Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

a) Peter’s third illustration was Sodom and Gomorrah. The point he had been making was that if God punished sin and the violation of His truth in the past, He will do so in the present and the future. This was a specific warning against false teachers (2Pe 2:1-3).

b) In Gen 19:24-25, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin and it became an example for those who would live in sin.

1. Licentiousness of Sodom and Gomorrah

a. What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? Matthew Vines, author of “God and the Gay Christian,” writes, “The actions of the men of Sodom are intended to underscore their cruel treatment of outsiders, not to somehow tell us that they were gay.” (www.matthewvines.com).

b. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah really begins in Gen 18:17ff, where the Lord and two angels visit Abraham. After Abraham shows great reverence and hospitality to them, the Lord revealed to Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

c. The Lord stated that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was “exceedingly grave” (Gen 18:20), “wicked” (Gen 18:25-26; 19:7), “sinners” (cf. Gen 13:13), and “ungodly” (cf. 2Pe 2:6). Though inhospitality is considered a sin, it hardly warrants the destruction of two cities.

d. The two angels went to Sodom and met Lot who invited them to stay in his home. When they refused, Lot “urged them strongly” to stay in his home (Gen 19:2-3), no doubt perceiving the kind of men in the city.

e. The men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that Lot hand over the new men to them because they desired to have relations them (Gen 19:5). The word “relations” is the Hebrew word yada and is often translated “know.”

1) Yada has numerous meanings. It can mean, knowledge, acquaintance (Job 19:14; Ruth 2:1), kinfolk (2Ki 10:11), sexual relations (Gen 4:1 (cf. Gen 4:17, 25); Gen 24:16; Num 31:17; Judg 11:39) and sexual perversion (Judg 19:22, 25).

2) Yada was used with Lot’s outrageous sin when he offered his daughters to the immoral men of Sodom (Gen 19:8).

3) The context is clear that when the men of Sodom wanted to have relations with these other men (angels who appeared as men), they were desiring to commit “sodomy.”

4) In Jude 7, it is mentioned that the sin of Sodom was going after “strange flesh” (heteros - other, i.e. strange or unnatural; and sarx - flesh) which refers to homosexual lusts (Gen 19:5).

5) The record of Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7) demonstrates God’s wrath and punishment not against inhospitality, but against “gross immorality” (sodomy, homosexuality) and was worthy of “punishment of eternal fire.”

2. Laying Waste of Sodom and Gomorrah

a. The Lord indeed swiftly destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for its sins (Gen 19:24-25).

b. The Lord had “condemned” (katkrinō - pronounce a sentence after determination of guilt BDAG) the city, that is, pronounced judgment upon them having concluded their guilt. However, God being both jury and judge, was also executioner and carried out His judgment.

c. The judgment was catastrophic, destroying all (Luk 17:29). In fact, that is the Greek word for “destruction” (katastrophê, 2Pe 2:6).

d. The flood was catastrophic in destroying all life by water. Here it was catastrophic destroying all the inhabitants of those cities by divine incineration reducing it to “ashes” (2Pe 2:6). No one survived except for Lot and his two daughters (Gen 19:15-16), but not his wife (Gen 19:26; Luk 17:32).

e. Once Sodom and Gomorrah was a lush green valley of the Jordan, but after God’s judgment it became a waste place (Gen 13:10; Deu 29:23).

3. Location of Sodom and Gomorrah

a. Archaeologists have never definitively found Sodom and Gomorrah. Randy Price believed it might have been discovered near the southern shore of the Dead Sea in the ancient area of Bab edh-Dhra, which was full of ash.

b. Yet some argue that Bab edh-Dhra was only a small village compared the massive urban area described in the Bible.

c. Some also claim that Bab edh-Dhra was destroyed before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

d. Dr. Steven Collins believes that the ancient city of Sodom is Tall el-Hammam. He believes since Sodom was located in the “valley of the Jordan (Gen 13:10) it laid north of the Dead Sea. After ten years of excavation, Dr. Collins has gained some support.

e. If Sodom is never found it emphasizes that its total destruction wiped it off the face of the earth.

4. Lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah

a. What lesson do we learn from the judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah?

b. The point is made obviously poignant, namely, that God judges sin. It was to be an example to all those who “would live ungodly lives thereafter.” (2Pe 2:6). Here “example” (hupodeigma) means an example from which to be warned.

c. Why did God do that? Why did He totally obliterate and totally incinerate a whole civilization? Answer: They rejected His truth and followed liars, false teachers. And so, verse 6 says, "He made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter." He wanted to send an unmistakable message to all future generations that false teachers and those who follow their lies will feel the fury of God's incinerating vengeance. The word "example," hupodeigma, means a model, a pattern. (MacArthur)

d. Jesus referred to Sodom and Gomorrah as an illustration for His Second Coming when He would bring judgment against sin (Mat 10:15).

e. Peter’s point specifically targets false teachers who both live sinful lives and corrupt the lives of others through their false teaching (cf. Deu 13:5 cf. 2Pe 2:18-19).

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516