BURNING UP SODOM While Abraham enjoyed to entertain God with two angels, Lot only entertained the two angels, who rescued him from the destruction that befell Sodom, although having lost his wife, and unwittingly defiled with his own daughters. 1- Lot entertains the two angel 1-3. 2- Agitation of the people against the two angels 4-11. 3- Saving Lot and his family 12-22. 4- Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 23-25. 5- Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt 26. 6- Abraham looks toward Sodom and Gomorrah 27-29. 7- Lot’s daughters do wrong with their father 30-38. 1- ENTERTAINING THE TWO ANGEL “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, ‘Here now my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.’ And they said, ‘No, but we will spend the night in the open square.’ But he insisted strongly. So they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate” (Gen. 19:1-3). Nobody can disregard Lot’s virtues and life of faith, although incomparable to those of the great man Abraham. If Lot represents the era of Law, Abraham represents that of grace. It is appropriate for us to compare what was mentioned in the last chapter, concerning how Abraham entertained the Lord and His two angels, which is mentioned here, concerning how Lot entertained the two angels: (1) Abraham with his great soul and living faith, was worthy of receiving the Word of God and His two angels, “in the heat of the day,” as though he is, like the men of the New Covenant who encountered the Savior by the cross, in the daylight to behold the heaven open, and the heavenly being reconciled with the earthly. Lot, on the other hand, because of his weak faith, and not his lack of faith, had barely encountered two angels “in the evening,” who came to rescue him from the destruction that was about to befall the city where he chose to dwell with his family. Origen says: [Three men came to Abraham in the heat of the day (Gen. 18:1), but to Lot, two angels came in the evening (Gen. 19:1), as it was not possible for Lot to get the whole splendor of the daylight, that Abraham could get. To Abraham, the Lord came with the two angels. While to Lot, only the two angels came. Lot received the two destroyers (Gen. 19:13), while Abraham received the Savior together with the destroyers1.] Fr. Caesarius, as usual, quoted certain of the phrases written by Origen, saying: [Lot could not bear the full impact of the mid-day sun; But Abraham could stand in its whole splendor2.] The Fathers did not underestimate Lot, for he, despite his relative lower stature, compared to Abraham, he used to carry some of his virtues. And as St. Ambrose said: [Lot, the nephew of Abraham, has been close to him, not only as far as 1 In Gen. hom 4:1. 2 Ser. 83:2. 4 blood relationship is concerned, but also in virtue. Because of his readiness to receive strangers, he, together with his family, was saved from the punishment that befell Sodom1.] And in a comment on that, St. John Chrysostom says: [Because of him, angels came down to mankind; and men were lifted up to them2.] (2) Comparing Abraham’s feast with that of Lot, Fr. Caesarius says that three men came to Abraham and “stood by him” (Gen. 18:2); while to Lot, the two men came and stood in the open square.” We can say that the Lord and the two angels stood by Abraham “in the tent door;” or let us say that the Lord and His angels found in Abraham a heavenly life, so they came into his place. As to Lot, they encountered him as he was sitting “in the gate of Sodom.” Let us be like our father Abraham, worthy of encountering the Lord and His hosts, not “in the gate of the city,” but within our inner depths, being His well-beloved heavens. (3) There is a great difference between Abraham and Lot. The first, when he asked the Lord and His angels to come to him, they instantly responded, saying: “We shall do as you have said” (Gen. 18:5). But, with Lot, they wished to spend the night in the open square, then responding to his strong insistence, they turned in to him and entered his house (Gen. 19:3). (4) Abraham acknowledging the mystery of the Holy Trinity, did not only encounter three men, but he also asked Sarah to prepare three measures of fine meal; as though he is asking the Church, to enjoy the faith in the Holy Trinity, in order to be worthy, like the three measures of fine meal, of becoming heavenly bread. (5) Abraham’s encounter was crowned with his getting together with Sarah, the divine blessing and promise of a son; while that of Lot, barely ended with being saved together with his daughters, excluding his wife. The first was promised that his descendants would enjoy the land of promise, while the second got out of the city empty-handed and homeless! (6) In this encounter, Abraham, lovingly interceded for others - the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, while Lot entreated the two angels, for his own and his daughters’ sake, to allow them to dwell in the city of Zoar. 2- AGITATION OF THE PEOPLE AGAINST THE TWO ANGELS Lot, having received the two men (angels), had his house surrounded by the people of the city, old and young, who wanted to know his guests carnally (i.e. sexually), a portrait of the extent of uncleanness and wickedness, reached by the whole population of that city; so that this sin became to be named after them ‘Sodomism.’ Lot trying to defend his guests, proposed to bring out his two daughters to the mob, to do with them as they may wish, probably to shame them. Refusing that proposal, pressing hard against the man Lot, and coming near to break down the door, the two men reached out their hands, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door; then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, so that they became weary trying to find the door (Gen. 19:9-11). Even if Lot has been a hospitable man, and insisted wisely on not surrendering his two guests to evil, yet he was to blame for proposing to surrender his daughters as a ransom for the guests. Anyhow, God acknowledged Lot’s heart. He did not let him keep the strangers, but the strangers kept him and his family from the wicked people. 1 Duties of the Clergy 2:21 (105). 2 In Col. hom 3. 5 We did not hear of any agitation accompanying the appearance of the Lord and His two angels to Abraham, because Abraham represents the era of grace, while Lot, on the other hand, represents that of falling under the Law. The first enjoys a joyful encounter with God, in which the soul is lifted up above passion, and enjoys life on a heavenly level, while the second enters in a narrow and bitter affliction, and exposes his energies and capacities (his two daughters) to corruption. Yet, even in the era of the Law, heaven interceded, and grabbed man into his house, and shut him in against the wicked. The first brought on his body – Sarah - (laugh) or spiritual joy in the Lord, while the second entered into bitterness of soul. Finally, if God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah with abolishment, yet He did that after He said: “I will go down and see” (Gen. 18:21). Namely He gave the verdict after deliberation. He probably allowed the presence of Lot among them, to be a living role model for them, as well as a witness against them. But now, having done what they did, they had no excuse If Abraham in his dialogue with the Lord said to Him: “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25), God revealed His justice and love. He sent His angels to testify against the wicked, and to save Lot and his family! He did not destroy the righteous with the wicked. 3- SAVING LOT AND HIS FAMILY The two angels proclaim God’s salvation plan, and instructed Lot to get out together with his wife, daughters, and sons-in-law; but “to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking” (Gen. 19:14). The sons-in-law could have been saved even in the last moments, but as it is in all generations, the wicked always sees God’s ultimatums as jokes, and become contemptuous. Finally, “when the morning dawned,” the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying: “Arise, take your wife and two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city” (Gen. 19:15). The angels’ invitation, “when the morning dawned” was “arise;” as though it is a heavenly invitation to us to arise together with Christ the Lord, risen from the dead in the dawn of Sunday, to arise with our souls and our bodies (wives), and our energies and capacities (daughters), through their sanctification in the Lord. Lot lingered, probably because of his married daughters and their men, or his house and possessions, but the two angels brought him out and set him outside the city, and instructed them to escape for their lives. The two angels told Lot to escape to the mountains; yet as he was not able to do so, he begged them to allow him to escape to a little city called Zoar, so named, as it has been the smallest in the whole neighborhood. Its name was ‘Baleh,’ and was most probably on the eastern coast of the lake of ‘Lot.’ God responded to his request, and did not commit him to go to the mountains, but to that city ‘Zoar.’ Yet by that, Lot’s loss was great! God wants us to escape to the holy mountain, to be lifted up, by His Holy Spirit, to the exalted summits. Yet we, in our weakness, are satisfied with Zoar! St. Jerome says about Zoar, chosen by Lot for himself: [It was named ‘Zoar’ because of the little faith that Lot had. Who went far to dwell in Gomorrah, was not capable of reaching the land of ‘noon,’ reached by Abraham, the friend of God (James 2:23), and of the angels (Gen. 18:1)1.] St. Jerome was probably impressed by the words of Origen in his homily on 1 Ep. 122:1. 6 the Book of Genesis: [Lot was never capable of dwelling in the heights with Abraham.] What is that holy mountain, to which we escape for our life, but the Scripture, in which we find a strong fortress against the attacks of the evil enemy, the devil?! That is why, when the Lord Christ went through the temptation on the Mount on our account, and as a role model for us, He responded to every attack of the devil, by verses from the Scripture, as though they are holy mountains, to which he lifts us up, so that the enemy, with all his tricks, could not climb to us. That mountain also refers to the Word of God, Himself, of whom the prophet Daniel, said: “A stone was cut out without hands which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces..., and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:34-35). Christ - the Word of God, is the Stone, cut out without hands, as He is not of human seed; He is capable of striking the image of evil within our depths; and as He occupies our inner ground, He would become a great mountain to fill our whole heart! 4- DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH “The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens” (Gen. 19:23-24). If ‘Zoar’ means ‘little,’ we can not enjoy the spirit of humility and get the feeling of our little size, unless the Sun of righteousness rises on our inner ground, and proclaims the kingdom of His humility and love in us. It is amazing how God did not rain the brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, except after Lot entered Zoar; He was very keen on Lot as a righteous man. Here, the mystery of Trinity is revealed, in saying: “The Lord rained... from the Lord.” The Son, the Word had rained from the Lord. 5- LOT’S WIFE BECOMES A PILLAR OF SALT “But his wife (Lot’s) looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (Gen. 19:26). Some scholars interpreted that literally, or that she suffocated by the vapor and smoke, then got covered by the salt that turned into a grave for her, while others believe that earthquakes caused some rocks to drop over Lot’s wife to turn her into a pillar of salt. Anyhow, she became, according to the Book of wisdom “An example for unbelievers” (Wisdom 10:7). And as the Lord Christ said to His disciples, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). The following are comments of Fathers on the episode of Lot’s wife: Looking back, she turned into a memorial of the unbelieving soul1. St. Jerome Lot’s wife lost her nature itself, by looking back, by looking toward what was unclean, even by looking with clean eyes2. St. Ambrose After being saved from Sodom, she looked back. In the place she did that, there she remained3. St. Augustine 1 Ep. 122:1. 2 Conc. Virgins 2:4 (29). 3 On Ps. 76. 7 “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Lot’s wife, after being saved, looked back against the commandment, so lost what she gained by her escape. Let us not look back, and not heed Satan’s invitation to withdraw; but look ahead to where the Lord Christ invites us. Let us lift our eyes up toward heaven, so as not to be deceived by the earth with its vain pleasures1. St. Cyprian 6- ABRAHAM LOOKS TOWARD SODOM AND GOMORRAH “And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace; and it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow” (Gen. 19: 27-29). The day before, Abraham enjoyed entertaining the Lord and His angels, and got a promise to have a son. That, however, did not distract him from interceding for the sake of Sodom and Gomorrah, being with such a big and fatherly heart, he did not ask for himself, but for others. In his intercession, he committed himself objectively; he did not say a word concerning Lot and his family, but was talking with his heart, mind, emotions, and feelings, not heard except by the Lord himself, Who listened to him, as is said: “God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow.” What Lot enjoyed was actually because of Abraham! The big soul, in God’s eye, casts its shade over the little souls, with love, prayers, and inner moans of the heart, to become for them the source of blessing. As an example for that, we mention the soul of Joseph, the young slave. In the eye of the Lord, his soul was great and blessed. Because of this God blessed even the house of the Egyptian ‘Potiphar,’ “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field” (Gen. 39:5). It is not the blessing of Abraham nor of Joseph themselves, but the blessing of the Lord that fills the heart! 7- LOT’S DAUGHTERS DO WRONG WITH THEIR FATHER The Scripture ends the last chapter of Lot’s life with an extremely painful incident that was a natural fruit that Lot reaped out of the seeds he sowed. He chose Sodom a dwelling place, so his daughters drank the spirit of evil from its inhabitants. If Canaan got cursed because of ridiculing his grandfather Noah, when the latter got drunk and exposed, Lot’s daughters made their father drink wine, not just to get him exposed, but to have children from him. Some scholars tried to present excuses for these daughters, having seen the whole world in their eyes going up in flames, and their mother turning into a pillar of salt. So the only solution to preserve the lineage of their father, and of mankind, was to get children from their father; as though what they did was not for the sake of carnal lust. Origen says that many women do not have control over themselves with their men, even while pregnant; yet these two daughters did not seek lust. St. Didymus the Blind, bases his defense for the two girls, on the fact that, on the next day, the firstborn asked the younger to go in and lie with her father; and that the two of them never sought any further connection with him after having conceived. 1 Ep. 7:7. 8 However, many Fathers rejected this view. They believe that they should not have resorted to a human way to solve the problem, disregarding God’s power to create children out of stones. In a lack of belief, they fell in the worst imaginable sin, so that they became the symbol of the corruption of Israel and Judah, as they rejected the Lord, and counted like the harlot sisters, ‘Oholah’ and ‘Oholibah,’ whom we have dealt with in our interpretation of the Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 23). St. Augustine believes that these two daughters represent a bitter portrait of those who misuse the Law (the father), and attach to him carnally, namely literally and not spiritually, to produce fruits that are not in the Lord; as these daughters bore sons from their father: ‘Moab’ and ‘Ammon,’ the heads of two wicked nations: the ‘Moabites’ and the ‘Ammonites,’ we dealt with in our interpretation of the Book of Ezekiel (Chapter 25); with everything they represent. St. Jerome puts the blame on Lot, even if what he did has been unwittingly. It is far better for us to remain fruitless, rather than becoming mothers by such a way! That was a symbol of those who corrupt the Law, by misusing it to produce the ‘Moabites,’ symbols of wicked deeds1. St. Augustine Although Lot had been unaware of what he unwittingly did, yet it was counted to him a great sin, having become a father of the Moabites and the Ammonites, the enemies of Israel2. St. Jerome Finally we say that Lot represents the mature mind escaping from evil, yet reluctantly. His wife refers to the body retreating back, because of lusts; and the daughters refer to vain glory and conceit. 1 On Ps. 60. 2 Ep. 22:8.
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