Genesis 19: A Bad Example

Genesis 19 isn’t a comfortable chapter, and that’s exactly why it matters. We read the account of Sodom and Gomorrah straight, then slow down to ask what the text actually says about sin, judgment, and mercy. Lot sees the danger early, but he’s still tangled in compromise, and the night spirals into violence at his door, a failed attempt at moral bargaining, and a rescue he doesn’t fully deserve. 

We also tackle the modern claim that Sodom’s sin is merely “bad hospitality.” The story is explicit: the city’s so called inhospitality takes the form of intended sexual assault. Facing that reality helps us read Scripture with honesty instead of smoothing off the edges to fit the mood of the moment. From there, we trace the rest of the chapter: Lot’s hesitation, his bargaining for comfort, the destruction of the cities, and the haunting warning in Lot’s wife looking back. 

The takeaway is practical and urgent. When God gives you an exit from temptation, you move. You don’t linger, you don’t negotiate, and you don’t romanticize the place God is pulling you out of. We close with a modern story that puts this into real life terms, plus a prayer for anyone who knows they’re flirting with sin and needs the courage to run toward freedom. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can walk through the Bible with us.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

Quick Calls To Like And Subscribe

Setting Up Sodom And Abraham’s Plea

Angels Arrive And Lot Hosts Them

The Mob At The Door

Escape Orders And Lot Hesitates

Fire Falls And A Backward Look

The Cave And A Shocking Ending

Lessons On Sin And Not Rewriting

Run From Temptation When God Warns

Prayer And Final Encouragement

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Genesis chapter 19. And today's title is A Bad Example. A bad example. This title comes from someone who I once heard that they heard them say that everyone has value, even if their only value is to be a bad example. And today is one of those chapters that is all about what not to do. And it's also very controversial because from this chapter, God will continually, when he is inspiring people in the future, and Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then you know Peter and Jude and all these people, when he's inspiring them to write down holy scripture, they are going to use today's chapter as the worst of the worst of the worst. So this is the bottom, right? This is the bottom end of everything that's going on. And there's been some people who have tried to reinterpret this chapter because they haven't actually read it. So we're going to read it. And it's one of those where I know that in the future, after we have finished going through the book of Genesis and we're doing it again, this may be one of those chapters that we refer to over and over again. So we are going to try to be fair and kind but straightforward in what the scripture is talking about. So without any more of that, make sure you get your Bibles out, get ready to go. We're going to jump right into Genesis chapter 19. While you're doing that, also make sure you take just a moment to like, share, and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure to leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you're going to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. It's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. And as always, you can get all that information at the Biblebreakdown.com. Well, to remind us all, there is this wonderful journey that we're in the middle of called walking through the book of Genesis. And we're trying to put our minds back in the place of these recently liberated Jewish people that had been in Egyptian bondage for 400 plus years. They've been taken out of all that, wonderfully liberated. They have marched their way to Mount Sinai, received the Ten Commandments, and now they're being told this is how God created the heavens and the earth. This is how he established his covenant with the Jewish nation so that through them the whole world would be blessed. And so he is laying down the history of the world and to understand what was going on. We just got through talking about how circumcision happened, praise the Lord. Then we got through talking about how God had this conversation with Abraham. It's amazing. And the conversation was I have been hearing, God says, of a horrible outcry coming out of Sodom and Gomorrah. Terrible, terrible sin, to the point that I'm going to go down there and check it out myself, or I'm going to send my angels to. And if it's what I think it is, I'm going to destroy it. And we talked yesterday about how God allows Abraham to get into this conversation where he's interceding for this city, because he's got family living down there. And he goes all the way from if I find 50 who are righteous, I will save it, all the way down to if I have 10. And I wonder if Abraham in his mind is going, okay, well, you know, Lot is probably married, so that's that's two. And if he has just, you know, four daughters, and if they're all married, there's ten right there. Because surely his whole family is going to serve God. But God says, if I find ten, I'll do it. But that's not what happens. I'm going to read this, and when it's through, we're going to talk about what happens from this, and we're going to look at some bad examples, okay? Which is just trust me. If there's some bad examples up in here. So let's just read this and let's see what God's Word has to say. Genesis 19, verse 1 says this. That evening, two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them, and he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. Now pause. Now the Bible doesn't say this, but we know according to the history at the time, not just anybody would stand at the entrance of the city. Sometimes people would stand if they were on guard, they were on watch, but also many times leaders of the city would stand at the gate because it was at the gates of the city where you would conduct business. And so there are some scholars who say that Lot may have actually raised himself up to be one of the leaders of the city because of where he was at the time. Therefore, that means some of this is kind of on lot. So here we go, verse two. My lords, he said, Come to my home and wash your feet, be my guest for the night. You may get up early and then be on your way again. Oh no, they replied, We'll just spend the night here in the city square. But Lot insisted. So at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came over, uh came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out, so we can have sex with them. So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. Please, my brothers, he begged, don't do such a wicked thing. Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please leave these men alone, for they are my guests under my protection. Can we just pause and say, Lot, you idiot, that's not any better. What is that? Like, I mean, that's there's there's nothing better about that. Great job, Lot. Okay, so yeah, don't don't go and assault these men. Let me give you my own daughters to assault. No, no, no. Epic fail all the way around. All right, verse nine. Stand back, they shouted. This fellow came to came to town as an outsider, and now he is acting like our judge. We'll treat you far worse than those other men. And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door. But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. And then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside. Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot, Do you have any other relatives here in the city? Get them out of this place, your sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, or anyone else, for we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this city is so great that it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it. So Lot rushed out to tell his daughter, his daughter's fiancees, Quick, get out of the city. The Lord is about to destroy it. But the young men thought he was only joking. At pause. Come on now. Come on now. I just gotta pause. They they likely have just heard, because it said all the men of the city had come to this house and tried to assault these people. He says, Hey, the Lord's best joys about to judge the city, and they're like, Ah, Lot, you joker. Okay, all right, sure. All right, verse 15. At dawn the next morning, the angels came, uh became insistent. Hurry, they said to Lot, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of this city. When Lot still hesitated, the angel seized his hand and the hand of his wife and two daughters and rushed them out to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels said, Run for your lives. Don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley, escape to the mountains, or you'll be swept away. Oh no, my Lord, Lot begged. You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness, but I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up with me there, and I will soon die. See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead. Won't you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved. All right, the angel said, I will grant you your request. I will not destroy that little village, but hurry, escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there. This explains why that village is known as Zoar, which means little place. Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. But Lot's wife looked back and was following uh as she was following behind, let me say that again. But Lot's wife looked back as she followed behind him, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Abraham got up early in the morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the presence of the Lord, and he looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and watched as the columns of smoke rose from the city like smoke from a furnace. But God had listened to Abraham's request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain. And here's more of a bad example. Here we go, verse 30. Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains, which is with his two daughters. That's where the angels told him to go to begin with, right? So he went to the mountains with his two daughters. Here we go. One day the older daughter said to the sister, There is no men left anywhere in the entire area. So we can't get married like everyone else, and our father will soon be too old to have children. Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father. So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father, and he was unaware of her lying down or her getting up again. The next morning the older daughter said to the younger sister, Well, I had sex with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father. So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or her getting up. As a result, both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father. When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites. When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben Ami, and he became the ancestor of the nation known as the Ammonites. Just a slew of bad examples. Remember, everyone has value, even if their value is to be a bad example. Well, Sodom and Gomorrah, real bad example. Lot, turns out, bad example. Lot's kids, bad example. Lot's wife, bad example. The good example is uh we made it to the end. We are the good example on that one. So let's break this down. Now, what happened was is when Lot saw these two angels, immediately he knew something was up because he quickly wanted to get them away from the city square. And it turns out he was right because not long after they got home, the Bible literally says, all of the men, that's probably including his sons-in-law, I would imagine, all of the men came and said, We want to assault. We we want to assault these men, and so bring them to me. Bring them to us. And Lot, who is also a bad example, says, No, no, no, no. That is sinful, that is wrong. God did not make us that way. That is not what we're supposed to do. I have an idea. I have two virgin daughters. You can have them. Lot, you idiot. No, that was also a bad example. That is not what we do. You don't fight fire with fire, you don't fight sin with sin. No. But they said, no, we don't, I mean, even worse, we don't want your virgin daughters. We want those two fine-looking men. And so then God strikes them all with blindness, pulls Lot back in, actually other way around, pulls Lot back in, strikes them all with blindness, and they say, Look, we're angels. We're here to destroy the city. And now you know why. So go go get your go get your family, get them out of town. And then Lot goes to get his family, and they're like, No. And then Lot continues to hesitate after the angels are saying, Get out, get out, get out, until finally, in the mercy of God, God takes Lot, the two daughters, and the wife, and he gets they they get him out of town. And as they are going, just the the culture of sin is so ingrained in them that the wife turns back and looks. There's so many lessons here about when God delivers us out of a horrible situation, the worst thing we can do is to go back to it, to look longingly at it again. Instead, we run for our life. We we we accept and we celebrate the mercy of God and we run for our life, and we don't look back to that sin ever again. Because when we do, it will it will bite us. And that's what happened to her. When she looked back, the judgment of God fell on her and she died. Bible says turn to a pillar of salt. She died. And then they get to this place, and then and then God told, through the angels, told him to go to the mountains, but he was like, I can't go to the mountains. Wine complain, why and complain? So instead, can I go to this little village? Well, he goes to the little village. Turns out there was a reason why he didn't need to go there. So he goes to the mountains anyway, and then the the two daughters. Mm-mm-mm. I'm gonna tell you why they're not married, because they're crazy. And they they say, Well, you know what? I mean, think think about Lot at this moment. He has lost everything and he lost his wife. You know Joker's grieving. You you know he is just distraught. And so when his daughters say, Hey Dad, you know what? Why don't you, you know, instead of turning to God, why don't you turn to alcohol? And instead of instead of giving your life back over to the God of your your Uncle Abraham, instead of, you know, just trusting in God and leaning on him who just saved your life, why don't you just take care of it yourself? Just get drunk. And so he does. Bad example. And then when he's drunk and he's his guard is down, sin comes in. And they're crazy. And they have sex with their both of them. So just a list of bad examples. And there is a scripture later on that talks about one of the sins of uh Sodom and Gomorrah was because of the way they did not show hospitality to these two uh two angels. And so there are some people who try to say that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah wasn't homosexuality, it was their lack of hospitality. The devil is a lie. You know what their lack of hospitality was? Is instead of inviting them in, they tried to have sex with them. It's like like continue the story. So for anyone who may be listening to this, wondering how to interpret this, because you have heard a progressive Christian say that the sin of Sod and Gomorrah wasn't that they were a bunch of homosexuals trying to assault people, that instead it was a lack of hospitality. Yes, it was a lack of hospitality because he's trying to rape a fool. You know, that that is that is the sin of hospitality, is because they were trying to sin against these people. And then the bad example of Lot, the bad example of his two crazy girls, just you know, you know, you know what the story is? Trust God. Trust God. When God speaks, we move. We can't always help. Now, there could be a whole different story about why Lot is even in this this jungle to begin with. You know what I'm saying? Like we have no we could have that conversation. But here's the thing if we find ourselves surrounded by horribleness, and God gives us a way out, we run toward it. Give you an example. I heard of a story one time of a guy who got into an emotional affair with a coworker. Just it was it was horrible, it was terrible. He was he was caught up in it, and he started to realize it was wrong. But it was getting further, and it was getting further. And and and one night they decided they were gonna get a hotel together at a business trip, and and they were they were at the hotel together, and he said, right before she had just got in there and he had gone to the bathroom to just to kind of get his head together because he knew this wasn't right, he knew this wasn't right, and he said that while he was in the bathroom and she was getting ready for him, they were this was gonna be the night, they were going to finally, you know, you know, take it to the next level. While he was in the bathroom, he said he was just just leaning over the sink, he was about to throw up because he knew this was wrong, he knew this was wrong. He said he felt like he heard the voice of God in that moment say, You don't have to be here, run. And he said, It wasn't like some audible voice, he said, but it's as clear as day. He said, I thought I was stuck, I thought I couldn't get out of it. And he said, In that moment I realized I I don't have to be here, I can run. And he said, I did. He said, I left my shoes in the room, I left my bags in the room, all I have was my keys. And he said, I ran. I ran and he said, I ran across the street, I got in a different hotel in a different hotel room, and I called my wife, and he said it was horrible and it was terrible, but at the same time it saved my marriage, it saved my integrity, it saved everything. Because when God gave me a way out, I ran. I am not saying that that's where you are today, but can I say if you're flirting with sin, if you're in a space where you know you shouldn't be doing what you're doing, this is the voice of God for you. You don't have to be there to run. Get out of the situation. God is taking you by the hand right now, and he is taking you out of the city, and he is saying, run for your life. Don't look back. Run toward freedom. Run toward God. Is it gonna be hard? Yes. Are you still gonna have battles to fight? Yes. And if any young lady invites you to drink something, don't drink it. Bottle water for you for a long time. Run because this is your wake-up call. This is the day of your salvation. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for your mercy and for your kindness. God, in your kindness, how many times have you done for us what those angels did for Lot? And you have taken us by the hand and you have said, run for your life and you've saved us. Lord, I pray for the person who today is their wake up call. They're flirting with sin. It's all around them. It's threatening to get in them. I pray, God, that you will deliver them right now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. Well, God's word says the greatest miracle in the Bible, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. No matter what you're involved with right now, if God can create the heavens and the earth, he can create you anew, he can save you, he can get you out of anything. Anything is possible with God. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Genesis chapter 20.