Sodom Destroyed! Series

We begin by looking into the Psalms:

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Lot did not follow the precepts of this Psalm - first he pitched his tent towards Sodom. Then he moved into Sodom - then he sat in the gates of Sodom. The closer Lot moved to the center of Sodom, the more Sodom moved to the center of Lot.

And even though Lot was distressed by the sin around him - it made his life totally fruitless. Even so - he was a member of the covenant family and so God rescued him - it is a testament both to the grace of God - how He rescues us from His wrath - and to the results of steeping yourself in the world as a believer.

Verse 1 - 2

Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. He’s become an important part of the city (at least he thinks so). Lot does not react in the same way as Abraham. He said "sirs" - different than Abraham who said "LORD". He knew they were new in town. He offered them hospitality - it was expected.

Verse 3

He urged them strongly - "you don’t want to stay in the square." Lot knew what would happen - why didn’t any of that sink in to Lot that maybe he was living in the wrong town? Perhaps the angels wanted him to be thinking about that. There wasn’t any danger to the angels, of course.

Verse 4 - 5

Word must have spread that there was new meat in town. That’s the way lust and giving in to sensuality and immorality is - it’s never enough.

Ephesians 4:17-19 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

It was homosexual rape - no doubt about it. Some explain it away - "they just wanted to see if they have their travel papers." Another: God judged them for a lack of hospitality. Read it and understand what it says. This culture was so debauched - that two men who came into the area were in danger of being raped homosexually.

Look too what it says; "both young and old." This society had become so rank that even the young people were infected. We must be careful what is taught to our young people as well.

Verse 6

At least Lot was no coward.

Verse 7 - 8

He offers his two virgin daughters to these rapists. Can you imagine Abraham saying this? Something has happened to Lot’s character. Not to really give Lot any credit - but in that society, women were little better than property - so culturally he could have gotten away with it - but spiritually and morally it is cruel and unbelievable.

There is always a danger when we use the norms of the culture around us to gauge our behavior. Lot figured that male guests were more important than his female daughters - that was just the way it was done in that culture - if we live in a cesspool then all we have to work with is poop!

That’s why we look to God’s Word - as the ultimate standard for behavior. Just because society says things like abortion are legal does not make murdering an innocent unborn child right.

Verse 9

They never really saw Lot as part of their culture. Sometimes the world knows that we don’t belong in places we know we shouldn’t be.

Verse 10 - 11

It was a selected kind of blindness - simply can’t find the door.

Verse 12 - 15

I’ll bet the angels already knew what was going to happen. But in a sense, this is like the plea to share the gospel - "if you know anyone, tell them there is a way of escape."