A reflection on Genesis 1:19:1-11 and Jude 7.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. He said, ‘Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.’ They said, ‘No; we will spend the night in the square.’ But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’ Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, ‘I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 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.’ 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. But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were unable to find the door.
Genesis 19:1-11 (NRSVA)
Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Jude 7 (NRSVA)
The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is often used as evidence of the Bible’s opposition to homosexual behaviour. There is a long-established link between this story and the church’s traditional stance. Of course, this does not negate the call to return to the text with new perspectives and fresh questions.
Our story begins earlier than the reading above. Genesis 18 opens with an encounter between ‘three men’ (18:2), Abraham, and his wife Sarah. After a generous welcome and a repeat of YHWH’s promise of a heir for the aging couple, the trio set out for Sodom. Abraham follows far enough to see their destination. A conversation between one of the three, named YHWH, and Abraham unfolds. The visitors are on a mission to discover whether the ‘outcry’ of Sodom’s inhabitants is warranted (18:21).
Abraham understands their mission as one of judgment and destruction. The famous passage of Abraham’s repeated questioning of YHWH ends with a promise not to sweep away the righteous with the unrighteous.
And then YHWH leaves.
The remaining ‘men’ are left to continue the mission to Sodom. Before this, however, their identity is further clarified. They look like humans. Now, however, they are called ‘angels’ (19:1). The trio are heavenly beings.
How obvious this is to Abraham, Sarah, Lot, and the people of Sodom may be up for debate. What is clear, however, is that Lot welcomes them with an act of humble submission and generous hospitality. He calls them ‘lords’ and himself their servant (19:2). He demonstrates determination to welcome them, as Abraham did, with a lavish meal, shelter, and, as the story unfolds, a willingness to protect them even at significant risk to himself and his family.
Yet while Lot has them in the apparent safety and comfort of his home, we encounter an alarming twist in the story. The whole town has now gathered, ‘the men of Sodom’ and indeed, ‘all the people’ (19:4). They make a disturbing demand: “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them” (19:5). Lot interprets their intentions as ‘wicked’ and seeks to appease the crowd, both male and female, with the desperate, and unseemly, offer of his virgin daughters.
It is an ugly and disturbing scene that leads to the fiery destruction, with the exception of Lot and his family, of the entire city.
We are right to understand the city’s intention to gang-rape these angelic beings. While motive may include sexual gratification there are also other possibilities. We already know there is an outcry of injustice against this town. Is this to be understood as another act of oppression of the outsider?
Perhaps there are also links to be made between the ‘sons of God’ who came down and fathered the ‘mighty men of old’ in Genesis 6. There, immediately following this story, YHWH describes humanity’s resulting ‘wickedness’ (6:5) and initiates both the great flood, and the fabled ark. Could it be that the people of Sodom remember these stories and see sexual activity with angelic beings as an opportunity to further their own power and strengthen their race? While such an interpretation may not feel familiar, it is certainly consistent with the Genesis account.
At any rate, it seems presumptuous to link this account of Sodom’s attempt to gang-rape two angels too quickly with the modern term homosexuality. Perhaps we better understand the intentions of the mob as further evidence supporting the original concern of heaven against the injustice of this city (See Genesis 18:20-21). Clearly this is what the prophet Ezekiel thought when he spoke on behalf of YHWH: ‘Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy’ (Ezekiel 16:49).
God’s objection to such injustice is a consistent theme throughout scripture. Injustice is addressed far more often than homosexual behaviour. Indeed, we will consider over the next few posts whether it is addressed at all. For now, it is worth noting that Ezekiel 16 is one of the very few places that the nature of Sodom’s sin is addressed.
Yet there is one other place. Jude 7 speaks, first, of ‘sexual immorality’. Indeed this is not difficult to see in the Genesis account of attempted gang-rape. Jude then also uses the phrase ‘unnatural desire’. Another translation may be ‘different flesh’. To my mind this sits naturally with a story of encounter with heavenly beings. To read homosexuality into this phrase is entirely dependent on the traditional way the Sodom story is understood.
This understanding of the story may seem to be very odd. I am sympathetic. I too have had to revisit this story and question traditional interpretations. Much of the church is not used to reading the account of Sodom this way. This may indicate, however, that we have not taken seriously the encounters with angelic beings, both good and evil, in story of Genesis. It may also indicate a determination to defend interpretations we are used to – no matter who it costs.
There is another parallel between Genesis chapter 6 and chapter 19. In both God sets out to destroy all, but spares those deemed ‘righteous’ (6:9). Noah and Lot live. Both are stories of judgment and, at least in part, of grace. Indeed, this reflects the way the story of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ is employed throughout scripture.
It is a story used as a call to repentance.
Perhaps this grace is the more central theme – the theme of the Sodom story that should leave us truly surprised!