#13 Genesis 18-21

The three angels who visit Abraham move on toward Sodom. God reveals to Abraham His intentions for the wicked cities on the plain. Abraham intercedes in behalf of the cities, no doubt with the well being of Lot in mind. God promises to save the city for the sake of only ten righteous souls, if they can be found. The fact that they were destroyed tells us how vile the city had become.

When the angels arrive in Sodom, Lot compels them to come under the protection of his roof and to not remain out in the city square as they were intending. When evening came, word of the three “men’s” arrival had spread about and men from every part of the city came to Lot’s house demanding that the visitors be sent out that they might have sex with them. Lot weakly resists and tries, astonishingly, to buy them off with his two daughters. The men of the city tell Lot that he is out of place in trying to judge them and threaten to punish him if he doesn’t comply with their demands.

This story exposes the modern myth of neutrality. People today want to pretend that a societies rules and regulations can be “value neutral,” but this is not possible. Morality will always be enforced in a society. The only question is whose morality will it be. By passing a judgement on the sexual advances of the men of Sodom, Job was treading dangerously close to a hate crime and was threatened with violence if he didn’t stop it.

In America today the “rights” of homosexuals are used to restrict the liberties of those who believe the practice to be wrong. Landlords, for instance, can be fined if they refuse to rent a property to a practicing homosexual. As Christians we should be prepared to suffer at the hands of a government whose morality and legal code departs more and more from the Biblical mores upon which it was based.