Genesis 19:1-13

That evening, the two angels came to Sodom, and Lot was living at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth

² and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.”

³ But he urged them persistently; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people from every part of the city, surrounded the house.

⁵ And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may get to know them.”

⁶ Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shutting the door after him,

⁷ and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

⁸ Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹ But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came as a traveler, and he has become our judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

¹⁰ But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.

¹¹ And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place.

¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” _________________________________________

Protecting those within

If Lot had learned anything from his time attached to the household of Abraham, it was to be hospitable and take care of strangers visiting you. This was a moral ideal in the ancient near east. The men of Sodom had so degenerated that their idea of getting to know someone and taking care of them was to brutally violate them sexually. No doubt this was only one of their vices, but it is the one emphasized in the text, and it is the sin now associated with the city – through the term “sodomy.”

Lot had been in Sodom long enough that he knew about the vice, and so when these two men showed up – and he recognized them as angels, he knew he had to protect them. When discovering that they intended to sleep in the town square, he urged them persistently to stay with him. He would not take no for an answer.

But why did Lot not have the same concern to protect his own daughters? Did he think that the angels were more important? Had his respect for those within his own household degraded from having lived in Sodom? I do not know. What I do know, is that when the angels told Lot that they were going to destroy the city, they asked him if he had anyone else in the city. They commanded him to protect those within his own sphere of influence. The angels did not assent to his “sacrificing” his daughters to protect them. He had a responsibility to protect them.

LORD, forgive us for ignoring our responsibility of protecting those within our households. As we to escape that which you have condemned, may we be compassionate enough to take along anyone we can.