For millennia the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has been seen as a condemnation of people who are homosexuals. The real sins of Sodom were pride and a lack of compassion for the poor. Not that we should enslave the poor with endless handouts, but “strengthen the hand of the poor”, or help the poor to survive not dependent on charity.

Ezekiel 16:49-50 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.

The story of Sodom’s demise begins in the 18th chapter of Genesis when God told Abraham that he would destroy Sodom, but the destruction of the city takes place in the 19th chapter. Abraham tried to bargain with God to spare the city, which means Abraham did not want to see Sodom destroyed.

Lot was the nephew of Abraham, and he lived in Sodom. Lot was a righteous man, but he remained in Sodom until the very end, and many of his actions indicate that he was trying to save Sodom. This should be easy to believe since Abraham clearly wanted God to spare Sodom.

Genesis 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

When the angels came to destroy the city, Lot was expecting them. Lot even sat at the gates of the city waiting for the angels to arrive. God or Abraham had warned Lot. Knowing that the destruction was coming, but hoping to save Sodom, Lot would have warned the people of Sodom. The people of Sodom were too arrogant to believe Lot.

Lot was able to recognize that these visitors were angels, which means that these strangers must have stood out in some way. Other people of Sodom must have also seen the angels, and the arrival of these unusual strangers would have triggered conversations across the city.

As word spread, and the people of Sodom talked about the strangers, the people of Sodom would have been curious as to who these strangers were. A crowd gathered at Lot’s house to question Lot about the strangers. The angry mob wanted to know if these strangers were allegedly angels. The people of Sodom were very arrogant and cleaver. They would not dignify the strangers by asking if they were angels. They asked the question in a very clever way.

Genesis 19:4-5 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

The crowd was trying to determine if Lot was going to claim that these strangers were angels. The crowd asked, do they have sex? The crowd was waiting to see the reaction of Lot and the reaction of the strangers. How did Lot react?

Genesis 19:6-8 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

Lot was a righteous man, meaning he was a very good man, and he must have loved his daughters greatly. Lot was not actually going to send his daughters out to the mob. This mob was not interested in sex, and Lot knew this. What Lot basically said was, “You can rape and kill my own daughters, but whatever you do, whatever you do, don’t mess with these strangers!” Lot was trying to get the mob to back off, but his words confirmed to the crowd his claim that these were angels of God who were sent to destroy them, and the people of Sodom became more hostile.

Notice that Lot went outside to speak to the mob. He even shut the door as if he was going to speak with them privately, away from the angels. Clearly, Lot wasn’t afraid of these people, in fact, he was trying to help them. Lot was trying to get his friends and neighbors to back off, and he wanted to do so without the angels hearing what he said to the crowd, and what the crowd said to him.

Lot’s warning for the mob to back off only confirmed that these strangers were indeed angels who were sent to destroy the city. This caused the mob to become more hostile because they were too arrogant to believe it. Notice that when the mob threatened Lot, it had nothing to do with sex.

Genesis 19:9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

This mob wasn’t after sex. They were angry because they were being judged. They were angry by the claim of Lot that they were found unworthy.

Sodom has been portrayed as a city of brutal homosexuals who went around in mobs raping whomever they would. But if Sodom was as barbaric as it has been portrayed it wouldn’t be necessary for God to destroy the city as it would have destroyed itself.

Sodom was like Hollywood. Nobody wants to see Hollywood destroyed just as Abraham and Lot did not want to see Sodom destroyed. Like Hollywood, Sodom was the greatest city and the greatest people who ever lived, and they knew it.