Sodom
Summary
An ancient city destroyed by fire from heaven because of its inhabitants' extreme wickedness, whose fate became the supreme biblical example of divine judgment on sin.
☩Location and Setting
Sodom was one of five cities of the plain, situated in the well-watered valley of the Jordan near the Dead Sea. When Abraham and Lot separated, Lot chose the plain because it was 'well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord.' Lot eventually moved into Sodom itself, sitting in its gate as one of its leading citizens. The exact location is debated, but most scholars place it in the region now covered by the southern part of the Dead Sea.
☩The City's Wickedness
Scripture describes Sodom's inhabitants as 'wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.' When angels came to rescue Lot, the men of Sodom—young and old, from every quarter—surrounded the house demanding to sexually assault the visitors. Ezekiel specified their sins: pride, abundance of food and prosperous ease, but they did not aid the poor and needy, and committed abominations. Their cry of sin had reached heaven, prompting divine investigation and judgment.
☩Abraham's Intercession
When God revealed His intention to destroy Sodom, Abraham interceded, asking if God would destroy the righteous with the wicked. In a remarkable dialogue, Abraham negotiated from fifty righteous to ten as sufficient to spare the city. This passage reveals both God's justice and His willingness to hear intercession. Ultimately, not even ten righteous could be found, and only Lot and his daughters escaped—his wife becoming a pillar of salt when she looked back.
☩Destruction and Legacy
The Lord rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah, overthrowing the cities and all the plain, with all inhabitants and everything that grew. Abraham saw the smoke rising like a furnace. Throughout Scripture, Sodom's destruction serves as the paradigm of divine judgment—prophets invoked it against Israel, Jesus declared that rejecting His disciples would bring worse judgment than Sodom's, and Peter and Jude cite it as warning for the ungodly. The name became synonymous with extreme moral corruption.
Related Verses49 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Sodom," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Sodom," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Sodom," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Sodom," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).