Genesis 19

Passage overview

Genesis 19 records the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the rescue of Lot’s family. Through a carefully described sequence of events, it captures how human corruption, God’s justice, and grace intersect.

1verseThe two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,

2verseand he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”

3verseHe urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4verseBut 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.

5verseThey called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”

6verseLot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself.

7verseHe said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly.

8verseSee now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

9verseThey said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door.

10verseBut the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

11verseThey struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12verseThe men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:

13versefor we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”

14verseLot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.

15verseWhen the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”

16verseBut he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, the LORD being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.

17verseIt came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”

18verseLot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord.

19verseSee now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die.

20verseSee now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”

21verseHe said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

22verseHurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23verseThe sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24verseThen the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of the sky.

25verseHe overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.

26verseBut Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27verseAbraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

28verseHe looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29verseWhen God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

30verseLot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.

31verseThe firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.

32verseCome, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”

33verseThey made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose.

34verseIt came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”

35verseThey made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up.

36verseThus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.

37verseThe firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

38verseThe younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

The Visit of the Angels and the Situation in Sodom

Two angels arrive in Sodom and stay in Lot’s house. Lot treats his guests with the utmost care and tries to protect them, but the people of Sodom seek to harm them. This symbolizes that the moral corruption of Sodom society has reached its peak. In this situation, Lot’s choices and actions reveal the concerns and conflicts within that society at the time.

The Rescue and the Destruction of Sodom

The angels inform Lot of the coming destruction of Sodom and instruct Lot and his family to flee and preserve their lives. Among Lot’s family members, some hesitate or do not believe, and Lot’s wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt. In Sodom and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire fall and they are completely destroyed. This scene symbolically shows the importance of God’s judgment, justice, and obedience.

The Story of Lot and His Two Daughters

After fleeing to Zoar, Lot goes up to the mountains with his two daughters and settles there. Concerned that their family line will not continue, the two daughters sleep with their father to leave descendants. The descendants born here become the ancestors of Moab and Ammon. This story reveals human weakness and the instability of society at that time.

Reflection Points

  • In scenes where God’s judgment and grace are revealed at the same time, what is it that we can learn?
  • Can we reflect on what my own life looks like through Lot’s choices and actions today?
  • How can we trust God, who prepares a plan of salvation even amid judgment?

Personal Application

  • Let us think about how I act in my daily life when confronted with evil and temptation.
  • Reflect on how sensitively I respond to God’s warnings and guidance.
  • Through the destruction of Sodom and the experience of Lot’s family, let us consider where in my life I need to make faith-based decisions and obey.

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