Genesis 19:4-8

2007.Jul.14 15:41

Sin

Read Genesis 19:4-8 | Full Chapter

But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”
(Genesis 19:4-5, ESV)

The sin of the people of Sodom is a grab bag. Lack of Inhospitality is noted in the Wikipedia article. Rape, at least attempted. Those are the two obvious. It strikes me as rather unnecessary to focus that for part of the group the rape they wish to commit is homosexual. But it’s in the grab bag too. And we can get caught up in any particular piece of their brutality, but that misses the point. A whole community bands together to rape travelers stopping for the night, a whole community which refuses to see its sin in such a vile action.

I find myself thinking of human slavery, particularly the enslavement of Africans brought to the Americas and of their descendants (Ha, beat that for PC!). How do we get to these points? At what point in our minds does any given war turn from reasons to just violence. How do we arrive at starting wars without reason? At some point, you find yourself banging on a pulpit saying, “These are the children of Ham and this is God’s punishment,” and you don’t even realize that you’ve embraced sin. Here’s a hint though: if you’re extrapolating from the curse of a recently drunk and rather pissed man to explain away your actions, you’re probably sinning.

How do you get there? It’s maybe not so much a slippery slope as the slow accumulation of excuses and apathy. Every sin that we say “just once more” or “not really so bad”, they add up. Or maybe there’s some other way. I am, after all, 25 and entitled to be completely wrong in my understanding of human nature. I am confident in what to do to keep from finding myself at that point: pray to Jehovah, study the Bible, keep myself around other believers so they are able to correct me, both through general association (church meeting, Bible studies, dinner, the like) and with defined accountability relationships (which I am not doing a good job of keeping up on).

Wow. That didn’t go where I was planning.

Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”
(Genesis 19:6-8, ESV)

The thing with Lot is he wasn’t always part of this community, so we can actually watch him sliding (hyuck, hyuck) into it. The thing that stands out to me like a green rhino playing banjo in a cornfield is that Lot calls the men at the entrance–those people closest to the house and likely the leaders–“brothers”.

Okay. Think about that.

Not the rhino; “Brothers”.

The next thing he does is far more vile. He offers the group his daughters to rape instead. And yet, because he’s named the leaders of a gang rape “brothers”, the element of surprise that he would do so is gone. Lot has accepted this community and its sin. He continues to live in it, and considers himself close enough to its leadership to call them brothers. Lot has already accepted this community and made himself a part of it.

Look even at his reasoning. He does not say, “Do not rape,” or even “Do not rape the guests of this town,” but only “Do not rape my guests”. Lot may be the most righteous among the people standing outside his home, but somewhere along the line, he lost the line. He’s already accreting the willingness to sin of his neighbors.

The people of Sodom have engaged a lifestyle of sin, and Lot, for his part, has not rejected it.

Genesis 19:26

2007.Aug.27 21:33

Lot’s wife

Read Genesis 19:26 | Full Chapter

But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
(Genesis 19:26, ESV)

In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five, he discusses this moment:

And Lot’s wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned to a pillar of salt. So it goes.

Anyway, that’s what The Quotations Page says he wrote. I have the book, but I may forget to check. Anyway, that stuck with me. It is a very human reaction. When we leave behind something that is part of our life, we often want that one last look. We may keep a piece of memorabilia, perhaps some silly thing that would mean nothing to someone else. Lot’s wife is leaving her home, her community. It’s a pretty crummy community, but it is the community that she and her family became a part of, after they split ways with Lot’s relatives.

So, I understand her looking back. It is very human. It’s pretty amazing that she was the only one of the four who did so. But it’s also very striking that she was behind Lot. I checked about five other versions and all but one had language indicating she was physically following Lot. As a husband, this pisses me off. I’d like to hope that there would never be a situation in which I would run ahead of my wife when running from danger. Heck, even when we’re driving home in separate cars, I like for her to be in front of me. Because I want myself between any danger and her and because I want to be able to respond immediately if something happens. I can’t know if she’s in danger if she’s behind me. Now, that may be foolish when considering which one of us would better handle this indeterminate danger and there’s times that I’ve acted differently than this–when, because I’ve been busy, I haven’t immediately responded to a problem. Which is a problem I need to work on. But, come on, Lot. City being destroyed. Get between your wife and it! (By the way, men who claim their religion says that women should walk behind them need to have their —- cut off and shoved down their throats. My opinion.)

This again suggests to me that Lot has issues of selfishness and fear which override his care for his family and his desire for righteousness. How easily such emotions and attitudes (especially of selfishness) can get in the way of the actions we should be taking and in the way of faith. Lot may have had faith, but it seems that he had a lot of other stuff. Lot’s wife may have had faith, but she also had some other stuff. I’m inclined to be more understanding of her stuff than of his. But, so what? In either case, how much more could they have had by seeking first Jehovah. And how much more I? That’s our rhetorical question for today.

Genesis 18:20-33

2007.Jun.16 20:21

How Many Righteous

Read Genesis 18:20-33 | Full Chapter

And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
(Genesis 18:20-22, NASB)

So Jehovah explains his intentions to Abraham. There’s been a lot of sinning going on in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, enough to produce a great outcry to Jehovah, whatever that means. Insofar as I do believe in God’s omniscience, I don’t suppose this next part is quite necessary, but God is going to go there (at least to Sodom, anyway) and see if the outcry is accurate. At some point in this, Jehovah possibly communicates to Abraham that he will destroy these cities if their sin is indeed so great. That, or Abraham assumes this, which is a pretty interesting point to ponder. This passage does not make that intent explicit.

I really like the idea that God investigates personally (or has his messengers investigate personally; I really ought to learn Hebrew so I have a better chance of figuring out these details). He’s not going to wipe out this city based on what other humans say about it, or even what he just knows. He actually sends a research party physically there, possibly including himself. Jehovah’s justice is just. It is not distant and unknowing.

Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the LORD. Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
(Genesis 18:23-25, NASB)

When following Abraham’s reasoning here, it’s worth remembering that his nephew, Lot, has chosen to live in the vicinity of these cities, and that, as revealed in Genesis 19, Sodom is Lot’s current residence. In other words, this is not an impartial cry for justice for it’s own sake. And, yet, there’s a lot to be learned from the times when our decisions come as much from emotion as from “reason”. I admire Abraham for his care for his relatives, but I also remember that Lot made this decision, chose this path, based largely on the physical benefits of the land while apparently accepting or ignoring the prevailing unrighteousness.

For Abraham to judge Jehovah like this is pretty amazing. But Jehovah’s reaction is so much more impressive. In choosing to confide in Abraham, among humanity, this plan, Jehovah reveals that he values Abraham’s input and reactions, even if only for the sake of his own glory. Jehovah listens to Abraham’s complaint, which is the basic “justice means fairness” argument where fairness is defined as the terms of the person speaking, and he says, “Okay.” Abraham is not content with this, possibly because he knows that few in Sodom, and possibly not even any of his relatives, will hit the righteous mark. He dwindles the justice mark down to ten righteous.

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
(Genesis 18:32-33, NASB)

Jehovah again accepts. He already knows how many righteous there are, so this is sort of a moot discussion. But he’s also proving to Abraham that he is in fact just. This is all the more important because Jehovah has set up Abraham to be the establishing patriarch of a religion and nation that ought to be Jehovah-centered. Of course, it will fail in that, but then, that may be the point: not even a religion or nation can save us, but Jehovah alone. Or maybe that’s another stretched interpretation.

Genesis 19:23-25

2007.Aug.23 03:03

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Read Genesis 19:23-25 | Full Chapter

Before I jump into this week’s passage, I was reading in 2 Peter last week and came across a passage about Lot that may be a bit more positive about him than I have been. I’ll examine that more in a couple of weeks when I return my focus to Lot. Also, I’d like to note that I feel…erm…iffy about this particular article/study/whatever. I’m just not sure where to go with it or if have any useful comments. But, then, it is a study after all.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
(Genesis 19:23-25, ESV)

According to an unsophisticated search on BibleGateway, Sodom is mentioned 28 times outside of Genesis in the Contemporary English Version. My impression, after a quick survey is that these references generally refer to pending destruction and/or comparisons. Here’s a few samplings:

Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.
(Isaiah 1:9, NASB)

You and the people of Jerusalem
are evil
like Sodom
and Gomorrah.
(Jeremiah 23:14, CEV)

You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent.
(Ezekiel 16:51, CEV)

So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you.
(Matthew 11:24, CEV)

We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and did all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire.
(Jude 1:7, CEV)

One thing I notice is that Jehovah exercises his judgment on Sodom and the other cities of the plain, while retaining it in other cases for a later day of judgment. Groups who are deep in communal sin are compared to Sodom, and in several Biblical cases, judged to be worse. Perhaps then Sodom is an example of when a community has taken sin too far. As in, if your town is worse than Sodom, you need to change completely, and you need to change yesterday. If that is the case, perhaps God destroyed Sodom to make clear to future generations that such sin is unacceptable, even in the context of a fallen earth; this then is the line at which a community can no longer survive.

Or maybe not.

There is also the question of Jehovah’s justice. God’s sense of justice and fairness is not the same as my natural sense of these things. I can often come to an understanding of his actions, but sometimes my immediate take on his justice is that it is not intuitive. Why judge Sodom so harshly? Why give mercy to so many others? Of course, I have a hard time questioning God’s giving mercy to anyone, since I am so grateful he has given mercy to me. And yet…and yet…and yet.

Is it worth thinking about such things? Yes, it is. But let me not forget, in such thoughts, God’s holiness, nor his mighty hand. I may not understand the details of his decision, but I rejoice both in his grace and his righteousness. And I also must be humbled by these things. When I find myself proud, I want to remember how easily God overthrew these proud cities.

Genesis 19:23-25

2007.Aug.23 03:03

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Read Genesis 19:23-25 | Full Chapter

Before I jump into this week’s passage, I was reading in 2 Peter last week and came across a passage about Lot that may be a bit more positive about him than I have been. I’ll examine that more in a couple of weeks when I return my focus to Lot. Also, I’d like to note that I feel…erm…iffy about this particular article/study/whatever. I’m just not sure where to go with it or if have any useful comments. But, then, it is a study after all.

The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
(Genesis 19:23-25, ESV)

According to an unsophisticated search on BibleGateway, Sodom is mentioned 28 times outside of Genesis in the Contemporary English Version. My impression, after a quick survey is that these references generally refer to pending destruction and/or comparisons. Here’s a few samplings:

Unless the LORD of hosts
Had left us a few survivors,
We would be like Sodom,
We would be like Gomorrah.
(Isaiah 1:9, NASB)

You and the people of Jerusalem
are evil
like Sodom
and Gomorrah.
(Jeremiah 23:14, CEV)

You people of Jerusalem have sinned twice as much as the people of Samaria. In fact, your evil ways have made both Sodom and Samaria look innocent.
(Ezekiel 16:51, CEV)

So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you.
(Matthew 11:24, CEV)

We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and did all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire.
(Jude 1:7, CEV)

One thing I notice is that Jehovah exercises his judgment on Sodom and the other cities of the plain, while retaining it in other cases for a later day of judgment. Groups who are deep in communal sin are compared to Sodom, and in several Biblical cases, judged to be worse. Perhaps then Sodom is an example of when a community has taken sin too far. As in, if your town is worse than Sodom, you need to change completely, and you need to change yesterday. If that is the case, perhaps God destroyed Sodom to make clear to future generations that such sin is unacceptable, even in the context of a fallen earth; this then is the line at which a community can no longer survive.

Or maybe not.

There is also the question of Jehovah’s justice. God’s sense of justice and fairness is not the same as my natural sense of these things. I can often come to an understanding of his actions, but sometimes my immediate take on his justice is that it is not intuitive. Why judge Sodom so harshly? Why give mercy to so many others? Of course, I have a hard time questioning God’s giving mercy to anyone, since I am so grateful he has given mercy to me. And yet…and yet…and yet.

Is it worth thinking about such things? Yes, it is. But let me not forget, in such thoughts, God’s holiness, nor his mighty hand. I may not understand the details of his decision, but I rejoice both in his grace and his righteousness. And I also must be humbled by these things. When I find myself proud, I want to remember how easily God overthrew these proud cities.