“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 Abraham 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 Egypt. 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 Canaan. 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 Damascus. 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.