Genesis 19:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it."

NIV: because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."

NASB: for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.'

CSB: for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it."

NLT: For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.'

KJV: For 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.

NKJV: For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

Finally, the two angels disguised as humans reveal their full mission to Lot and his family. They have been sent by the Lord, who intends to destroy Sodom (Genesis 19:24–25). Later verses credit the action to God, while the angels here use the expression "we" when referring to Sodom's impending ruin. This might refer to the combined actions of God and His messengers, much the same way a player on a team might say "we will…" when discussing an activity. Or, it might mean that God's destruction will be accomplished through the agency of these same angels. Either way, their role is to move forward God's plans for Sodom's judgment.

With this statement, the outcry against Sodom's people has reached the Lord, in every conceivable sense. The time of judgment has come. The angels will give Lot one last chance to grab any relatives or friends and take them with him. God's justice against Sodom will be satisfied, but in His mercy these angels will rescue all who are with Lot, Abraham's nephew.

Genesis 19:1–22 describes what happens following the Lord's assurance to Abraham that He will not destroy Sodom if He finds ten righteous people there. Despite such a low standard, Sodom fails the test. Every man in the city attempts to rape two of the Lord's angels who are in human form. The angels intervene, eventually removing Lot and his family from the city by force, and out of God's mercy. The angels instruct the family to run to the hills, but Lot asks if they can flee to the tiny town of Zoar instead. The angels allow this.

Two angels, disguised as men, visit Abraham's nephew, Lot, in the city of Sodom. After the men of Sodom attempt to rape the angels in Lot's home, the angels rescue Lot and his family, forcibly removing them from the city. Then God sends fire and sulfur from heaven. This destroys all of the land and people in and around the cities. As stated in earlier verses, this is the result of their great and ongoing wickedness. Lot's wife is turned to a pillar of salt when she disobeys the angels by looking back on the destruction. Lot and his daughters flee first to Zoar, then to a cave in the hills. There, Lot's confused and frightened daughters get him drunk, have sex with him, and each become pregnant.

In the previous chapter, Abraham had bargained with God on behalf of his nephew Lot and the people of Sodom. The Lord assured Abraham He would not destroy the cities if He found ten righteous people there. Chapter 19 immediately demonstrates no righteous people are to be found. Every man of Sodom attempts to attack two visitors, who are God's angels in human form. As the angels rescue Lot, God's judgment falls, utterly destroying everything in the area around Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot and his daughters end up in a cave in the hills, where the daughters scheme to conceive children by making their father drunk. This ends Lot's role in the story of Genesis, with future chapters focusing exclusively on the life and descendants of Abraham.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 12/3/2024 12:37:27 PM