Look it up now! The story of the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah is told in Genesis 18–19. The Battle of Siddim. Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. Some catastrophe there undoubtedly was but what secondary agencies, besides fire, were employed in the accomplishment of the punishment cannot be safely determined in the almost total absence of exact scientific description of the natural features of the ground around the lake. Apparently, fewer than ten righteous were found, since God did destroy the cities, sparing … For one central lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah is that the cities were destroyed not because of the sins of a few individuals, but those of the society as a whole. ). of Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”, Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him. Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the Old Testament’s most infamously sinful cities. Salem Media Group. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. 26 But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. The angels warned Lot and his family to not look back but his wife did not listen and was immediately turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back. Article Images Copyright © 2021 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. (Easton's Bible Dictionary), One of the CITIES OF THE PLAIN (which see) destroyed by fire from heaven in the time of Abraham and Lot (Genesis 19:23-29). Sodom and Gomorrah and homosexuality have been linked together like a chain and been used to beat people over the head. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. The ruins of the biblical city of Sodom reportedly have been discovered by … About the biblical story of Sodom & Gomorrah: Genesis 19 Why did God destroy the city of Sodom & its people? All men, animals, and vegetation were destroyed. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. Abraham has three mysterious visitors The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees… The divine judgment of the cities of the Plain follows an encounter in Scripture between God and Abraham, in which God appears to Abraham as a man, accompanied by two other men. The cities themselves were not physically in the valley – but the battle was! Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. This city is always mentioned next after Sodom, both of which were types of impiety and wickedness (Genesis 18:20; Romans 9:29). Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? In art, the subjects involved in the biblical accounts of Sodom and Gomorrah have been portrayed in numerous medieval psalters, Renaissance frescoes, and paintings down to the present day. “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, Rather than compare Sodom and Gomorrah to other ancient cultures and seek to justify their sexual immorality, Sodom and Gomorrah should be compared to Nineveh during the time of Jonah. We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. Proust’s novel is also an unforgiving analysis of both the decadent high society of Paris and the rise of a philistine bourgeoisie that is on the way to supplanting it. They came disguised as men, travelers along the road. One can still pick up sulfur pellets which are the remnants of what the Bible calls brimstone. There was never any suggestion that homosexuality, or even male rape, caused this destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The Genesis text The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the favorite passages of persons who oppose same-sex behavior. He was a very righteous man, and Sodom was a very sinful city. 7) They were not ashamed to own it and to prosecute their design by force and arms. Additionally, Ezekiel 16:49 mentions the inhabitants’ refusal to care for the poor despite their prosperity, which is taken as further evidence that homosexuality is not the cause of their damnation. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Modern scholarship, particularly in Judaism and certain branches of Christianity, has proposed that it is the inhabitants’ lack of hospitality, not their homosexuality, that gives offence to God. The exact nature of the damning wickedness of the cities has been the subject of debate. The people of Nineveh were also wicked ( Jonah 1:2 ) and violent ( Jonah 3:8 ) and yet they were spared because they repented of their evil ways and called on God for forgiveness ( Jonah 3:10 ). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Sodom & Gomorrah brings Proust's narrator back to Balbec, haunted by the shade of his grandmother and with a new consciousness of homosexuality in his midst (of both the gay and lesbian kind). However, two earlier passages are prelude to this. Sexual acts attributed to the Sodomites gave the city’s name to the contemporary term sodomy. The Lord told Abraham that he was going to destroy the city because of the people's sin. The search for the location of the doomed sister cities continues to fascinate many scholars, historians, and Bible readers. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Wickedness had become universal, and they were unanimous in any vile design. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the favorite passages of persons who oppose same-sex behavior. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area was once fertile, in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000–1500 bce), with fresh water flowing into the Dead Sea in sufficient amounts to sustain agriculture. (Excerpt from Smith's Bible Dictionary), The name Gomorrah means "submersion". The cities were located on the Jordan River plain, near the land bordering the central area of … But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. “Get out of our way,” they replied. As they flee the destruction, Lot’s wife looks back upon the city and is turned into a pillar of salt (19:12–29). Others, however, with much greater probability, contend that they stood at the northern end of the sea. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar. The sin of sodomy was an offense against nature frequently connected with idolatrous practices. The wickedness of the city became proverbial. With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! This city and its awful destruction are frequently alluded to in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:23; 32:32; Isaiah 1:9 Isaiah 1:10; 3:9; 13:19; Jeremiah 23:14; Ezekiel 16:46-5 ; Zephaniah 2:9 ; Matthew 10:15; Romans 9:29; 2 Pet 2:6 , etc.). But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Sodom and Gomorrah was a big flop when it was released and has been nearly forgotten since then. 19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. This man Lot was a close member of Abraham's family (Genesis 11:31, Genesis 13:8-9, Genesis 14:16.) Genesis 13:10. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. The word is used in a typical sense in Revelation 11:8. In the Genesis account, God reveals to Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah are to be destroyed for their grave sins (18:20). Sep 25, 2015 - Explore Judy Willem's board "Sodom and Gomorrah", followed by 153 people on Pinterest. 1:27 ), which are worse than brutish, and the eternal reproach of the human nature, and which cannot be thought of without horror by those that have the least spark of virtue and any remains of natural light and conscience. This is a summary of the Biblical account of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Copyright © 2021, Bible Study Tools. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. It was one of the five cities of the plain of Siddim (q.v.) The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? This is a shame. Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! It seems that Sodom and Gomorrah were not as “destroyed” as previously thought. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah have come to epitomize moral depravity and cruelty. Abraham begged for God to relent. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of many things, but foremost among them was the sin of homosexuality. The entire community had become selfish and evil, and so they brought about their own destruction. When the two angels arrived in Sodom and Gomorrah, a man named Lot invited them to stay at his home. Finding only Lot and his family as righteous among the inhabitants, the angels warn Lot to quickly evacuate the city and to not look back. Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the Old Testament’s most infamously sinful cities. Sodom and Gomorrah, notoriously sinful cities in the biblical book of Genesis, destroyed by “sulfur and fire” because of their wickedness (Genesis 19:24). Hence daring sinners are said to declare their sin as Sodom (see Isaiah 3:9). It was located probably in the plain South of the Dead Sea, now covered with water. Jeremiah compares the actions of the prophets with the adultery, lying and evil of the people of Sodom. The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (18:16-33; 19:1-29; Deuteronomy 23:17). The video features the ancient Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and presents information from skeptics who doubt the Bible's accuracy concerning what led to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. One can compare in this regard the Greek myth of Baucis and Philemon. You are watching OT013 Sodom and Gomorrah on Godtube.com the largest video sharing platform offering online Christian videos with faith-based, family friendly content. Directed by Jack Hively. Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in Genesis, notorious for their flagrant sin. Sodom and Gomorrah are despoiled and captives are taken, among them Lot.The tide turns when Lot's uncle, Abraham, gathers an elite force that slaughters the hosts of Chedorlaomer in Hobah, north of Damascus, freeing the cities of the plain from the grip of Elam. Then my life will be spared.”. One righteous man is pitted against the world's most wicked cities … They were carried headlong by those vile affections (Rom. What was the sin of Sodom according to Genesis 19? All rights reserved. Not even ten righteous people, the minimum to constitute a community, could be found in the cities. Genesis 14:8 says the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah WENT OUT of their cities, to go into the Vale of Siddim. An inspiration to writers, artists, and psychologists, Sodom and Gomorrah and their legendary wickedness have been the subject of numerous dramas, including the History of Lot and Abraham, a medieval mystery play; Sodome et Gomorrhe, by the French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, in 1943; and Sodhome kye Ghomorra, by the Greek writer Nikos Kazantzákis, in the 1950s. Sodom). Genesis 10:19. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! God also told Abraham that he would spare the people and not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if he was able to find even 10 people who were righteous. The lord was with Abraham overlooking the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham asked if God would destroy the city if there were any righteous men living there. But God … The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The brimstone or sulfur pellets are composed of 99% pure sulfur. Note, Those that allow themselves in unnatural uncleanness are marked for the vengeance of eternal fire. When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. When the catastrophic destruction occurred, the petroleum and gases existing in the area probably contributed to the imagery of “brimstone and fire” that accompanied the geological upheaval that destroyed the cities. God agreed to spare the city for the sake of ten righteous people. Other biblical references to Sodom and Gomorrah, including Jude 1:7, which mentions sexual immorality and “unnatural lust,” and the “abominable things” of Ezekiel 16:50, are seen as support for this view. At first, this was good and well. Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. While he understood God’s judgment of sin, Abraham asked God to spare the city even if there could be found as few as ten righteous people (Genesis 18:32). Of the catastrophe which destroyed the city and the district of Sodom, we can hardly hope ever to form a satisfactory conception. Lot, leader of the Hebrews, believes his people can co-exist with the Sodomites, a disastrous decision. No. The Lord replied that if there was even 1 righteous person living there, then He would not destroy the city. Sodom and Gomorrah painting . But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 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