God's Controversy.

As we continue our contemplation of God's view of marriage, family, and sexual behavior, let us consider Genesis 18 and 19.

The Lord said, "Should I hide My imminent actions from Abraham? After all, Abraham will undoubtedly become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings using his name. I have a special relationship with him; he will command his children and household, and they will keep the command of the Lord by doing what is right, and then the Lord will bring on to Abraham all that He spoke to him." Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom is so great, and their sin is so heavy, that I must go down according to the outcry of their wickedness that has come to Me, to see if it is as blatant as the outcry suggests: if not, I will know." (Genesis 18:17-21)

While Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom, two angels arrived. When Lot saw them he got up to meet them, then bowed his face to the ground. He said, "Here, my lords, please stay at your servant's house for the night, wash your feet, and you can be on your way early in the morning." "No," they replied, "We will spend the night out here in the street." But Lot insisted, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including unleavened bread, and they ate. Before they could go to sleep, all the men-- young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom, surrounded the house. They shouted and said to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them!" Lot went outside, shutting the door behind him. He said, "No, my brothers! Don't act wickedly! Look, I have two daughters who have never had sexual relations. Let me bring them out to you and you can do according to what is good in your eyes. Only don't do anything to these men; they have come under the protection of my roof." "Stand back!" they cried in response. "This man is living here as a resident alien, and now he dares to judge us! We will hurt you more than them!" They kept pressing in on Lot, drawing close enough to break down the door. So the angels inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house as they shut the door. Then they struck the men at the door with blindness, from the youngest to the oldest. The men, blinded, wore themselves out trying to find the door. The two angels said to Lot, "Who else do you have here? Do you have a son-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place, because we are going to destroy it. The outcry is so great before the Lord that He has sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:1-13)

When they had brought the family outside, the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't gaze behind you and don't stop anywhere in the Jordan Valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!" The Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the sky, sent from the Lord from the heavens. The Lord overthrew those cities and the Jordan Valley, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. But Lot's wife turned and looked back with longing; she was turned into a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:17, 19:24-26)