Sodom and Gomorrah, different perspective?

Genesis 18:16-33 16And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. 20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; 21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD. 23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. 27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. 30And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. 31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. 32And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. 33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

That was a long read for my typically short introductions. However, the full text had to be read in order to get the point I will be making in this short post.

Most Christian readers know about the two cities, what they stood for, and what they were guilty of. Sodom and Gomorrah were known as cities where most if not all the population that lived there was homosexual. Which is where the term “sodomized” comes from.

This text starts with the men that came to visit Abraham, and to tell him he was going to be a father, and Sarah, his wife, was going to bare a child. They were old and advanced in years, well into their 90’s. So it was going to take a miracle.

God had spoken through these men. They were angels, with 2 missions. One, deliver the news to Abraham, and destroy the 2 cities.

Now let’s back up a bit. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived in those cities. He lived in Sodom. When Abraham and Lot were in Canaan, their servants were many. And they kept having arguments with each other about where the flock should eat. So at one point, Abraham looked at his nephew, and told him, “either you go right, or go left. And the direction you go, I will go the opposite. No sense us living this close if it’s only cause turmoil”.

Lot then saw the nice plan of Jordan, which as well watered everywhere. It reminded him much of Egypt. So he wanted to move there.

This is no doubt a loaded situation. Egypt was not known to be a Holy city unto God. They were known to have multiple gods, deities, idols and statues. Sexual immorality was also well known in Egypt.

I have absolutely 0 doubt that Sodom and Gomorrah also had their reputation. For instance. I live just outside a small town called Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada. There’s a small town next door called Dieppe. Another called Riverview…go a bit further west, and you have Sussex. While I’m not the most observant person. I know Dieppe prides themselves as being a French town. Moncton is bilingual. Riverview is predominantly English. If you go to Sussex, not only is it predominantly English, but it’s also a farm town. With some natural gas wells on the outskirts.

I have a friend that lives in Hong Kong, if she’s been there for any amount of time, there’s a strong possibility she knows about Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan (I Know absolutely nothing about these cities, I had to look them up on google maps).

My favorite preacher’s church is in Minden Nevada. Carson City is close, so is Reno. Sacramento is only about 200 km away. No doubt spending lots of time in Minden, you get to know the reputation of the other cities / states. South East of Minden, about 428 miles away is Las Vegas. No doubt the most popular gambling city in North America. And with gambling, hotels and drugs, sexual immorality is also present.

All this to say, there is no way Lot didn’t know about Sodom before he got there. It probably wasn’t a surprise when he got there, that it was a wicked city.

However, let’s change the perspective a bit. While in God’s perspective, the men of those cities were wicked, I doubt they realized they were wicked. They lived life every day like it was just another day.

Everyone I know, that isn’t a Christian, doesn’t live their lives saying “what can I do that’s wicked today, or that goes against God”. They don’t talk to themselves that way. They are just living life.

In the world today, people are living their every day life. Waking up in the morning, going to work, doing the best they can. Having their water cooler conversations about sports, about life, about how their spouse did them wrong, the government and everything all around it. Then they get home and deal with every day home life. Kids, sports, bills, meals and frustrations.

Some live in common law relationships (not a recognized marriage under the law nor under God, but recognized as a household partnership). Some live in same sex civil unions, some under “same sex marriage” which by definition marriage is one man one woman. Some live single but have many intimate partners.

All of the above are sinful before God. Personally, while I know they are sinful, I can’t judge them due to my own sinful nature.

So, the folks that lived in those cities kept living every day life to what they understood and loved.

Then Lot shows up, and by the way we are reading the text, and that his daughters have found boyfriends / husbands, he wasn’t there for just a few days. Some speculate he was there for at least 20 yrs. So he was well acquainted with the people of these 2 cities.

So, now we turn the page to Abraham, when he was having the conversation with the Lord. The Lord told Abraham that he was about to destroy both cities due to the wickedness within them. Now remember, Abraham knew very well that his nephew Lot lived there. And like any caring family member, Abraham didn’t want to see him killed with the rest of the people. No doubt Lot wouldn’t be one of the ones partaking with the sin of the rest of them, he couldn’t be.

So, Abraham starts “if you found 50 people in that city, that are righteous, would you still destroy it”? And the Lord responded “for 50 people, I won’t destroy the city”. Abraham now sees that the Lord is extending some huge mercy. Those cities housed no doubt between 100 000 – 750 000 people (based on speculations of historians). So, for God to hold back his wrath on that many people, for the sake of 50, shows He wasn’t keen on destroying it in the first place.

So Abraham lowers his standards, knowing full well, Lot’s family might be the only ones that are counted as righteous, and they don’t added up to 50…so he tries 45, God approves, then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10…and for all the cases, God says he won’t destroy the cities for even as low as 10 righteous.

Now this takes a serious turn of events, and makes us seriously think. Abraham was pleading with God to NOT destroy the cities. God already told Abraham He WAS going to destroy them. Abraham won’t change God’s mind. However, with the bargaining going on, Abraham is slowly realizing, with the decreasing numbers, that Lot might very well be the only righteous person in those cities.

So, while he did try to “spare” the cities, he also knows the wickedness going on there, cannot be over looked.

So, he stops bargaining. Now here’s another factor as well. If we are going to be considering what kind of righteousness God considers, it’s perfect righteousness. If this was the topic, Abraham knows NO ONE reaches that standard. It’s impossible. Could this be what Abraham was slowly starting to realize, is that even if he gets to 1, which would exclude Lot’s wife and the kids, would God still hold back judgment? Not based on perfect righteousness.

This is probably another moment where Abraham also realizes how wicked those cities were. There were many, many pagan cities and towns in those days, and God didn’t destroy them in the same manner, what was special about them. Some other tribes and people we cannibals, some where worshippers or strange statues and gods. Some offered up their children as sacrifices.

But God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. We aren’t given more details than simply, they were wicked and wanted to know the 2 men that came to visit Lot. In bible context, that really means they wanted to have sex with the men. From the old to the young. And people from every quarter. Essentially, every man in the city. I can’t even imagine what kind of scene this would have been.

A few things are for certain. Sodom and Gomorrah were not known as unwelcoming. Lot moved in, as a righteous man, and no one kicked him out, or killed him. Even, in Genesis 19:7, he calls them “brethren”. He was well acquainted with them, and them with him. Now he probably didn’t share the gospel with them, just held his own when he was in town till he got home.

Now for the end of this passage.

When the angels finally torched the cities, a few things to consider. Lot pleaded with his sons in law to leave the city with him due to the judgment coming. They mocked him as if he was losing his mind. Much like today. I share the gospel with people. Not as often as I should, but I do. They look at me like I have 3 heads. Why? We have never seen judgment before, so what’s different about now?

Everyone in the city was no doubt going about their normal daily business and activity. Nothing changes for them, until the flames start flying in.

That’s much like us today. We are living our daily lives, uninterrupted and like every day is the same as the previous. We all have heartaches, problem, diseases and financial issues. But overall, every day is much like the previous, and tomorrow, is probably going to be much like today.

The only problem is, that’s going to end at some point, either with your death, or with the returning of Christ.

I would strongly urge you, reader, that if you have not looked to Christ on the cross, and repented of your sin, do so. Don’t be like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, that were caught by surprise and perished.