The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
Classic Jewish hospitality. These angels are disguised as men as we will see later.
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
I wonder what their original plan hanging out in the square would have been? Perhaps they didn’t want to be a burden.
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
A common dish at that time that he could make quickly.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
It’s important to note here that just because something happens in the Bible, doesn’t mean that God approves of it. This is the reason He wanted to destroy the city. They had lots of time to not be like that, and be better, and now their time was up.
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.
A voice of reason.
8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.
Wait…how is this better?
But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Aren’t his daughters also under the protection of his roof? This city is clearly a bad influence on Lot. Fortunately, God was protecting Lot’s daughters too as they did not have the fate that Lot offered for them. Lot was willing to give up what was most precious to him so that the angels wouldn’t be touched. God loved Lot’s daughters too, so he was going to protect them from harm in this situation.
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
They really really wanted to do weird stuff, as a group, to other people.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
The men inside were the angels, who weren’t going to do anything weird to Lot.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
Good plan.
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
Why would Lot joke about something like that after what just happened. God has a sense of humour, but this is a serious moment.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
They’d better get going!
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
These men are the angels, not the creeps. Just so we can keep everything…straight…
17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
Better do what he says.
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
Lot is not a marathon runner.
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
They know this and want him to run the shorter distance quickly anyway.
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
It’s good to llisten to all the instructions.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot was the one righteous dude who lived there. God kept his earlier promise.
Scripture discussed: Genesis 19:1-29
IIWAC: God Saves Lot and Company
The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
Classic Jewish hospitality. These angels are disguised as men as we will see later.
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
I wonder what their original plan hanging out in the square would have been? Perhaps they didn’t want to be a burden.
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
A common dish at that time that he could make quickly.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
It’s important to note here that just because something happens in the Bible, doesn’t mean that God approves of it. This is the reason He wanted to destroy the city. They had lots of time to not be like that, and be better, and now their time was up.
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.
A voice of reason.
8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them.
Wait…how is this better?
But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
Aren’t his daughters also under the protection of his roof? This city is clearly a bad influence on Lot. Fortunately, God was protecting Lot’s daughters too as they did not have the fate that Lot offered for them. Lot was willing to give up what was most precious to him so that the angels wouldn’t be touched. God loved Lot’s daughters too, so he was going to protect them from harm in this situation.
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
They really really wanted to do weird stuff, as a group, to other people.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
The men inside were the angels, who weren’t going to do anything weird to Lot.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
Good plan.
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[a] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
Why would Lot joke about something like that after what just happened. God has a sense of humour, but this is a serious moment.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
They’d better get going!
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
These men are the angels, not the creeps. Just so we can keep everything…straight…
17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
Better do what he says.
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[b] please! 19 Your[c] servant has found favor in your[d] eyes, and you[e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
Lot is not a marathon runner.
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[f])
They know this and want him to run the shorter distance quickly anyway.
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
It’s good to llisten to all the instructions.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot was the one righteous dude who lived there. God kept his earlier promise.
Scripture discussed: Genesis 19:1-29