SAY NO TO EVIL
Read Genesis 19:1–14
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 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.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
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. 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.”
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. 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. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 19:14 Or were married to
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Alongside these verses, look at 2 Peter 2:7,8 for a further perspective on today’s reading.Knowing the place to be risky for unknown outsiders, Lot persuades the two visitors to take refuge in his house (2,3). Whether promiscuous homosexual activity by gangs of men was commonplace in Sodom is unclear, but it seems that Lot was at least familiar with the behavior even if he strongly disapproved of it (6,7). His desperate attempt to divert the awful plans of the mob, which seems to be made up of the entire male population of the city, by offering them his unmarried daughters is the mark of a man at the end of his tether (8).
Only the strong and supernatural intervention of Lot’s visitors saves the day, both for him and his two children (10,11).
Does God still judge evil behavior today? He is the same God, even if we understand His judgment of sin in a different way because of Jesus dying in our place. Many people died because of sin in Sodom.
Jesus died, so that we do not have to when we place our trust in Him.
Apply
Violent crime which exploits vulnerable people is an outrage to God, and ought to be to us. Commit to pray for victims of such crime in your community today. How could you get involved to help?
Closing prayer
Powerful One, help me to learn from this passage of the insidious nature of sin. Today I put on the full ‘armor of God” as I seek to stand firm for You.
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