Genesis 18-20
Introduction
This lesson covers the account of God’s judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah, the bizarre accounts of Lot and his family, and more shenannigans by Abraham.
Gen. 18
This chapter begins with what most interpret as a theophany of the Trinity. Abraham sees what he treats as three ordinary men, but the context is clear that this is God. Remember in the previous lesson that Abraham laughed to himself at the prospect of Sarah bearing a child in her advanced years? Now in vs. 12 we see that Sarah laughs as well, also not out loud, yet God calls her out for this. But God’s response in vs. 14 is one we all should remember: Is anything impossible for God?
Trust is everything. And that’s pretty much the gist of ch. 18.
Gen. 19
In this chapter, instead of God appearing as three men, there are two angels, and instead of going to Abraham they go to Lot. The reason for the visit is immediately clear: The men of Sodom are so evil that they want to rape the angels. As mentioned in an earlier lesson, these angels appeared to be ordinary men, because that’s what the Sodomites called them.
Lot goes out to try and dissuade the crowd that had surrounded his house, but what he offers them in place of the visitors is his own daughters. The casual reader recoils in horror that any father would say such a thing, especially one that in 2 Peter 2:7 is called a righteous man who was distressed by the depraved people around him.
Commentaries on this incident generally argue that Lot was either bound by the social custom of protecting guests at all costs, even by only trading one sin for another deemed less offensive to the culture. They note what Peter said about Lot, but make excuses for Lot being less than perfect, since after all he had chosen to live there. Some commentators are brave enough not to buy that excuse, but the fact is that we have nothing in this context to defend Lot— though Peter defends him.
To add my own speculation to the mix, I would go with the minority view that Lot was only buying time, since he knew the men of Sodom were not interested in his daughters. If that was the case, it would be like insulting someone who demands your car by offering your child’s tricycle instead. The reaction of the men of Sodom seems to support this scenario, since they say that not only will they defile the visitors, they’ll do even worse to Lot. By this time the city had chosen to forget that it was only by virtue of Lot’s uncle Abraham that they were still there at all, but that’s also probably the only reason they had tolerated him living there, since they were known for hating all outsiders.
At this point, the angels pull Lot back into the house and strike the men outside with blindness, who wore themselves out trying to find the door. They gave Lot a chance to plead with the men pledged to marry his daughters, but the men thought he had lost his mind. By morning, the angels had to literally drag out Lot, his wife, and his daughters by the hand so they wouldn’t be destroyed. Even so, Lot begged the angels to let him stay in a little town nearby, in spite of what the Sodomites had just tried to do to him. Remember, the Bible just honestly reports things.
Then the fire and brimstone rained down from the sky over the whole area, but vs. 26 is where we read about Lot’s wife becoming a pillar of salt. Some take looked back
as not just a quick glance but rather a case of having second thoughts, as if she considered returning after the destruction was over. Either way, scripture doesn’t say that she was being punished by God for looking back. What Jesus said in Luke 17:32 about remembering Lot’s wife only states the folly of looking back after a person has chosen a path, especially of following him.
Meanwhile, we’re told in vs. 27 that Abraham woke up that morning to see in the distance flames shooting up from the land, and smoke as if pouring from a furnace. But instead of saying more about what Abraham might have been thinking, the narrative turns to Lot and his daughters. Remembering that these women were raised in Sodom, their solution to the problem of hiding in a cave without any real prospects for finding husbands was both desperate and ill-advised. No mention is made as to what Lot thought of this afer it became obvious that his daughters were pregnant, not here or anywhere else in scripture. What it does say is that the older daughter’s son was called Moab, who would be the ancestor of the Moabites, and the younger daughter’s son was called Ben-ammi, ancestor of the Ammonites. These would turn out to be nations suffering God’s wrath for their wickedness.
So again we see that when people act on what seems best to them at the time, without bothering to ask God or at least people who seem to be wise, they can’t complain about the consequences, which can be much more long-lasting and far-reaching than we expect.
Gen. 20
Now the narrative goes back to Abraham, who at times seems to have the memory of a goldfish. He moves away to a new area, but along the way he comes to a city where he’s again afraid they’ll kill him to get Sarah for themselves. So he repeats his plan to pass her off to the local king as his sister. Not surprisingly, he gets the same result: The king is irate at Abraham for bringing potential disaster upon him and his kingdom. But maybe Abraham isn’t so dumb after all, since once again he leaves the place with riches from the king. Not the kind of business plan I’d recommend, but it worked for him.
It’s interesting, though, that the king admonishes Sarah and her handmaids to tell the truth from then on, after Abraham said that he told her to tell this half-truth wherever they go. This heathen king seems to have more moral and practical sense than Abraham in this instance.