“Lingering in Sodom”

a sermon by

Gregory A.W. Green

First Presbyterian Church Charlotte, North Carolina

June 19, 2005

Genesis 19:1-29

Sodom is an infamous city and the tale of its destruction is almost equally so – a city so wickedly perverse and vile that God’s only recourse seemed to be to purge its existence from creation.

For years the right wing of the church has used the city of Sodom and its destruction to champion its cause against homosexuality. And you can see where they get it. But the fuller truth of the matter is this – Sodom was not particular in their sinning – in fact they were rather good at a diversity of sins – and it is for the sum of these sins, more than for any particular one, that God saw fit to judge them so harshly. So let’s take a larger look at the story of Sodom.

We first hear of the city of Sodom back in chapter 13 of Genesis. If you will remember, in chapter 12 receives a command from God to “Leave his country, his people, and his father’s household, and go to the land that the Lord will show him.” Abraham obeys this call and takes along with him his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot.

In time, both Abraham and Lot become extremely wealthy people. So great are their collective flocks, herds, and possessions that the land cannot support them both. To prevent conflict from erupting, Abraham goes to Lot and says, “Let’s not have quarreling between us, for we are brothers. See the whole land is before you. Let’s part ways. If you go to the left, than I will go to the right; if you go to the right, than I will go to the left.”

And we are told in Genesis 13, that Lot looks out and sees the whole plain of the Jordan and he sees that it was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of . And seeing its wealth, Lot chooses to go east and settle there in the plain of the Jordan near the town of Sodom.

Abraham, true to his word, then turns and goes the other way, into the land of . Which at first glance did not appear to be as prosperous as the plain of Jordan, but which we have since come to know as the Promised Land.

But we are told one other thing of Sodom, back in chapter 13. We are told without explanation that the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. Talk about foreshadowing.

Sodom then comes up again in chapter 14. In Genesis chapter 14 we are told of a bully king named Kedorlaomer – who was king of Elam. Like Leroy Brown – he was the badest man around, and for thirteen years all the surrounding kings paid him homage and bribes to leave them alone.

But there came a time when the surrounding kings got tired of being bullied and exploited, and got tired of sending their wealth away to Elam and so they turned on Kedorlaomer. Among those kings was the king of Sodom.

Outnumbered and presumably outgunned, the bully king Kedorlaomer marches his troops down and faces off with the rebellious kings who now refuse to pay him tribute and despite having the lesser force, he pulverizes them and takes all their wealth and their possessions – including we are told, Abraham’s nephew Lot. Meanwhile, having learned that it is better to be lazy and fat than greedy and naked, the rebellious kings who have now lost their shirts, including the king of Sodom – run and hide.

Well, Abraham hears that his nephew Lot has been captured by this bully king and so he takes up 318 of his trained fighting men and he sets out courageously to save his nephew. During the night, in the land of Dan, Abraham finally catches up with this bully king and he divides his troops and attacks Kedorlaomer, and he thoroughly “thumps” him, and then chases him all the way north past .

Having recovered Lot and all that was stolen, Abraham and his troops turn back toward home. Well, the news of Abraham’s victory gets out and the king of Sodom comes out of hiding and seeks to honor Abraham with a gift, but Abraham refuses to accept anything from this cowardly wicked man.

And then we hear nothing else of the city of Sodom until chapter 18, when Abraham entertains three visitors – who later reveal themselves to be two angels and the Lord Almighty.

You will recall from a few weeks ago, Abraham entertained these men, and as they were leaving, the Lord revealed Himself to Abraham and told him that the outcry from the city of Sodom was great, and their sin was grievous, therefore He was going to go down and judge what was taking place.

Hearing this, Abraham begins to intercede for the people of Sodom, he becomes a mediator on their behalf, and the Lord finally concedes that if there are but ten righteous people in the entire city, for the sake of Abraham the city will be spared.

Which brings us to our story today in chapter 19. The two angels, that just hours earlier had reclined at Abraham’s table, now arrive at the city gate to investigate the scene. Lot, sitting by the city gate, rushes out to meet them and bows before them.

Now this is odd for a few reasons. First off, Lot does not know that they are angels. Second, it was customary for guests to bow before the host, not the other way around. Third, this behavior is odd because the city of Sodom was known for being terribly wicked and inhospitable to travelers.

In fact, Jewish historians tells us that Sodom was so naturally wealthy and greedy that they hated foreigners and did everything they could to discourage them from traveling through their province. Listen to some of what has been recorded by historians about Sodom:

The men of Sodom said, Since there cometh forth bread out of (our) earth, and it hath the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth. Come, let us abolish the practice of traveling in our land ...

[In Sodom] they had beds upon which travelers slept. If the guest was too long they shortened him by lopping off his feet; if too short, they stretched him out ...

If a poor man happened to come there, every resident gave him a denar [coin], upon which he wrote his name, but no bread was given [the store owners recognized such coins, and refused to accept them]. When [the poor man inevitably] died, each came and took back his [coin] ...

A certain maiden gave some bread to a poor man, hiding it in a pitcher. On the matter becoming known, they daubed her with honey and placed her on the parapet of the wall, and the bees came and consumed her.1

There was the case of two girls, who went down to draw water from the well. One said to her friend, Why are you pale? The other said, all the food is gone from our house and we are ready to die. What did the other do? She filled the jug with flour and exchanged it for her own. Each took the one of the other. When the Sodomites found out about it, they took the girl (who had shared the food) and burned her.2

They made a proclamation in Sodom saying: Everyone who strengthens the hand of the poor or the needy with a loaf of bread shall be burnt by fire.3

They said, As to any wayfarer who comes here, we shall have sexual relations with him and take away his money.4

Their intention was to stop people from coming among them … for they thought that because of the excellence of their land ... many will come there and they despised charity ... all evil practices were rampant among them.5

Sodom was fertile, wealthy, and prosperous; but it was also wickedly cruel, oppressive, and vile.

If you will reflect back to the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, after the innocent Abel was slain – God told Cain that his brother’s blood cried out to him from the ground. Here now, we are told again that innocent blood is crying out to the Lord, we are told that the outcry of Sodom has reached the Almighty’s ears.

1 Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 109a 2 Genesis Rabbah, Parashah 49:6 3 Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer 4 Genesis Rabbah, Parashah 50:7 5 Nahmanides (Ramban) Commentary on Genesis, 13th century The fact is, Lot is well aware of the wickedness of his home town and when he sees these travelers coming down the road he rushes out to them, most likely eager to make them his guests in hopes of saving their innocent blood.

These two angelic visitors tell Lot that they would prefer to stay the night in the village square, which was a customary place for voyagers to rest, but Lot knowing the wickedness that surrounds them refuses to take no for an answer. Seeing that his mind is set, the travelers concede and go with Lot to his home where he makes for them the bread of haste – unleavened bread – bread without yeast.

And here is where we learn of but another sin of Sodom. Before the evening was over, the men of Sodom, both young and old, surround the house of Lot and full of lust demand that Lot hand the two men over for their pleasure.

Now Lot is in a pickle. He had most likely hoped that by bringing the men under his roof he would save them from the town’s perversity. Yet the men of Sodom were so vile that the customs of hospitality meant nothing to them.

But it meant something to Lot and if these men were harmed than Lot would carry the shame. So what does he do? He steps out of the house – placing himself between the mob and the men – in hopes of mediating a more righteous outcome.

“But as a mediator Lot’s approach is to strike a compromise. Rather than attempt to raise the moral conscience of the Sodomites, he offers to assuage their lust by handing over his two virgin daughters. 6”

And here we are reminded that even Lot is a foreigner among these wretched people. He had been allowed to remain among them because he was already wealthy when he arrived and therefore served no threat to them and their wealth, but how dare he now to presume to judge them and stand between them and what they want and believe to be rightfully theirs!

Having seen enough of the wickedness of this town, their fact-finding mission completed, the two angels strike the mob with blindness, snatch Lot back into the house, and reveal their true identity and mission to him and his family.

They are angels of the Most High God (whom Lot believes in), and they are there to destroy the city. It has been weighed, it has been measured, and it has been found wanting of the righteousness that the Lord requires.

The Angels tell Lot that he and his family are to be saved, but they must flee the city, for God is going to sweep it away. They are standing on the eve of destruction, and like God once did mercifully for Noah and his family, so will He do for Lot and his. However they must flee now! They must flee and not look back! They must leave all of their attachments behind because judgment is coming with the rising of the morning sun!

6 Victor P. Hamilton, NICOT , Genesis Chapters 18-50, p. 35. Curiously at this point Lot lingers. He knows the wickedness of the city first hand. He knows that it is mere hours, maybe minutes, from being swept away and he knows that if he remains, he too risks being consumed and devoured by what is ahead. Yet still he lingers. Why?

Jumping to the present. For centuries the name of Sodom has been synonymous with wickedness. For centuries its name has been uttered with a hush. Its fate stands as a message of judgment, as a reminder of what God does with wickedness. It’s commonly believed that Sodom was the most vile city to ever exist, and yet a close reading of Scripture reveals otherwise.

Speaking of , God says through the ,

Your older sister was , who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done…Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done ... for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you.7

In Matthew, Jesus addresses the town of Capernaum and says, And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.8’

The fact is, if we explore the Biblical record carefully we find that Sodom was not the most wicked of cities. In fact, there are many cities throughout Scripture that are chastised for looking down upon Sodom, while the Lord considered their own sins more heinous.

To make matters even more uncomfortable, Sodom was destroyed for sins that are not at all uncommon in today’s affluent society. Sins that are rooted in self-sufficiency, greed, oppression of the poor, and pride.

Listen to the sins of Sodom according to Ezekiel, “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.9”

7 Ezekiel 16:46-48, 51-52 8 Matthew 11:23 9 Ezekiel 16:50-51 The harsh truth of the matter is that we are just as guilty and often just as vile as Sodom. Think about it. We sit back while genocide runs unchecked throughout parts of the world, getting involved only when we sense a real threat to our safety or our economy. We wear designer clothes and drive gas guzzling SUV’s made by American owned companies that export their labor to other countries where labor can be exploited – thus alleviating our own middle class and serving to perpetuate the poverty of other nations. We as a nation daily throw away enough food and buy enough three dollar lattés that if saved could feed whole nations for years.

And I say all of this knowing that I am as guilty as the next. Like Lot, I linger, because I like my life. I like my designer clothes, my fancy condo, and my 14 mile a gallon SUV. Like Lot, I linger because I am attached and hesitant to leave what I know and love behind.

But look closely at Lot. He entered Sodom as a wealthy and faith-filled man and he left broken, empty, and poor. All he had was lost and destroyed when God rained down sulfer upon the plain of the Jordan. All of his flocks – gone! All of his herds – gone! All of his possessions – destroyed!

If you want a clear picture of what became of Lot and his wealth, take a trip to the Holy Land. “Go and stand by the shore of the and look over that lifeless, brackish, waste, the lowest and most desolate spot on the face of the earth – 1,300 feet below sea level – and listen to the lifeless waves lap the beach in an unending monotone of death. Nothing grows there, nothing lives there, nothing moves in that forsaken valley. How much did Lot win? He lost it all, everything. Here is the disastrous failure of this man. He was a good man who wanted to do right, but chose his own way and lost his peace, and his influence, and all he had. 10 ”

His treasure was misplaced and he lost everything but his life. And I am afraid we, as a world, as a nation, and as a culture, may be heading down the same unfortunate path.

Lot, the storyteller tells us, was spared the same death and judgment of Sodom only because his Uncle Abraham interceded upon his behalf. And because Abraham was righteous, God remembered him.

And here is the good news: we, too, have someone righteous mediating upon our behalf. Jesus Christ in all his righteousness, the tells us, stands even now before the Lord intervening for us. Jesus Christ stands as a mediator between us and God. He stands between us and the fate of Sodom.

But let us not become arrogant or lazy in that grace. Let us not forget why we have not faced a similar fate as Sodom in our self-sufficiency and arrogance, because whether we like to talk about it or not, the New Testament makes it very clear that in the

10 The Wasted Years , a sermon by Ray C. Stedman. end, even for us who are blessed - under grace – and claimed by Jesus Christ – a day of judgment will eventually come.

Hear the words of Luke 17 and may we all have the strength to order our lives accordingly,

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the . People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.11

11 Luke 17:26-33