Sermon Resources - Dr. Toby Holt
Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was great, and their sin was very grave — so God came down to see, and what He found left no room for delay. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most severe acts of divine judgment in the Bible and one of the most sobering passages in all of Genesis. In this sermon on Genesis 18–19, Dr. Toby Holt examines what the sin of Sodom actually was, what Abraham's remarkable intercession teaches about prayer, and why throughout the rest of Scripture the destruction of Sodom stands as the defining benchmark of what divine wrath looks like.
0:00 — Introduction Sodom and Gomorrah placed in their proper narrative context
3:30 — The sins of Sodom as identified in Genesis 18 and
7:45 — Lot in Sodom a righteous man deeply compromised by a wicked environment
12:00 — The angels' visit and the violent threatening mob outside the door
16:15 — "Do not look behind you" the warning that Lot's wife fatally ignored
20:30 — The nature and totality of the destruction by fire and burning sulfur
24:45 — Jesus uses Sodom as His primary eschatological warning about the final day
27:30 — Conclusion the holiness of God cannot ultimately or permanently be defied
Questions This Sermon Answers:
1. What were the sins of Sodom?
The sexual sin of Genesis 19 is the text's most vivid feature, but Ezekiel 16:49-50 provides a broader diagnosis: pride, fullness of food, idleness, neglect of the poor, haughtiness, and abomination before God. The sexual aggression of Genesis 19 was the culmination of a broader pattern. The judgment addressed the whole, not merely the final act.
2. How was Lot righteous if he made compromises?
2 Peter 2:7-8 explicitly calls Lot "righteous" and describes him as someone whose righteous soul was tormented by lawless deeds. Lot's righteousness was genuine, though his choices were disastrous — he chose proximity to wealth over separation from wickedness. He is the Old Testament's most vivid example of a believer whose choices lead to almost total loss. 1 Corinthians 3:15 describes this category: saved, but only as through fire.
3. Why did Lot's wife look back?
Genesis 19:26 records simply that his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. The act was not curiosity but attachment — her heart was still in Sodom. Jesus references this in Luke 17:32 in the context of His return: no turning back, no attachment to what is being left behind. The Christian's response to judgment's approach is not nostalgia for what must be left but urgent movement toward what is offered.
4. What does the judgment of Sodom teach about God's holiness?
The destruction of Sodom demonstrates that God's holiness is not metaphor — it is active, judicial, and decisive. Jude 7 states that Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. The fire that fell on Sodom is a physical picture of eternal divine judgment. Hebrews 12:29: "Our God is a consuming fire."
5. How does Lot's rescue illustrate salvation?
Lot escaped not because he was morally superior but because "God remembered Abraham" (Genesis 19:29) — the covenant God had with Abraham extended mercy to Abraham's nephew. This is salvation by association: Lot was rescued not primarily on his own merits but because of the covenant God had with the mediator. The same logic governs the gospel: sinners are received by God because of union with Christ, whose merits are credited to them.
6. How does Jesus use Sodom in His teaching?
Jesus refers to Sodom multiple times. In Matthew 10:15 and 11:24, He warns that cities rejecting the gospel will face judgment more severe than Sodom. In Luke 17:28-30, He compares the days of Lot to the days before the Son of Man's return: ordinary life continuing, unaware of impending judgment. The message is consistent: Sodom was unexpected, total, and final — and the coming judgment will be the same, on a far greater scale.
7. What happened to Lot after Sodom?
Genesis 19:30-38 records Lot's daughters getting their father drunk and conceiving children by him — producing Moab and Ammon, Israel's future enemies. The narrative's endpoint is deeply sad. Yet even in this wreckage, grace persists: Ruth the Moabite — a descendant of Lot — became one of faith's great examples and an ancestor of David and of Christ (Matthew 1:5). God writes straight with crooked lines.
8. What does this passage teach about separation from evil?
The command to Lot — "Escape for your life. Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley" — is a call to moral urgency, not monasticism. Lot's tragedy was not that he was evil but that he was indifferent — tolerating what he should have fled. James 4:4 warns that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Christians are called to be in the world but not conformed to it, to be salt and light rather than absorbed into the darkness.
Key Theological Points:
1. The Justice of God
The destruction of Sodom is one of Scripture's clearest exhibitions of divine justice — the righteous judgment of a holy God on persistent, willful, impenitent sin. Westminster Confession 2.1 describes God as most just, and terrible in His judgments, hating all sin. The justice of God is not abstract — it fell on Sodom in fire. The same justice will fall on the ungodly at the final judgment. The cross is where God's justice and mercy meet: He executed justice on His Son so that mercy could be extended to His people.
2. The Danger of Worldly Compromise
Lot's biography is Scripture's most extended warning about compromise with the world. He began with a choice prioritizing earthly advantage over spiritual wisdom (Genesis 13:10-12) and ended in a cave with nothing. The Reformed tradition on the third use of the law applies here: the commands to maintain distinction from the world are not legalistic restrictions but life-preserving wisdom. The Christian who drifts toward Sodom will eventually look like Lot.
3. Grace in the Ruins
Even in the ruins of Lot's story, grace persists. God remembered Abraham (19:29); Lot was rescued against his apparent will (the angels seized him, 19:16); and from his compromised descendants, Ruth the Moabite emerged as one of faith's great examples. God's purposes are not thwarted by human failures — they work through them. R.C. Sproul: "God is not the author of evil, but He is the sovereign Lord over it." The crooked lines of Genesis 19 are drawn in God's straight story of redemption.
4. The Text: Genesis 19:24-26 (NKJV)
"Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."
Continue studying: explore the full Book of Genesis sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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