Sodom's Wickedness Exposed: Angels Visit Lot | Genesis 19:1

Memory Verse

Now the two angels entered Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom, and he saw them and rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself facing the ground (Genesis 19:1).

The two men who traveled with the LORD as He met Abraham on the way now enter the city of Sodom. Lot, one of the city’s leaders, greets them at the gate and insists that they abide in his house that night (Genesis 19:2). Because the wickedness of the city oppresses Lot (2 Peter 2:8–9), he strongly insists that they enter his house to protect them (Genesis 19:3).

Lot’s attempt to protect these two men did not go unnoticed. Before Lot and the men lay down for the night, the men of the city came to Lot’s house demanding that he turn them over (Genesis 19:4–5). So great was the wickedness of this city, and the valley it resided in, that it fully manifested itself within only a few hours of the angels entering its gates. Lot rebukes them, offering his own daughters to protect the men, but the crowd would not have it and turned on him (Genesis 19:7–9).

At this time, the valley of Siddim was a wicked place. These cities had given themselves over to illicit sexual relations, which also involved bestiality (Jude 7). This moral collapse is seen in Sodom as the men attempt, without provocation, to attack the two men who entered their city and seek to have their way with them.