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Gen. 18:20-22
"And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom
and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin
is very grievous; I 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. And the
men turned their faces from thence, and went
toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before
the LORD."
In this passage, the LORD sent the men
(angels) to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy
the cities of the plain because of their
wickedness. The LORD said that their sin was
very grievous. The question before us is
"Should the men of Sodom and Gomorrah have
known that what they were doing was very
grievous and that they were in danger of
God's judgment because of their actions?"
"If so, then why should they have known?" Up
to this point in the scriptures we do not
find any scripture where God had said, "Thou
shalt not commit Sodomy."
Even though the scriptures do not record up
to this point that God had said "Thou shalt
not commit Sodomy," yet the men of Sodom and
Gomorrah were without excuse and should have
known that what they were doing was wrong
for the following reasons:
1. God gave the covenant of the law of marriage in the
Garden of Eden saying, "Therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall
be one flesh." Moreover, it is recorded in
Gen. 1:27, 28 "So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them. And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth." Plainly, the Lord's
commandment was for the man and woman to
marry and to be fruitful and multiply and
replenish the earth. Clearly, what the men
of Sodom and Gomorrah were doing was
completely contrary to what God commanded
and to the marriage covenant of a man and a
woman.
The men of Sodom and Gomorrah could not
reasonably argue that it had been so long
since the creation that they could not be
expected to know the marriage covenant that
God had given to Adam and Eden. Yet, the
span of time from creation to the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was within
the consecutive lifetimes of three
individuals: Adam, Methuselah, and Shem, who
was still alive at the time of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. The laws of nature which God put in motion when he
created the heaven and the earth and all
that was therein declare that the proper
order is for a male and a female to live
together and procreate. Almost all the
mammals in the world follow this pattern
under the laws of God in that sexual
relations are almost always in the animal
kingdom between the male and the female.
Moreover, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah
should have known that they were in danger
of God's judgment as they were living in the
generation of Shem, the son of Noah, who
came off the ark with Noah and was an eye
witness of God's judgment of the gross
wickedness of sin.
The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were without
excuse for their gross wickedness.
Gen. 18:23-33 Abraham Intercedes for Lot
Gen. 18:23
"And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou
also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous
within the city: wilt thou also destroy and
not spare the place for the fifty righteous
that are therein? 25 That 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?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom
fifty righteous within the city, then I will
spare all the place for their sakes. 27 And
Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I
have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord,
which am but dust and ashes: 28 Peradventure
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.
29 And 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. 30 And 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. 31 And 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. 32 And 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. 33 And
the LORD went his way, as soon as he had
left communing with Abraham: and Abraham
returned unto his place."
There are several important scriptural
lessons taught in the above passage of
scripture:
1. A society can become so corrupt that God will
destroy it.
2. God's people have a preserving influence on the
society in which they live.
3. Since God is the judge of all the earth and judges
righteous judgment, how are Lot and anyone
else righteous?
4. Abraham's intercession on behalf of Lot is similar
to the Lord's intercession on behalf of his
people on a daily basis.
First, Sodom and Gomorrah had become so
corrupt in their living that there was no
remedy for the deliverance of the cities
from their wicked state. In the day that Lot
went to dwell in Sodom the Lord stated this
concerning the men of Sodom: Gen. 13:12, 13
"Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and
Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and
pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men
of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the
LORD exceedingly." Next, we see that this
wicked sin had completely pervaded the
entire city of Sodom: Gen. 19:4 "But before
they lay down, the men of the city, even the
men of Sodom, compassed the house round,
both old and young, all the people from
every quarter:" Thus, the entire male
population of that city both old and young
had become sodomites with the exception of
Lot. In Ps. 9:17 we read, "The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the nations
that forget God."
Second, God's people have a preserving
influence on the society in which they live.
This is manifest in the fact that the Lord
said that he would not destroy the city if
there were but ten righteous within the
city. Also, the Lord said of the disciples
in the New Testament: Mat. 5:13 "Ye are the
salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost
his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it
is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be
cast out, and to be trodden under foot of
men." One of the attributes of salt is that
it has a preserving quality. For instance,
salt is a meat preservative. Similarly, the
disciples have a preserving quality in the
society in which they live. Like salt, the
Lord's disciples have a flavoring influence
and a preserving influence on the society in
which they live. Isaiah spoke by prophecy
concerning Israel: Isa. 1:9 "Except the LORD
of hosts had left unto us a very small
remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and
we should have been like unto Gomorrah."
Thirdly, since God is the judge of all the
earth and judges righteous judgment, how are
Lot and anyone else righteous? When we look
at the life of Lot we see a man who chose to
live among the wicked. He also sinfully
offered his two daughters to the wicked men
who surrounded his house instead of the two
men who came to dwell with him that night.
Moreover, Lot after he and his daughters
were delivered, through the enticements of
his two daughters who encouraged his
drunkenness and then lay with his two
daughters and they brought forth sons of
Lot. These were not righteous actions.
However, we know that Lot was a righteous
man because the scriptures tell us so: 2
Pet. 2:6-9 "And turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with
an overthrow, making them an ensample unto
those that after should live ungodly; And
delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked: (For that
righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from
day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of
temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto
the day of judgment to be punished:"
Since God judges righteous judgment, then
how was Lot a righteous man? Moreover, how
are any of us righteous men? According to
the scriptures every sin and disobedience
receives a just recompense of reward: Heb.
2:2 "For if the word spoken by angels was
stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompense of
reward;" Moreover, the wages of sin is
death: Rom. 6:23 "For the wages of sin is
death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord." That death
includes an eternal death which for the
wicked is to be cast into the lake of fire
for eternity.
Under the law of sin and death we all have
the same standing before God: Rom. 3:9, 10 "
What then? are we better than they? No, in
no wise: for we have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous,
no, not one:" This says that under the law
of sin and death there is none righteous.
Thus, we again ask ourselves, "How is Lot
righteous and how am I righteous?" The
answer is found in the covenant of
redemption: Rom. 8:29, 30 "For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he
also called: and whom he called, them he
also justified: and whom he justified, them
he also glorified." Under this covenant one
of the five things that God did for the
elect is justify them.
Under the law of sin and death we were
condemned before God because of sin. Part of
the judgment process is the execution of the
penalty of sin. The Old Testament teaches us
the principle of "substitution atonement."
Jesus is the perfect substitute for the
elect family of God. He took upon himself
our sins and was made to be sin for us. He
suffered God's wrathful judgment for our
sins in our place. God's wrath was satisfied
on the cross as Christ suffered the fullness
of God's wrath and then died for the elect.
Every sin of the elect was atoned for on the
cross. Moreover, the offering being accepted
of the Father, we were imputed with the
righteous of Christ: 2 Cor. 5:21 "For he
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." It is because of this
covenant work of Christ that Lot is declared
righteous and I am declared righteous.
Fourthly, Abraham's intercession on behalf
of Lot is similar to the Lord's intercession
on behalf of his people on a daily basis.
The Lord interceded for his nephew Lot.
Christ intercedes for those who are kin to
him by spiritual birth, adoption, and
marriage. We read of this intercession in
Rom. 8:33, 34 "Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us." That
this intercession is a continual
intercession we read in Heb. 7:24, 25 "But
this man, because he continueth ever, hath
an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is
able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them."
Moreover, in Rom. 8:26, 27 We read where
both the Holy Spirit and Christ make
intercession for us: "Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities: for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought: but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered. And
he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is
the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the
will of God."
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