Gen 19:1-14 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Gen 19:1-38: 19:1-38 The Canaanites were an evil, corrupting people. God judged their morally bankrupt civilization and warned others against becoming like them. It was difficult to get Lot and his family out of Sodom; it was more difficult to get Sodom out of Lot and his family. This chapter helped later Israelites to understand the moral and spiritual threat of the peoples living in and around the Promised Land, such as the Canaanites and Lot’s descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites (see Num 22–25 ; Deut 23:3-6 ; Josh 24:9 ; Judg 10:7-9 ; 11:4-5 ; 1 Sam 10:27 ; 1 Kgs 11:1-3 ; 2 Kgs 24:2 ). Summary for Gen 19:1-14: 19:1-14 The two angels who were with the Lord at Mamre (cp. 18:2 , 22 ) visited Sodom reluctantly, knowing what kind of people lived there. Despite Lot’s hospitality, they preferred lodging in the square to entering Lot’s house. 19:1 The two angels also first appeared to Abraham as men (18:2 ). • Lot was no longer living in tents next to Sodom (13:12 )—he had become a citizen and leader in Sodom, sitting there at the entrance of the city. Community leaders (elders) usually congregated in the gates, where legal and business transactions were publicly finalized (cp. 23:18 ; Job 29:7 , 12-17 ). As a righteous man (2 Pet 2:7-8 ), Lot tried to modify the townspeople’s wickedness by giving advice on good living (cp. Gen 19:9 ). Although he denounced gross evil, Lot preferred Sodom’s sumptuous lifestyle to life in the hills (cp. 13:10-11 ), where there was clean living but no “good life.” As long as the Lord left Lot and his family alone in Sodom, he lived comfortably there and kept his personal belief in God; but finally, he could not hold to both. Sodom would have destroyed Lot if the Lord had not destroyed Sodom. • This account showed Israel that God is the righteous judge of the whole earth (18:25 ) who will judge evildoers with justice and equity. In wicked societies, moral and ethical failures lead to social injustice.

Summary for Gen 19:1-38: 19:1-38 ^a The Canaanites were an evil, corrupting people. God judged their morally bankrupt civilization and warned others against becoming like them. It was difficult to get Lot and his family out of Sodom; it was more difficult to get Sodom out of Lot and his family. This chapter helped later Israelites to understand the moral and spiritual threat of the peoples living in and around the Promised Land, such as the Canaanites and Lot’s descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites (see Num 22–25 ^b; Deut 23:3-6 ^c; Josh 24:9 ^d; Judg 10:7-9 ^e; 11:4-5 ^f; 1 Sam 10:27 ^g; 1 Kgs 11:1-3 ^h; 2 Kgs 24:2 ⁱ).
Summary for Gen 19:1-14: 19:1-14 ^j The two angels who were with the Lord at Mamre (cp. 18:2 ^k, 22 ^l) visited Sodom reluctantly, knowing what kind of people lived there. Despite Lot’s hospitality, they preferred lodging in the square to entering Lot’s house. 19:1 ^m The two angels also first appeared to Abraham as men (18:2 ⁿ).

• Lot was no longer living in tents next to Sodom (13:12 ^o)—he had become a citizen and leader in Sodom, sitting there at the entrance of the city. Community leaders (elders) usually congregated in the gates, where legal and business transactions were publicly finalized (cp. 23:18 ^p; Job 29:7 ^q, 12-17 ^r). As a righteous man (2 Pet 2:7-8 ^s), Lot tried to modify the townspeople’s wickedness by giving advice on good living (cp. Gen 19:9 ^t). Although he denounced gross evil, Lot preferred Sodom’s sumptuous lifestyle to life in the hills (cp. 13:10-11 ^u), where there was clean living but no “good life.” As long as the Lord left Lot and his family alone in Sodom, he lived comfortably there and kept his personal belief in God; but finally, he could not hold to both. Sodom would have destroyed Lot if the Lord had not destroyed Sodom.

• This account showed Israel that God is the righteous judge of the whole earth (18:25 ^v) who will judge evildoers with justice and equity. In wicked societies, moral and ethical failures lead to social injustice.
Summary for Gen 19:4-5: 19:4-5 ^w The townsmen’s vileness was matched by Lot’s hypocrisy (19:6-9 ^x).
Summary for Gen 19:6-9: 19:6-9 ^y Lot opposed homosexuality and rape and rebuked their wicked plans, but he was hypocritically willing to sacrifice his daughters to fend off the townsmen’s vice. Lot had originally pitched his tent next to Sodom; now Sodom controlled his life.
19:9 ^z The men of the city were enraged by Lot’s attempts to curtail their wickedness. Lot had apparently not condemned them before, since they were amazed that he now judged them.
19:14 ^aa Lot’s warning words were not taken seriously because of his hypocrisy. It seemed that there would not be even ten righteous people in the city.