killing the people of sodom and gomorrah

He knew very well what the men of the city would do to them. This became apparent in Genesis 19:1-3 when Lot strongly insisted that the two angels would not spend the night in the open square but in his house so he can protect them from the people of the city. A level the remainder of the inhabitants of the earth had not experienced. Simply put, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was at a despicable level. Not only is their sin grave in the sight of God, who has high standards of morality, but it is also very grave in the sight of the creation itself, who cried out against them. But ultimately, this verse emphasizes the graveness of these people’s sin. But, of course, God doesn’t need to come down to verify if the sin is grave or not.

Meaning the text gives God certain human traits simply to pass on a message. In Genesis 18, the Bible says the following: “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me and if not, I will know.” Here, the Bible speaks in an anthropomorphic language. But, let us dig deeper and see what was really going on then. Why would a loving God do this? Where is His mercy and compassion they ask? Truly, a shallow reading of the story seems to portray God as unreasonable, specially when children are involved. Many people are shocked at the idea that God would destroy a city with its entire people, including its children. We want to shed some light on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah when the Lord rained brimstone and fire on them. Today, we continue our series addressing the violence in the Old Testament.

Killing the people of sodom and gomorrah