A Matter of Sight

Genesis 18:20–21 ESV

Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

Isn’t it great to be able to see? We don’t really appreciate the gift of vision until we start having vision problems.

I have an eye exam coming up near the end of the month. Eye exams are so much fun! They cover up one eye and make you read from a chart where the letters get smaller and smaller. Nowadays they use a laser devise to scan the back of your eyes to determine how healthy your eyes are. Then, when it is determined that you need glasses, they sit you down and put that stupid thing in front of your face with the rotating lenses. They make you look at a chart while they rotate the lenses. Which is clearer—this one or this one? Over and over, they keep adjusting the lenses until you tell them the text is as clear as possible.

While we use the word “seeing” in terms of physical vision, we also use it in reference to understanding. “I see what you’re saying.”

We also say, “seeing is believing.” Sight determines reality.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most famous of the Bible. Even people who don’t know much about the Bible are familiar. The word “sodomy” is still a part of our language used to describe a particularly disgusting type of sin.

Even in its day, Sodom had a reputation. While most of us think of this passage starting in chapter 18 as our introduction to Sodom, we are actually introduced to them in chapter 14.

We learn that Sodom, Gomorrah, and two other kingdoms went to war against an alliance of five kingdoms. The five kingdoms overpowered the four kingdoms; the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and hid, and their enemies raided their cities and captured the citizens.

Abraham’s nephew Lot was one of those citizens. His household was captured, and when Abraham got word, he took 318 of his servants who had military training and some allies to rescue Lot and the others. Abraham and his men rescued all the people of Sodom and their possessions. When the king of Sodom finally showed up and offered Abraham a reward, Abraham made it clear that he didn’t trust the king and wanted nothing the king had to offer.

Cut to chapter 18.

Genesis 18:1–5 ESV

And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”

The LORD, Yahweh, appeared to Abraham. Abraham saw these three men, and he immediately knew that these men were somehow the manifest presence of the Lord. He went all out to prepare a meal for them and show them respect. It’s in the course of this meal that God tells Abraham that Sarah will have a son within one year’s time.

But as God, in the form of these three men, prepares to leave, he tells Abraham about how he is on his way to judge Sodom. Abraham intercedes for Sodom, asking God if he would spare Sodom for the sake of 50 righteous citizens, and then bargaining the number down. God promises he will spare Sodom if he can find 10 righteous people living there.

Of the three heavenly beings, two go to Sodom and immediately meet Lot at the gate. While they announce their intention to stay the night in the city square, Lot convinces them to come home with him, where he prepares a feast for them.

Genesis 19:4–5 ESV

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.”

Even thought Lot saw these men at the gate of the city and took them directly to his house, they still managed to get the attention of the men of Sodom, and the response was surprising.

EVERYONE in Sodom turned up at Lot’s house, demanding Lot give them these men so they could do whatever evil thing they wanted with them. Lot goes out to try to reason with his neighbors, but he ends up having to be rescued by the angels. They strike the men outside Lot’s house with blindness and tell Lot he has to get out of the city before dawn. When Lot hesitates, they literally grab Lot, his wife and daughters, and they drag them out of the city.

Genesis 19:17–26 ESV

And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 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. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

There is a lot that we can unpack from this story, but since we started off talking about sight, I want to FOCUS on they various ways sight is referenced throughout Genesis 18 and 19.

Delving Eyes

When God speaks to Abraham, he says that he has heard of Sodom’s evil reputation. He has determined to go for himself to observe Sodom. When Abraham pleads for Sodom, God promises to spare the city if he can find 10 righteous people there.

In today’s world, we are filled with media personalities telling us what we should be thinking and feeling. We are shown snippets of stories designed to paint a certain picture that aligns with the presenter’s narrative. And we grab onto the media that affirms our opinions while demonizing the media that goes against what we want to believe.

But what do we see God doing in this passage? He says he has heard the cries against Sodom and Gomorrah, and he is personally going to check out the situation. He doesn’t care how credible the sources of the cries may seem; he is going to find the truth for himself.

Likewise, we need delving eyes, not taking things at face value, but being willing to do the hard work to find out what is the truth—even if that truth doesn’t fit into our preconceived notions of how things should be.

Discerning Eyes

When Abraham sees three men coming toward him in the distance, he immediately discerns that God himself has appeared to him. Too often, we are so distracted by the cares of this world to recognize when God is right in our midst. He sends us these moments of encounter, where he has come to meet with us and bless us, and we miss it because we lack eyes of discernment.

Remember the story of Elijah, when he was surrounded by the enemy and his servant was in a panic?

2 Kings 6:17 ESV

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

This is the prayer we should always be praying for ourselves and for others. We need eyes that discern God’s presence and his moving so that we can respond appropriately.

Deferential Eyes

Lot’s response to seeing the men was different than Abraham’s. He doesn’t seem to recognize them as coming from God; however, he can tell there is something special about them. He feels the need to show them deference—honor. When they announce their intention to spend the night in the city square, he immediately insists that they come to his house instead.

It is so easy to judge others by appearances, determining who is worthy of honor and who isn’t. But appearances can be deceiving, and regardless of who someone is and what they have done, we who are the children of God are called to a higher standard.

Hebrews 13:2 ESV

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Philippians 2:3, 1 Peter 2:17, and Romans 12:10 all tell us to honor others above ourselves.

1 John 4:20–21 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Just as 1 John says that we cannot truly love God if we will not love our brother, the inverse of that is true. How can our lost brother believe that God loves him when God’s proclaimed followers will not show love and respect.

Desecrating Eyes

When Abraham and Lot saw these angelic guests, they both responded with a need to show them honor.

The men of Sodom, however, had a very different response. They could sense the sacred nature of these men, and while they could not understand it, they also could not tolerate it.

Just as God and his angels are real, the devil and his demons are real. We must not be afraid of them, but we need to recognize that they do have power in this world. There are demonically controlled people out there who hate God and want to destroy everything God loves, including his children.

When I was in college, female students at Evangel and Central Bible College were especially targeted for sexual assault by men who were determined to prove to them that God was powerless to protect them. A girl from my home church was attacked in her dorm room by a man who managed to get in. Her faith took a major hit that day.

But this attitude is not limited to atheists. Men who claim to serve God have committed atrocities in God’s name. The religious leaders of Jesus’s day were determined to tear him down. When Jesus cast out demons, they denounced it as a work of the devil, and Jesus called this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

When we try to use the church as a tool to advance our own personal agendas, we are just as guilty as those men in Sodom that day.

Defensive Eyes

While Lot’s wife had been given the opportunity to escape the judgment of Sodom, she could not bring herself to admit that Sodom deserved this judgment. Her defensive attitude toward Sodom caused her to look back in despair for her friends and family who had been left behind to face destruction. She was physically out of Sodom, but her heart was there. As she looked toward the city, she was also looking defensively against the God who had judged her people. So she shared the fate of the people she was so eager to defend.

We live in a world that seems so complex. We see people who are in many ways kind and helpful. They lead charities and run soup kitchens. But they also live in complete defiance of God’s law and they denounce God passionately. They live in unrepentant sin. And we defend them.

We say, “Who am I to judge?” The fact is, we are called to judge, using God’s standard. We cannot judge a heart, but we can judge an action.

Yes, we are called to be merciful, as God is merciful. It is not for us to condemn someone else to hell. But we when we see sin, we need to call it what it is and warn others. It is not merciful to allow someone to continue in their sin without letting them know what consequences they face. If we allow ourselves to make excuses for someone’s sin, we are in sin. We are telling God that he is wrong. We are lying to the person we claim to love. We are saying that staying on good terms with that person is more important than being obedient to God.

A Matter of Sight

What we need is a change in the way we see things. I want to see God clearly. I want to recognize God’s handiwork in my life and in the world around me.

I want to be the kind of person who doesn’t take things at face value, but is willing to do the hard work to get to the truth of things.

I want to see people with honor, no matter who they are, where they come from, or even if they agree with me. It doesn’t mean I have to pretend to approve of their lifestyle or choices, but I can show them the love and grace Christ shows me everyday.

I want to guard my heart so that I never become a person who would desecrate the Holy, to do anything that would bring dishonor to God.

I need God to move in me so that I never become more concerned with pleasing others than with pleasing and honoring God. I need eyes that desire God’s kingdom more than the kingdom of this world.

Let’s pray