This chapter feels like an episode of Jerry Springer, and makes me feel similarly icky from beginning to end. This is one of the Sunday School problematic chapters of Genesis. For most of us the details are censored until we get older. It is shocking, and violent, and gross, and terrible.
Read Genesis 19
Abraham's extreme hospitality in ch18 is juxtaposed by an extreme lack of hospitality toward the same strangers in ch19.The three men must have thought Lot was a real piece of work. After their reception with Abraham, Lot must have seemed a nightmare.
Judges 19:23-25 shows a parallel situation to Lot's.
Lot offered his daughters to the men of Sodom. This is gross. And violent. And terrible. It also shows that what was going on was motivated by more than just homosexuality. The men at the door were violent even more than simply homosexual, and one does not follow the other. The men at the door knew they were acting violently, since they threatened Lot. Also, it is possible that the men of the city recognized the strangers as angels, and this may have also affected their behaviour.
Isaiah 1:10, 3:9, Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:49,58 all refer to the sin of Sodom in terms of social injustice, not homosexuality. This does not mean that the text is saying homosexuality is not a sin, but it shows that the biblical authors did not consider this to be the point or message of the story, so we should look elsewhere for our interpretation.
(Lev18:22, 20:13, Rom1:24-32, 1Cor6:9, 1Tim1:10 make it clear that the Bible condemns homosexual sex. HOWEVER, Genesis 18 and 19 and the story of Sodom is not intended to condemn homosexuality.)
Lots daughters are virgins, though he has sons-in-law. They are only at the beginning of the marriage contract (pledged), and it has not yet been consummated.
v16 - Lot hesitated. Why? What was so great in Sodom for him that he should hesitate? Did Abram hesitate when asked to leave his city with a far less dramatic explanation as to why?
Lot was physically removed from the city, and he still resisted. His wife especially resisted of course, longingly turning toward her home, and being punished for her covetousness. Was Lot's family engaged in sin in Sodom?
Sulfur and potash and sodium would have rained down on the city. If we understand the passage as meaning that Lot's wife returned to Sodom, or hesitated long enough to be caught in the destruction, then it may be the destruction of the city that caused her to become a pillar of salt, and she may not have been the only one.
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Lot and his Daughters in the Cave
Lot and his daughters is a similar story to Noah and his sons. The children conspire and the parent is drunk. It may be that the story of Noah’s nakedness being uncovered may have been an attempt to conspire in a similar way to the explicit details of this story.
The detail of getting their father drunk shows us that Lot would have not agreed to do this. Incest was not considered normal or acceptable during this period.
The oldest daughter is the mother of the Moabites. Ruth was a Moabite, the woman who was redeemed by Boaz and became Jesus' ancestor.
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Conclusions
In Genesis 18 and 19, both Abraham and Lot have opportunities to make an impact on their communities and neighbours. Abraham prays. Lot shows mercy. Lot pleads for justice. Lot tries to warn of God's coming judgment. In the end, even Lot's wife does not make it. Abraham and Lot acted as priests and prophets, and YHWH allowed them both to know what he was up to the whole time, which he explicitly states is because of his covenant with Abraham. Abraham's intercession gives opportunity to consider the impact of the righteous in a wicked land. How many does it take to make a difference? According to God, even ten in a city can influence the city for righteousness.
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