Genesis 19.4-5-Angelic Confirmation of the Wickedness of Sodom
Sunday February 5, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 19:4-5-Angelic Confirmation of the Wickedness of Sodom
Lesson # 94
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 19:1.
This morning we will study Genesis 19:4-5, which records for us a blatant manifestation of the evil that was rampant in Sodom.
This manifestation of evil among the unrepentant Sodomites provided confirmation for the two elect angels sent by the Lord on a fact-finding mission that Sodom was indeed wicked and worthy of destruction.
Genesis 19:1, “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.”
Genesis 19:2, “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.’”
Genesis 19:3, “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.”
Genesis 19:4, “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.”
Genesis 19:5, “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.’”
The angels evidently were very attractive to the gay men of the city since both old and young come out from every quarter of the city.
The fact that both the old and young were involved in this attempted homosexual gang rape indicates that the lifestyle of homosexuality was promoted and practiced up to the third and fourth generation.
This illustrates the principle taught many times in Scripture that God visits the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.
Numbers 14:18, “The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.”
The conduct of the men of Sodom towards the two elect angels sent by the Lord who appeared as men was confirmation for the elect angels that in fact the Sodomites were wicked and justified in being destroyed by the Lord.
The narrator (Moses) gives the reader these sordid details so that the reader can know that God was justified in destroying the Sodomites since they were “all” wicked unregenerate and unrepentant individuals.
Genesis 19:3-5 indicates that the men of Sodom were not only looking to perform homosexual acts upon the angels but they want to do it against their will.
Thus we see that collectively the men of Sodom wanted to rape these angels!
This passage clearly indicates that the men of Sodom did not consider homosexuality a sin since they attempt to rape the angels publicly.
Both old and young men throughout the city were involved in this heinous crime!
Their collective conscience was seared since they had rejected the law of God inherent in their collective conscience, which prohibited such conduct.
This was because they had exchanged the truth of God for lies and have been given over by the Lord to their homosexual lusts and would be judged accordingly!
Romans 1:18-32 teaches that homosexuality is “not” biological or something one is born with and can’t control but rather is a choice to not acknowledge God as Creator and to adhere to His laws.
Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Romans 1:19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
Romans 1:21, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Romans 1:22, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.”
Romans 1:23, “and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 1:24, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.”
Romans 1:25, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Romans 1:26, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural.”
Romans 1:27, “and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
Romans 1:28, “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”
Romans 1:29, “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips.”
Romans 1:30, “slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents.”
Romans 1:31, “without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.”
Romans 1:32, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
Jude states that God judged the Sodomites because of “gross immorality” and for going after “strange flesh” referring to committing homosexual acts.
Jude 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.”
Jude 6, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”
Jude 7, “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”
The phrase “gross immorality” refers to immoral degeneracy that is defined by the expression “went after strange flesh.”
The latter indicates that the men of Sodom and Gomorrah pursued sexual relations of a different kind from the norm, and is a reference to homosexuality.
The Scriptures condemned and prohibit homosexual behavior (Lev. 18:22).
Leviticus 20:13, “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”
The men of Sodom did “not” conceal their homosexual behavior but were blatantly open about.
This explains why the Lord said in Genesis 18:20 that the “outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great and their sin is exceedingly grave.”
It should make us wonder as Christians living in America in the 21st century what the Lord thinks about the present day promotion of homosexuality in the media as an alternative lifestyle.
The Word of God’s teaching on homosexuality indicates clearly that God is not pleased with the propagation in the media of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle and He will judge it!
We must remember that God hates the sin of homosexuality but loves the sinner (Jn. 3:16-17).
This is manifested in the fact that Jesus Christ died for the homosexual in order that they might be saved and be freed from the bondage of homosexual sins.
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
This leads us to the communion service.
So could we have our deacons pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to mediate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a commandment given by the Lord Jesus Christ to every church age believer to bring into remembrance His Unique Person and Finished Work on the Cross, both of which serve as the basis for fellowship with God and each other as members of the Body of Christ.
In the communion service, the bread portrays the sinless humanity of Christ, which was sacrificed for us and the wine portrays His spiritual death as our Substitute, both of which serve as the basis for fellowship with God and each other.
1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.”
1 Corinthians 11:24, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way {He took} the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it} in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”