because of his worldliness he lost his testimony (v. 14), his wife (v. 26), his sons-in-law, his friends, his communion (there was none in Sodom), his property (he went in rich but came out poor), his character (v. 35), his life’s work, and nearly his life (v. 22). The depraved behavior of his daughters shows that they had been influenced by Sodom’s vile standards. There is no escape (Hebrews 2:3).

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