Hospitality and Sin Contrasted — Genesis 19 Daily Word

Explore Genesis 19:1-7 and Abraham’s powerful intercession for Sodom. Discover how God honors earnest prayer and the tension between His justice and mercy toward the righteous.

Genesis 19:1-7 Daily Word

[Scripture]

1 [1] The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth (Gen 19:1, ESV) 2 [2] and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” (Gen 19:2, ESV) 3 [3] But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (Gen 19:3, ESV) 4 [4] But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. (Gen 19:4, ESV) 5 [5] And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” (Gen 19:5, ESV) 6 [6] Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, (Gen 19:6, ESV) 7 [7] and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. (Gen 19:7, ESV)

[Daily Word]

Abraham, fearing God’s judgment, watched and interceded earnestly for any righteous people who might be found within the cities. His plea was a request for forgiveness on behalf of whatever righteous souls there might be. Yet each time Abraham brought this petition before God, God graciously responded that if even a handful of righteous people were found there, He would spare the entire region for their sake.

From fifty down to ten, God’s answer never wavered as Abraham continued to intercede. The reason God responded the same way each time was to receive and honor the earnest heart of one who intercedes passionately for even a single soul.

[10] O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. (Ps 97:10, ESV)

# God is just and full of love.

Through Abraham, God demonstrates that He is One who acts in love. He declared that He would go down personally to see the outcry for Himself, and that if any righteous were found there, He would withhold judgment and grant forgiveness rather than punish.

Abraham prayed so fervently in particular for his nephew Lot. God received Abraham’s earnest prayer on Lot’s behalf, and [29] 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. (Gen 19:29, ESV) the reason Lot was saved was not because of his own righteousness. It was because of Abraham’s fervent intercession — the love of one man for a single soul, sustained all the way to the very moment of judgment.

# Now the two angels arrived in Sodom.

These two angels had two tasks to carry out in Sodom. The first was to assess the true state of Sodom, and the second was to find any righteous people there. As they approached, Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When he saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

The fact that Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom indicates that he had become a judge or a prominent citizen of considerable standing. This is because the city gate was where officials and administrators sat, and it served as the place where matters of public affairs were handled. It is clear, therefore, that Lot had risen to a fairly high position within Sodom.

Yet even there, Lot was troubled. When he had first parted from Abraham, he had been filled with hope, but upon discovering that Sodom was a breeding ground of wickedness, he fell into disappointment and despair. (2 Pet 2:7-8) The Apostle Peter also bears witness to this, reflecting on Lot: [7] and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked [8] (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); (2 Pet 2:7-8, ESV)

Even so, when Lot saw the two angels in such circumstances, he bowed down before them. He said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” But the two angels replied, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” The reason was that they had come to Sodom on a mission given by God — to confirm the depth of its corruption. Nevertheless, when Lot pressed them strongly, they finally turned aside and entered his house. Lot urged them so earnestly because the streets of Sodom after dark were extremely dangerous.

Lot then prepared a meal for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. This scene stands in stark contrast to the hospitality Abraham had shown to the strangers in the preceding passage. Lot was a man of means and a prominent figure in a prosperous city. He could certainly have served his guests with something far better. The reason he did not, however, was that the atmosphere was anything but ordinary — the situation had an unmistakable sense of foreboding about it.

# It brings to mind the night of the Passover.

Finally, in verse 4, before they had lain down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house and called to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” The phrase “that we may know them” here refers to the act of homosexuality.

In particular, the English word for sodomy — referring to homosexual acts — is derived from the name “Sodom.” This shows us that the very city of Sodom itself was defined by the sin of homosexuality.

Hearing this, Lot went out to the crowd at the door, shut the door behind him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.”

The people of Sodom did not consider homosexuality to be a sin. It was simply their everyday life — something practiced as a matter of course within their culture. Therefore, the mob that stormed Lot’s house actually regarded the two angels’ refusal to engage in homosexual acts as an offense in itself.

Lot, however, had lived in Sodom long enough to recognize that what filled this city was sin, and so he was able to say, “My brothers, do not act so wickedly.” Yet within those words, we can also detect an attempt to protect himself to some degree — by saying, in effect, “I am your brother, just as you are.”

# We, too, live in this world, wrestling with sin each day.

Yet we must remember that it is by God’s grace that He has granted us a spirit of discernment and called us to live set apart from the world. Therefore, what we must not forget is this: rather than living like Lot — with one foot in the world and one foot toward the Lord — we are called to stand against the world in faith and to live out our lives in that same faith.

[4] For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (1 John 5:4, ESV)

Lot, angels, Sodom, hospitality, the pure

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com