Reflections on the "Sodom and Gomorrah" passage from last Friday

Scripture Verses that Caught my attention today: Genesis 19:8-9 Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they replied, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came here as an alien, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it down.

Observation: There may in fact be some merit to the view that this passage is primarily about hospitality rather than sexual mores.

Application: Whenever we hear the words Sodom and Gomorrah, two thoughts almost always come to mind for most Christians.

The first thought is completely Biblical: Those were two very wicked cities. The word Sodom shows up 51 times in the Scriptures and Gomorrah shows up 24 times. Aside from when the words are used simply as a reference, they are almost always portrayed in a negative light.

The second thought is often considered Biblical, but maybe not so accurately so. It is often assumed that what made Sodom and Gomorrah so wicked is that the people there (or at least the city’s men) wanted to have same-gender sexual relations with Lot’s guests.

For years I too pretty much thought that’s what this particular story in Scripture was about. But then a colleague offered an alternative view that is gaining merit in my mind. The colleague suggests that, if we really look at this passage closely and in context, we’ll see that one of the things that made the city so bad (along with neglecting the poor and needy according to Ezekiel 16:49) was the people’s lack of hospitality to guests.

I know…it sounds like a strange, even foreign concept at first. But ironically, it IS a ‘foreign’ concept. Notice that the men of the city consider Lot a foreigner (or alien in their terms) who came to their city from elsewhere. Lot, you may remember, was a nephew of the great Biblical patriarch Abraham. Abraham, in chapter 18 of Genesis, bent over backwards to offer hospitality to three men/angels who later told him that he and Sarah would have a child. Now, in good Abrahamic tradition, Lot, who now lives in Sodom, bends over backwards to offer hospitality to these two men/angels who visit the city, insisting that they stay in his home—rather than in the public square—and, like Abraham with his guests, seeing to it that they have a fine feast.

Now’s when things get tense. The men of the city surround the house and want to “know” the guests and, yes, it is ‘know’ in a sexual way. Clearly Lot is against this idea. But is he primarily against it because of the sexual act or is he against it because they are his guests? Surprisingly, this text in the Bible seems to put the emphasis on the latter. As horrible as it sounds, notice that Lot seems to be so concerned with hospitality to his guests that he emphatically tries to offer his own daughters for this gang rape (I cringe just thinking about it!) rather than let harm of any kind come to his “guests.” As a foreigner/alien/guest himself, apparently hospitality was that important to him. Unfortunately, the men of that admittedly wicked city didn’t see it the same way.

I’m pretty sure that I would not be able to be as hospitable as Lot and, honestly, I question his judgment on the matter—at least in regard to offering his daughters. But it’s also disconcerting to consider how easy it is for us to think of this passage as being about same-gender sex (which usually results in a large number of people condemning or reflecting upon a few) when it could in fact be about the importance of hospitality which offers a potential lesson for us all.

Prayer: Lord, whether or not this is what this passage is about, thank you for providing people who challenge us to look at bigger pictures and consider alternative possibilities. It helps us all to grow. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture readings for the day included: Genesis 18-19 and Luke 7)