Year 1, Day 18: Genesis 19

To Know

You can’t start a blog on Genesis 19 without a discussion of the word “know.”  So, I looked up the word in Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary.  Here is what I found:

“Knowledge in the Old Testament connotes an intimate acquaintance with something. This is not so much knowledge “about,” in the sense of an objective, mental apprehension. Rather, a personal relationship is implied between an individual and the object, whether a spiritual relationship as between worshipper and deity (Ps. 135:5; Isa. 1:2–3; Hos. 5:3), a social relationship between two people (Gen. 29:5), or a sexual relationship between husband and wife (Gen 4:1; 1 Sam. 1:19).”

So when the good folks about Sodom come to Lot and ask to “know” the young men who had come into the town, they are not asking to “see” them, or to “speak to them.”  Rather, they are asking for Lot to provide them with a time where they can gain an intimate acquaintance with them.  It need not be automatically sexual in nature, but it certainly would not be out of the use of the word, either.  Of course, given that Lot offers his daughters to them it is more than fair to imply that the sexual understanding of the word “know” is actually the preferred understanding.

That bothers me.  If you look at the last part of the definition, we look at the reference in 1 Samuel 1:19.  It is the verse about Samuel’s parents.  In that verse it talks about the couple going to worship the Lord and then Elkanah and Hannah “know” each other.  Samuel is born, given to Eli, and ultimately becomes the last judge of Israel.  But in the passage from 1 Samuel not only do we see that “know” can have a sexual connotation but we also see it connected with an activity that God highly approves of: worship.  Knowing someone intimately – whether as a social relationship (non-sexual) or as a spouse (sexual) – is an activity that is rooted in our relationship with God. 

To return back to Sodom, these people are taking something that should bring us closer to God and corrupting it.  They are taking a bond that should draw us together with God and completely ignoring that God is a part of it!  That is what is despicable about the behavior of the folks at Sodom.  Not only do they long to commit a homosexual act, but they do it with such reckless abandon and deny God’s involvement in “knowing” other people.  Here we clearly see how all sin – especially sexual sin – destroys our relationship with God and allows us to dwell on our own needs and desires instead.

Result of Not Desiring to Know in a Godly Manner

Then God destroys the city.  But take note of Lot’s actions before it.  First, the angels honestly had to drag Lot and his family out of the city.  In spite of the sinful pattern Lot had witnessed as well as the impending doom that had been promised, Lot seems to be in no hurry to leave the world.  Unfortunately, Lot seems all to comfortable living in the land of sin.

This witness about Lot is born out in the discussion about where Lot should go.  God’s angels tell Lot to flee civilization and dwell in the hills.  But where does Lot want to go?  Fleeing civilization would be too hard; Lot wants to go to another city.  He wants to go to Zoar.  He’s too attached to the world to truly trust God.

On the other hand, we have a small story about Abraham in the midst of it.  Lot and his family couldn’t turn around and look back upon Sodom, but you’ll notice that nothing serious happens when Abraham looks upon Sodom.  Abraham sees the smoldering ruins of the whole area.  Here we see faith contrasted with a person caught by the call of the world.  Abraham can look upon sinfulness and remain in tune with God.  Lot couldn’t; he was told to flee and not look back.

Lot and His Daughters

Notice here that we have a story similar to Noah’s drunkenness, although at least with Noah there was no indication of sexual sin.  Drunkenness leads to corruption and perversion of God’s ways.  In this story, what leads to drunkenness?  The daughters hatch their own plan rather than trusting in God or even going to God for direction!  The daughters take matters into their own hands, get Lot drunk, and incest occurs. 

Isn’t it sad how easy it is to see how sin is really about humanity “going it on our own.”  Sin really is about brokenness with God.  When we value something in our life more than our relationship with God, we are broken and sin is sure to ensue.  When we value our own plans more than God’s ways, we are broken and sin will surely ensue.  Drunkenness and sexual sins abound when we value our own desires more than God’s desires.  Truthfully, this is true about all other kinds of sin.  It really is a sad commentary on humanity on just how quickly truth can be perverted into sin when we value our ways over God’s ways.

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