Genesis 19

Sodom & Gomorrah Destroyed

1 That evening the *two **angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and ***Lot was ****sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground.

*two angels – Was 3 angels in chapter 18. One stayed behind with Abraham.

**angels – "Angel" in Biblical Hebrew is malak, which is also the Hebrew name for the last Old Testament prophetic book, Malachi. Its main meaning is "messenger".

***Lot, from the Hebrew word pronounced lote, was the son of Haran, grandson of Terah, and nephew of Abraham.

Though Lot wanted to get something out of Sodom, he also expected to put something into Sodom. He probably thought to himself, "Well I may do these people some good. I may be able to win some of them from evil to faith. I can make money faster here than anywhere else, that's true, but I also may help clean up the city a little bit. It's a wicked place, and perhaps I can improve its moral life." When Lot moved into Sodom, this is undoubtedly what he had in mind. But before long he becomes the mayor of the town, the most respected man in the city, the leader of its civic life. This is where the angels found him when they came into the city on that eventful evening

What happened to Lot’s herds? Did he sell them off so he could live the “good life” in the city?

****sitting there – This does not mean he was simply passing the time of day in the gate, watching strangers come into the city. This is a technical phrase which means he was the chief magistrate of the city of Sodom. His job was not only to give an official welcome to visitors of the city but to investigate the nature of any strangers who might come, and also to administer justice concerning any quarrels within the city. The nearest equivalent we have today would be the office of mayor. So this account opens with the picture of Lot as the mayor of Sodom, the chief magistrate of the city.

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 in the morning as early as you like and be on your way again." "Oh no," they said, "we'll just spend the night out here in the city square."

3 But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. He set a great feast before them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast. After the meal,

4 as they were preparing to retire for the night, *all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.

*all the men – which indicates that the homosexuals and bisexuals in the city were not some small minority! Male homosexuality is condemned in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13).

5 They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have sex with them."

Romans 1:26-27 - That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved.

6 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. Do with them as you wish, but leave these men alone, for they are under my *protection."

*protection – literally “roof”

Did Lot really mean it? Would he really have handed his two daughters over to the mob? Or, was it intended as some sort of a diversionary tactic, an offer that would not be accepted, because he knew that those men had no interest in women? That could be a possibility to consider, in view of the mob's response - they continued to ignore the two daughters, and decided to assault Lot along with the two men/angels.

There is a similar story in Judges chapter 20 where a group of men in a Benjamite city pound on the door where a man is a guest and the man surrenders his concubine to the crowd, she’s gang raped and died.

9 "Stand back!" they shouted. "Who do you think you are? *We let you settle among us, and now you are trying to tell us what to do! We'll treat you far worse than those other men!" And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door.

*We let you settle among us – He was acting as a judge in their disputes.

Middle-Eastern hospitality customs of the day required that a host defend the safety of his guests with his own life if required. Having his daughters ravaged would be less humiliating than failing to protect his guests. Also, Lot knew the sexual preferences of his neighbors and gambled that they wouldn't be interested in his daughters. And it worked, at least partially. They refused his daughters, but in effect said. "If you're going to start judging us, we'll take you as well as your guests”.

Some of the “gay” sites I ran into when studying this chapter try to make everyone believe this wasn’t about homosexuality.

10 But the two angels reached out and pulled Lot in and bolted the door.

11 Then they *blinded the men of **Sodom so they couldn't find the doorway.

*blinded the men - A particular type of blindness mentioned elsewhere in the bible only in 2 Kings 6:18-19: So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Ah, my lord, what will we do now?" he cried out to Elisha. "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened his servant's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. As the Aramean army advanced toward them, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, please make them blind." And the LORD did as Elisha asked. Then Elisha went out and told them, "You have come the wrong way! This isn't the right city!

**Sodom - the real names of Sodom and Gomorrah were not preserved. Sodom was derived from the Hebrew word "S'dom," which means "burnt." Gomorrah is derived from the Hebrew word "'Amorah," which means "a ruined heap." These appear to be place names which were assigned after the disaster and were not their original names.

12 "Do you have any other relatives here in the city?" the angels asked. "Get them out of this place--*sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else.

*sons-in-law, sons, daughters – This possibly implies that Lot had sons and married daughters in the city besides the two engaged but unmarried daughters. It is uncertain whether Lot's sons-in-law were fully married to his daughters or only "engaged" to them (Israelite "engagement" was the first part of the marriage ceremony), or even whether the daughters involved were the same as, or different from, the two daughters who were still in their father's house.

13 For we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place 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 going to destroy it." **But the young men thought he was only joking.

*LORD – Jehovah - "יֱהֹוִה"

**But the young men thought he was only joking - What a statement that is! With his very own sons-in-law he had no influence whatsoever. When Abraham had pleaded with God for divine mercy, there needed to be found only ten righteous men in this city for the whole city to be spared. But when Lot went out beginning with his own family, he could find none. His political power was great, but his spiritual influence was absolutely nil.

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 of here right now, or you will be caught 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.

*hesitated – Lot hated to leave!

This act of mercy toward Lot became a model used by the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 2:4-10), and is a strong argument for a pre-tribulation rapture, rescuing the church before the final judgment of Earth takes place (1Thessalonians 1:10 & 5:9).

17 "Run for your lives!" the angels warned. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley. And don't *look back! Escape to the **mountains, or you will die."

*look back didn't refer to a quick glance, but to gaze or look intently at.

**mountains - Mark 13:14-20: The time will come when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where it should not be"--reader, pay attention! Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person outside the house must not go back into the house to pack. A person in the field must not return even to get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies in those days. And pray that your flight will not be in winter. For those will be days of greater horror than at any time since God created the world. And it will never happen again. In fact, unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, the entire human race will be destroyed. But for the sake of his chosen ones he has shortened those days.

This is a picture of the last days.

18 "Oh no, my lords, please," Lot begged.

19 "You have been so kind to me and saved my life, and you have granted me such mercy. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die.

Why is Lot so afraid of the mountains – which is where he eventually ends up anyhow?

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."

Lot is assuming that the city is too small for God to bother with in His judgment.

21 "All right," *the angel said, "I will grant your request. I will not destroy that little village.

*the angel – suddenly switches from plural to singular.

22 But hurry! For I can do nothing until you are there." From that time on, that village was known as *Zoar.

*Zoar means "little." Mentioned in 14:2 & 8.

The location of Sodom, along with Gomorrah and the other "cities of the plain" is subject to speculation. What is known for certain is that it was somewhere east or southeast of Jerusalem, in the area of the Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea. Some believe that it was at the northern end of the Dead Sea, while others say it was at the southern end. We do know that Abraham was able to see it from the great trees of Mamre, near Hebron (Genesis 18:1, 19:27). Hebron is located about 18 miles (29 kilometers) west of the Dead Sea, about half-way between its north and south ends.



23 The sun was rising as Lot reached the village.

24 Then the LORD rained down *fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah.

*fire and burning sulfur: Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life--people, plants, and animals alike.

2 Peter 2:5-8: God did not spare the ancient world--except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood. Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him. Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

That is a picture of discontent, of bafflement, of frustration. His soul was continuously vexed. He had tasted enough of the higher things of fellowship with God that he could never be satisfied with these sordid, ugly obscene and lewd things of Sodom. Where is rest and peace and quietness of heart? It is up there with Abraham in his tent under the oak tree. But here in the city of Sodom is this man Lot. What good is it to have luxuries and wealth and respect and power if your outlook on life and your moral principles become twisted by your surroundings?

26 But Lot's wife *looked back as she was following along behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

*looked back didn't refer to a quick glance, but to gaze or look intently at. As she stood transfixed, most commentators agree some of the molten sulfur likely rained down on her, and crystallized her into a pillar.



“This remarkable happening is stated matter-of-factly, with no suggestion that it was a special miracle or divine judgment. Lot’s wife "looked back" (the phrase might even be rendered "returned back" or "lagged back") seeking to cling to her luxurious life in Sodom (note Christ’s reference to this in Luke 17:32,33) and was destroyed in the "overthrow" (Genesis 19:25,29) of the city. There are many great deposits of rock salt in the region, probably formed by massive precipitation from thermal brines upwelling from the earth’s deep mantle during the great Flood. Possibly the overthrow buried her in a shower of these salt deposits blown skyward by the explosions. There is also the possibility that she was buried in a shower of volcanic ash, with her body gradually being converted into "salt" over the years following through the process of petrifaction, in a manner similar to that experienced by the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius.”
- Henry Morris (taken from: "The Defenders Study Bible")

Luke 17:28-33 And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business--eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building-- until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. Yes, it will be `business as usual' right up to the hour when the Son of Man returns. On that day a person outside the house must not go into the house to pack. A person in the field must not return to town. Remember what happened to Lot's wife! Whoever clings to this life will lose it, and whoever loses this life will save it.

Christ’s warning to remember Lot’s wife is a warning for us not to long for the sinful world we left behind. Lot’s wife was not simply looking back at Sodom out of curiosity, or only because she was distraught and made a fatal mistake. Lot’s wife did not want to leave Sodom and its sinful ways. Her carnal mind had grown accustomed to the pleasures that Sodom had to offer. She had become a part of it and regretted leaving it behind.

Jude 1:7 - Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

27 The next morning Abraham was up early and hurried out to the place where he had *stood in the LORD's presence.

*stood in the LORD's (Jehovah’s) presence – Shows that the third angel was indeed God in human form.

28 He *looked out across the plain to Sodom and Gomorrah and saw columns of smoke and fumes, as from a furnace, rising from the cities there.

*looked - From the height east of Hebron, Abraham could easily see the region at the southern end of the Dead Sea, where the Cities of the Plain were probably located.

A first century geographer, Strabo, called the region "a land of fires". He wrote Some of the fires received fuel to continue burning from the seepage of bitumen, and other gaseous fumes. IN THE MIDST OF THE LAKE is the source of the FIRE and also there are great quantities of ASPHALT in the middle. The eruption is uncertain, because the movements of fire have no order known to us, as it is of many other gases. Together with the asphalt there arises a great deal of soot, smoke, and invisible [gases] to the sight BY WHICH brass, silver, and everything shining, even gold is tarnished. [in the area were] drops of pitch distilling from the rocks [petroleum], and boiling streams. The lake was formed by earthquakes and boiling outbursts OF FIRE, and hot water impregnated with bitumen and brimstone [sulfur].

While Jesus Christ was still a child, the Jewish writer Philo wrote of the smoke and burnings: The fire is most difficult to extinguish, and creeps on pervading everything and smoldering. And a most evident PROOF of this is to be found in what IS SEEN TO THIS DAY [of his writing]: for the smoke which is still emitted, and the BRIMSTONE [sulfur] that men dig up there.


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.

*Abraham's request – The main reason Lot was spared was because Abraham had interceded for him.

**engulfed - literally "turned upside down".

30 Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was *afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.

*afraid of the people – Why was he afraid of the people there? Why didn’t Lot go to his uncle Abraham instead of going to live in a cave? Perhaps, his pride was in the way.

31 One day the older daughter said to her sister, "There isn't a man anywhere in this entire area for us to marry. And our father will soon be too old to have children.

Leaving Zoar out of fear and fleeing to a cave must have convinced Lot’s daughters that Zoar was going to be destroyed next and they would be the only people left on the earth – as with Noah. How good a job has Lot done in being the head of his home and the priest of his family?

These daughters have had a bad time. First, all their friends and their fiancés have been killed. Then, their mother is lost - turned into a pillar of salt - in the flight from the scene of destruction. They then flee with their father from the city of Zoar where they were supposed to be safe.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah may have seemed like an end of the world scenario to Lot’s daughters. They were stuck in a cave with little or no contact with the rest of the world. They feared they would not be able to have suitable husbands, so they decided to sleep with their father. Instead of securing blessed futures and families, they brought about dysfunctional families who became bitter enemies of God’s people.

We can only guess at what would have happened if Lot’s daughters had waited on God’s provision for them for husbands.

32 Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will sleep with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father."

33 So that night they got him drunk, and the older daughter went in and slept with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.

These two girls were virgins in body, but they were already corrupted in mind – just think of the environment they grew up in! They had long since grown accustomed to obscenity and open sexual activity, so, up in the cave on the mountainside, they seized the thinnest tissue of excuses and the story ends drunkenness and incest. Lot had nothing but heartbreak and grief to show for the years in Sodom. The Lord said, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it... (Matthew 16:25). So Lot, trying to get the best out of both worlds, lost all and has become for all time the picture of the Christian who is saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:15). He has nothing but wasted years to look back on and eternity ahead.

34 The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, "I slept with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him. That way our family line will be preserved."

35 So that night they got him drunk again, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

37 When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him *Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.

*Moab sounds like a Hebrew term that means "from father." The Moabites settled in the plains to the south-east of Israel, in what is modern-day Jordan. At times, the Moabites were great enemies of Israel. It was the Balak, king of Moab, who hired Balaam the prophet, hoping that he could curse Israel (Numbers 22-25). During the time of Saul and David, Israel established a firm control over Moab, but later kings of Israel were not always able to keep them under Israeli dominance.
At the same time, there was a Moabite connection with Israel. God told Israel in Deuteronomy 2:9 that they were not to destroy Moab and take their land. David was one-quarter Moabite. His paternal grandmother Ruth was from Moab, and David entrusted his father and mother to the protection of the king of Moab when he was a fugitive from Saul (1 Samuel 22:3-4).

On the base of the second statue in front of the northern pylon of Rameses' temple, Mu'ab is listed among a series of nations conquered by the pharaoh.

38 When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him *Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.

*Ben-ammi means "son of my people" or possibly “son of Am” – a pagan God.