Destruction of Sodom
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gathered about the house. It was an immense company, youth and
aged men alike inflamed by the vilest passions. The strangers had
been making inquiry in regard to the character of the city, and Lot
had warned them not to venture out of his door that night, when the
hooting and jeers of the mob were heard, demanding that the men be
brought out to them.
Knowing that if provoked to violence they could easily break into
his house, Lot went out to try the effect of persuasion upon them.
“I pray you, brethren,” he said, “do not so wickedly,” using the term
“brethren” in the sense of neighbors, and hoping to conciliate them and
make them ashamed of their vile purposes. But his words were like oil
upon the flames. Their rage became like the roaring of a tempest. They
mocked Lot as making himself a judge over them, and threatened to
deal worse with him than they had purposed toward his guests. They
rushed upon him, and would have torn him in pieces had he not been
rescued by the angels of God. The heavenly messengers “put forth
their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.”
The events that followed, revealed the character of the guests he had
entertained. “They smote the men that were at the door of the house
with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves
to find the door.” Had they not been visited with double blindness,
being given up to hardness of heart, the stroke of God upon them would
have caused them to fear, and to desist from their evil work. That last
night was marked by no greater sins than many others before it; but
mercy, so long slighted, had at last ceased its pleading. The inhabitants
of Sodom had passed the limits of divine forbearance—“the hidden
boundary between God’s patience and His wrath.” The fires of His
vengeance were about to be kindled in the vale of Siddim.
The angels revealed to Lot the object of their mission: “We will
destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the
face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.” The strangers
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whom Lot had endeavored to protect, now promised to protect him,
and to save also all the members of his family who would flee with
him from the wicked city. The mob had wearied themselves out and
departed, and Lot went out to warn his children. He repeated the words
of the angels, “Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy
this city.” But he seemed to them as one that mocked. They laughed at
what they called his superstitious fears. His daughters were influenced