19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even {ie., evening};
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;
19:2 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.
19:3 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.
Lot sat in the gate of Sodom...- ie., Lot was a ruler or judge (cp. v.9).
'The gate' (into a city) was the place where legal matters were settled. cp. Gen 23:10,14-18
In his early years, Lot had dwelt in the land of promise, where Abraham continued to live by faith, as a stranger in the world, content with his tent, and in communion with God (ch.18 and Heb 11:8-10; cp. 2Cor 4:17,18).
But Lot (1) had chosen what seemed a better life for himself & his family (Gen 13:10,11),
he (2) had been attracted to Sodom for its financial & political advantages (13:12,13; 14:12),
and finally (3) Lot had arrived at a position of authority & influence in this wicked city.
Under the judgment of God, Lot would soon lose all that he had lived & worked for, including his position & possessions, and his wife & children. cp. 1Cor 3:13-15
Nay, but we will abide in the street all night (v.2).-
The angels had readily accepted Abraham's hospitality (18:5).
But they (initially) refused the hospitality offered by Lot. Why? Because accepting hospitality often expresses full fellowship or agreement with the host (cp. 18:3; Acts 16:15). The angels' reply was a condemnation of Lot's compromise with the world. cp. 1Joh 2:15-17
he pressed upon them greatly; and they... entered into his house.-
Because Lot feared for the safety of these strangers in his city after dark,
he insisted that they come into the protection of his house. cp. 2Pet 2:8
he baked unleavened bread... they did eat.-
Leaven in Scripture speaks of moral & spiritual corruption. cp. note at Mat 13:33
Perhaps he prepared a meal with religious significance to impress his spiritual guests.
The unleavened bread, a picture of purity, contrasted with his compromise & hypocrisy. Though troubled by the wickedness around him, he was unaware that it had permeated his own life and thinking. (cp. Rom 12:1,2)
19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city,
[even] the men of Sodom, compassed {ie., encircled} the house round,
both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
that we may know them - ie., that we may have sexual relations with them.
The men of Sodom were given over to homosexual perversion.
Lot stated that their desires were wicked (v.7).
Today, some say that the Bible does not label homosexual behavior as sin.
A comparison of the following passages will clarify God's position on this issue.
We must identify what God calls sin as sin.-
Lev 18:22 - The context includes various kinds of sexual sins.
Rom 1:24-28 - 'men with men' is lit. 'male with male';
that which is 'unseemly' is lit. 'shameful.'
Rom 3:9-12,23 - Everyone is a sinner, guilty before God.
God will judge all sin (as illustrated clearly by His judgment of Sodom. Jude 1:7). -
Gal 6:7,8 - Sin brings inescapable consequences, some temporary some eternal.
1Cor 6:9-11 - The word 'effeminate' means 'soft, easily addicted to fleshly pleasure.'
The phrase 'abusers of themselves with mankind' is one Greek word, GK=arsenokoites, lit. 'males who lay together.' The consequence: exclusion from heaven. But here, in this statement of condemnation of sin, there is hope for the sinner: 'and such were some of you: but ye are washed...'
Beware of religious teachers who deny that God is able to deliver men and women from the controlling power of sin in their lives. 2Tim 3:1-7; Rom 1:16,17
19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
19:9 And they said, Stand back.
And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge:
now will we deal worse with thee, than with them.
And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door.
19:10 But the men {ie., the angels} put forth their hand,
and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
19:11 And they smote the men that [were] at the door of the house with blindness,
both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Lot, unable to reason with wicked men, offered to appease their lusts.
While he took seriously his responsibility to protect his guests, where was his sense of responsibility toward his daughters? No doubt, he knew that his corrupt neighbors would not depart, until their evil desires were satisfied.
A compromised believer is held in contempt by the world. v.9
The angels intervened to preserve Lot & his daughters. 2Pet 2:7-9; cp. 2The 3:1-3
19:12 And the men {ie., the angels} said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides?
son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring [them] out of this place:
19:13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters,
and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
Lot's compromised life, destroyed his testimony (even before his own family).
He spoke God's words of warning. But they thought he was making a joke. He had no standing from which to intercede for those who were perishing. (cf. Abraham's intercession, 18:22,23)
19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here;
lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife,
and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said,
Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain;
escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
19:18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight,
and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life;
and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
19:20 Behold now, this city [is] near to flee unto, and it [is] a little one:
Oh, let me escape thither, ([is] it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
19:21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also,
that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
19:22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither.
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar {lit., 'insignificance'}.
while he lingered...- Lot did not want to leave.
The things of the world still had greater pull on his heart, than did God's Word.
the LORD being merciful unto him... - the angels pulled Lot bodily from the city. cp. Rom 9:15,16
not so, my Lord... let me escape to {that insignificant little city} -
This may be an example of Lot's prayer life... self-centered... unbelieving... contrary to the Lord's Word and clear leading.
Lot feared for his life in the place of God's direction. (Lot never learned to walk by faith.)
He placed his hope in a place of his own devising, in a corner of the world system.
He eventually left Zoar for the mountains, but not because of faith in God's Word (v.17),
but rather due to fear of the wicked men who lived in that 'insignificant' place, which the Lord had spared in deference to his selfish prayer (v.30).
19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; {cp. Psa 11:5,6}
19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain,
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
the sun was risen... when Lot entered into Zoar.
Exact locations are unknown for Sodom and Gomorrha and the neighboring cities that were consumed with them. However, their ruins lie somewhere beneath the southern end of the Dead Sea. Zoar is just south of the southern shore. The distance between Sodom and Zoar was probably less than 10 miles. As day was dawning, Lot and his family left Sodom, and ran toward Zoar (v.15,17). The sun was high in the sky by the time Lot and his daughters arrived there (v.23).
Lot's wife never reached Zoar. Her heart was still in Sodom.
She had never put her faith in the Lord.
Her fate was not because she happened to glance back over her shoulder, but rather, because she purposely lagged behind, having greater regard for the things that she was leaving, than for the words of warning. When the fire and brimstone fell, she was far enough from the center of destruction, that her body was not consumed, but became encased in debris. cp. Luk 17:28-33
The total destruction of these cities reverberates through scripture in warning of future judgment.
19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: (Gen 18:22-f)
19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain,
and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain,
that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
Abraham - continued where he had been before, in the place of fellowship with God.
Because of his fellowship with God,
the judgment had not disrupted his life, as it had Lot & his family.
the destruction of Sodom had not been unexpected for him, as it was for Lot.
God honored his prayer of intercession and delivered Lot.
cp. 2Pet 3:9-14
19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him;
for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
19:31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father [is] old,
and [there is] not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine,
and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
19:33 And they made their father drink wine that night:
and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father;
and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
19:34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger,
Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also;
and go thou in, [and] lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
19:35 And they made their father drink wine that night also:
and the younger arose, and lay with him;
and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
19:36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
19:37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab:
the same [is] the father of the Moabites unto this day.
19:38 And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi:
the same [is] the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
Lot lost even the daughters that escaped with him, from Sodom.
The moral corruption of that wicked city was engrained in their hearts and minds. cp. Lev 18:6,7
The Moabites and Ammonites became some of Israel's fiercest enemies in later generations.
They too would come under God's judgment. Zeph 2:8-11