Sodom and Gomorrah

In short

The LORD destroys Sodom and other cities for homosexual wickedness. Genesis 18:16-19:29

Why it is important

It shows that God:

• Condemns homosexuality
• Listens to prayer
• Looks out for the righteous

Main characters

• Lot, the head of a family in Sodom
• Two angels who stay with Lot’s family for a night
• Abraham, Lot’s uncle (Gen 11:27)

What is in this story

In Genesis 18:16-33, the LORD tells Abraham that he will destroy Sodom and Abraham pleads for him to refrain. Abraham talks him down to sparing the city if ten righteous people can be found. (Spoiler alert – he should have gone lower… like one.)

In Genesis 19:

1. Two angels go to Sodom (v. 1)
2. Lot intercepts them and begs them to stay with him (vs. 2-3)
3. The townspeople – specifically the men – surround the house, demanding to rape the men (the angels; vs. 4-5)
4. Lot goes outside, shuts the door behind him, and tries to offer his virgin daughters to be taken advantage of instead (vs. 6-8)
5. The men of the city attack Lot, but the angels pull him to safety and blind the men (vs. 9-11)
6. The angels issue a final “get out of Dodge” warning, but Lot’s daughter’s fiancés don’t listen (vs. 12-14)
7. Even Lot hesitates, but the angels drag Lot, his wife and his daughters out of the city (vs. 15-16)
8. The LORD destroys Sodom with “fire and brimstone” (KJV, v. 24)
9. Lot’s wife dies as punishment because she “looked back”

Things that are not so well-known

• The men of the city consider Lot a hypocrite because he was an immigrant himself (Gen 19: 9). I just find this rather absurd. But, that’s kind of why you don’t make yourself at home with sinners.

• In the story, Sodom gets all the focus, and yet it seems that at least three other cities were destroyed, too (Gen 19:28-29) – specifically Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim (Deut 29:23). But for whatever reason, the story is forever “Sodom and Gomorrah,” even in the Bible – in Gen 13:10, 18:20; Isaiah 1:9, 13:19; Jer 50:40; Amos 4:11; Matt 10:15; and more.

• The angels in this story are actually part of the previous scene with Abraham and Sarah. There, Abraham shows kindness to three men (Gen 18:2). Two of those men are the angels who go to Sodom (Gen 18:22), and it seems the other man is the LORD himself.

Theology and doctrine

2 Peter 2:7-8 says Lot was “righteous” and “greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked… tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.”

Lot has several character flaws, but he believed in the LORD and fought against wickedness, and that is still worthy of praise anytime.