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Equipped 2026: "Sodom and Gomorrah" by Denny Petrillo · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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  Well, good morning to everyone.
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  If you haven't already done so, please turn to Genesis chapters 18.
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  That's where we'll begin.
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  Over 90 times and over 100 times.
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  Over 90 times you will find the Bible making reference to Sodom.
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  Over 100 times you will find the Bible making reference to Isaac.
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  Genesis chapter 18 and 19 are very significant chapters in not just the book of Genesis,
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  but in the Bible as a whole.
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  And the events that take place in these two significant chapters are those that reverberate
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  throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
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  Because the unfolding of God's plan is that which is exemplified in these chapters.
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  And so when we look at this point in the narrative in Genesis, we understand that a foundation
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  is being laid.
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  A foundation of understanding in two different arenas.
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  One is the fulfillment of a promise that God made to Abraham beginning in chapter 12.
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  Abraham was going to be the father of many nations.
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  That from him was going to become a seed that was going to be like the sand of the seashore.
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  Like the stars in the heavens.
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  Well, how is that going to happen exactly?
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  Genesis 18 answers that question.
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  But we also flip the coin over in not thinking about a promise of God, but we think about
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  the nature and character of God.
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  We had already learned that when Abraham and Lot decided to go in different directions
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  and live in different places, that Lot was the one that chose poorly.
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  Choosing to go to the area of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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  And so we learn a second part that is that which reverberates through all of the Bible.
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  And that is God's justice.
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  That there comes a point where God is done and judgment is going to be meted out.
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  As we look at these chapters, we begin with Moses telling us by inspiration that there
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  were three men that made their way to the dwelling of Abraham.
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  But you'll notice that verse one says, now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of memory.
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  One of the three men, and the text does call them three men, was the Lord.
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  And what we're going to find out as we work our way through the text is that the other
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  two men were angels.
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  And so the Lord himself, with two of the angels, come and appear to Abraham.
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  And it says that, verse two, that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold there were
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  men standing opposite him.
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  And when he saw them, he ran, I always chuckle about that, Abraham's 99 years old.
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  Ever seen a 99 year old man run?
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  It's not a pretty sight, but maybe Abraham was in excellent shape, who knows.
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  He ran to meet them because that's an example of the kind of man that Abraham was.
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  Was he important?
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  Yeah.
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  Was he wealthy?
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  Yeah.
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  But he was also one that had a character that demonstrated hospitality, friendliness, openness.
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  He ran to meet these men.
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  He bowed himself to the earth and said, my Lord, what's interesting is that singular
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  in the Hebrew, probably can tell by looking at your English.
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  So there was one of the three that certainly stood out and that's the Lord himself, God
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  himself.
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  If I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.
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  Please let a little water be brought, wash your feet and rest yourself under the tree.
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  Abraham is exemplifying a wonderful spirit of hospitality.
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  And what also I find kind of humorous in this is it starts out with Abraham offering them
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  a cracker and a cup of water.
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  Next thing you know, he's providing prime rib and milk.
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  So it seems like he's up in his game as the time goes on.
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  But he wants them to rest, relax and let him exhibit the custom of the time of the
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  washing of their feet, bringing them a piece of bread, refreshing themselves and they agreed
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  to do so.
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  Abraham also engages Sarah, his wife and his servant.
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  He says, quickly prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes.
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  Abraham also ran to the herd and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant
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  and he hurried to prepare it.
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  And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared and placed it before them
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  and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.
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  So you can see he started out with a little bread and water but now it's a full meal that's
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  being prepared for them.
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  The narrative changes and we're brought in another character of significance and that's Sarah.
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  The question is asked, where is Sarah, your wife?
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  The question draws Sarah into the covenant promise.
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  She's not a bystander to Abraham's calling nor an insignificant second to the story of
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  God's promise.
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  He asks where she is and he says, behold in the tent and he said, I will surely return
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  to you at this time next year and behold Sarah, your wife shall have a son.
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  The Hebrew is interesting here because it is written in an emphatic way where literally
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  it reads, returning I shall return.
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  The Lord is promising next time next year I'm coming back and when I come back, Sarah
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  is going to have a son.
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  Now Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 4 that the rock that followed them
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  was the Christ.
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  One of the indicators of the presence of Jesus in the Old Testament.
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  And so have you thought about this text as being Jesus that appeared to Abraham along
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  with two of his angels and that Jesus says that I will return.
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  Now we have no record of the return outside of the fact that he promises to do so.
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  And so it is curious and interesting to think about a return with the newborn baby Isaac
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  who is the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham.
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  And well, I don't know about you, but if there's a newborn baby, I've got to hold it.
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  So can you imagine Jesus holding the baby Isaac in this Old Testament text?
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  It's kind of mind-blowing to think about how all that works, but the Lord is there.
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  The Lord makes a promise.
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  The Lord connects everything to Sarah, but Sarah is skeptical.
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  She's listening to the entire conversation.
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  The text reminds us in verse 11 that Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age.
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  What we know from other texts is that Sarah is about 90, Abraham is 99, almost 100 years
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  old.
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  And it says that she ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women, and she laughed
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  to herself saying, after I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old
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  also?
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  You see, with Sarah, it had become a lifelong hope that turned into resolve and disappointment.
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  The desire to be a mother, to have a child, was that which was so strong in her heart,
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  but yet she had resigned herself to the bitter truth as she advanced in years, and plus,
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  she was always barren anyway.
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  So kind of a double whammy as far as Sarah was concerned in having a child.
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  And so, imagine the shock and maybe even the chuckling of the words that she heard.
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  But the visitors say, why did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I indeed bear a child when I
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  am so old?
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  And then verse 14, one of the great questions in all of Scripture.
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  Now I know that such a statement like that can rise to maybe hyperbole and overstatement,
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  but yet the power of the question is that which reverberates through all of the Bible.
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  Is anything too difficult for the Lord?
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  The idea of an old woman who had always been barren, that is married to an old man past
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  the time of being able to father children, is one after another after another what you
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  would consider to be insurmountable evidence against the possibility of her having a child.
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  But yet the question says, is anything too difficult for the Lord?
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  If we just take a minute and think about the power of God, then we would just step back
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  and go, well, that would be a piece of cake for God.
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  That'd be so easy for Him to make something like this happen.
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  But from a human perspective, from Sarah's perspective, who has lived with the disappointment
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  and the resolve to now suddenly be given this information, it's like, that's unbelievable.
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  How can that possibly happen?
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  So the question, why did Sarah laugh?
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  The Lord exposes her hidden unbelief.
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  The divine speaker knows what she said to herself.
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  Sarah denied, she said, I did not laugh, verse 15, for she was afraid.
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  The Lord says, no, he did laugh.
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  Fear and unbelief often travel together.
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  And God's correction is firm, but He's not trying to pound Sarah into humiliation.
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  But recognizing her, wanting her to recognize the significance of who it is that is before
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  her.
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  And now He knows.
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  He knows what was in her heart.
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  He knows what she said to herself.
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  And that should then inspire confidence in the promise that was given to her.
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  Verse 18, and the men rose up from there and looked down towards Sodom.
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  And Abraham was walking with them to send them off.
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  And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
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  As we're brought into the narrative, we're given kind of privy to the mind and thinking
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  of God.
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  Abraham was Lot's uncle.
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  And Lot is in a city that God has determined is going to be destroyed.
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  Sodom and Gomorrah were located in the promised land that God, back in chapter 15, had told
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  Abraham he was going to receive.
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  There are reasons why Abraham should be brought in to the plan of God.
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  He says, verse 18, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him
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  all the nations of the earth will be blessed, reflecting upon the promise that was given
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  back in chapter 12.
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  He says, verse 19, for I have chosen him in order that he may command his children and
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  his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice,
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  in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken about him.
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  Notice how what is about to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah has moral and spiritual implications
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  for Abraham himself, and the kind of work, example, teaching that Abraham is going to
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  provide for his descendants.
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  He says, we've got righteousness and justice.
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  The word righteousness is the Hebrew word tzaddek.
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  You remember Melchizedek, melech is king, tzaddek is righteousness, Melchizedek, king
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  of righteousness.
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  That's the word here coupled with mishpat, which is a common Old Testament word that
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  has the idea of justice.
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  So God is merging together and trying to help us understand two of his great attributes,
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  righteousness and justice.
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  The righteousness of God is such that he is holy, and he is always that which is a one
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  who is going to do what is right.
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  But then there has to be justice.
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  For God to truly be righteous, he can't close his eyes to that which is an abomination before
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  him.
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  He can't let a defiance of him go unpunished.
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  And so what Abraham is learning, and what Abraham is then going to share, is knowing
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  God, the righteousness of God, the justice of God, and making sure that you understand
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  both sides.
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  As Paul would say in Romans 11 and verse 22, behold the kindness and the severity of God.
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  There are two sides to God and you need to know both of them to fully understand God.
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  And so the Lord said, verse 20, the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and
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  their sin is exceedingly grave.
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  Outcry.
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  Do you find that interesting, that language?
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  Because it's not the only time the Bible describes that.
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  We kind of had that with Cain when he murdered Abel.
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  The blood crying from the ground.
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  But the idea is this, sin likes to kind of fly under the radar.
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  As Paul would say, you've got those that like to do their operation in the dark, undercover,
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  under the shadow of darkness.
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  But with God, sin's crying out, look, observe, see.
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  And you're going, shh.
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  Don't draw attention to this.
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  But with God, sin cries out.
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  I don't know how that impacts you, but to me, it's a great lesson about sin.
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  And the sin in my life being screamed to God, he knows, he is aware.
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  You know, when it talks about the sin of Sodom is exceedingly great, the one sin that
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  we certainly know of and make reference is that which Jude, in his writing in the New
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  Testament, and that is the homosexuality.
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  But did you know, out of the 90 plus times that the Bible makes reference to Sodom, it
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  has a litany of sins that is identified.
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  For example, God uses Ezekiel to describe some of the other sinful characteristics of
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  Sodom.
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  He says in Ezekiel 16, verses 49 and 50, behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom.
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  She and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, careless ease.
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  She did not help the poor and needy, thus they were haughty and committed abominations
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  before me, therefore I removed them when I saw it.
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  Now that's just one example of texts that are found in the scripture that identifies
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  just how bad this place had become.
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  It's not just the homosexuality, it was sin after sin after sin after sin.
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  And then, using anthropomorphic language in verse 21, God says, I will go down now to
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  see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to me, and if not,
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  I will know.
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  People that don't understand this idea of anthropomorphic language will get confused
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  because said, I've always thought that God is omniscient and he's omnipresent, why does
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  he need to go down and why does he need to learn anything?
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  Well he doesn't.
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  But this language is designed in order to reassure us that when God acts, he acts on
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  perfect knowledge, 100% of knowledge of a given situation, and that's what that verse
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  is meant to convey.
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  That God is not a knee-jerk God that is going to hear some rumors about how bad Sodom is
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  and then going to respond in judgment and punishment, but he thoroughly knows.
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  He's investigated and he knows just how bad it is.
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  So the men turned away, two of the three, went down towards Sodom while Abraham was
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  standing before the Lord.
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  Notice standing before the Lord.
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  That in Hebrew is Yahweh, that's the Tetragrammaton, and so the Lord himself was one of the three.
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  And Abraham came near and said, will thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
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  So Abraham knows what God is going to do.
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  And Abraham immediately is thinking, my nephew is there.
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  The righteous with the wicked?
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  And then Abraham, with the utmost of respect and humility, still is bold enough to reason
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  with God and says, what there are 50 righteous, to which God says, I will not destroy it if
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  there are 50.
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  Abraham knows that he's out of his lane by this negotiation, but presses on and says,
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  what if there are about, if there are 45?
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  God says, I won't destroy it if there are 45.
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  What about 40?
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  What about 30?
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  What about 20?
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  What about 10?
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  Each time, God says, I will not destroy it on account of the 10.
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  Abraham stops at 10, but have you ever thought that he could have gone another half again?
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  He could have said, what about 5?
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  And that still wouldn't have been a sufficient number to have kept God's judgment from taking
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  place.
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  So as soon as the conversation and the negotiation ends, the Lord departs, Abraham goes home,
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  and then we roll into chapter 19.
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  The two angels, notice what the text is giving us more information.
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  The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate.
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  That's terminology that typically is used to describe one of the leaders of the city.
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  Was Lot, in fact, one of the leaders of Sodom sitting in the gate like Boaz did in Ruth
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  chapter 4 and verse 1?
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  That's where you had civic life and judgment, where the leaders would render judgment in
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  the city.
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  When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, bowed down with his face to the ground, that reminds
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  us how Abraham greeted them earlier, said, now behold, my Lord, please turn aside into
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  your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet that you may rise early and
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  go on your way.
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  They said, no, but we shall spend the night in the square.
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  And then he urged them strongly.
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  This is a Hebrew word that means pressing insistently with the anticipation of danger.
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  Lot knows that's not a good idea.
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  Why does he know that it's not a good idea?
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  Because he knows the city.
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  Now as we go through chapter 19, I believe that we will see nine examples that Lot was
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  negatively influenced by his environment.
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  Even though the New Testament affirms that Lot was a righteous man, that his righteous
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  soul was tormented, the truth be told, he was one that was influenced by the environment.
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  The first example is what we find right here in verse three.
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  He urged them strongly to not stay in the square.
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  He knew what the city was like.
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  And so they entered his house.
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  He prepared food for them.
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  They ate.
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  And then the men of the city, it says, surrounded the house.
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  Both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
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  Wow.
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  The city basically emptied itself and encircled Lot's house.
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  And they called to Lot and said, where are the men who came to you tonight?
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  Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.
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  The language that we may know them, their demand is for abusive sexual violence, an
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  expression of domination and degradation, not hospitality.
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  There's nothing friendly whatsoever about what it is that they're saying here.
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  Lot went out to them at the doorway, shut the door behind them and said, please, my
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  brothers.
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  That's number two.
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  Lot refers to them as his brothers.
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  He said, do not act wickedly.
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  Behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man.
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  Please let me bring them out to you and do to them whatever you like.
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  His attempt to restrain the mob is real, yet the offer of his daughters is morally horrific.
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  The text shows how living in a corrupt place can distort judgment, even when someone is
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  trying to do what is right.
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  Saint Peter chapter two and verse seven talks about Lot's distress, but that's number three,
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  that he would offer his daughters.
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  Why would he do that?
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  In ancient times, when you invited someone to come under your roof, you had total and
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  complete responsibility for their well-being.
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  At whatever price, and in this case, wow, what a price.
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  Offering his two virgin daughters to appease the lustful mob, wow.
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  They said, nope, verse nine, stand aside.
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  They said, this one came in as an alien and already he's acting like a judge.
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  Now we will treat you worse than them.
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  So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door.
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  So the mob rejects Lot, they reject his offer.
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  They showed contempt for Lot.
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  They show that they have no moral accountability whatsoever for outsiders.
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  They have, as we would say, no moral compass.
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  Sinful thoughts and behaviors, when unchecked, lead to further ungodliness, which is why
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  Paul would say, in Romans chapter one, verse 24, verse 26, verse 28, that there comes a
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  point where God gives up, and it wasn't just the immorality of Sodom.
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  It was the complete absence of any kind of moral base whatsoever.
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  They had lost it all, and so they had deserved the abandonment from God himself and the judgment
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  that was about to come.
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  The angels reach out, they pull Lot in, they save him from the angry mob, and then they
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  struck those with blindness.
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  The language is not the typical word for blindness, but a bright flash that would confuse and
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  kind of temporarily stun them.
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  They're groping around, trying to find the doorway, and they ask, who do you have?
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  He talks about his wife, he talks about his daughters, and he talks about his sons-in-law.
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  He goes to them in verse 14, says, we got to get out of here.
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  The Lord is going to destroy the city.
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  But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
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  And I make that number four, that Lot had allowed his daughters to plan to marry the
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  corrupt men of Sodom.
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  They're not taking Lot seriously.
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  There's a lot to be read into that, but they're not seeing him as someone that is beyond a
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  joke now and then.
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  Verse 15, when the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, up, take your wife and
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  your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away with the punishment of the city.
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  Verse 16, but he hesitated.
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  That's number five.
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  Why is he hesitating?
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  The city is about to be destroyed.
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  And he's hesitating?
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  So much so, the men seized his hand and his wife and his daughters, for the Lord had compassion.
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  The Lord's compassion moved the angels to physically remove Lot, his daughters, and
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  his wife from harm's way.
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  They tell him, escape for your life, verse 17, do not look behind you and do not stay
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  anywhere in the valley.
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  Escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away.
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  But Lot said to them, oh no, my Lord, that's number six.
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  Now he's pushing back.
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  He's arguing with the angels.
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  He said, if I found favor in your sight, then let me go to a small place near here, a little
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  town that we know as Zoar, that means small.
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  Can I go there?
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  I don't want to go to the mountains.
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  I don't know why, but he wants to go to Zoar.
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  They say, go ahead, hurry, escape, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.
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  And then we're told the name of the town is Zoar, verse 22.
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  Verse 23, the sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
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  And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
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  In this magnificent demonstration of power and the awesome ability of God, in this conflagration
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  of fire and brimstone, that the cities are just annihilated.
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  He overthrew those cities and all the valley, all the inhabitants of the cities and what
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  grew on the ground.
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  Everything was torched.
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  Everything went up in flames.
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  Verse 26, but his wife from behind him looked back.
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  She became a pillar of salt.
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  The verb used here can mean she looked intently.
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  Her action is more than an accidental glance.
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  Jesus later uses this in Luke 17, verse 32, when he says, remember Lot's wife.
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  That's in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem.
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  Don't look back and long for your beloved Jerusalem.
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  Don't look back and think about what you're leaving behind.
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  Just move forward.
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  Lot's wife, like Jesus' warning in Luke 17, had a longing for Sodom.
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  So we make that number seven in our list of things that show that Lot was influenced by
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  his environment, is he had not done a good job of addressing the spiritual needs of his
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  wife.
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  Verse 27, Abraham arose early in the morning, went to the place where he stood before the
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  Lord and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward the land of the valley, and he saw
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  and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace, billowing black,
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  heavy smoke.
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  The kind of smoke that you would anticipate seeing when something had been obliterated,
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  just completely went up in flames.
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  In verse 30 and following, we have the aftermath about Lot and his daughters.
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  They're of the opinion that the whole world had been destroyed and all that was left was
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  dad and the two girls.
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  So they devise a plan in verse 32, let's make our father drink wine and let us lie with
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  him that we may preserve our family through our father.
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  There have been those that have tried to suggest that in this time and culture, such would
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  not have been wrong or sinful.
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  But my question is, if it wasn't wrong or sinful, why did they have to make him drunk?
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  This was wrong, this was inappropriate.
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  They knew it, he knew it, but that was the only way that they could execute their sinful
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  plan.
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  So that becomes evidence number eight of Lot's influence.
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  And then he gets drunk, that's number nine in verse 33, and the firstborn lies with him.
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  And then on the next night, the second born lies with him.
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  And as the text identifies, they both get pregnant and they both bear children that
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  become nations that were thorn in the sides of the Israelites for generations to come,
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  and that's the Moabites and the Ammonites.
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  When we look at this text, and our time is up, when we think about the significance of
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  these chapters, righteousness and justice are essential in understanding God.
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  Making sure that we understand the way God operates, and that sin is something that is
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  socially corrosive and destructive, and that even Lot, as Paul would warn in 1 Corinthians
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  15, evil companions corrupt good morals.
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  We should learn from a passage like this and choose wisely, choose carefully on where we're
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  going to live for ourselves, the influence for our children.
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  Great chapters, great lessons, and thank you for your attention.