My Reflection on the Destruction of Sodom

As I was reading the Bible today, I want to focus on yet another important issue as I've reached the story of Lot in Sodom. I remembered reflecting early on the problem of Abram and Lot in Genesis 13. both of them had too much property and they had to split. Lot chose the best land in the plains of Jordan and he pitched his tent towards Sodom. It wasn't long that Genesis 14 revealed that Lot soon went from pitching his tent towards Sodom that he entered that sin city.

So how bad was Sodom? The Bible describes them to be exceedingly wicked (Genesis 13:13). I think about how it must be very sickening for any archaeologist to land into the remains of those sites. The word sodomy didn't just come from the name Sodom for nothing. Some want to dismiss it a myth yet sites at Mt. Usdom had evidence of sulfur and brimstone raining on where Sodom and Gomorrah used to be. Even some archaeologists may be too disgusted to find the ancient sex religion of these people. Just thinking how the word sodomy came from the historical Sodom should disturb someone. Right now, I wish I could read "Explorations at Sodom" by Dr. M.G. Kyle.

This is one reality I want to think about. Lot thought more about the temporal than the eternal. At first, he set his tent towards Sodom and he entered into it. No one can be certain of how long the time period was Lot in Sodom. This should be amazing that after the raid done by the four kings in Genesis 14 that Lot still decided to stay in Sodom. That should have been warning enough that he should have left or tried to fix thing with his uncle Abraham concerning their men.

Genesis 18 has me thinking that Abraham was pleading to a pre-Incarnate Christ to spare Sodom for the sake of ten righteous. So why did Abraham eventually pleaded for ten? I remembered Pastor Ruben L. Lumagbas Jr. had the assumption that maybe Lot wasn't married yet, maybe he married a resident of Sodom and he was living there for several years now. If you think about it much time has passed since Lot and Abraham parted ways. Maybe at that time, Abraham assumed that Lot may have had many daughters and perhaps sons-in-law. Maybe that's why Abraham pleaded to spare Sodom for the sake of ten. But the problem is that Lot himself was the only straight person in that whole city (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Genesis 19 gives us a really ugly picture. Two angels in human form came into Sodom and were visitors in Lot's house. One can see how Lot has been degenerated by the influence of Sodom. I can't imagine just how these men wanted to have a wild sex party with the visitors just because they came. Lot also lost his testimony when he offered his virgin daughters who were already married to Sodomites. This is really proof that a Christian who doesn't guard one's heart will lose one's testimony. Not even his sons-in-law believed and it was time to drag them out. His testimony was really ruined by choosing to live in a place that was so polluted with sin. He even lost his wife because she looked back.

The degeneracy didn't stop just right there. I thought about how they settled in Zoar but soon enough the daughters displayed their degeneracy. This was really awful that both daughters whose names are not named in the Bible thought it was a worldwide destruction. They ended up getting their father drunk with what I believe was some wine from Sodom. This resulted to an extreme perversion that Lot had sons by his two daughters - who would be both his sons and grandsons at the same time! I was disgusted to read how the line of godly Shem has been polluted with evil influence. Shem a righteous man ended up having descendants of wicked nations such as Moab and Ammon as a result.

This makes me think on the issue of am I staying away from evil influence and thinking of short term instead of the eternal? Ephesians 5:11 says that Christians should have nothing to do with wickedness but reprove them. I doubt it that Lot reproved the wickedness of Sodom. If he did, I don't think that ungodly city would have been blown up by God Himself through a rain of sulfur and brimstone. This would be a lesson that how bitter it is to have one's testimony destroyed by wrong choices.

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