What the destruction in Genesis 19 teaches us about the LORD

The LORD said in Genesis 18:20 that Sodom’s sin was exceedingly grave. We must see the specific sin described for ourselves to know for ourselves what it was to discuss the issue with others. Support everything you say with Scripture. Genesis 19:4–11 talks about this when it talks about the two angels appearing as men who Lot talked into staying with him. Before they laid down that night to sleep, all of Sodom’s men from every quarter surrounded the house. The emphasis in the text that all of Sodom’s men came reveals the depth of their depravity. They called out to Lot, saying to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we know them intimately!” But Lot went out of the doorway to the men, and shut the door after him, and said, “Please, I beg of you my brothers, do not behave so wickedly! Look now and see here, I have two daughters who are virgins. I beg of you to please let me bring them out to you instead. You can do as you please with them. But only do nothing to these men because they have, in fact, come under the shelter of my roof for protection. But they said, “Stand back and get out of the way! This man came as an outsider to live here temporarily. Now he presumes to be our judge! Now we will treat you worse than your visitors! So they rushed forward and pressed violently against Lot, coming close to breaking down the door of his house. But the angels appearing as men reached out with their hands, pulled Lot into the house with them and shut the door after him. Then they punished all the men — from the young to the old — who were at the doorway of the house by striking them with blindness that dazzled them. They continued until they wearied themselves with exhaustion, groping and trying to find the door. Sexual sin was the reason for the LORD’s destruction.

There are things we can learn about the LORD from the account in Genesis 18:16–19:29:

1. The LORD was willing to bargain with Abraham when Abraham engaged in intercessory prayer on behalf of the cities.
2. The LORD was merciful enough to not destroy the cities if even 10 righteous people could be found in them. The fact that not even 10 could be found says a lot about the city's spiritual condition.
3. We should not be discouraged when evil is not punished right away. God hears our outcries and shrieks when we call out to him. He always deals with sin when it reaches its full measure.
4. Nothing is too much for God, even the destruction of large areas. And when he finally does destroy, he demolishes completely. Remember Noah’s Flood.
5. The LORD is merciful to those who have been declared righteous by faith.

Remember that this wasn’t some temper tantrum by a divine God out of control of his emotions. Genesis 18:20–21 says he committed this destruction because the shriek and outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah’s sins were great, and their sin was exceedingly grave. So he went down to see if they had acted altogether as vilely and wickedly as the outcry which came to him indicated. Even though he is God, he would not follow through on such a judgment until he had focused on their sin with special attention. We can see this same principle at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:6–9. The LORD said, “Behold, they are one unified people. They all have one language.” Some noted philologists have declared that a common origin of all languages cannot be denied. F. Max Muller writes, “We have examined all possible forms which language can assume, and now we ask, can we reconcile with these three distinct forms, the radical, the terminational, the inflectional, the admission of one common origin of human speech? I answer decidedly, ‘Yes.’” The New Bible Commentary says, “The original unity of human language, though still far from demonstrable, becomes increasingly probable.” The LORD continued, “This is only the beginning of what they will do in rebellion against me. Now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them.” Come, let us [a reference to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] go down there to confound, confuse, and mix up their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth. And they gave up building the city. Therefore, its name was called “Babel” — because there the LORD confounded and confused the whole earth's language. The Hebrew word for “Babel” is similar to the word for “confuse.” From that place, the LORD scattered and dispersed them abroad over the surface of all the earth. Notice in both instances that God went down to see what the people were doing before destroying everything. God is very involved in humanity’s affairs. He does what he does per his characteristics — righteousness, justice, holiness, and mercy.

SOURCES

1. Genesis Part 3-Precept Workbook (NASB) https://shop.precept.org/products/genesis-part-3-precept-workbook-nasb-2
2. Amplified Bible: Classic Edition & Amplified Bible
3. Lectures on the Science of Language delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1861 and 1863 by F. Max Muller https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lectures_on_the_Science_of_Language/_tgHnwEACAAJ?hl=en
4. New Bible Commentary (1994) https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_Bible_Commentary/PNikDwAAQBAJ?hl=en