I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Genesis 19-20.

As a general rule, Christians have put too much emphasis on the desire of the men of Sodom to have sex with Lot’s visitors.  On the other hand, some of those who have pointed to the real problem illustrated in this story have downplayed it too much.  I think we can assume from the text that the fiance’s of Lot’s daughters were not part of the crowd outside his door that night, which suggests that there were also other men in Sodom who were not part of this crowd.  However, aside from Lot, none of the people of Sodom were willing to in any way rein in the excesses of the troublemakers who beset Lot’s guests.   The city had been taken over by its criminal element.

If we look at yesterday’s passage where Abraham bargained with God that God would not destroy Sodom if He found ten righteous people there, we see the impact a few righteous people make.  In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls His followers the salt of the earth and warns against losing their saltiness.  In the same way that a little bit of salt transforms the taste of food, so a few righteous people transform the society around them.  The men of Sodom said that Lot was judging them because he protected the men to whom he had offered hospitality.  The lesson of this story is that if more of those in Sodom who were not taking part in the evil of the men outside Lot’s door had been willing to say that doing so was wrong, Sodom would not have been destroyed.