by Tim Groves

This chapter begins with the two angels entering Sodom to rescue Lot. Even though it appears Lot had no idea who they were or why they were in Sodom, he invited them to come to his home to have dinner and a place to rest. We see that Lot was very hospitable, as Christians should be (Romans 12:12; 1 Timothy 3:2).

But these two visiting young men were quickly noticed by the town’s inhabitants. This verse shows the level of Sodom’s depravity, as men from every quarter of the city surrounded Lot’s home and demanded Lot hand over the visitors so they could “know them carnally” (Genesis 19:5). The men living in Sodom wanted to have sexual relations with the men visiting Sodom. Both young and old men wanted to take turns raping these total strangers.

Homosexuality is a sin and abomination to God (Leviticus 20:13). An abomination is something that is morally vile and disgusting.

God intended sexual relations to be only within marriage between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24). This marital relationship has deep meaning in God’s plan (Ephesians 5:31-32; Revelation 19:7). To abuse this intimacy demeans God’s plan and purpose for sex and marriage.

However, sexual immorality was not the only sin of Sodom. Ezekiel 16:49-50 lists the six iniquities God saw when He visited the city. In addition to the sexual abominations were pride, fullness of food, abundance of idleness, abusing the poor and needy, and haughtiness. It wasn’t just one of these sins that led God to destroy Sodom, but all of them together (Jude 1:7; 2 Peter 2:6).

Finally, there is one other important lesson to be learned from this incident. In Genesis 19:8, Lot offered his two virgin daughters to the perverted crowd. Why?

Some have stated that part of the culture of the time was to consider any guests under your roof as more important than one’s family members. If this was the case, was Lot justified in God’s eyes by offering his daughters? No.

What we learn about Lot here is that he had become so acclimated to the society around him, his righteousness had been compromised. The preceding chapters show how Lot first moved toward Sodom, then near Sodom and finally into Sodom. The more Christians get involved in the world, the more the world will become part of us and the further we will drift from God’s standards.

Lot may have thought it was okay to offer his daughters, but this was not what God wanted Lot to do. The angels, instead of allowing Lot to offer his daughters for the men to ravage, struck the men with blindness (Genesis 19:11).

To learn more about what led to Sodom’s downfall, be sure to read “The New Morality and an Old City.”

Tomorrow on the Daily Bible Verse Blog: “Come Out of the World!”