Genesis 19
God’s Judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah

Genesis 19

The Doom of Sodom

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” 3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 “Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.

23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.

29 Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot is Debased

30 Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. 32 “Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 34 On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

Unpacking Genesis 19

If you have just read Genesis 19, I suspect you have a heavy heart because it shows us just how vile sin is in the eyes of God and what His judgment looks like.

The book of Genesis gives us several clear examples of man’s sin and God’s judgment. In Genesis 3, we saw God’s judgment on man’s rebellion. In Genesis 4, we saw God’s judgment on man’s murder and lies. In Genesis 6, God’s judgment came upon wickedness and violence. In Genesis 11, it came upon pride and disobedience. This study in Genesis 19 will show us God's judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah for sexual immorality that rebels against His design.

Before we turn to Genesis 19, let’s turn back to Genesis 18 because God’s judgment starts there. Genesis 18 comes on the heels of the formation of the covenant between God, Abraham, and Abraham’s descendants, back in Genesis 17. In Genesis 18, God reiterates His promise to give Abraham a son within the next calendar year. That means it’s getting close to when Sarah will need to knit baby socks.

As we know, God has called Abraham to establish a nation distinct from the world. This nation would be comprised of people who walk in God’s ways and not man’s ways. They will worship Him rightly. They will walk in holiness and walk according to His covenant.

This covenant contains an inherent promise and warning: God’s judgment is coming to the world. The people in covenant with God will be saved from His coming judgment. Those not in covenant with God will face His wrath for their sins. Genesis 19 gives us a window into what that wrath will look like.

In Genesis 18, the Lord is talking with Abraham, and verse 20 says, “And the LORD said, ‘The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.’” As they talk, it becomes clear that God is about to bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin.

Genesis 18:19 explains that God tells this to Abraham. Abraham is going to establish a nation for God. Abraham needs to know the kinds of behaviors that God’s covenant people cannot practice.

During this conversation, in verse 23, Abraham realizes God will bring total judgment on these two cities. He knows his nephew Lot lives there and tries to dissuade God from annihilating them.

Abraham gets into a strange, haggling conversation with the Lord. He basically says in verse 23, “Lord? What if there are 50 righteous men there? Are you still going to destroy it?” The Lord answers, in verse 26, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” Great! What if there are only 45? How about 40, 30, 20, or even 10? In verse 32, the Lord promises that if there are just ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, He won’t destroy these cities. In Genesis 19, we find out that there weren’t even ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19 opens with two angels coming to the city of Sodom. They find Abraham’s nephew Lot at the city gate. Back then, a “city gate” wasn’t like a gate in a fence. These ancient city gates could be the size of buildings and sometimes had rooms in them.

City gates were often the cultural and commercial hub of the community. It’s where the city leaders would sit and hold meetings. The fact that Lot was at the city gate may even indicate he was a city leader. 2nd Peter 2:7 says Lot was a “righteous man,” and yet what we’re about to read shows us that even righteous people can become deluded by the spirit of their age. This is a cautionary tale for all of us.

Going back to Genesis 19, these two angels come into town looking like typical travelers. Lot doesn’t know they’re angels (in fact, they are called “men” most of the time in this chapter). He recognizes they are strangers and persuades them to come to his home.

As it was getting late, suddenly, the townspeople started banging on Lot’s door! They demanded that he produce the two angels because they wanted to engage in seriously wicked stuff with them. Verse 4 shows us how pervasive this practice had become since the crowd included both young, old and people from every quarter of the city.

Lot is horrified by their demands. He pleads with them not to do this wicked thing. In verse 8, he offers them his two daughters instead! This is shocking and disgusting, and I find it one of the most unsettling verses in the Old Testament. Lot’s compromise was not okay, and his offer shows just how jumbled his moral compass had become. This is also a warning that our society can so influence us that we think something is okay, but we’ve actually been sucked into the spirit of the age.

So, Lot offers his daughters, but the townspeople will have none of that. They want the men! Things descend into chaos. The angels pull Lot back inside and miraculously blind the people (verse 11). You’d think that suddenly being blinded would stop them—it didn’t. They were so bent on their sin that even though they had been mysteriously blinded, they still kept trying to get in!

Like a scene from a movie, the angels tell Lot and his family they need to pack their bags, get their loved ones and leave because they were going to destroy the place! Lot’s future sons-in-law scoffed at this idea and suffered God’s judgment along with the rest of Sodom and Gomorrah.

In verse 15, the Lord patiently waited until the next morning. The angels wake Lot and tell him to get going because the city is about to be punished. In verse 16, Lot hesitates for a moment. He cannot even conceive of the kind of judgment the Lord would bring upon these cities. Genesis 19:16 says, “But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.” In verse 17, the angels tell Lot and his family to run for their lives and don’t look back. They take a moment to figure out where they will go and then flee.

After that, God unleashed His judgment upon the cities. In verse 24, the Lord rained down brimstone and fire. Brimstone was some kind of fiery substance. In recent years, an archeologist named Phillip Silvia has found that a superheated blast destroyed this region thousands of years ago. Silva suggests that a low-altitude meteor exploded over the region.[1] That certainly would have looked like fire and brimstone.

While all this is happening in verse 26, Lot’s wife disobeyed the Lord’s instruction, in verse 17, to not look back. She looks back, and verse 26 says she became a pillar of salt. The word “became” doesn’t have to mean she became an instant pillar of salt, like something out of a movie. It could also speak of being covered in salt. The same news article cited above mentions that archeologists have also found pottery from this event that melted into glass. Thus, the Lord supernaturally preserved Lot and his daughters, but not Lot’s wife, when she disobeyed the angels’ instructions. That supernatural blast swept across the plain and enveloped her, and she died.

Lot’s wife is an example of God’s judgment that will one day come upon the world. In Luke 17:32-33 Jesus cites Lot’s wife as a warning about seeking to preserve something under God’s judgment. If, deep down, we want what the world offers, then we will also participate in its judgment. Again, this is a cautionary tale.

Now, if all of this wasn’t tough enough, verses 30 to 38 record how Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. I find this passage just as disturbing as the previous section. Once again, it shows us the depth of sin in Lot’s home and how he, and his family, were so deluded by the world they lost their way. As for why this has been included in God’s Word, this event is the historical backstory for the people of Moab and Ammon, who were not part of the covenant people of God.

Okay, so that’s Genesis 19. A rough chapter. What do we do with it?

For one thing, let’s allow ourselves to feel the revulsion of sin. This revulsion we feel gives us just a small window into the revulsion our holy God has for all our sins.

This passage also shows us the kinds of behavior that will not be part of God’s kingdom. People want to justify all kinds of sin, but 1st Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” These kinds of sins will not characterize God’s kingdom. If they characterize us, we must seek God’s transforming grace immediately. The next verse, 1st Corinthians 9:11, gives us the hope and promise that even if any of these sins are part of our lives, we can be washed by God’s grace and no longer bound to them.

This passage also gives us a window into the kind of judgment coming upon the world. Revelation 20:15 tells us that anyone’s name not written in the book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:15 gives us a window into how awful it will be for those who experience that judgment.

We also see God’s mercy in this passage. God would spare these cities if there were even ten righteous people! He sent angels to examine the situation. He gave Sodom a night before destroying them. This demonstrates the mercy of God.

All of this brings us back to the core point of the entire Bible: God loves us and does not want us to be embroiled in soul-destroying sin. We need a Savior.

Thankfully, God the Father sent His Son to be our Savior. Jesus died for the sins of His people, even the sin of homosexuality. His love and grace can overwhelm the sin and rebellion in our hearts. To receive it, we need to come to Him, submit to Him, repent, and let His Spirit transform our lives.

Transformation is not always easy or quick, but it is real. May we all walk in His transforming grace.

Study and Discussion Questions

Listening to the Key Chapters Podcast on this chapter provides further insights into the following questions.

1. Genesis 19 records God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18:20, how does the Lord describe the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and His judgment upon them? What was Abraham’s bargain with God to not destroy these cities? Did the Lord find that many righteous people?

2. What was Lot’s reaction to the visit from the angels in verse 1? In verse 3, why do you think Lot was so insistent these foreigners stay with him? Do you think Lot knew they were angels?

3.How did the town's people respond to the angels staying with Lot? What does the fact that this crowd was comprised of both “young and old” show us why such a thorough, annihilating judgment was necessary?

4. What do we make of Lot’s offer of his daughters to the crowd? How is this an example of the city’s influence on Lot’s moral compass? What warning does this give us about being overly influenced by our society?

5.What can we conclude from Genesis 19:11 when the angels struck the people with blindness, yet the people still tried to find the doorway? Is there any comparison to how people pursue sin today?

6.What does the Lord’s delay of judgment, where He waited for Lot and his family to first get to safety, demonstrate about His mercy and grace?

7. Genesis 19 ends with a troubling account of Lot’s daughters and Lot himself. How do people sometimes rationalize their sins?

8. This is a key chapter because it shows us the kinds of sins that will not be among the kingdom people of God. Paul makes a similar point in 1st Corinthians 6:9-11. How does the revulsion we feel about the sins of the chapter show us how the Lord views anyone’s sin? Why should these actions never be practiced by the people of God?

9. This key chapter also shows us what God’s judgment looks like. How would you describe it? What do you think God’s ultimate judgment will look like?

[1] This news account says, “Radiocarbon dating and unearthed minerals that instantly crystallized at high temperatures indicate that a massive airburst caused by a meteor that exploded in the atmosphere instantaneously destroyed civilization in a 25-kilometer-wide circular plain called Middle Ghor, said archaeologist Phillip Silvia.” (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/exploding-meteor-may-have-wiped-out-ancient-dead-sea-communities?tgt=nr) accessed 11/23/22.