Part II
Today’s first reading (Genesis 19:15-129) is the familiar story of the destruction of the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah as a punishment for their terrible immorality. Omitted is the scene when the two men, who are now being called angels, and who represent God’s own presence, are offered hospitality in Lot’s house. It is while they are there that that all the men of Sodom, both young and old, come demanding to rape the two supposedly male angels. Rather than abuse his solemn obligations of hospitality, Lot offers his two virgin daughters instead. To our way of thinking, this was an abhorrent and horrifying offer, but it shows that, at that time and in that culture, the demands of hospitality outweighed all other personal considerations, even forcing sex on your daughters. Sadly, a more terrible example of this abhorrent behavior is to be found in Judges 19:22-28. In the end, the daughters are spared when the men of Sodom are dazzled by a blinding light that prevented them from finding their way into the house.
We pick up the story where the men/angels warn Lot of the coming catastrophe and urge the family to flee at once. When he makes the announcement to his family, Lot’s sons-in-law refuse to take him seriously. Their skepticism will seal their doom.
At dawn the following morning, the angels again urge Lot to leave with his household. But Lot is still hesitant. Is he reluctant to leave behind all his wealth and prosperity? The men take Lot by the hand, together with his wife and two daughters, and forcibly bring them to a place outside Sodom. This is seen as an act of God’s mercy, and it might be noticed that only the direct relatives of Abraham are so rescued – the in-laws are left to their own devices.
Once outside the city, Lot is told to flee the Plain where the cities are and take to the hills. Again, Lot is reluctant to do what he is told. “Oh, no, my lords!” he cries. He says that the visitors have already shown great kindness by saving his life and he is afraid to go to the hills for fear that some disaster might overtake him. He suggests being allowed to take refuge in another smaller city that is not far away and where he would be “safer”.
“He replied” (only one person now is mentioned, most likely the Lord himself) and grants this concession and promises that this city will not be destroyed. But again, he urges Lot to get there as quickly as possible “for I can do nothing until you arrive there”. This city, we are told, was called Zoar, a word meaning ‘a trifling thing’. The town lies to the southeast of the Dead Sea. Later, during the Roman period, an earthquake occurred there, and the town was flooded; it was rebuilt higher up the shore and was inhabited until the Middle Ages.
By now the sun is already up. And at that moment fire and sulfur rained down from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. The two cities were destroyed and all the Plain with them, including all the inhabitants and all plant life.
According to some commentaries, the “fire and brimstone” likely came from a volcanic eruption or from bitumen deposits released during a huge earthquake. Modern geologic studies in the area have found large deposits of bitumen, similar to asphalt, in the areas where Sodom and Gomorrah were located. The evidence also shows that a fault line exists along the eastern side of the plain south of the Dead Sea. A large earthquake along this fault likely would have liquified the bitumen, which could then be ignited by sulfur bombs released from the fissure. Widespread clastic sulfur bombs have been found in the area. Evidence for this scenario also comes from the Bible itself. Abraham viewed the destruction from a vantage point west of the Dead Sea: “He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land in a line, like smoke from a furnace” (Genesis 19:28). Dense smoke suggests smoke from a petroleum-fueled fire, and the line suggests a fault being the locus of the destruction. The doomed towns were, besides Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zebolim.
As Lot and his family fled, his wife, who disobeyed the order not to look back, was turned into a pillar of salt. Now only three people have survived – Lot and his two daughters (who had a double escape). The southern end of the Dead Sea features colossal salt pillars and perhaps one of them suggested the appearance of a woman and hence the legend.
And so it was, says Genesis, that when God destroyed the Plain and the two cities, he remembered Abraham and rescued Lot from the midst of the destruction. Our reading today concludes with the suggestion that Lot’s being saved was less for his own sake than for the sake of his uncle, Abraham. Earlier, when they were dividing the land between them, it had been suggested that Lot had made a less wise and more selfish choice in picking that area. He has now lost it all.
There has been much discussion about the nature of the sin committed by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The book of Leviticus argues that the sin was that of homosexual acts (Leviticus 20:13). Such acts were considered an abomination by the Jews but were widely practiced by the surrounding Gentiles (Leviticus 20:23). Others, however, have argued that the sin of Sodom was a sin against hospitality, the violation of the respect due to visitors. Hospitality towards strangers has almost a sacred character among the people of the Middle East. This is seen in Lot’s anguished proposal to offer his daughters to the crowd, rather than dishonor his visitors.
The Church today (see The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2357-2359) distinguishes between homosexual acts (teaching that these are objectively sinful) and homosexual inclination (attraction to members of the same sex that is not subject to one’s own free will). The Church now recognizes that a minority of men and women are so constituted that they are sexually attracted primarily to people of their own gender. We are called to treat all people with compassion and to support and encourage all persons to live out Jesus’ call to holiness. We do this by obeying the Commandments, following the teaching of the Church, and acting in accord with our informed conscience.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!