The Sin of Sodom and the Mercy of God

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 19:1-26.

Hear now the word of the Lord:

Genesis 19:1–29 ESV

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 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. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 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.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. 12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. 15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 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.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 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. 20 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!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur 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 Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

PRAYER

Open our eyes, Oh Lord, that we may see wondrous things out of your law. Amen.

Introduction

We’ve now come to chapter 19 of the book of Genesis. It is a very tragic story of the destruction of two wicked cities and there is much we can learn from it.

This morning we will consider four lessons we can learn from the story of Sodom and Gamorrah and I pray they will be beneficial to you.

So without delay, lets consider the first lesson we learn from this story:

Lesson 1: God Hates Some Sins More Than Others (19.12-13)

All Sin is Not Equal

You have likely heard it said, “All sin is sin”. This is true, as far as it goes. I have found that many people say this in order to guard against the notion that some sins are “small” and therefore less serious than “big” sins.

If this is what is meant, then I quite agree with the concern. Eating a piece of forbidden fruit doesn’t appear on the surface to be significant, and yet it was this very action that plunged the human race into utter ruin and misery.

We ought not think of sin so lightly. Any act of disobedience against the infinite God is an infinite offense and worthy of infinite punishment.

So then, we cannot speak of some sins being “small” and others being “big” if the implication is that God will overlook small sins. He won’t. He takes all sin seriously.

However, when people say, “all sin is sin”, sometimes what is meant is that God hates all sin equally. This has a nice ring to it for many Americans and Europeans who have been steeped in a culture which flattens distinctions and hierarchy and wants to make everything equal.

Yet this notion that God hates all sin equally is ridiculous on its face. Do we really want to say that God hates it when a 10-year-old steals a candy bar as much as he hates murder? Of course not! Both are sin and both will be punished, but the greater the offense, the greater God’s holy wrath against it. This is seen very clearly in the story of Sodom and Gamorrah.

In the previous chapter—chapter 18—we saw that Abraham was visited by three men.

(Who were either three angels sent from the Lord OR who were the Lord himself, taking on the form of three men. Based on the language of the text, I take the latter view that the three men are the LORD himself, taking on temporary human form. The fact that there are three may even be symbolic of the Trinity, although I cannot say for certain).

After the Lord visits with Abraham, this is what the Lord tells him:

Genesis 18:20–21 ESV

20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 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.”

We will examine what the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was shortly, but for now, let’s not miss the fact that whatever it was, it was significant enough for the Lord to consider destroying those cities.

We should ask ourselves: Were Sodom and Gomorrah the only places on earth that had had sin in them?

Obviously not.

We have already seen that Egypt had sin in it, as did the tent the Abraham. Yet their wickedness did not rise to such an extent that it provoked the Lord to invoke destruction.

And it certainly wasn’t matter of population density of sinners. We aren’t sure of how many people lived in Sodom and Gomorrah but it was likely less than the amount of people who lived in Egypt at the time.

So then their judgement had to do with the kind of sins they were committing, not necessarily the frequency of sin or the amount of sinners present in the city.

So what was the sin of Sodom?

What was the Sin of Sodom?

We don’t have to guess what the sin of Sodom was since the Bible tells us in many places. First, lets look at our text in Genesis 19:

Genesis 19:4–5 ESV

4 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. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”

What we see here is a form of homosexuality.

The form it took in this particular instance is that of homosexual rape, which was an expression of power and humiliation.

And some scholars will use this fact to say that when the Bible outlaws homosexuality, it does not have in mind consensual homosexual relationships, but rather homosexual rape.

Here is my response to this:

Homosexual rape is really two sins in one: rape and homosexual desires and actions. Rape is obviously a horrible sin and the Bible records its occurrence many times. Surely it was a common sin in those days, even outside of Sodom, though most of the time it was heterosexual, not homosexual. But God is not merely condemning rape, as he does in other places. He is condemning the very desire and action of man to man or woman to woman. Listen to Romans 1:

Romans 1:26–27 ESV

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

In other words, God’s law is against both rape and homosexuality and when you combine them together, it is especially heinous to him.

So what is wrong with homosexuality?

So what is wrong with homosexuality? It is unnatural. That is what Jude says in his letter to the churches:

Jude 7 ESV

7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

God designed men and women to be attracted to each other. This is good and right and the way that God ordered the world. He loves it.

Homosexual desire and homosexual action are a perversion of what God originally intended and he hates it for that reason.

And this queues us in to why God hates some sins more than others.

Why Does God Hate Some Sin more Than Others?

God’s hatred of a particular sin is directly proportionate to his love for the thing sinned against.

In other words: the greater the offense against the good thing he loves, the greater his hatred for the offender. Here are some examples:

God loves animals so he hates it when humans abuse animals. But God loves humans—his image bearers—more than animals, therefore his hatred is greater when humans abuse other humans.

God loves marriage which is why he hates adultery.

God loves male and female which is why he hates misogyny, feminism and transgenderism.

So then, when it comes to the sin of Sodom, which was unnatural sexual desires such as homosexuality, God hates it with a holy hatred. Why? Because he loves marital intimacy between a man and woman. He loves natural sexuality, in other words. And homosexuality is unnatural. It is a twisted perversion of the way God created the world to be.

So then, homosexual desires and homosexual actions are horrible sins which incur the wrath of God. And they are more detestable to him than heterosexual sins. However, there is a sin greater than that of Sodomy.

There is a Sin Greater than Sodomy

Listen to the words of Jesus that he spoke to unbelieving Israel:

Matthew 11:23–24 ESV

23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Those are powerful words coming from our Lord. It will be more tolerable on the day of judgement for Sodom than for Israel? Why?

Because to whom much is given, much is required.

Israel was given direct revelation from God, hundreds of years of of miracles, provisions, instruction, correction, and protection. And yet here they are, at the most important point in their history, and they rejected the very Son of God who came to bring salvation.

I said earlier that God’s hatred is proportionate to his love. Well there is nothing God loves more than his only begotten Son.

In other words, there is no greater sin than rejecting the Son of God. And the more opportunity you had to accept the son and yet still rejected him, the greater your judgement will be.

This is what happened to the nation of Israel nearly two thousand years ago. They rejected the Son of God by crucifying him. And God swore in His wrath that they would not enter his rest and he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple by the hands of the Romans, just as Jesus had prophesied.

But there is a further warning I would like to give before we move on.

The West is in a Similar Plight to Israel

My warning is this: The United States of America and Europe—often called The West—is in a similar position to that of ancient Israel. We have over fifteen-hundred years of Christian influence in the West. Christianity was once the norm. And even to this day we reap the benefits that God brought to us through Christianity.

But look at us now. Are we so difference from Sodom? Are we so different from Jerusalem? In some ways you could say we are even worse! We have even more light than Israel did when they rejected Jesus. We have two thousands years of Church history to look back on. We have the Bible translated into our language and nearly all people can read it if they chose. We have churches in every town. We have millions of sermons floating around the internet. We have legal documents and laws which explicitly reference Christian doctrine and principles. Yet as a whole, the West has rejected Jesus Christ and has turned to destructive and unnatural things.

May God have mercy upon us! May God have mercy upon the West! May the church be the 10 righteous people that should have been in Sodom so that God would restrain his wrath.

May God save the West from certain ruin. May he grant repentance.

Now, I mentioned I have four lessons for you in this text and we’ve only seen one so far. We will move through the other three much more swiftly.

Lesson 2: Don’t Settle when you should be Sojourning (19.1;6-8)

The second lesson is this: Don’t settle when you should be sojourning:

Genesis 19:1 ESV

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth

Lot was sitting at the city gates, which in ancient times, is where the elders and decision makers of the city would sit. This seems to imply that Lot was now an honored citizen of the city.

He regarded the men of Sodom as “brothers” (19.7) and his daughters were betrothed to men of the city. This shows much he had made himself at home here.

This had a horrible effect on his own conscience. This is illustrated no better than in the following verses:

Genesis 19:6–8 ESV

6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 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.”

What a wicked thing! Offering his own daughters in order to protect his guests.

Hospitality is no virtue if the safety of your family is on the line.

This is one of the consequences of settling when you should be sojourning: If your heart makes its home in the world then the world will make its home in your heart. (x2)

Lot should have chosen to sojourn as Abraham did.

Better to live in tents of righteousness than a city of wickedness.

But because he chose to make his dwelling with the wicked, his family and his own conscience suffered for it.

May we all heed the warning of the Psalmist:

Psalm 1:1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Do not give yourself to the influence of the foolish and wicked. Their ways lead only to destruction.

And children, please hear me: let those you look up to be people who live good lives. Seek to copy those people who love God and show it by what they do. Don’t pay attention to the latest celebrity or musician or YouTube channel. If they are promoting a life of selfishness instead of a life of love for God and people, then in the end, what they have to say is meaningless and you shouldn’t waste your precious time caring about what they have to say.

In the end, a love for the world will kill you. That’s what happened to Lot’s wife.

Genesis 19:24–26 ESV

24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur 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 Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Lot’s wife could have been delivered from God’s judgement. But she loved Sodom more than God. So when God destroyed Sodom, she looked back with sorrow because God destroyed what she loved. And she was destroyed along with it.

This is why Lord tells us:

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Remember that here on this fallen earth we do not have a permanent home.

We are temporary residences here. We are pilgrims.

We are sojourners.

Our citizenship is in heaven.

That is our true country.

So do not let your hope and affections find a home here. Set them on things above where Christ is seated in heaven, not on things of earth.

The third lesson we learn from this story of Sodom is the futility of appeasing the wicked.

Lesson 3: The Futility of Appeasing the Wicked (19.9)

Lot was in fact a sojourner. He was not from Sodom, nor did he belong there. But he tried settling there and he tried to fit in. And this worked out alright until he had to choose between God and Sodom. When the Sodomites wanted to abuse Lot’s three guests, he pleaded with them not to do such a wicked thing. But for all of his time and effort to win their respect during his time in Sodom, how did the Sodomites repay him? We see in verse 9:

Genesis 19:9 ESV

9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

You see, the wicked chiefly love one thing: themselves. So it is futile for the righteous to try to appease them.

We unfortunately see this happen in our day.

Many Bible believing Christians are very concerned about how the unbelieving world sees them. The don’t want to be seen as one of those Bible-thumping fundamentalists, so they try to distances themselves and act as if they are actually quite reasonable and moderate. Though they believe abortion and homosexuality are wrong, they don’t come out so strongly against them. You wont see them criticizing the world very often for their debauchery, but you will see them criticize the conservative christians for being “unloving” or “unkind”.

The worst of these Christians are chiefly trying to win the respect of the unbelievers, which is fundamentally seeking the praise of man rather than the praise of God.

The best of these Christians think their moderation will somehow win them over to Christianity. But they have taken away the offense of the law and therefore the offense of the gospel. If a sinner’s sin is not exposed, how will he come to appreciate the forgiveness of sins?

Now I certainly don’t think we should be belligerent in our attitude toward unbelievers. We should seek to win them over to Christianity, but will never do this through flattery. Instead, we do this by a genuine, loving concern for their souls and teaching to them the truth of the law and gospel. Of God’s judgement and God’s mercy; both of which are displayed perfectly at the cross.

And speaking of God’s judgement and mercy, we come now to the final lesson:

Lesson 4: Just as the Judgement of God is Real, so is His Mercy (19.15-16)

Look with me at Genesis 19:15-16:

Genesis 19:15–16 ESV

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

Notice the phrase “the LORD being merciful to him”.

Lot had gotten himself into a mess. He should not have been living in Sodom, but there he was. He should not have sought the approval of Sodom yet he had. He should not have given his daughters over to wicked men, yet he tried to. He had made a royal mess of his life.

But God was merciful to him.

Lot belonged to God. Yes, he was a man full of contradictions and very weak in faith. But God loved him and would not destroy him along with the wicked.

Listen to how Peter describes Lot in one of his letters:

2 Peter 2:6–9 ESV

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

How is it that Lot could be described as “righteous” yet his life be such a mess? Because of God’s mercy. Listen to these words from Romans 4:

Romans 4:4–5 ESV

4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

Is your life a mess because of choices you’ve made?

Do you have faith in Jesus Christ, but feel defeated because of your sin?

Take heart! Our Lord is merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

When we are faithless, he remains faithful.

Whoever comes to him, he will never cast out.

And as you come to him, he will strengthen you by his Spirit so that you can overcome sin with his help.

And one day, you will not only be freed from sin’s penalty and sins’s power, but you will also be free from sin’s presence. What a great and glorious day that will be.

Please join me in prayer.

PRAYER

Oh Father, your mercies are new every morning and your faithfulness is seen each night. Who are we that you should be mindful of us? We have all been brought to ruin because of our sin. Yet you have sought us out and have declared us to be yours. You have washed us. You have adopted us into your family. And for this we are grateful. Now Lord, as we approach your table, feed us with your grace and replenish us with your mercy. As we partake of your Son by faith, may we be strengthened in our confidence of your love for us and be renewed in our fight against sin and the devil. Amen.