Lot, who is negotiating with the people of Sodom outside his home, is in great danger. His guests save his life. Now for the first time, they are revealed to us and to Lot as angels. What can we learn from the way they saved Lot?
Discussion
Whenever I read these two verses, I can’t help but asking myself why the angles only hit the people of Sodom with temporary blindness (סַּנְוֵרִים) . After all, in a few short hours the entire city of Sodom is going to be destroyed by fire, and all these people will die. Why don’t the angels simply kill them now? What difference could a few hours make?
This meditation always raises two insights in my mind. First, it reminds me the easy hand on the trigger of our security forces. No, I am not talking about self-defence or protecting other people. What comes to my mind is the killing of law breakers at times when they do not impose a threat.
Stop! Says the Bible.
This is not how morality and the law should work. Even if a person deserves to die, it is not for the messenger, nor the police to punish them. Their lives should be in the hand of the judge, and only the judge should have the right to punish.
It was not the role of the angles to kill the people of Sodom, and even as they had a good reason, they chose to disable the people without harming them. Punishment will take place in the morning.
The second question that always crosses my mind is who am I to decide that a few extra hours of life do not matter?
A lot can happen in a few hours: a famous mathematician, Galois, formed an entire theory the night before he was shot in a duel. The novelist Ryoki Inoue, finished three books in a day, and many ordinary people found their peace, repented, or found God, in a flash. A whole lifetime can take place in a few hours, and a few hours of grace is what the angels gave the people of Sodom. After all, it is possible that being struck with temporary blindness could have helped some of the people see the light.
Every moment of life is of utmost value. So let’s not dismiss a few hours when others’ life are on the line. Let’s not waste them when our own lives are concerned.
The desert: hot, barely any vegetation, water means life. It is the place where I feel closest to God. It is not a coincidence that much of the Bible takes place there. It is the place where people have put themselves in solitude for years to feel the spirit speaking to them directly, with no distractions, with nothing in between them and the entire universe.
This is particularly true with the first light of the morning. The air is cold, nearly frozen. First light appears, and from the darkness the vastness of nothingness starting to shape into a scenery that soon becomes too hot to bare. It is the first hour of light, that tells you the meaning of life and your place in the universe.
This is where I am now on my journey to Israel, and I feel blessed to be able to share these photos of first light in the desert with you.
The people of Sodom refuse to accept Lot’s daughters instead of the angels. Why? Because justice (by the rule of Sodom) is what they are after, and Lot is breaking the law. They want the angels and will do anything to get them.
The people of Sodom demanding justice
The people of Sodom demand justice. They are not a simple mob motivated by their lust. They could have taken the girls if that was their objective (and then continue to the others). They are angry because their rules have been broken. They are angry with Lot, a newcomer to the city ( הָאֶחָד בָּא-לָגוּר ), who despite his newcomer status, does not follow their way of life (וַיִּשְׁפֹּט שָׁפוֹט).
Lot is willing to sacrifice his two daughters to the crowd to save his angel guests. Unthinkable? A sin? An evil deed? Yet, God still saves him from the destruction of Sodom. Did he deserve being saved?
Discussion
Can we even start to comprehend Lot’s predicament? Shouldn’t it change completely our perception of him? Not a righteous person anymore, but an unloving, cruel father who did not care about his daughters.
Today, Good Friday fell on the Day of the Passover. So first I went to visit and take photos of the Garden Tomb and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is a major pilgrimage centre for Christians all around the world. It is said to be the place both of the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.
In the next posts I will continue sharing with you my photos of my Journey to Israel, here from the preparation for the Passover.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
A major pilgrimage centre for Christians all around the world.
Monastery of The Cross, Valley of The Cross, Jerusalem
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share with you that I am now travelling through Israel. Today I’m in Jerusalem , and this is a photo of one of the most amazing historical places. This is the Monastery of the Cross in the Valley of the Cross.
Around the monastery there are dozens of olive trees, some are young, but a few are many hundreds of years old. (not far there is the oldest tree which is believed to be over 3000 years old).
With the people of Sodom surrounding his house, demanding to surrender the angels to them, Lot comes out and try to talk them out of their evil way. How can we explain that the very same events and words happens again in the story of Levite’s concubine (Judges 19:23)?
It’s all about the intentions
Why does Lot use the word תָּרֵעוּ (do evil)? He does not say, “don’t kill them”; he does not say, “don’t harm them.” Instead, he says, “Do not do evil.” Why?
One of the most difficult tasks facing any judge, past or present, is figuring out the intention of the person who committed the crime. With good forensic evidence, eyewitnesses, modern science, it is quite often possible to establish the details of many crimes. But once the facts are established, one question always remains, the mindset of the criminal while committing the act: were they aware of what they were doing? Could they comprehend the consequences of their actions? Were they sane? Could they tell good from evil, and did they know they were committing a crime?
Establishing their intentions, would determine the severity of their punishment.
After all, in a society in which murder, for instance, is the norm, killers do not consider murder to be evil. Lot had to bring it to their attention. More than that, the Bible had to bring it to our attention, too. The Bible wants us to be clear beyond doubt that the people of Sodom were aware of their actions, and therefore, the horrible punishment they received was just. They plan evil and know it is evil. There are no mitigating circumstances.
But this is controversial point. Something many disagree with. So, I would like to discuss it further. If the Bible is speaking to us, the readers, making sure that we know, beyond doubt, that they are guilty, what does it say about Lot’s actual words? Were these the very words Lod said, or can the Bible misrepresent them to ensure we are clear about the message? In other words, could there be factual inaccuracies in the Bible?
Truth vs. historical facts
In Judges 19 we read a story of Levite’s concubine. The story begins exactly like the story of Lot: A man, his woman, and his servant stay for the night at a man’s house in the city of Giv’ah. While having dinner, the people of the city surround the house and demand from the host to surrender his guests (sounds familiar?) The man refuses, pleading, using Lot’s very words (verse 23):
How likely is it that two events hundreds of years apart, are not only replication of each other, but the people involved use the very same words? Is it possible that the Bible is bending the truth to strengthen the message?
We all know of many Jesus’s parables. He loved them and used many. For example: The Two Debtors, or The Lost Sheep. Jesus did so, not to tell us about particular people, but rather to teach us lessons that otherwise, would have been too hard, if not impossible, to understand. Would anyone shout, “Who are these debtors?” Would anyone claim that Jesus was a liar because no such debtors ever existed? Of course not. The stories were true even if the events had never happened.
And this is something we often forget. Truth is not the same as historicalfacts.
The Bible is true, because it tells us about things that matter, things of the utmost importance, using words and concepts we can understand. And just like Jesus, if a parable is the best way to make us understand a concept, then the Bible uses parables, and if changing words is what needed, than the Bible changes words.
Many confuse truth and historical facts, and are fixated with the historical factuality of particular stories, rather than the message they come to tell us. But for me, the history, as interesting as it may be, does not make a difference. I am interested in the truth alone, and I trust the Bible with telling it to me in ways that touch my heart and soul. As for the historical facts – I am happy to leave the matter to historians.
So what is the truth in the case of Lot?
In my view, this verse comes to tell us that the intentions behind actions are as important as the actions themselves. This is true when we judge others, and even truer when we ourselves take action. And why is the Bible telling it to us twice? To answer this question I will quote Joseph’s telling king Pharaoh why he had two dreams (Genesis 41:32):
Lot and the angels finished their feast and are getting ready for bed. But somehow, despite the guests’ attempt to hide their presence, the people of Sodom find about it, and they all come to siege Lot’s house. Is Sodomy their intention?
Discussion
We do not know how the people of Sodom discovered that Lot was having guests for the night. After all, the angles had sneaked in; they prepared unleavened bread to ensure that no smoke or smell came out of the house to hint that a meal is taking place. Yet, they were found out.
It was probably enough for one person to find out, and the rumour started spreading like fire. “Lot has guests! What a sacrilegious!” they must have shouted to each other, as they were rushing toward Lot’s home. As we will see in verse 9, the people of Sodom called for justice to be done, justice by the laws of Sodom. Then, when they reach Lot’s home, they demand he must surrender the people out to them, so they could know them.
And this single word, ְנֵדְעָה, (we will know them) started the legend of Sodom and Sodomy.
The verb ידע (know) and its derivatives appears in the Bible over 950 times. Out of these, in all but about a few cases it appears in the meaning of knowledge, to be acquainted with, to be familiar with, and other similar meanings. Only in a few dozen cases it appears in the ‘Biblical sense’, that is, euphemism for having sex.
But is it the meaning here?
I am the first to admit that there is no way to deny it. After all, it is also clear, as we’ll see in the next verse, that the intentions of the people of Sodom were evil. But couldn’t they have wanted to kill them? Couldn’t death have been the penalty of breaking the law? Could it have been lashes?
What were the real intentions of the people of Sodom? The Bible does not tell us. Could it have been Sodomy? It could have. But there is a difference between knowing that it might have been Sodomy, to the clarity that it can be nothing else. The truth is that as the Bible does not tell us, and that we will never know for sure.
In my view, the interpretation of this single word נֵדְעָה, is one of the places that the Bible is hiding things from us, allowing us to test our own minds and find out about ourselves, and what we see in an ambiguity.
So what does ‘know’ mean in this case? All we can say is that we do will never know for sure, and this ambiguity must be on purpose.
🌞 50 DAYS OF GENESIS 🌞 HEBREW BIBLE STUDY – VIDEO SERIES
After the great feedback on our lessons on the Hebrew Bible, I’m thrilled to announce that from June 2st (2022) we will start a new FREE channel 🌞 𝟓𝟎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒 🌞. We are making this series to help you kick start the life-changing habit of regular Bible reading and studying to promote spiritual growth through the wisdoms and insights of the Bible.
We make this series to help you kick start the life-changing habit of Bible reading and study, and to experience spiritual growth through the wisdoms and insights of the Hebrew Bible.
What is the 🌞 50 DAYS OF GENESIS 🌞 Journey?
This series has 50 short episodes, one for each chapter of Genesis. In each episode I will delve into a single verse and explore less-known interpretations. Each episode will be 5-10 minutes long.
This is a FREE course, unrelated to any religion and suitable to anyone who wishes to explore the Bible. All videos will be available FREE on YouTube.
Twice a week you’ll receive a BRAND NEW 5 – 10 minutes video in which we will delve and look at less familiar ways of reading and understanding it. 50 days, each for one of the 50 chapters of Genesis. If you want to look into the Bible with fresh eyes, this course is for you. Join me and our numerous followers around the globe for this free Bible Adventure.
This INFO VIDEO is an introduction to the course.
JOIN THE 50 DAYS OF GENESIS MOVEMENT AND EXPERIENCE YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH THROUGH REGULAR IN-DEPTH READING OF THE BIBLE TOGETHER.
No previous knowledge is required. Listen and find your own truth in the verses of the Bible.
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