GENESIS CHAPTER 19: SODOM AND GOMORRAH’S REWARD FOR WICKEDNESS

 

INTRODUCTION: There was all manner of wickedness in these cities and the cry of it was heard by God.

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; 2. And he said, “Behold now, my lords turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.” And they said, “Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.” 3. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. 

 Lot being a just man that feared the living God and following the laws of God's word knew of the wickedness in the town that he lived. Therefore seeing the strangers approaching he tried to guide them to safety in his own home. But when the men of the city saw new persons with which to fornicate with they tried to persuaded Lot to give them the strangers. This act of unnatural sex is an abomination to God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Genesis chapter 1 states that God made He male and female. A rib was taken from Adam and God made Eve and Adam named his mate woman, because God made her from man to be his help mate.

4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5. And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, “Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” 6. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7. And said, “I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.” And they said, “Stand back.” And they said again, “This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.”  And they pressed sore upon the man even Lot, and came near to break the door. 10. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

The Angles buy this time saw that the wickedness of Sodom was as bad as the cries that the Lord had mentioned to Abraham. To save Lots life and the lives of whatever family members that had not given themselves over to the wickedness of Sodom, the Angles pulled Lot back into the house and closed the door. Then they caused a diversion on the people so that they may escape. 

11. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

 12. And the men said unto Lot, “Hast thou here any besides: son in law and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.” 14. And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.” But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

15. And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, “Arise, take thy wife, and two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” 

 16. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto

 him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 

Lot , here, was being hesitant, I would imagine, because he wanted more of his family to come with him, but sadly they were to deep in the ways of wickedness that they did not want to save themselves or their families by giving up the life of sin in Sodom. Not believing in the true living God they did not fear that He would destroy their cities and them. God said he would save the whole city if there were only 10 faithful people there, sadly there were only 3.

  17. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plains; escape to the mountain, less thou be consumed.” 18. And Lot said unto them,

“Oh, not so, my Lord: 19. Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20. Behold now this city is near to flee unto and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it

not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” 21. And he said unto him, “See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.”  22. “Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither.” 
 Therefore the name of the city was call Zoar.

  Even now Lot was trying to bargain with the Angles, by wanting to go to Zoar instead of being out of the range of danger as the Angles had told him. Lot did not trust in God to protect him which is odd enough since God sent the Angles to protect Lot and his family and save them from annihilation with the citizens of Sodom and  Gomorrah and the surrounding plains. How blind we are when we do not accept God's blessings and protection as He has promised He will do. 

23. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. 24. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 

   Here is Lot's wife her heart must have wept for the family members that stayed in Sodom, but she did not obey the Angles and she became a pillar of salt. Every action,  has a reaction, every decision has a consequence , Lot's wife receive the consequence of her disobedience to the command of the Angles sent down from God.

 27. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:                                                  28. and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as a smoke of a furnace. 

29. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. 

 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.   

         Lot did not listen to the Angles the first time when they told him what the had to do but in the end he was forced by the destruction of all the plain to do exactly what he had ignored before. If, in our own lives, we would submit our wills to God's we would save ourselves so much pain and hard times. We must learn to listen and obey what God's plans are for us, they are so much better than we could ever plan for ourselves.

  31. And the firstborn said unto the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: 32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.” 33. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.  

                                 Here again the human minds thinking that it knows better than God. Lot's daughters thought there would be no one to have Lot's children to carry on his name. This is backward thinking because they were also afraid that there would be no man for them to bear children with, so they came up with this excuse to continue their fathers name. But if they were to be married they would not carry on their fathers name either. They therefore did not trust God to take care of them or to bring Lot a wife to help him rebuild the family he had just lost.

     34. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger “Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may

preserve seed of our father.” 35. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 

     37. And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day.  

 38. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father the children of Ammon unto this day.                                                        

 In the area where Sodom and Gomorrah used to stand, you can still find pieces of brimstone at the site. It is still highly flammable and burns with a blue flame and gives off a serious poisonous gas.

The Road to Salvation (KJV)

Romans 3: 23, 24 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Romans 5:8 “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:15 “For God so loved the world That He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

1 John 4:9”In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him."

John 6: 47, 48 “Verily, verily, I say unto you He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  I am that bread of life."

Romans 10:9 – 14 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed: and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard: and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

If you are not saved, I pray you will accept Christ as your Savior to day. We are not promised another minute on this earth. We are but on a journey, passing though this world to the next, and you have a choice of where you will spend eternity. I pray you choose to spend it in Heaven with the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit and all those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and paid our sin debt for us. 

Seek out a Bible preaching church in your area, one where God word is preached and  is the center of their service, study and devotion.