Sodom & Gomorrah story: Doesn't it sound amiss to you?! (Read further)?

Question

In Genesis 19:4-5, the angels visit Lot to warn him to flee the city and the people of Sodom surround the house.
5. And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us be intimate with them." (Judaica Press)
Lot refused to give the visiting angels to the men of Sodom and instead offered them his two daughters. The men refused to accept this compromise. The men were struck blind, allowing Lot and his family to escape, and Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by God.

One claim of this story is that men were asking angels for sex and is an example of homosexual behavior. First of all, asking angels for sex is ridulous, but let's suspend disbelief for a minute. I thought angels were supposed to be sexless (gender neutral) So, REALLY, this particular verse is NOT a case against homosexuality since Angels do not have gender!!! Secondly, didn't anyone else find it abhorrent that Lot offered up his daughters? Sounds fishy to me

Answer 1

This has always been a troubling story in the bible.

I am not only horrified that Lot tried to use his virgin daughters as bribes to stop violent men from committing "angellingus," but then after the cities are destroyed, his "virtuous" daughters got him drunk and had sex with him to conceive children.

People focus on the non-existent homosexual content of this story and act like those "righteous" people god saved from the burning cities committed incest directly after all those powerful works of god.

This is just a story. Not even a very good one. The way people use this story is a worse sin than those committed by the inhabitants of Sodom.

Even if the story had elements of truth to it, RAPE and homosexual orientation are not even close to the same thing. People who believe that they are the same are just looking for excuses to make them feel better about their own bigotry and hatred.

Answer 2

There are very few Angels that have ever been referred to in the feminine. I think the only one I've heard of having a female aspect is Rachael and that could entirely be because the name was commonly given to women at the time the verses were coppied. The Bible is in fact a fictional work despite what accuracy it may have once had. For the sake of the story I think it's unlikely that Sodom&Gomorrah were destroyed for Homosexuality as that was a common practice in that time and other cities weren't destroyed for it. To boot from depictions of those cities it was probably the tamest of acts. For Christ sakes Lot whores out his children in this chapter, thinkin that's got to be more messed up. I think Soddom and Gomorrah was destroyed because, by all accounts, Angels are *****. Some guys probably got handsy with one of them and the angel just put the whole city in the hurt locker for it then turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt for even looking back. Angels, not fat kids with bows and arrows in the bible. They started some ****!

Answer 3

Spike,

An interesting question. I think perhaps, that the part of the story you describe, was not of any major signifigance. What the angels appeared like, and whether the were of one gender or another, doesn't really matter. I see people pondering such tiny details all the time, and it makes me wonder if they have eyes to see with. If an 18 wheel semi truck is about to run you over, do you really care if the engine is turbocharged or not? or whether the seats are vinyl or leather? The incident you describe, is included to make a point. The people of Sodom, had completely surrendered themselves to the pleasures of the flesh. I'm not sure how many people lived there, but it was supposed to be a very large city. Abraham had bartered God down to sparing it, if there were at least ten righteous people living there. Not only were there not ten righteous living there, but they wanted to cornhole the angels God had sent, pointing out the utter depravity of this cesspool of a city. Yeah, the part about offering his daughters seems a little rough. But in those days, women were not as esteemed as they are in our country now. Lot also knew that these were angelic beings, and would probably have done just about anything to protect them, not that they couldn't take care of themselves. Who knows? Maybe the girls volunteered. After all, it wasn't much later, that they both got their father drunk and raped him after he passed out. As far as trying to justify homosexuality with this story, I think the final fate of the city of Sodom, pretty much illustrates God's opinion on that. I guess there must be at least ten righteous people living in San Francisco.

Answer 4

The angels came in the form of men, if you read further they are refered to as men. Yes that verse is against homosexuality because the came there to destory the cities because of there behavior. Homosexuality is not right in the eyes of God, He didn't put man and woman on this earth do that. We all have to answer for our sins come judgement day and homosexuals will have to do the same whether they realize it or not. Lot knew the importance of the angels and he would do all he could to keep them from being molested by the people in the city. What it all boils down to is that this was Old Testament time and they went more on faith than we do today.

Answer 5

I'm no great bible believer, but let me point out 2 mistakes in your argument. Angels may be sexless, but the people of Sodom THOUGHT they were men, and wanted homosexual sex with them. Second, you have to realize the role of women and the responsibilities of a host, back then, not now, to understand the offer of the daughters. Women were considered possessions, and a host was responsible to do ANYTHING within his power to protect any guest. Not nice...but that is how it was.

Answer 6

You start off wrong straight off the bat:
1. The men of Sodom said: "Where are the MEN who came to you tonight?" therefore the angels appeared as men to Lot and not angels so the men of Sodom saw them as men.

2. Angels truly are gender less from the evidence presented in the Bible but they manifest as men in the Bible and the men of Sodom didn't know that they were angels or they might not have done what they did even if it was because of fear of angels and that they could easily kill them.

Read with understanding, know this that everything in the Bible is true and plain and if it seems weird it is probably you and not the word of God.

Answer 7

The men of Sodom apparently did not know who the Angels were, else they would have left them alone. For Lot to offer his daughters was not out of the ordinary for the place and time.

Answer 8

The expression “Son of God” primarily identifies Christ Jesus. Others referred to as “son(s) of God” include intelligent spirit creatures produced by God, the man Adam before he sinned, and humans with whom God has dealt on the basis of covenant relationship.
“Sons of the True God.” The first mention of “sons of the true God” is at Genesis 6:2-4. There such sons are spoken of as ‘beginning to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose,’ this prior to the global Flood.

So by reading these verses ,It is obvious that angels ,as we call them did indeed materialize and interact with human women .
The verry names of the cities , Sodom and Gomorrah ,reflect
their reputations as being grosley immoral in god`s eyes. whether Sodomy or homosexuality is acceptable to todays society or not is of no importantence , these acts are still an abominatiom to Jehovah God and will be dealt with just as severly as they were when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
what ever excuse we might use to try and justify such acts are not acceptable . The people of those Cities practiced Homosexual behaviour ,Children mostelation. and all sorts of bad acts . At that time angeles were able to materalize as humans , This mentioned many times in the bible .The men of the cities did try to mollest the angles . You need to read more to find out the facts Do not use just one verse to justify ideas that the bible is not true .

Regards

Answer 9

I think the idea here is that Lot was willling to offer up his own daughters for the Lord.
Jacob was willing to offer Isaac to the Lord, and Isaac was a son!
The child belongs to the father in the same way as the father beongs to the Father. I think this is the lesson which perhaps you are missing.

Answer 10

Read the Quran for the true story.The angels changes their appearance to a handsome young man.Lot offer his daughter to be wed properly.
The bible is corrupted, that is why it has a story of what happen to Lot and his daughter afterward, which is a total slander by human hands.