AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF LOT (Part 4)

AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF LOT (Part 4)

Kenute P. Curry

INTO SODOM

The two angels מַלְאָךְ [mal’ak /mal·awk/] arrived at Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting near the gate. Lot’s fortunes had gone so well that he had become enmeshed in the life of the city as a ruling elder. When Lot saw them he bowed his face down to the ground and invited them into his house to spend the night. The angels told him that they were going to spend the night in the city’s public square, but Lot begged them out of concern to come, in an effort to protect them from the known perversity of the Sodomites, so they complied. He prepared a meal for them and they ate.

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angels: Transliteration: Strong’s H4397 מַלְאָךְ [mal’ak /mal·awk/] n m From an unused root meaning to dispatch as a deputy; TWOT 1068a; GK 4855; 214 occurrences; AV translates as “angel” 111 times, “messenger” 98 times, “ambassadors” four times, and “variant” once. 1 messenger, representative. 1a messenger. 1b angel. 1c the theophanic angel.

The word “angels” transliterates as Strong’s H4397 mal’ak /mal·awk. That this was a theophanic moment is quite clear from the context in Genesis 18. In chapter 19 the two men are referred to as angels. They were representatives or messengers of God who had been sent to Sodom to search the city and rescue Lot and his family from impending judgment. How gracious and merciful is the LORD to spare even one for the sake of another. It was Yahweh’s love for Abraham that caused Him to spare Lot and his family from the coming destruction.

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Before bedtime the young and old men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house, and called to Lot, that he would bring the two men out to them, so that they could know them. The word “know” translates in Hebrew as  דָּעָה, יָדַע [ 1A3 yada` /yaw·dah/] which means, in this instance, to know a person carnally or sexually. The men of Sodom were aggressive homosexuals, bent on raping innocent travelers. Under the circumstances, Lot showed great courage by inviting his guests to stay at his house under his protection. The Sodomites had given themselves over to such impurity that they wanted whatever they could get and whatever they hadn’t had (Ephesians 4:18-19).

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know: Transliteration: Strong’s H 3045  דָּעָה, יָדַע [yada` /yaw·dah/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 848; GK 1977; and 3359; 947 occurrences; AV translates as “know” 645 times, “known” 105 times, “knowledge” 19 times, “perceive” 18 times, “shew” 17 times, “tell” eight times, “wist” seven times, “understand” seven times, “certainly” seven times, “acknowledge” six times, “acquaintance” six times, “consider” six times, “declare” six times, “teach” five times, and translated miscellaneously 85 times. 1 to know. 1A (Qal) 1a1 to know. 1a1a to know, learn to know. 1a1b to perceive. 1a1c to perceive and see, find out and discern. 1a1d to discriminate, distinguish. 1a1e to know by experience. 1a1f to recognise, admit, acknowledge, confess. 1a1g to consider. 1a2 to know, be acquainted with. 1a3 to know (a person carnally). 1a4 to know how, be skilful in. 1a5 to have knowledge, be wise. 1B (Niphal) 1b1 to be made known, be or become known, be revealed. 1b2 to make oneself known. 1b3 to be perceived. 1b4 to be instructed. 1C (Piel) to cause to know. 1D (Poad) to cause to know. 1E (Pual). 1e1 to be known. 1e2 known, one known, acquaintance (participle). 1F (Hiphil) to make known, declare. 1G (Hophal) to be made known. 1H (Hithpael) to make oneself known, reveal oneself.

The word translated “know” is Strong’s H3045 yada` /yaw·dah, which in the context, here in Genesis 19:4-11 refers to sexual immorality, that of “sodomy” or “homosexuality.” The 1A3 transliteration in Strong’s means to know a person carnally or sexually. The men of Sodom were actually breaking down the door to try and get to the angels; and even after they had been smote with blindness, they wore themselves out trying to find the door, with their wicked and pervasive sexual ways. Both Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 state that for a man to sleep sexually with another man is an abomination. It offended and extremely disgusted Yahweh. This sinful lifestyle is also condemned in Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and 1 Timothy 1:10. Yahweh showed His wrath against it by destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to Romans 1:27b, so-called gays pay a high price for their immoral lifestyle.