In Genesis chapters 18 and 19 we are given the account of God’s judgment upon Sodom and the other cities of the plain. This is one of the most well-known Biblical records of God pouring out his judgment on particular cities and peoples, so I believe it is incredibly important for us to understand what caused God to move His hand in this way. We know that God is long suffering towards men and not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), so what was the final straw for these cities?
The Lord says to Abraham, in Genesis chapter 18 verse 20, that the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great because their sin is very grievous. Abraham knows that God intends to judge the cities and petitions Him to not destroy them for the sake of the righteous. Eventually, Abraham asks the Lord to save the cities for the sake of only ten righteous. As we know, the Lord did destroy the cities and poured out fire and brimstone upon them. This tells us that there weren’t even ten righteous people living there. What a very sad picture of just how thoroughly wicked these cities must have become.
Ezekiel chapter 16 verses 49 and 50 have this to say about Sodom, “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore, I took them away as I saw good.” So, the kinds of people that filled these cities, with hardly any righteous people remaining, were: prideful, gluttonous, idle, greedy, haughty, and committing abominations. This is all aside from the most well-known sin of the cities, sexual immorality, specifically homosexuality.
Genesis chapter nineteen verses 4 through 11 tell the story of Lot bringing the Lord’s angels, disguised as human men, into his home. The young and old men of the city surrounded Lot’s home, imploring Lot to let them have sexual relations with the angels. Lot calls this wicked and the men of the city tell Lot that they intend to do even worse to him. The angels pull Lot inside the door and strike all the men with blindness. This next part, I believe, reveals the absolute depravity of the men; and that is, even while blind they still wearied themselves trying to find the door to have sex with these men.
I believe that this was the final straw for God. The people were exceedingly wicked already, but their intended acts toward His angels and a righteous man were too much. How close are we in America to this same level of depravity? How much longer will He strive with men? Let us be like Abraham and pray for the deliverance of the righteous in a perverse generation.
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