Difference between revisions of "CHAPTER TEN: THE END OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH"

Latest revision as of 19:51, 8 November 2011

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One hot day, as Abraham sat in the entrance of his tent, three men appeared. In reality, they were the Word (who would later become Jesus Christ) and two angels. They only appeared to be men.

It was the custom to greet strangers who came to your home and to give them refreshments. So Abraham rushed to give the three strangers water to wash their feet, which, because they wore sandals, were exposed to dirt and sand.
Abraham also instructed Sarah to quickly make cakes of bread while he ordered a young servant to prepare a roasted calf. When the food was ready, the visitors sat down and ate (Genesis 18:1-8).

Then they asked Abraham, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
He said, “Here in the tent.”
Hearing her name mentioned, Sarah came to the entrance of the tent and listened.

The Word said to Abraham, “Next year I will return to you. By then, Sarah shall bear you a son” (Gen 18:9-10).
If Abraham had any doubts about who his visitors really were, he now understood that he was in the presence of God.
Hearing that she was going to somehow give birth to a child, Sarah laughed within herself.

She thought, “I am 90 years old and well past my childbearing years. And now that I am old and gray I am expected to bear children?” (Gen 18:11-12).

God turned to Abraham and said, “Why did Sarah laugh and say that she was too old to bear a son? Is anything too hard for the Eternal?
Mark My words, I will return to you at the appointed time and Sarah will have a son.”
Abraham slowly turned to his wife.
Sarah shook her head and said, “I did not laugh.” She denied it because she was afraid. Like Abraham, she began to realize that she was before God.
God replied, “No, Sarah, you did laugh” (Gen 18:13-15).

Then Sarah realized her mistake.
Most people either do not understand or believe that God sees everything. He knows our thoughts and desires. He even knows our needs before we know them. He sees when we break His laws. And He sees and hears us when we ask for forgiveness and honestly try to change. God even knows the number of hairs you have on your head!
Nothing can be hidden from Him. God sees everything (Jeremiah 23:23-24).

Abraham Reasons With God
God (the Word) and the two angels rose and departed for the city of Sodom. Abraham decided to walk with them and send them on their way (Genesis 18:16).

As they walked together, God turned to Abraham and said, “Shall I hide from you what I am about to do? I know you, Abraham. You are my friend. I know that you keep My commandments, and that you teach your entire household to do the same. Because you obey My voice, I know that I can trust you. Therefore, I will tell you what I am about to do” (Gen 18:17-19).

Abraham felt honoured to be considered God’s trusted friend. But he was also deeply concerned. Something weighed heavily in God’s mind; he knew that this was the reason God and His two angels were disguised as men.

God said, “The outcry against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Their sins have grown so terrible, they have become as evil as the last days before the Great Flood! Though I see everything and nothing can be hidden from Me, I am sending My two angels to see the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah in person. Then I will know whether or not the outcry against them is justified” (Gen 18:20-21).

At that, the two angels departed for Sodom, but God remained with Abraham for a little while longer (Gen 18:22).
Realizing that his nephew still lived in Sodom, Abraham began to worry. “What will become of Lot if God decides to destroy Sodom?”Turning to God, Abraham said, “Great Eternal One, would You also destroy the righteous along with the wicked? Suppose there were righteous God-fearing people who lived in Sodom—would You destroy the city and not spare the lives of the 50 who obey You? Far be it from You, the Judge of all the earth, to do such a thing.”

God replied, “If I find in Sodom 50 righteous people, I will spare the city for their sakes.”
Abraham was relieved. He had taught Lot the laws of God from his youth. He was confident that his nephew still kept them.
But then another thought crossed Abraham’s mind: “What if there are less than 50 righteous in all of Sodom?”

He turned to God again and said, “I know that I am only dust compared to You, O Lord, but please allow me to speak on this matter again.
Suppose there were only 45 righteous people in Sodom—would you destroy the entire city and not spare the 45 who were righteous?” God replied, “If I find only 45 righteous people in Sodom, I will not destroy it.”

Then Abraham approached his Creator again, asking if there were only 40 righteous in Sodom—then 30, then 20.
Finally, he asked God, “Suppose You found that there were only ten righteous people living in Sodom? Would You still destroy the city and not spare the ten who fear and obey You?”

God said, “I will not destroy Sodom if I find that ten righteous people live in the city.”
And then God left as soon as He was finished speaking. Abraham walked home, relieved that he was allowed to intervene for Lot’s sake (Gen 18:23-33).

Sodom—City of Sin
In the evening, the two angels arrived at Sodom. Thinking that they were ordinary men, Lot greeted the angels at the city gate, where business and civil matters were conducted (Genesis 19:1).
Noticing that the darkness of night was about to fall upon them, Lot offered the visitors to spend the night at his home.

They said, “No, thank you. We will spend the night in the open square” (Gen 19:2).
Lot began to fear for them. He knew how wild and evil the men of Sodom could be toward strangers—especially at night.

At his insistence, the angels came home with Lot. Then he and his family made them a fine feast of roasted lamb and freshly baked unleavened bread (Gen 19:3).
Just before Lot’s household was about to go to bed, the men of Sodom, both young and old, came to the house and surrounded it.
These men had heard rumors of two mysterious but handsome strangers spending the night there.

The men banged on the door and called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the strangers? Why are you hiding them from us? Bring them out that we may treat them as we wish” (Gen 19:4-5).
Driven by their carnal nature, these wicked men intended to mistreat the newcomers and do evil things to them.

Lot, wanting to protect his guests, stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. He pleaded with the growing crowd not to harm or do evil to his guests. Then he offered to bring out his two daughters in their place (Gen 19:6-8)!

Though he obeyed God’s laws, Lot did not fully use God’s wisdom.
Choosing to live closely with such wicked people affected Lot’s judgment.
The Sodomites snarled at him. “You are a foreigner! You came to live here with us, and now you keep acting as our judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with the strangers!”

The crowd pressed so hard against Lot that they almost broke the door down (Gen 19:9).
The two angels reached out and pulled Lot into the house. Before shutting the door, they struck the Sodomite men with blindness—yet the crowd was so intent on doing evil to Lot and the strangers that they struggled to find the door and break it down (Gen 19:10-11)!

Escape from Sodom
The angels told Lot to gather all of his relatives living in the city. “For we shall destroy this place. Sodom is so evil and the outcry against it is so great, God has no choice but to destroy the city” (Genesis 19:12-13).
Lot raced out of his home and pleaded with his sons-in-law, who were married to Lot’s other daughters.
“You must leave the city at once! God is going to destroy it!”

But his sons-in-law thought that Lot was only joking (Gen 19:14).
Like those who would not listen to Noah’s warning of the Great Flood, Lot’s sons-in-law refused to take God seriously. They would soon regret their foolish mistake.

When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry up and leave Sodom. But Lot did not listen. He wanted more time to warn his friends and relatives of God’s coming punishment.
Because Abraham had spoken to Him about sparing the city for the sake of the righteous who may be living in it, God was very patient and merciful toward Lot. Instead of leaving him behind, the two angels took hold of Lot, his wife and their two youngest daughters and brought them out of the city (Gen 19:15-16).

Once outside the walls of Sodom, the angels warned them, “Escape for your life! As you flee, do not look behind you toward Sodom or stay anywhere in the plain. Sodom, Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain are about to be destroyed. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed, also!” (Gen 19:17).

While Lot and his two daughters escape to Zoar, Lot’s wife disobeys God and looks back at Sodom.

Lot had grown too fond of living among the wicked cities. This attitude led him to tolerate—put up with—their sins. It also affected his ability to make wise decisions. Being too close to sin always does this.

Though extremely grateful toward the angels for helping him escape, Lot said, “The mountains are too far for me and my family to escape. Allow us to go to this city.” He pointed to the small town of Bela, a few miles away.

The angels agreed. They waited for Lot’s family to escape to Bela (whose name was changed to Zoar, which means “little”). Then they would unleash God’s awesome power and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:2; 19:18-22).

Once the sun had fully risen, God rained flames of fire and burning brimstone down upon the wicked cities. Ash and smoke filled the air as fire spread wildly out of control. The people screamed and panicked and ran in all directions. In the smoky darkness and confusion, many people were trampled to death. Others were trapped in burning buildings or died from the poisonous smoke vapors. Thousands died as God wiped Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the earth.

Just as Lot and his daughters entered Zoar, his wife began to regret leaving the city she loved. Hating to give it up, she looked back toward Sodom.
In an instant, Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt! The price for rebelling against God is always high (Genesis 19:23-26).

The Day After
The next day, Abraham rose early and looked across the valley to see what was left of the cities of the plain. He saw thick columns of smoke swirl up into the sky from what used to be cities. At first he wondered if Lot had been destroyed in Sodom. But when he later learned that the little town of Zoar had escaped God’s wrath, Abraham realized that Lot was there, safe and sound (Genesis 19:27-29).

Fearing the citizens of Zoar, who blamed him for Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction, Lot left town. He and his daughters fled to the mountains and lived in a cave. Once there, Lot had much to think about. Because he had grown used to sin and tolerated it, Lot had almost lost his life (Gen 19:30).

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