Genesis 19:1-5 - Lot was sitting in the gateway

19:1

We now come to the infamous incident of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In chapter 18 the visitors are described as men, here the two who went to Sodom are called angels. Angels can appear as “angelic beings” (and that means appearing as a rather awesome creature, not an effeminate one) or as men. Lot was waiting at the city gates. It is not clear why he was there, maybe he was so appalled at the behaviour in the city that he was expecting or hoping for something. He greeted the two angels and bowed down to them.

19:2-5

Lot, like Abraham, is keen to offer them hospitality. He invites them to spend the night at his house, but the angels say they are happy to spend the night in the square. However, Lot was insistent and the angels did go to his house, where Lot prepared a meal for them. During this time all the men of Sodom had gathered outside the house. They called to Lot and wanted him to bring the men out so that they could have sex with them (NIV). This chapter causes great problems for those who think the church should be a sin-affirming institution, and various attempts are made to try and that the chapter is now dealing with homosexual acts. There are two main arguments. One comes from Ezek 16:49 which says the sin of Sodom was pride and a lack of concern for the poor. This argument rather neglects the fact that the very next verse (and 16:47) refers to their abominations, which does refer to homosexual acts. The second argument involves the verb “to know” (which NIV correctly translates as having sex).  The arguments goes that “know” here should have its general sense, rather than the specific Biblical sense of being related to sexual relations. There are two objections to this. One is that it just does not make sense. The men did not want to be introduced to the visitors to have a nice convivial discussion! The other is that a couple of verses later when Lot offers his daughters “know” quite obviously does refer to sexual relations. The plain fact is that homosexual acts are part of the moral degradation of Sodom. This does not mean that there were not other sins such as neglect of the poor and pride. Sins very rarely go around as lone rangers. Sin corrupts everything and leads to all sorts of bad behaviours and attitudes. In fact, it is in the decadent West that homosexuality has become something to be celebrated.