Chapter 14—The Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah
This chapter is based on
Genesis 19
.
Among the cities of the Jordan valley Sodom was “as the garden
of the Lord” (
Genesis 13:10
) in its fertility and beauty. Rich harvests
clothed the fields, and flocks and herds covered the encircling hills.
Art and commerce enriched the proud city. The treasures of the East
adorned her palaces, and caravans brought stores of precious things
to her marts of trade. With little thought or labor, every want of life
could be supplied.
Idleness and riches make the heart hard that has never been op-
pressed by want or burdened by sorrow. The people gave themselves
up to sensual indulgence. “This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom,
pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness 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 took them away as I saw good.”
Ezekiel 16:49, 50
.
Satan is never more successful than when he comes to men in their
idle hours.
In Sodom there was mirth, revelry, feasting, and drunkenness.
The vilest passions were unrestrained. People openly defied God and
His law and delighted in violence. Though they had before them the
example of the antediluvian world and knew of their destruction, they
followed the same course of wickedness.
At the time of Lot’s removal to Sodom, corruption had not become
universal, and God in mercy permitted rays of light to shine amid
the moral darkness. Abraham was not a stranger to the people of
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Sodom, and his victory over greatly superior forces excited wonder
and admiration. None could avoid the conviction that a divine power
had made him conqueror. His noble and unselfish spirit, so foreign
to the self-seeking inhabitants of Sodom, was another evidence of the
superiority of the religion he had honored. God was speaking to that
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