1. The Wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah
The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. The sin of Sodom is described in various scriptures: pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, and not strengthening the poor and needy. They also committed abominable acts of sexual immorality, specifically homosexuality. Jude writes that Sodom and Gomorrah gave themselves over to sexual immorality and went after strange flesh. Their sin was not merely social or economic; it was a direct rebellion against the created order. The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great, and their sin was very grave.
2. The Lord Reveals His Purpose to Abraham
The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" The Lord revealed to Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham, knowing that Lot dwelt in Sodom, began to intercede. He asked, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" This intercession reveals Abraham's heart and the justice of God, who will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.
3. Abraham's Intercession for the Cities
Abraham said, "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?" The Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." Abraham continued, "Suppose five were lacking of the fifty—will You destroy all the city for lack of five?" The Lord said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it." Abraham asked for forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally ten. The Lord said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten." But there were not even ten righteous in Sodom.
4. The Angels Come to Sodom
Two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. He saw them, rose to meet them, and bowed with his face toward the ground. He urged them to stay at his house. They refused at first but eventually agreed. While they were eating, the men of the city, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." The men of Sodom attempted to commit homosexual rape against the angels. This act of violence and sexual perversion sealed their judgment.
5. The Angels Strike the Men with Blindness
Lot went out to the men and pleaded with them not to act wickedly. He even offered his daughters, but the men refused. They pressed hard against Lot and came near to break down the door. The angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and struck the men with blindness, both small and great. The men wearied themselves trying to find the door. The blindness was a sign of their spiritual blindness and a foretaste of the judgment to come.
6. The Warning to Lot and His Family
The angels said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, but they thought he was joking. He hesitated. The angels took him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand, because the Lord was merciful to them, and brought them out of the city. The angel said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."
7. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
The Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Her looking back revealed her divided heart. She longed for what she was leaving. Her judgment stands as a warning against loving the world and turning back from following the Lord. The destruction was complete and total.
8. The Deliverance of Lot
Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow. Lot escaped to Zoar, a small city, but later he and his daughters left Zoar and dwelt in a cave in the mountains. Lot was saved, but as one escaping through fire.
9. The Meaning of the Destruction for Believers
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a warning to all who live ungodly lives. Peter writes that God turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemning them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly. Jude calls them an example of those who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Jesus said that on the day of judgment, it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for the city that rejects the gospel. The destruction of Sodom points to the final judgment of all the wicked at the end of the age.
10. The Mercy of God in Judgment
Though God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, He delivered righteous Lot. Peter writes that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. Lot was a righteous man who was tormented by the filthy conduct of the wicked. God heard his groanings and delivered him. The destruction of Sodom shows that God judges sin, but it also shows that God saves the righteous. The same fire that destroyed the cities delivered Lot. Believers can take comfort that God will deliver them from the wrath to come.
Conclusion
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a catastrophic judgment of fire and brimstone from the Lord. The cities were destroyed because of their great wickedness, including pride, greed, sexual immorality, and violence. Abraham interceded, but not even ten righteous were found. Lot and his daughters were delivered, but Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. This event is a warning of the final judgment of all the wicked. Let every sinner flee from the wrath to come and take refuge in Christ, the only deliverer.