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| 1 So the two messengers went in towards Sodom, at eventide, Lot, being seated in the gate of Sodom,–so Lot beheld, and rose up to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth. |
Came two angels – In human form. E94
He bowed himself – Shaw-ka, worshipped. It is proper to reverence those in harmony with Jehovah. E73
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| 2 And he said, Behold, I pray you, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into the house of your servant,–and tarry the night, and bathe your feet, so shall ye rise early, and go on your way. And they said, Nay, but, in the broadway, will we tarry the night. |
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| 3 But he became exceeding urgent with them, so they turned aside unto him, and entered into his house,–and he made for them a banquet, unleavened cakes, also did he bake, and they did eat. |
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| 4 Ere yet they lay down, the men of the city–the men of Sodom, had come round against the house, from youth, even unto age,–all the people from every quarter. |
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| 5 And they called unto Lot, and said to him, Where are the men who have come in unto thee, tonight? Bring them forth unto us, and let us know them! |
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| 6 And Lot went forth unto them, to the entrance; but, the door, closed he behind him. |
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| 7 And he said,–Do not, I pray you, my brethren, act wickedly. |
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| 8 Behold, I pray you, I, have two daughters who have not known man, I must needs, now, bring, them, forth unto you, and do ye, to them, as may be good in your eyes,–Only, to these men, ye may do nothing; for, on this account, have they come under the shade of my roof. |
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| 9 And they said, Stand back, And they said, This one, by himself, hath come in to sojourn, and must always be acting the judge, Now, will we do more wickedly to thee, than to them. So they pressed sore upon the man–upon Lot–exceedingly, and drew near to break open the door. |
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| 10 And the men thrust forth their hand, and brought Lot in unto them, into the house–and, the door, they closed: |
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| 11 the men also who were at the entrance of the house, smote they with blindness, from small even unto great, so that they wearied themselves to find the entrance. |
With blindness – Angels have powers above the human. R265:2
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| 12 And the men said unto Lot, Whom, besides, hast thou here? Son-in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters, and all that thou hast in the city, bring thou forth out of the place; |
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| 13 For we are about to destroy this place,–for, great, is the outcry of them unto the face of Yahweh, so that Yahweh hath sent us to destroy it. |
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| 14 And Lot went forth and spake unto his sons-in-law who were about to take his two daughters, and said, Arise, come forth out of this place, for Yahweh is about to destroy the city. And it came to pass, that he was as one that laughed, in the eyes of his sons-in-law. |
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| 15 But, as soon as, the dawn, had sprung up, the messengers hastened Lot, saying,–Arise! take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are at hand, lest thou be swept away in the punishment of the city. |
Lot – Representing the Great Company. R2857:6
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| 16 And he lingered–so the men laid hold of his hand and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters, in the tenderness of Yahweh towards him,–and they brought him out, and led him forth outside the city. |
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| 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that they said, Escape for thy life, Look not behind thee, neither stand still in all the vale,–To the mountain, escape thou, lest thou be swept away. |
Brought them forth – Out of Sodom, type of Babylon, that great city which spiritually is called Sodom. D608[D608]
To the mountain – Symbol of Christ's kingdom. D573
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| 18 And Lot said unto them,–No, I pray thee, My Lord! |
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| 19 Behold, I pray thee, thy servant hath found favour in thine eyes, so that thou hast magnified thy lovingkindness which thou hast performed with me, in keeping alive my soul.–But, I, cannot escape to the mountain, lest calamity overtake me, so shall I die. |
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| 20 Behold, I pray thee, this city, is near, for fleeing thither, And, it, is a little one,–let me, I pray thee, escape thither–is it not a, little, one? That my soul may live! |
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| 21 And he said unto him, Behold! I have lifted up thy countenance, even as to this thing,–so that I will not overthrow the city, of which thou hast spoken. |
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| 22 Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything, until thou have come in thither. For this cause, was the name of the city called, Zoar. |
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| 23 When, the sun, had come forth on the earth, Lot, had entered into Zoar. |
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| 24 And, Yahweh, rained, upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire,–from Yahweh, out of the heavens: |
Rained upon Sodom – "If the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day." (Matt. 11:23) A110
Our Lord teaches that the Sodomites did not have a full opportunity, and he guarantees them such. (Luke 17:24) HG345:4
Brimstone – Probably bitumen, which abounds in the region around Sodom. R1618:6
And fire – Probably lightning. R1618:6
Symbols of utter destruction. A318
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| 25 so he overthrew these cities, and all the circuit,–and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the produce of the ground. |
He overthrew – No injustice as they were convicts anyway, convicted of sin and sentenced to death. (Rom. 5:12) F174
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| 26 But his wife looked from behind him,–and became–a pillar of salt. |
But his wife – For the foolish virgins, inclined to look back, the Lord left the injunction, "Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:32) C194; D608
Looked back – Being more in sympathy with the things behind than the things before. D608
If they love the things behind more than they appreciate deliverance, they will have no part in deliverance. R2858:1
A pillar of salt – Possibly stumbled in her flight, became covered with the half liquid, slimy mud, suffocated with the sulphur and bitumen, and then became encrusted with the salt crystals which are even now continually exhaled from the Dead Sea. R2858:2
An atmosphere heavily charged with sulphur and bitumen might easily produce suffocation. R2858:4
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| 27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning,–unto the place, where he had stood before Yahweh; |
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| 28 and he looked out over the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and over all the face of the land of the circuit,–and beheld, and lo! the smoke of the land went up, like the smoke of a furnace. |
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| 29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the circuit, that God remembered Abraham,–and sent forth Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities wherein Lot had dwelt. |
Sent Lot out – God's mercy towards Lot was because of his relationship to Abraham. R5179:3
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| 30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar,–so he dwelt in a cave, he, and his two daughters. |
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| 31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father, is old,–and, a man, there is not in the earth, to come in unto us, after the way of all the earth. |
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| 32 Come on! let us cause our father to drink wine, and let us lie with him,–that we may keep alive, from our father, a seed. |
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| 33 So they caused their father to drink wine, that night,–and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father, but he noticed not her lying down nor her rising up. |
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| 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Lo! I lay, last night, with my father,–let us cause him to drink wine, this night also, and go thou in–lie with him, that we may keep alive, from our father, a seed. |
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| 35 So they caused their father, on that night also, to drink wine,–and the younger arose, and lay with him, but he noticed not her lying down, nor her rising up. |
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| 36 Thus did, the two daughters of Lot conceive from their father. |
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| 37 And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab,–the same, is the father of Moab, unto this day. |
Of the Moabites – Whose relationship to Abraham and the Israelites is thus shown. A42
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| 38 And, the younger–she also, bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi,–the same, is the father of the sons of Ammon–unto this day. |
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