As we move into chapter 19 of Genesis today our word is the name of a city that was in the valley of Siddim at the south end of the Dead Sea close to the city of Gomorrah. Both cities are referenced as “cities of the plain” in Genesis 19:29. We are talking about סְדֹם Sodom. It is used 39 times in the Old Testament. The city was large enough to have a king that could make Abram rich if we remember in Genesis 14 when Abram rescued his nephew and saved the king of Sodom. Even though the land was beautiful the people inside of it had allowed themselves to become corrupt. We will look more at this along with how the culture influenced Lot’s family in a couple of days. But for today we will see this word a simple name of a city become an infamous symbol of corruption so bad that it has to be destroyed. We see this throughout the rest of the Bible from this point on ward.
When Moses is sharing the agreement or covenant God is making with the people God warns them of what could happen if they are not careful to follow God’s direction and abandon Him. Deuteronomy 29:24-26 All the nations will ask: “Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?” And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. Then God uses our word for today as an example of what he had to do. Deuteronomy 29:23 The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of סְדֹם Sodom and Gomorrah...which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. God used the Prophet Isaiah later in Israel’s history to call them out with this word as a symbol of corruption. Isaiah 1:9-10; 3:9 Unless the LORD Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like סְדֹם Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of סְדֹם Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! We see the same thing in Jeremiah 23:14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that not one of them turns from their wickedness. They are all like סְדֹם Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” And again, in Ezekiel 16:48-49 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister סְדֹם Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. Now this was the sin of your sister סְדֹם Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. This is also repeated in Amos, Zephaniah, and Lamentations. And not surprisingly into the New Testament.
Jesus uses Sodom as a symbol of corruption in this way. Matthew 11:22-24 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. And we see the Holy Spirit writing through Peter to make the case for why godliness is so important. 2 Peter 2:4, 6-10 For if God … condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot … if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. So, the big lesson from our word for today is since God knows how to rescue us then by all means let God rescue us and stay far away from what can corrupt us because no one wants to become the next Sodom and become so corrupt they have to be destroyed.
