Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.””
(Genesis 19:4-5)

The sexual immorality isn’t the point. It isn’t good. It is clearly NOT a value God wishes anyone to participate in, but that wasn’t THE sin of Sodom. It was A sin of Sodom. The point was that these people were so far gone that not only were they not going to provide basic decent hospitality, they were going to use these visitors for whatever pleasure they wanted. They were going to subdue them to their desires, not seek to fulfill the visitor’s desires. This is anti-hospitality and can be done in MANY ways – the way they chose was physical pleasure.

This was not an isolated incident by a couple of people. This whole town had no issue with this behaviour – at least the males. They were coordinated. They all wanted in on it. They were totally given over to whatever they felt was good – not objectively good, but what THEY felt was good for THEM. No one cared about what the visitors wanted. In fact, they may have even been attacking them in this way BECAUSE it was the opposite of hospitable behaviour (as opposed to being because of desire). This was a VERY self-centred people. That was the sin that was recorded in Ezekiel 16:49. They were all about themselves and cared nothing for anyone else. We focus on the sexual immorality because it’s blatant and it also lets us off the hook. If we focus on the sexual angle, we don’t need to think about how WE might be inhospitable. How WE might be failing to bless others. How WE might be subduing other people to what WE feel is good for US and not thinking about how things might be better for them another way.

They weren’t seeking to rebel against God. They were absolutely determined that God had nothing they wanted or needed. Since God had no place in their lives, they got to determine what was good and right. They followed their own ideas. They did what they wanted. They cared nothing for God’s point of view. That was the framework that this particular behaviour showed up on. They didn’t ask what God said. They wanted this, they followed their wants. That was their sin. Them before God. It wasn’t about the particular sin, it was about the heart attitude (Sin) they had that enabled the behaviour (iniquity). Like in the New Testament (Romans 1:26-32) it is evidence of a reprobate mind and among the last things you’ll see among a pattern of rebellion against God.

It is noteworthy that it does not mention Lot’s sons-in-law abstaining. They were not godly men.

God had heard of the selfishness of these people. He didn’t judge them immediately. He sent angels to determine if they really were determined to rebel. He sent mercy by leading Abraham to intervene on their behalf. God was looking for a way to not have to judge them. God is merciful. God is loving. God is not seeking violence against a particular group nor looking to wipe anyone out. But He is a just God and if we are determined to remain in rebellion, He will let us. God’s HEART, though, is love and repentance and THAT is what we are to foster around us. Loving truth, not judgmental bias.

The sage Rashi writes: ‘טרם ישכבו ואנשי העיר אנשי סדום The following explanation is given in Genesis Rabbah 50:5: Before they lay down, the men of the city were a topic of conversation (literally, were in the mouths of the angels), for they asked Lot about their character and doings, and the latter replied that most of them were wicked. They were still speaking about them, ‘ואנשי סדום וגו “when the men of Sodom etc.” However the real sense of the text is: The men of the city, wicked men, compassed the house. Because they were wicked he designates them as “men of Sodom”, just as Scripture said, (Genesis 13:13) “And the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners”. כל העם מקצה ALL THE PEOPLE FROM EVERY QUARTER — from one end of the city to the other end, and no-one protested, for there was not even one righteous person amongst them (Genesis Rabbah 50:5).’

The sage Or HaChaim writes: ‘טרם ישכבו, Before they went to sleep. The Torah is careful not to write: “after they had eaten, etc.” From this we learn that something transpired between Lot and the angels after the time they completed the meal and before their retiring for the night. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 50,5 mention that when questioned about the townspeople by the angels Lot said that whereas all over the world there are both good and wicked people in a town, in Sodom the people were mostly wicked. We have previously explained why the angels did not immediately destroy the town when they heard this. Besides, according to the Midrash, Lot asked them to spare the city and they accepted his plea. It was only after they were about to add further sins (verse 5) to their already full register that the angels told Lot to save himself and his relatives (verse 12) prior to their destroying the city. There was an additional reason why the angels did not immediately destroy the town. They waited till morning, a period when the attribute of Mercy is in the ascendancy; at that time they would succeed in saving Lot. They could not have done this during the night. Our sages add that since the Sodomites worshipped both sun and moon they were smitten at a time when the moon is full (middle of the month) and the sun shone, to show that neither force protected them.’

The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 4. With great circumspection we are told who the people were who gathered about Lot’s house. It was not just a rabble of curious people, they were אנשי העיר, the towns-people, and moreover אנשי סדום, citizens, representative of the state, who came to oppose this “unheard-of attack on the old established laws, customs and privileges of our town”. Further, it was the young and old, and finally, it was the whole population מקצה, from the extreme ends i.e. the lowest and the highest classes, the common folk and the upper-classes. So that in this flocking together all ages and all classes were represented, and this is significant when we consider their intention and what it meant. The people of Sodom were accused of being רעים וחטאים to the highest degree. This intention of theirs offers the final proof; הוציאם ונדעה אותם Practising hospitality was such a grave crime, that an example was to be made on the strangers who had been invited in, to make it impossible for the recurrence of such an attempt to be made. That showed the inhumanity. And this mishandling was to take the form of the most bestial debauchery. That showed the immorality. Now the susceptibility to these extremes of evil is different according to age and class. Youth, which generally is susceptible to sexual excess, as a rule has a humane, feeling heart which revolts against cruel mishandling of people. The so-called lower classes may well be inclined to low, coarse gross sexual immorality, but, being themselves oppressed, generally are on the side of other persecuted people and revolt against the mishandling of helpless unfortunates. The reverse is the case with the aged. They certainly have become hardened by the toll of the experiences of their lives, but, having “sown their wild oats” will not tolerate in the youth excesses which possibly they themselves indulged in in their own youth. And again, in the so-called higher classes, though indeed, by their position, they may become hard and without feelings for the suffering and mishandling of the “lower classes”, if not out of regards for morality, still out of feelings for decency and respecatbility, they would put a stop to public coarse scandals of immorality. So that had not evil been so all-prevalent in every way throughout Sodom, the carrying out of such a project in the midst of the population representing all ages and all classes would have remained an impossibility. Against the inhumanity the youth would have combined with the “common people”, and for upholding public decency the older people would have joined the upper classes. But here old and young, high and low were all unanimously joined to practice inhumanity and immorality, and that clinched the sentence of death over the “men of Sodom”.’