Sodom
Sodom was a city in ancient Canaan that became a symbol for God’s justice applied. It ceased to exist as a place when God’s messengers unleashed a storm of fire on the village and consumed it and all its inhabitants. It now serves only as a sad reminder that deliberate sin will be punished, sooner or later. The tragic Sodom episode is told in Genesis 18–19. Our awareness of the depravity of Sodom in the account of the Old Testament doesn’t prepare us for Jesus’ words: “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? No, you will go down to hell! If the miracles that had been worked in you had been worked in Sodom, it would still be there today. I can guarantee that judgment day will be better for Sodom than for you” (Matt. 11:23–24).
Sodom and the close-by city of Gomorrah are part of a significant chapter in Abraham’s life. Lot chose to settle in the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because it was “well-watered like the LORD’s garden or like Egypt” (Gen. 13:10). This imagery echoes Eve’s temptation to eat fruit that was “good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable” (Gen. 3:6) and foreshadows the temptations Lot would face in these sinful cities. While Lot was tolerating and trying to get along with his neighbors, God came to Abraham with his plans to destroy the cities. Abraham pled for their survival. In a classic and almost humorous example of bartering, Abraham argued for the sparing of the city if ten innocent men could be found there. God rescued Lot and his two daughters, but Lot’s wife decided to look back, perhaps with curiosity or with longing for what she was leaving, and she was lost. “Then the LORD made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. He destroyed those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and whatever grew on the ground” (Gen. 19:24–25).
When Lot’s wife disobeyed God’s command and looked back as they fled Sodom, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
A Symbol for Sin
The prophets mention Sodom frequently, using the name not so much to confront sexual perversity but as a symbol to represent blatant sin of all kinds. For example, Ezekiel rails against Jerusalem: “ ‘As I live,’ declares the Almighty LORD, ‘your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. This is what your sister Sodom has done wrong. She and her daughters were proud that they had plenty of food and had peace and security. They didn’t help the poor and the needy. They were arrogant and did disgusting things in front of me. So I did away with them when I saw this’ ” (16:48–50).
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the wicked cities where Lot lived, were burned with sulfur and brimstone as a judgment for their sin.
An Example of Judgment
Alongside Jesus’ use of Sodom as a sobering example to his contemporaries, other New Testament writers mention Sodom in symbolic language. Paul quotes Isaiah’s point that the ultimate difference between Israel and Sodom is the grace of God, not the moral superiority of God’s chosen people (Rom. 9:29). Peter points to Sodom as “an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them” (2 Pet. 2:6). Jude points out the specific sins of Sodom to demonstrate that they were not singled out for the punishment that will fall on all sin: “What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities near them is an example for us of the punishment of eternal fire. The people of these cities suffered the same fate that God’s people and the angels did, because they committed sexual sins and engaged in homosexual activities” (1:7). And at one point in Revelation, John’s description of Jerusalem equates the conditions in the city with that ancient example: “Their dead bodies will lie on the street of the important city where their Lord was crucified. The spiritual names of that city are Sodom and Egypt” (11:8).
The tragedy of Sodom lies buried in history, but the lessons of Sodom continue with us every day. The day of the Lord will bring the total and irrevocable judgment of God epitomized by Sodom and Gomorrah.
Key Verse
God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them. Yet, God rescued Lot, a man who had his approval. Lot was distressed by the lifestyle of people who had no principles and lived in sexual freedom. Although he was a man who had God’s approval, he lived among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each day was like torture to him as he saw and heard the immoral things that people did.
Since the Lord did all this, he knows how to rescue godly people when they are tested. He also knows how to hold immoral people for punishment on the day of judgment. (2 Pet. 2:6–9)