Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Some people may look up on the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as a plot hole within the Bible. In this historical account, the two angels are sent by God to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and to deliver Lot and his family from destruction. Let us take a look at what is true:

Key Points About the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

It is true that two angels arrived at Sodom:

¹ The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. - (Genesis 19:1)

It is true that the men of Sodom wanted to have sex with the two angels. However, the men of Sodom did not know that those men were angels. Either the men were good looking, or the men of Sodom were very used to having sex with other men at night:

⁴ 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." - (Genesis 19:4-5)

It is true that Lot was pressured into giving up his two daughters to the men for them to fulfill their sexual passions. When the men of Sodom persisted that they wanted to have sex with the men (the angels) in Lot's house, he went out and spoke with them:

⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." - (Genesis 19:6-8)

It is true that by the next morning, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed:

²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah-from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities-and also the vegetation in the land.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. - (Genesis 19:24-25, 27-28, 29)

It is true that Lot impregnated his two daughters. However, it was the older daughter's idea to make him drunk and to have sex with him so that their family line may be preserved. Both times, Lot was not aware that he had had sex with his two daughters:

³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father."

³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

³⁶ So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. - (Genesis 19:31-36)

The Truth About Lot's Sons-In-Law

In, "Bible Plot Hole, the Angel Rapers of Sodom: Lot Entertains Two Sexually Irresistible Angels, the Parody," author Antecessor states:

"Not a very nice story, though quite representative of many stories in the bible. Now lets examine the major plotting problem with the account. Supposedly ALL the men of the city came to Lots door, however according to Genesis, Lots daughters were married to men of Sodom. (GEN 19:14 "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters"). So this would mean that these husbands were among the rapists. Is it reasonable to conclude that someone who is up for man rape would proceed straight to his wife's house to rape men being entertained by his wife, only to be offered their own (virgin??) wife, as a substitute rape victim? You decide. Aside from the usual contradictions and errors, plot problems like this plague the bible, clearly god was not a very good writer" (Antecessor 2).

Antecessor states that "all the men of the city came to Lots door" (Antecessor 2). Let's examine this statement. Surely, the Bible uses the word "all," but does that everybody in Sodom were at Lot's door? The answer is no. If I were to say that everybody has an iPhone these days, did I mean that everybody has an iPhone? No! Not everybody has an iPhone, because even I don't have one. (I wish I did have one though.)

Antecessor also states that "Lots daughters were married to men of Sodom." Last time I checked, which was a second ago, there is no verse that tell us that Lot's daughters were married to men of Sodom. We can infer that the sons-in-law were men of Sodom, but the Bible never stated that it was so.

Based on this idea that the sons-in-law were men of Sodom, Antecessor wraps his article saying that the sons-in-law were the very same men that were putting pressure on Lot's door to have sex with the angels, and that Lot himself tried to offer his daughters to the same men. Because of his interpretation, he calls the Bible fallible and that "god was not a very good writer" (Antecessor 2).

If Antecessor had interpreted the Bible correctly, he would have known that the two angels struck the men that were at the door with blindness to protect Lot and his family. If Lot's sons-in-laws were one of those men, then they would have been blind too. However, Lot's sons-in-laws were not one of them:

¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. - (Genesis 19:10-11)

Antecessor's interpretation is flawed, contradictory, and not true.

The Bible Never Fails to Mention Reality

Let us be clear about one thing: the Bible never fails to mention reality. In other words, the Bible is very blunt and clear about people. It is amazing to know that the Bible talks about people's good works and people's flaws. So then, whenever the Bible mentions a person's sins, it does not mean that those things are correct. The author is merely showing that that person is sinful like you and me.

If the Bible were to write about every person in the most bias of ways, by only mentioning a person's good works, then the Bible is susceptible to this type of criticism. However, the Bible looks on people and nations from a point of view that declares all the parts of a person - God's point of view.

So then, the author of the book of Genesis, inspired by God, is not a bad writer because he doesn't know how to build plot. Rather, the author of the book of Genesis and God himself should receive credit for revealing reality at its worst moments and best moments. This only gives the reader the best plot!

Antecessory, "Bible Plot Hole, the Angel Rapers of Sodom." Associated Content.
"Biblegateway.com." Biblegateway.com