Unveiling Lot: The Showdown

Previously we’ve set up the scenario for Sodom. It’s important to keep that in mind as we now head into the core section of the story. The two things to remember are: 1. Sodom looked pleasant and normal, much as our everyday life. 2. The primary sin of Sodom is pride. As we progress in the chapter, we will use the following format: verse in bold, followed by commentary on the verse in italics. Let’s talk Bible!

Genesis 19:3  And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
It’s worth of noting Lot’s persistence in being generous. Sometimes we offer help but with the background thought: ‘I hope they don’t accept’. Lot’s invitation was sincere. The men arrived at evening, so we can assume something around the 5 pm mark. The statement for baking unleavened bread is indicative that Lot was not assuming company that day (unleavened bread was something made in a hurry). It’s a further point against the idea that Lot would sit around in the gate perchance some travelers made their way into the city.

If Lot’s purpose for sitting in the gate was to invite travelers, and considering Sodom is the chief city of the plain, quite prosperous, wouldn’t that mean there were inevitable a lot of passers-by? By all means, the most logical answer is that Lot is sitting in the gate, most likely wrapping up his duties for the day when the two ‘men’ come into Sodom at an hour when most business has ended, as such Lot offers hospitality. The two ‘men’ are additional mouths that need food as quickly as possible, hence the unleavened bread.

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Genesis 19:4  But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 
It can’t be stated with certainty what time it was that they went to bed, but I would imagine it was probably before midnight. If the men arrived in the city in the even, between 4-6pm, by the time they’ve made it to Lot’s house, they’ve had a feast, it realistically could be about 10 pm. (Once again, none of this is definite, it’s simply a deduction on the approximate time these events were taking place, the reason for which will become important later in the chapter)
It’s important to note that when it describes who’s involved, we paint the correct picture. Why is the correct picture important? Because Sodom is representative of the world that Jesus comes back to the second time. If we turn Sodom into a cartoonish exaggerated representation of evil, the effectiveness of the comparison fades. It’s like making a devil with horns and pitchfork, while the Bible describes him appearing as an ‘angel of light’.
With all that said, who is involved?
– Men of Sodom (those upon whom the responsibility of leadership falls)
– Old & young (corruption is complete, not just in the young generation, but it is in the old too)
– all the people from every quarter. This description needs some further analysis.
It is NOT saying that ALL the people were there. That’s the cartoon representation that some people like to have of Sodom. An evil place, crawling with rats and cockroaches and the scum of society. A place where every person, from the babe to the old man is leering with bloodshot eyes in a frenzy to rape some strangers. Now is when it’s important to recall the words of Jesus: “They ate, drank, bought, sold, planted, and built.” Sodom LOOKED normal. It probably looked great! It was probably beautiful on the outside. Consider the description God makes of His wayward people in Isaiah 3 as He proclaims impending judgement: things looked good on the outside!
How then do we understand the term ‘all the people from every quarter’? Here’s a couple of suggestions.

• Just as we’ve got the contrast of both young and old, it could be a reference to rich and poor. Quarters could denote the different sections of society from the low class up to the elite. It would make sense in light of what was stated before, for now we understand not only it is young and old, but there’s the low class dirtbags present as well as the upper class snob. All are corrupted.

• Some translations read this as ‘the outskirts of Sodom’ (ISV), basically meaning, this gathering was not a local incident, but a collective movement in the entire city
• The word ‘all’ is not important in this text. It does not appear in the original text which simply uses the word for people. It’s included as part of the grammatical structure for the English translation.

I personally think the first concept is quite comprehensive in explanation, but there’s no reason it couldn’t extend to cover both. Either way, the description of the assailants is such as to describe the level of degradation the city has reached.

Genesis 19:5-6  And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. 
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 

It appears from the text that this moment here is where Lot first finds out about what is happening. It’s important to take note of this to understand the coming reaction of Lot for which he has taken much criticism. In the previous verse it was noted that the men of Sodom, young and old and from every quarter have surrounded the house. I don’t believe it was every man in Sodom (that’s provable as Lot has son-in-laws who he speaks to later) but neither was it a motley crew of four. There was definitely a crowd, and it must have been quite the shock for the inhabitants of the house.

As we take our leave for the time being, we’re going to close on Lot and his first initial response, at least, the one that is recorded: he exits the ‘safety’ of the house to confront the crowd, shutting the door behind him. To me, that is a witness of the courage of Lot, who mind you, was not a young man at this stage, but at minimum, in his fifties, possible older. It’s important to remember this action of Lot because in a few verses, many careless individuals will charge Lot with being a coward. Lot’s actions here do not reveal the heart of a coward.

We take a break here as the next section will enter into the confrontation which has quite a bit packed in. Keep in mind the set up we have had so far, because very soon it will become important in understanding Lot’s actions.