Lessons From Sodom

The account of God’s judgment against Sodom has simultaneously become one of the most

famous stories from the Bible, and one of the most neglected. Many people know the bare details of what happened, but few understand the real meaning behind Genesis 19:23-29. One of the reasons for this ignorance seems to be that some churches are embarrassed that this passage even exists. It does not fit within their theology, which is to say it doesn’t jive with the marketing campaigns they have devised that focus on peace, love, and purpose. The neglect of this passage is tragic, especially since its parallels with the modern world are uncanny.

“The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19:23–29, ESV)

Before we note the parallels between Sodom and our own culture, it is worth noting that the Spirit did not neglect the account of Sodom when he inspired Scripture. The word “Sodom” is found 48 times in 47 verses throughout the Bible—20 occurrences are in the Genesis account. This means that what happened in Sodom—the sin of the city and the wrath of God—are mentioned instructively 28 times throughout the rest of Scripture. If that does not seem like a lot to you, consider the fact that what happened at Ai is mentioned only once (Jer 49:3), and what happened at Jericho is never mentioned again. The story of Sodom is one of the most common examples in all of Scripture. The Bible consistently points to Sodom as an illustration of God’s judgment against a rebellious people (cf., Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14; Lam 4:6; Amos 4:11; Zephaniah 2:9; Matthew 11:23–24; Luke 17:28–30; Jude 7; 2 Peter 2:6–10).

Why is Sodom mentioned so frequently in the Bible? God has specifically told us why his judgment against Sodom was so public and why it is so prevalent in Scripture. In Genesis 18:17-18 God explained that he was revealing his wrath against Sodom to Abraham so “that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice….” The details of God’s judgment against Sodom were to play an important role in the instruction and training of the future generations of God’s people. Additionally, 2 Peter 2:6-10 says that when God judged Sodom he was “making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.”

Sodom was not judged with fire and brimstone because it was a uniquely sinful culture. It was judged in this way as a demonstration of God’s providential judgment against every rebellious culture and unrepentant sinner. In other words, in the same way God uniquely punished Ananias and Sapphira to demonstrate the purity of the church, he uniquely judged the cities of the valley surrounding Sodom to demonstrate that he deals with wicked cultures. Sodom is the OT example of God’s wrath against a rebellious culture, and Romans 1 is the NT explanation of how God ordinarily meets out that wrath against a culture. Thus, Sodom is a warning of what will happen to a people apart from repentance.

The Nature of God’s Judgment

The details of Genesis 19 reveal how Sodom was judged for its sin, and they also teach us something about the nature of God’s coming judgment against all sin. One thing is very clear in these details: God is sovereign over the destruction of wicked cultures. Some professing believers might be squeamish about blaming God for the fall of Sodom, but God is not hesitant to take full responsibility. The text of Genesis makes it clear that this judgment came from YHWH, and represented God’s holy wrath against sin. As Kent Hughes put it, “The judgment had its origin in God, it was decided by God, and it was executed by God.” God did exactly what he warned that he would do, and he did it in perfect accordance with his word. This, by the way, will also be true about the final judgment. Over and over God has provided the world with warnings that Jesus is coming back to judge the world, and when that happens it will be just as severe as God has said. For the Sodomites, it was like a volcano erupted in heaven and God was the volcano. The judgment against Sodom was sovereign, certain, severe… and it continues to this very day in hell, where the Sodomites remain under God’s just wrath. There was a final sun rise in Sodom, and there will be a final sun rise on this planet (Luke 17:26-30). The only way that you can be ready for this judgment is to be found in Christ (Jn 5:24).

The Extent of God’s Judgment

The details of Genesis 19 also show the extent to which God judged the city of Sodom, and it is a reminder of the extent to which God will one day judge the earth. Very simply put “all” things were impacted by the judgment of God. It was more than just Sodom, it was all of Sodomite/Pagan culture that was destroyed by God’s wrath. God still destroys godless cultures, but he does it now by handing those cultures over to their sins (Rom 1:18ff). He destroyed the cities of the valley with fire and brimstone so that we would know that when a sinful culture self-destructs it is a judgment. We are in the midst of just such a judgment. What I find so interesting is that after Rom 1 describes how this kind of judgment works there is no epilogue on how to save a judged culture or how to prevent a culture from being judged. There is just the rest of the book of Romans that tells individuals how they can be saved from final judgment, and tells the church how to remain faithful in a wicked world. God judged all the cities of the valley, and this is eventually what will happen to every culture, that is, until Jesus comes back and sets up his Millennial kingdom. The last Adam is going to do what the first Adam—and every Adam in-between—was unable to do—exercise godly dominion over the world.

It is also worthy of noting that every person was caught up in the judgment of Sodom. This means that, based on Abraham’s prayers, there was literally only one righteous person out of all the inhabitants of the valley. Along with all the people, all the blessings of the land for provision and economic prosperity. Sin always leads to the removal of such creational blessings, you can trace this all the way back to the Fall. You can also see it in our world today. A culture under judgment will eventually be a culture that is unable to provide for its people. When a culture has an insatiable desire to suppress the truth, eventually it begins to suppress the most basic truths of life on earth—the kind of Proverbial wisdom that is necessary for productivity on this planet. As a result, a culture that has come under judgment will collectively become so unproductive that individuals will struggle to provide for their needs.

In all of these there are important principles to glean. Everything was affected by the judgment of God because everything is under God’s authority. In the same way that we cannot escape judgment, we cannot pretend that there are parts of our world that are separate from the authority of our God and the precepts of his word. The authority of God’s judgment even penetrates to the level of every single heart. The Lord judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12), which in the case of Lot’s wife were wicked. She was physically delivered from wrath, but in her heart she longed to remain in her sin. Lot’s wife may have been a Sodomite, we don’t read anything about her before Lot got to Sodom. Whatever her origins, her destination was that of Sodom. We don’t know exactly what a pillar of salt looked like, but basically God made her a monument of wrath. Interestingly, Josephus claimed to see this pillar, “But Lot’s wife, who during the flight was continually turning round towards the city, curious to observe its fate, notwithstanding God’s prohibition of such action, was changed into a pillar of salt: I have seen this pillar which remains to this day.” She stands as a perpetual reminder of the eternal dangers of shrinking away from the grace of God (cf. Heb 10:38; Luke 17:32).

Protection from Judgment

The details of Genesis 19 also turn our attention back to Abraham, who is a reminder that God’s grace is the only hope of escaping God’s wrath. He is the one who must provide us with the protection we need. The good news is that God does provide protection for his people, as Abraham illustrates. Abraham was more than just an individual looking on in this situation, he is “father Abraham.” He represents the hope of a righteous seed, and he is the face of God’s people at this moment in redemptive history. The fact that he did not fall under the same kind of punishment as Sodom is a testimony of God’s grace in his life. He grew up in Ur, which was just another variation on Sodom. And yet, he did not find the same end as Sodom. Why? Because of God’s saving grace in his life. This is the grace that each and every one of us needs, and it can only be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes the Lord allows his people to get caught up in and suffer with a culture that is being judged (cf. Lamentations). However, the experience of God’s people in such a situation is totally distinct from the experience of the world. For the world, this kind of judgment means that everything they love is snatched away from them and the only thing that is left is the punishment for their sin. For the church, this kind of judgment means that anything that might be snatched away from us has only been removed to draw us closer to what is most important to us—our God. What is wrath for the world is a refining grace for God’s people, and our Heavenly Father knows how to mix the two perfectly. If you are anxious about what our culture will face in the coming years, keep in mind these words:

“...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, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,” (2 Peter 2:6–10, ESV)

Also keep in mind that God often protects a culture and individuals in a wicked culture through prayer. God delivered Lot because he remembered Abraham. Isn’t that interesting? You would think it would say God remembered Lot, but it doesn’t. God used the righteous prayers of Abraham in chapter 18 to deliver Lot in chapter 19. In the same way, we can trust that God will use our prayers in this wicked generation. He may not preserve our culture—that’s not how he answered Abraham’s prayer—but if he can use our prayers to deliver even one person out of the clutches of this world system it would be a Divine miracle. We must pray with that expectation!

This passage reveals the kindness of God to preserve Lot out of the midst of the wickedness of the world, but it also shows us the pain that came from Lot’s own entanglement with the world. It is a cautionary tale that this world is going down, and you do not want to get caught up in the judgment that is coming for its wickedness. Do not let your heart get entangled with this world!