Genesis 19:12 Commentary and Bible Study

The angels’ message could not be clearer. The Lord has come down to ‘see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it’ (Genesis 18:21), and the enquiry has been met with this outrageous outburst of the very sin for which the city was known. Judgment is not in doubt and will wait no longer. This is also a judgment on Lot’s choice of Sodom as the place he wanted to live and bring up his children. Lot is to gather his family and leave urgently. The Lord does know how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and he will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, but still the city is going to be destroyed. God’s judgment may be long delayed, but ultimately not a single evil thing will escape his notice. The cry here is not a cry for help from anyone to God, certainly not from Lot to whom this visitation came as a complete surprise; what cries out is the notoriety of these two cities due to their wickedness which calls for the punishment of the Lord. Let men fear when they sin and persist in sin, for how can God be ignorant of what they are doing when it is he who continues to uphold them in life. They abuse every gift they receive from him, when they turn their faculties into instruments of wickedness contrary to his commandments.