THE SAD THING ABOUT SODOM
Text: Gen.19: 27, 28
Intro: The ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah shall forever live in infamy. The very mention of their names brings to mind thoughts of hellish depravity and horrible destruction, the latter being the result of the former. They stand in biblical history as the very epitome of God’s hatred for sin and His judgment upon the sinner.
The city of Sodom, which is the focus of our message today, was one of five cities that were located in the Vale of Siddim (sid-deem’), according to Gen.14: 3. Today these cities are believed to be located under the salty waters of the south end of the Dead Sea. According to Merrill Unger, “Their ruins were still visible until the 1st. cen. A. D.” (Merrill F. Unger, Th.D., Ph.D., Unger’s Bible Handbook, pg. 69).
Of the five cities that lay in this fertile valley, only the small city of Zoar was spared a fiery destruction. The other four were totally incinerated by fire and brimstone that fell upon them out of heaven, in horrifying torrents of judgment.
Though God’s judgment fell on all the cities of the plain except the little town of Zoar, the Scriptures seem to focus on the city of Sodom. It was here that Lot and his family had taken up residence, after parting company with Abraham. As a matter of fact, Lot had become a man of some prominence, sitting at the gate of Sodom, which is indicative of someone in leadership (Gen.19: 1).
Sodom, and Lot’s involvement there, is a perfect illustration of what is happening time and time again in cities around the world, where people are seemingly marching merrily down the road to hell without any concern about coming judgment. The sad thing is that there are Christians in those cities that know the Lord, and yet, have no effective testimony or witness for Him. This was certainly true of Lot.
As we look at this passage of scripture today, I want to make it clear that I have borrowed a number of thoughts from John Phillips, and his book entitled, Exploring Genesis. It is an excellent work on this first book of the Bible. Nevertheless, the facts we will discuss today will help us take a good hard look at “The Sad Thing About Sodom.”
Theme: The sad thing about Sodom was:
I. THE TRAITS OF SODOM
A. It Was A City Where Sin Was A Prevalent Thing.
Gen.13: 13 “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.”
Isa.3: 9a “The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not.”
NOTE: [1] The words “A Prevalent Thing,” in sub point “A,” were borrowed from John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 159.
[2] The word “prevalent” means, “widely or commonly occurring or existing; generally practiced” (Webster’s New Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Camden, New York, pg. 558). Gross sin was the norm in Sodom. There was very little that they found morally distasteful. Sidney J. Harris has said, “Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a “necessary evil,” it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.”
B. It Was A City Where Sin Was A Polluted Thing.
1. Strangers came into town unexpectedly.
Gen.19: 1 “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.”
NOTE: [1] The words, “A Polluted Thing,” in sub point “B,” were borrowed from John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 160.
[2] Notice the difference in the way these angels responded to Lot and how they had previously responded to Abraham. With Abraham, they had gladly accepted his hospitality (Gen.18: 1-5). When they came to Sodom and were offered hospitality by Lot, they were very cool and curt, saying, “…Nay: but we will abide in the street all night” (Gen.19: 2).
[3] The Holy Spirit seemed to linger over the details of the meal that Abraham served the angels. Though Lot’s meal is politely called a feast, the unleavened bread served by Lot, hardly compared with the cakes and succulent meat served to the angels by Abraham.
[4] Sodom was a sinfully polluted place. Lot knew that; and that was the reason he would not take “no” for an answer, after having invited the angels to spend the night in his house.
Sin is a blasting presence, and every fine power shrinks and withers in the destructive heat. Every spiritual delicacy succumbs to its malignant touch...
Sin impairs the sight, and works toward blindness.
Sin benumbs the hearing and tends to make men deaf.
Sin perverts the taste, causing men to confound the sweet with the bitter, and the bitter with the sweet.
Sin hardens the touch, and eventually renders a man “past feeling.”
All these are Scriptural analogies, and their common significance appears to be this—sin blocks and chokes the fine senses of the spirit; by sin we are desensitized, rendered imperceptive, and the range of our correspondence is diminished. Sin creates callosity. It hoofs the spirit, and so reduces the area of our exposure to pain.
John Henry Jowett in The Grace Awakening.
2. The request of the men of Sodom was unholy.
Gen.19: 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.”
NOTE: [1] The word “know,” as used here, refers to sexual knowledge. This was blatant homosexuality in progress.
[2] Apparently, Lot feared that something like this might happen in the first place. That’s why he was so vehement about the visitors staying the night in his house instead of in the streets (v.8).
C. It Was A City Where Sin Was A Persistent Thing.
1. The men of Sodom were not dissuaded by Lot’s oratory.
Gen.19: 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.”
NOTE: [1] The words “A Persistent Thing,” in sub point “C,” were borrowed from John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 160.
[2] Notice how cautious Lot is when he goes out to talk to this mob. He is careful to “shut the door after him” (v. 6). Lot had been in Sodom long enough to know what kind of men these were, and the kind of violence they were capable of. He knew exactly what this bunch had in mind.
[3] Now notice how Lot tries to use diplomacy on this lust-crazed crowd. He even calls this bunch, “brethren” (v. 7). My, how Lot’s values had changed, since coming to Sodom. But folks, when you hang out in the pigpen, you’re bound to begin to stink sooner or later.
2. They were not dissuaded by his lurid offer.
Gen.19: 8a “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…”
3. They were not dissuaded by his languished objection.
Gen.19: 8b “…only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9a And they said, Stand back…”
4. They were not dissuaded by their lustful obscurity.
Gen.19: 10 “But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
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.”
NOTE: [1] Even after the angels struck this crowd with blindness, they still wore themselves out trying to find the door. The only thing blinder than their eyes was the blindness of their darkened hearts. Sin always results in spiritual darkness.
Rom.1: 21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Eph.4: 18 “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
[2] There is a principle here that is often overlooked. When a person violates their conscience so long that their sin no longer bothers them, they are in danger of quick and severe judgment. John Phillips puts it this way:
Whom God would destroy, He first makes blind. There comes a point in the rising tide of human wickedness, where God acts. In preparation he blinds.
John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 161.
D. It Was A City Where Sin Was A Pugnacious Thing.
Gen.19: 9 “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.”
NOTE: [1] The words “A Pugnacious Thing,” in sub point “D,” were borrowed from John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 161.
[2] The word “pugnacious” means, “Eager to fight; aggressive by nature” (Webster’s New Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Camden, New York, pg. 571). The point is these people were ready to fight anybody who tried to deny them the free expression of their depraved lusts.
E. It Was A City Where Sin Was A Punishable Thing.
Gen.19: 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.”
NOTE: The words “A Punishable Thing,” in sub point “E” were borrowed from John Phillips, Exploring Genesis, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 161.
II. THE TRAGEDY OF SODOM
A. Lot Had No Testimony With The Lost.
1. He had gained prominence in a city of perversion.
Gen.19: 1a “…and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom…”
NOTE: The men that sat in the gate of the city were those prominent men who helped mete out justice to the people. They were like our elected officials. What a sad state of affairs for a professing believer in God. Lot sits in the gate of Sodom, surrounded by men with perverse minds and lives, pledged to keep and enforce the laws that enabled these deviate men to practice their sin without fear of retribution.
2. Lot’s morals had become exceedingly perverse.
Gen.19: 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.”
3. The men of Sodom viewed Lot as a hypocritical person.
Gen.19: 9a “…This fellow came in to sojourn, and he must needs be a judge…”
NOTE: Lot had lived among the Sodomites for quite some time, apparently having never offered any rebuttal or rebuke concerning the goings-on in Sodom. When he pleads with the lust-inflamed men at his door not to behave so wickedly, they saw him for what he really was—a hypocrite.
One blistering hot day when they had guests for dinner, Mother asked 4-year old Johnny to return thanks. “But I don’t know what to say!” the boy complained.
“Oh, just say what you hear me say,” his mother replied.
Obediently the boy bowed his head and mumbled, “Oh Lord, why did I invite these people over on a hot day like this?”
http://www.sermonillustrations.com.
B. Lot Had No Testimony With Those He Loved.
Gen.19: 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.”
NOTE: [1] Lot had lived and raised a family in this filth for years by this time. So when he suddenly becomes hysterical, and starts telling his sons-in-law to get out of the city, because God’s judgment was about to fall, they thought it was all a joke. They were hearing what he said; but they weren’t REALLY hearing what he said.
[2] The following story illustrates very well:
The story is told of a famous actor, during the days of public theatre, who was approached by the owner of the theatre and told that a fire had broken out in another part of the building. The owner said to the actor, “All of these people have come just to see you tonight. I think it would be best if you would step out onto the stage and calmly tell the people of the situation, and ask them to exit the building. We want to avoid a panic at all cost.” The actor agreed, and promptly stepped onto the stage, smiled, and said, “Folks, I am sorry to disappoint you, but a fire has broken out in the building, and we need everyone to get up and calmly make their way to the exits.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the people began to cheer and clap, but remained seated. The actor, looking a bit puzzled and serious, then said, “Folks you don’t understand. This is not a joke. The fire is real. Please calmly make your way to the exits.”
As he finished, the people once again cheered, clapped, and shouted, “Bravo! Bravo!”
Then, with a bit of impatience and desperation, the actor held up his hands to quiet the people, and with horror in his eyes and tears running down his face, said, “Folks please! I’m pleading with you to leave the building. There is a fire, and you will be burned to death if you do not leave now!”
With that the crowd leapt to its feet and whistled and cheered. Some shouted, “Wonderful! Simply wonderful! Bravo!”
By this time however, the flames had begun to make their way into the crowded auditorium. Suddenly the people realized what the famous actor had been trying to tell them. They were in real danger.
Many people were wounded that day. And some even died. And it was all because, though they heard the warning, they thought it was all an act.
Source Unknown.
III. THE TERMINATION OF SODOM
A. The Wicked Perished.
Gen.19: 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.”
B. Lot Was Protected.
Gen.19: 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.”
Theme: The sad thing about Sodom was:
I. THE TRAITS OF SODOM
II. THE TRAGEDY OF SODOM
III. THE TERMINATION OF SODOM
