The Sad Thing About Sodom

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.