The story starts well enough with Lot bowing before the visitors, pleading with them to come aside and spend the night, have their feet washed, ‘so you can set off early on your way’. They demur saying no they will sleep in the town square, and so they came into Lot’s house, and he prepared them a feast including some baked flat bread, notice not freshly made with kneaded flour. But before they could get some rest, the men of Sodom, ranging from lads to elders , surrounded the house and demanded ‘bring them out so we may ‘know’ (in the Biblical sense) them. Lot goes out and pleads with the men to do no harm, and instead they can deflower Lot’s two virgin daughters. Yes, part of this does have to do with ancient rules of hospitality, including namely guests have sanctuary from harm in a house where they are staying. But Lot’s alternative suggestion, knowing full well that the issue here is lust and possible rape, is hardly a good alternative. Then comes the retort from the men of Sodom, basically who does this guy think he is, a mere sojourner and he sets himself up to judge our behavior. But at this juncture the visitors pulled Lot back into the house and struck all the men of Sodom with a blinding light so they were groping around and unable to find Lot’s door. They then order Lot to gather his family including his sons in law and daughters be prepared to leave quickly before the two destroy Sodom. But the sons in law thought it was a joke, so instead Lot and his wife were taken by the hand of these two men and his two virgins came along, and we are told this act was done due to the Lord’s compassion. They are told to flee, and not to look back at the destruction, but Lot objects to the idea of fleeing to the high country ‘lest evil over take me’. Instead, he bargains to flee to a small town nearby, Zoar. And so the angels await his arrival there and then the Lord rained down fire and brimstone. Lot’s wife however looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Notice the contrast between Abraham looking out anxiously at the smoke from about 40 miles away, and Lot against a command looking back to the sinful city.
It is only at this juncture that Abraham enters the story, watching the smoke arise from Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction. But in the end, Lot comes up to the high country from Zoar and dwelt for a time in a cave with his two daughters. And just when you thought the story would get better, the two virgin daughters say ‘there is no man on earth to bed with us, but we must keep alive the seed of our father. So they drug Lot with wine, have sex with him, both get pregnant, but Lot had drunk so much he was unaware of what was happening during these acts of intercourse. The elder daughter bore a son and named him Moab, and the younger bore a son named Ben-ammi. This story foreshadows the story of Tamar who is impregnated by her father in law, and from her King David descends. Both the names Moab– which means desired place, and the name Ben-ammi which means my own kinsman son allude to incest. Notice the concluding retrospective remarks— the first son is the father of ‘the Moab of our days’ where as the second son is the father of ‘the Ammonites of our day’.
English (US) · 