What does the Bible say about Sodom and Gomorrah?
Sodom and Gomorrah is a story of family conflict, unwise decisions, attempted gang-rape, homosexual sin, incest, and God’s wrath. It is also a story of the power of intercessory prayer and God’s kindness and grace.
God’s people got involved with the evil cities when two close family members – Abraham and Lot – were dealing with overcrowding. Lot moved east toward Sodom and Gomorrah, thinking he was getting the better end of the deal. Yet almost immediately, Abraham had to rescue him from a coalition invasion. Lot later had to be rescued by Abraham’s prayers and God’s grace.
Christian quotes about Sodom and Gomorrah
“Concerning homosexuality: This once brought hell out of heaven on Sodom.” Charles Spurgeon
“Sodom and Gomorrah would be weeping for this generation.”
Who was Lot in the Bible?
Genesis 11:26-32 tells us that the patriarch Terah had three sons: Abram (later Abraham), Nahor, and Haran. Lot was Haran’s son and Abraham’s nephew. Lot’s father died young, so Abraham took him under his wing.
1. Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV) “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
2. Genesis 11:27 “This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.”
3. Genesis 11:31 “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.”
What is the story of Abraham and Lot?
It all began (Genesis 11) when Abraham’s father Terah moved from Ur (in southern Mesopotamia) to Canaan (the land that would later be Israel). He traveled with his son Abraham, Abraham’s wife Sarah, and his grandson Lot. They made it as far as Haran (in Turkey), and settled there. Terah died in Haran, and when Abraham was 75-years-old, God called him to leave Haran and go to the land God would show him (Genesis 12). Abraham headed to Canaan with Sarah and Lot.
Abraham and Lot both were wealthy, with enormous herds of sheep, goats, and cattle (Genesis 13). The land (close to Bethel and Ai, near present-day Jerusalem) wasn’t able to support both men and their flocks. For one thing, they weren’t the only people there – they shared the land with the Perizzites and Canaanites. The region has a semi-arid climate, so their herdsmen were clashing over the available grassland and watering places.
Abraham met with his nephew Lot – apparently on a mountain where they could see all the territory around them. He invited Lot to choose which land he wanted, and Abraham would settle in the other direction. Lot chose the Jordan River Valley, which had plenty of water; he headed east with his flocks and settled near the city of Sodom, near the Dead Sea. (Genesis 13)
“Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked sinners against the LORD.” (Genesis 13:13)
Shortly after Lot moved to the Jordan Valley, war broke out. The Jordan Valley cities had been vassals of Elam (modern-day Iran) but rebelled and declared their independence. A coalition army of four kings from Sumer (southern Iraq), Elam, and other Mesopotamian regions invaded the Jordan Valley, and attacked the five kings in the Dead Sea Valley. The Mesopotamian kings prevailed, and the Jordan Valley kings fled to the mountains, some of their men falling into tar pits in their panic.
The Elamite king captured Lot and everything he owned and was hauling him back to Iran. But one of Lot’s men escaped and ran to tell Abraham, who charged out with his own 318 men and his Amorite allies. He attacked the Elamites at night and rescued Lot and his family and herdsmen and all his possessions.
4. Genesis 13:1 (NLT) “So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned.”
5. Genesis 13:11 “So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company.”
6. Genesis 19:4-5 “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
7. Genesis 13:5-13 “Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” 10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.”
Abraham’s intercession for Sodom
A couple decades after Abraham rescued him, Lot was no longer living a nomadic herdsmen life, but had moved into the wicked city of Sodom with his wife and two daughters. God met with Abraham, and in Genesis 18, revealed His plan for Sodom. God told Abraham, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.” (Genesis 18:20)
Abraham began to negotiate with God to save Sodom because his nephew Lot was living there. “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there’s 50 righteous people there?”
God told Abraham that if He found 50 righteous people in Sodom, He would spare the city. But Abraham wasn’t sure if Sodom had 50 righteous people. He negotiated down – to 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10. God promised Abraham that if He found 10 righteous people in Sodom, He would spare the city. (Genesis 18:16-33)
8. Genesis 18:20 (NASB) “And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.”
9. Genesis 18:22-33 (ESV) “Abraham Intercedes for Sodom 22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.”
What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
The primary sin was homosexuality and gang rape. In Genesis 18:20, the Lord said He’d heard an “outcry” or a “shriek of distress” from Sodom and Gomorrah, implying people were being horribly victimized. Within the story, we know that all the men in the city (except Lot) participated in homosexuality and gang-rape, as Genesis 19:4-5 says that all the men, young and old, surrounded Lot’s house and demanded he send out the two men staying in his home (apparently not knowing they were angels), so they could have sex with them. Lot’s insistence that the angels stay at his house probably was because the Sodomite men habitually abused travelers passing through.
Jude 1:7 says that Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them indulged in sexual immorality and unnatural desire (strange flesh).
Ezekiel 16:49-50 explains that Sodom’s sin extended beyong homosexual rape, although this passage, written six centuries later, may have referred to a more recent, rebuilt Sodom. “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, plenty of food, and carefree ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. So, they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore, I removed them when I saw it.”
The people of Sodom enjoyed sensual pleasures while ignoring the needs of the poor, disabled, and afflicted people. The passage implies that this casual disregard of the needy while indulging the flesh led to abominations – sexual depravity. In Isaiah 1, God compares Judah and Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah, telling them.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil, learn to do good. Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, obtain justice for the orphan, plead for the widow’s case.” (Isaiah 1:16-17)
Many Christians consider ignoring the poor and oppressed to be a “minor” sin (although God doesn’t). But here’s the thing, even supposed “minor” sins – like not giving thanks to God – lead to a downward spiral of depravity, confused thinking, upended morality, homosexuality, and abject sinfulness (see Romans 1:18-32).
10. Jude 1:7 “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
11. Genesis 18:20 “And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.”
12. Genesis 19:4-5 “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
13. Ezekiel 16:49-50 “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.”
14. Isaiah 3:9 “The expression of their faces bears witness against them, And they display their sin like Sodom; They do not even conceal it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”
15. Jeremiah 23:14 “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
How was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed?
16. Genesis 19:24-25 says, “Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”
17. Genesis 19:24 (ESV) “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”
18. Lamentations 4:6 “For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.”
19. Amos 4:11 “I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze; Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.”
The deliverance of Lot from the destruction of Sodom.
God sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family (Genesis 19), although no one seemed to realize they were angels at first. Lot saw them at the city gate and invited them to his home. He prepared a nice meal for them, but then the men of the city surrounded his house, demanding he send out the two men so they could rape them. Lot pleaded with the men of the city not to do such a wicked thing, but the men of the city accused Lot of being an “outsider” who was judging them.
The would-be rapists were about to break down Lot’s door, when the angels struck them with blindness. The angels then told Lot to find all his relatives living in the city and get out! The Lord was about to destroy the city. Lot ran out to his daughters’ fiancés to warn them, but they thought he was joking. At dawn, the angels warned Lot, “Hurry! Get out now! Or you will be swept away in destruction.”
When Lot hesitated, the angels grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters and quickly pulled them out of the city. “Run for your lives! Don’t look back! Don’t stop anywhere until you get to the mountains!”
As the sun rose over the horizon, God rained fire and brimstone down on the cities. But Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Lot and his two daughters fled to Zoar, and then to a cave in the mountains. With their fiancés dead and all the other men dead, the daughters despaired of ever having a husband. They got their father drunk and had sex with him, and both got pregnant. Their sons became the Ammonite and Moabite tribes.
20. Genesis 19:12-16 “The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 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.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.”
21. Genesis 19:18-21 “But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” 21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.”
Why was Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt?
The angels gave strict orders, “Don’t look back!” But Lot’s wife did. She disobeyed God’s direct command.
Why did she look back? Perhaps she didn’t want to give up her life of ease and comfort. The Bible says that Lot was a wealthy man, even beforethey moved to the Jordan Valley. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, when Lot’s wife looked back, it was “looking intently at; by implication, to regard with pleasure, favor or care.”[1]
Some scholars think that in the few moments that Lot’s wife took to turn around and wistfully gaze at her home – while her husband and daughters were racing away as fast as they could – that she was overcome by the sulfur gasses and her body was encrusted with salt. Even today, salt formations – even pillars – exist around the shoreline and in the shallow waters of the Dead Sea.
“Remember Lot’s wife!” Jesus warned His disciples, when prophesying about the Son of Man’s return.
“For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day . . . It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, and they were building; but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:24, 28-30, 32)
22. Genesis 19:26 “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
23. Luke 17:31-33 “On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.”
24. Ephesians 4:22-24 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Sodom and Gomorrah: An example of God’s judgment
Jesus used both the Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of God’s judgment (Luke 17). Jesus said that before the flood, despite Noah’s warnings, no one expected the flood to really happen. They were throwing banquets, parties, and weddings right up to the minute Noah and his family went into the ark and it started raining. Likewise, in Sodom and Gomorrah, people were going about their (very sinful) lives as usual. Even when Lot rushed out to warn his future sons-in-law, they thought he was joking.
When people disregard God’s clear warnings (and we have ample warnings in the New Testament about Jesus’ return), it’s generally because they don’t think they’ll be judged. Often, they don’t even acknowledge their sin. For instance, in our society today, many people no longer consider homosexuality a sin, but instead accuse those who agree with the Bible as “haters” or “homophobic.” In Finland, people are on trial right now for “hate speech” because they quoted Romans 1 and other Biblical passages with regard to God’s view of homosexuality.
When our society twists morality around and says evil is good and good is evil, they are like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. When Lot tried to persuade the homosexual rapists not to harm his guests, they accused him of being judgmental, just like we see so often today.
The Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah remind us that when God says judgment is coming, it is coming, regardless of how people try to justify their sin and turn morality upside down. If you haven’t received Jesus as your Savior, the time is now! And if you are not following God’s moral guidelines as given in His Word, the time is now to repent and obey Him.
25. Jude 1:7 “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
26. Matthew 10:15 “Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
27. 2 Peter 2:4-10 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings.”
How many years between the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah?
The genealogy given in Genesis 11 traces the lineage of Noah’s son Shem all the way to Abraham. From Shem to the birth of Abraham, we have nine generations. Abraham was 99 years old when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Thus, from the Flood to Sodom and Gomorrah is 391 years.
Did you know that Noah was still alive for the first 58 years of Abraham’s life? Noah lived 350 years after the flood (Genesis 9:28), but he did die before Sodom and Gomorrah. Noah’s son Shem was still alive throughout Abraham’s entire life – he died after Abraham died, 502 years after the flood. This means an eyewitness to the Flood was still alive and probably had input into Abraham’s life. Abraham and his nephew Lot both knew that when God said He was going to pass judgment, He meant it. And yet, Lot – even though the Bible says he was a righteous man – chose to live in a wicked city, and hesitated when the angels told him, “Get out of the city NOW!”
28. Genesis 9:28-29 “After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.”
29. Genesis 17:1 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.”
Where was Sodom and Gomorrah located in the Bible?
Genesis 13:10 says it was the “well-watered” Jordan area “going toward Zoar.” (Zoar was a small city). “So Lot chose for himself all the vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward.” (Genesis 13:11)
From these passages, we know that Sodom and Gomorrah (and Zoar) had to be in the Jordan River Valley. Also, when Lot separated from Abraham, he headed east from their location near Bethel and Ai. That would put Sodom, Gomorrah, and Zoar along the Jordan River just north of the Dead Sea and east of Beth and Ai.
Some scholars think that Sodom and Gomorrah were south or southeast of the Dead Sea or on the small section of land that divides the northern and southern sea. But that doesn’t make sense because the Jordan River stops at the Dead Sea; it doesn’t continue flowing. Furthermore, the land south of the Dead Sea or in the middle region isn’t “well-watered” by any stretch of the imagination. It is desolate desert.
30. Genesis 13:10 “Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)”
Have Sodom and Gomorrah been found?
Tall el-Hammam is an archaeological site in a fertile region on the eastern side of the Jordan River, just north-northeast of the Dead Sea. Archaeologists with Veritas International University and Trinity Southwest University found an ancient city that at one point had about 8000 people. The archaeologists have unearthed items like melted pottery and other materials pointing to a “high-temperature burning of the city.” Some event happened there in the Bronze Age that flattened the buildings and drove them into the ground. The archaeologists are theorizing it might have been struck by a meteor, with an impact “1000 more destructive than an atomic bomb.”
Some scholars believe Tall el-Hammam may be ancient Sodom. It’s in the right place – in the Jordan River Valley just northeast of the Dead Sea. It’s also just six miles from the Amman Mountains – the angels told Lot to flee to the mountains, so there had to have been mountains close to Sodom.
31. Genesis 10:19 “And the border of the Canaanite is from Sidon, in thy coming towards Gerar, unto Gaza; in thy coming towards Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, unto Lasha.”
Lessons from Sodom and Gomorrah
1. Be careful with whom you associate. Bad company not only corrupts good morals, but you can get swept up in the judgment of evil people. Lot knew the men of Sodom were evil. And yet he chose to move into a city filled with immorality. He put himself into harm’s way by surrounding himself with evil people. As a result, he lost everything but his life and the life of his two daughters. He lost his wife, his home, and all his wealth, and was reduced to living in a cave.
2. Get out now! If you are living for yourself and living in the pattern of the world, get out now. Jesus is returning soon, and you want to be on the right side of history. Repent of your sins, leave your immoral lifestyle behind you, receive Jesus as your Savior, and be ready for His return!
3. Don’t look back! If you have left some sort of evil behind you – immorality, addictions, or whatever – don’t look back on your former lifestyle. Focus on what is ahead! “Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
32. 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
33. Proverbs 13:20 “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
34. Psalm 1:1-4 (KJV) “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”
35. Psalm 26:4 “I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.”
36. Colossians 3:2 (NIV) “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
37. 1 Peter 1:14 “Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be.”
38. Philippians 3:14 “So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”
39, Isaiah 43:18-19 “So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, 19 because I am doing something new! Now you will grow like a new plant. Surely you know this is true. I will even make a road in the desert, and rivers will flow through that dry land.”
40. Luke 17:32 (NLT) “Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!”
Bonus
Luke 17:28-30 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”
Conclusion
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah give several important insights into God’s character. He hates evil – He hates sexual perversion and violence toward others. He listens to the cry of the victims and comes to their rescue. He judges and punishes evil-doers. And yet, He is also merciful. He listened to Abraham’s plea for Sodom and Gomorrah and agreed to spare the wicked cities for the sake of ten righteous people! He sent His angels to rescue Lot and his family. We have a righteous Judge who punishes evil, but we also have a merciful Father who sent His own Son to rescue us from our sins.
