Genesis 19: Go Ahead and Rape My Daughters

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God Rescues Lot (v. 1-22)

Two angels go down to Sodom to check things out. Lot met them and invited them into his house for the night, they wanted to stay in the town square, but Lot knew how bad of an idea that was and insisted they come to his house and they did and fed them. Then every man in the city, young and old, came to Lot's house and demanded he send the two angels out so they could have sex with them.

Every man, young and old came out to rape these 2 strangers who came into their town? It seems like that would hurt their tourism. Seriously though, I suppose from yesterday's reading, we have to justify that there are less than 10 righteous people left in the city. They don't mention women or children, but I guess they don't matter.

Guzik here argues that this is evidence that homosexuality is declared a sin by the bible. I think he is right that the bible is against homosexuality, but I think this story is more a statement against homosexual rape than against homosexuality in general. 

Lot goes out to calm down the crowd, he tells them to "not act so wickedly" by trying to rape the 2 men, he offers the crowd his 2 virgin daughters and a substitute for the angels.

So, raping 2 guys is wicked, but raping two women isn't? And what about offering up your daughters to be raped by a mob of guys? Is that wicked? Not according to this story!

To his credit, Guzik does not try to defend Lot offering up his daughters. He says this act is just as shocking as the depravity of the mob. I would tend to agree, although that logic seems to be inconsistent with God saving Lot.

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The angry mob refused Lot's offer and tried to force their way past him into the house. The angels rescued Lot by pulling him into the house and closing the door, and they blinded the crowd. The crowd wore themselves out by groping for the door.

Wow, they got mysteriously blinded and didn't care, they just kept trying to find the door until they were worn out from the effort.

Then the angels told Lot to gather anyone in the city that he cares about because they are about to destroy it. In addition to his wife and 2 daughters, there are his 2 sons in law who are about to marry his daughters who he needs to go out and get. When he tells them that God is about to destroy the city they think he's joking and don't come along.

Whoa, hang on a second here. Lot's daughters were pledged to be married. Does that make it worse that he offered them up to the crowd? Maybe it doesn't matter, whether or not his daughters were engaged, he was still offering them up to a crowd to be raped.

Another angle here, Lot had to go out to get to his sons in law. Meaning they weren't in his house during the whole attempted gang rape incident. But during that episode everyone in the city "to the last man" was trying to get to those angels to rape them. Therefore his sons in law must have been part of the mob.

In the morning the angels told Lot that he needed to gather his wife and daughters and get out of there, otherwise they would get swept up in the judgement of the city. Lot lingered and argued with the men and tried to let them hold things off until they got to the nearby town of Zoar. The angels said okay. They did tell him to not look back or they would be swept away in the judgement of the city.

This I just find puzzling. If I knew the city I was in was about to be hit with divine judgement, I wouldn't wait a second, I'd haul ass out of there. It is just weird that Lot stayed back a bit to make this little negotiation.

God Destroys Sodom (v. 23-29)

When Lot and his family reached Zoar God rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed the cities and anything that grew on the ground. Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

Why was Lot's wife punished here? Once they were safely in the town which was spared why not look back at the cities being destroyed? The only lesson I can imagine here is obedience, she was specifically told not to look back and she did, so she must die. The stupid thing is that the message in verse 17 seems to be saying not to look back because if you do it you won't get away from the destruction. Lot's wife didn't look away until they were apparently safe in the city of Zoar. So it would make sense for her to say to herself "Alright, we are safe now, we won't get swept away with the destruction of Sodom, now I can look back." She may not have followed the letter of what the angel told her, but it reads to me like she obeyed the spirit of the command.

Abraham went to look at Sodom and Gomorrah and saw that they had been destroyed. God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the mist of the overthrow of the cities.

The way that is written is really weird, but I think all it is saying is that when God was planning on destroying Sodom he held things off for Abraham's sake and let Lot get away.

Lot and His Daughters (v. 30-38)

Lot was afraid to live in Zoar and took his daughters with him to live with him in a cave.

But in verse 19 the angels wanted him to live in the hills and he insisted that they go to Zoar instead. Also he was perfectly fine living in a city where every last man was a rapist. But now he wants to live in a cave?

His daughters get him drunk and have sex with him to preserve his seed because there is not another man on earth to have sex with him. They both have a kid from their father.

But they just came from a city. Why do they think there are no other men on the planet? Are they stupid or am I just misreading part of this story?

Also, are these really the actions of the best people from the city that God decided to destroy? Lot's first action is to get black-out drunk, and the daughters hatch a plan to have their father's babies? It seems to me that God is a really poor judge of character.

I didn't have much from the commentaries today, mostly because they were annoying me. They kept ascribing things that don't seem to be in the text, for example, that Lot didn't want to leave Sodom because he loved it so much, or that he was too much with God to be happy in the world and too much in the world to be happy with God. I don't see where they are getting any of that stuff.

For the verses of note post:

--Obedience--

Genesis 19:17,26 Lot's wife killed for not obeying and looking back at Sodom being destroyed

"And as they brought them out, one said, 'Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.'...But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

--Women--

Genesis 19:8 Lot offers to let an angry mob rape his daughters to calm them down

"Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."