The Truth about Sodom
The Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Genesis 19. It is a controversial story as it deals with heavy themes of sexual assault and violence. Many have interpreted this story to be God’s judgment on LGBTQ+ communities. But what is this story really addressing?
Quick Summary: Genesis 19
Abraham’s Nephew, Lot, lived in the city of Sodom. Sodom and Gomorrah were both notoriously evil cities. When two angels disguised as foreigners visit the city, Lot protects them in his home. A mob of townspeople forms outside of Lot’s home, asking to rape and humiliate the two strangers. Lot offers his daughters instead, but the two angels strike the mob with blindness. The angels lead Lot and his family from the city as it is destroyed in a hail of fire from above. They instruct Lot and his family not to look back at the destruction, but Lot’s wife does and is turned into a pillar of salt.
There are three things to consider when reading this difficult passage of scripture.
1. Lot and his family were living in an environment of constant need.
Sodom and Gomorrah represent the inability to meet our needs in many ways. When we don’t know where to turn, we can begin to meet our needs with the wrong things, perverting the good of God’s creation. Lot finds himself in this land because he follows Abraham and trusts God to bring him to a new land. In Genesis 13, Abraham and Lot come to a crossroads. The available fertile land is too little for both of their caravans, so they divide it. Genesis 13: 10 says,
“Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)”
That detail of it looking like Egypt is Biblical foreshadowing. The land looked bountiful and offered not just provision but also the protection of the city. However, even though their physical needs were going to be taken care of, the land lacked anything for their spiritual needs (Genesis 13:13). When Lot gives up fighting to protect his daughters when he offers his daughters to the angry mob, we see the full deterioration of his values. He is willing to endanger others simply to protect himself.
2. In the ancient world, sex was used as a symbol of domination and power.
Many have interpreted this story to be a judgment of sexual identities. But that is not what this story is about! Here are a few reasons why. First, most early civilizations were communal, not individualistic. Your identity was wrapped up in your community. What you wore, your religious beliefs, and what you ate symbolized who you belonged to. Labeling your sexuality is a contemporary idea. Regardless of what God intended, many ancient civilizations used sex as a form of domination and humiliation. When armies would pillage conquered lands for resources, they would often sexually assault the inhabitants. This act was done to add further humiliation and give a visual symbol of power over an individual.
This story in Genesis 19 contrasts the story that comes before it, where God visits Abraham in the form of three strangers. Abraham welcomes these strangers by bringing them food and serving them. In contrast, the mob wanted to exert power over the strangers visiting their land by gang-raping them.
Later, in Ezekiel 16:49-50, God tells the prophet:
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”
Hospitality was of the utmost importance to the Israelites. To be inhospitable was to disgrace yourself and offer a skewed picture of God's heart.
3. Lot and his family found it challenging to move on from this unhealthy environment.
Lot and his family had made their homes in Sodom. They were used to their customs and way of life. Moving from the unhealthy places you are familiar with is always a challenge. When Lot hesitated, the Angels had to drag him from the city. His wife looked back just one more time and crumbled under the pressure. Later in Genesis 19:30-36, we get an R-rated story about how the same daughters the angels saved from being assaulted do the same to their father, Lot.
When we are delivered from our comfortable dysfunction, it becomes our responsibility to find a healthier way of meeting our needs. In Luke 11:24-26, Jesus discusses the dangers of not replacing your source. He says,
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
Jesus is saying that when something unhealthy controls you and you overcome it, that thing was serving a purpose. I don't think people sin because they are bad people. They often try to fill a need they haven't named or are desperate for. If, in your deliverance, you don't replace the space of unhealthy habits with something healthy, it will come back. It will be worse this time because you know freedom is possible, yet you've chosen unhealthiness again.
Genesis 19 shouldn't be used to instill fear into your theology. It deals with something we all experience. We have all lived in dysfunction and called it "normal." We have all compromised our Divine promise for a temporary solution before. But in Christ, we have access to a healthy source for everything we need. Through the community of the Church, we are meant to find a healthy environment to voice those needs and sort out how they can be met.
Cherlow, R. Y. (2017, October 20). The sin of sodom and its impact on creation. My Jewish Learning. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-sin-of-sodom-and-its-impact-on-creation/
Leick, G. (2008). Religion Compass: Sexuality and Religion in Mesopotamia. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://ereserve.library.utah.edu/Annual/ANTH/3328/Wasilewska/sexuality.pdf
Theology of Work. (n.d.). Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality (genesis 18:1-15). https://www.theologyofwork.org/old-testament/genesis-12-50-and-work/abraham-genesis-121-2511/abraham-and-sarahs-hospitality-genesis-181-15/
