Once upon a time there was a man named Lot. Lot lived in a city called Sodom. Sodom was a very big city full of people. But the people there were not nice to each other. They did many bad things that did not please God. It was just as bad in the city of Gomorrah.
One evening, as the sun went down and the stars sparkled like glitter in the sky, two angels came to Lot. The angels looked like normal men. Lot knew that these visitors were special. He was very kind to them and said, “Come to my house and stay with me for the night.”
The angels went into his house with Lot. But the other people from the city came and knocked loudly on the door. They wanted to see the visitors, but not for a good reason. This saddened the angels because it showed how wicked the people in Sodom were.
Then the angels said to Lot, “We are going to destroy this city because it is so evil. You have to flee quickly, take your family with you and run away! Don’t look back!”
Lot immediately believed the angels. He took his wife and two daughters. It was still night when the angels led them all out of the city. Morning was approaching and the sky was slowly becoming bright like a play of orange and pink. The angels said again: “Go quickly! Don’t look back, no matter what!”
Lot and his family ran as fast as they could. But Lot’s wife stopped for a moment. She turned around and looked back, even though she shouldn’t. At that moment, something magical happened: she turned into a pillar of salt and couldn’t go any further.
Lot and his daughters continued to run until they were safe. Then it rained fire from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities were destroyed. The earth was shaking, and it was very loud.
Lot was sad for his wife, but he knew he had to trust in God’s Word. He reflected on the importance of obeying and doing what God says.
Message of history
God wants us to listen to Him and trust Him, even if we don’t understand everything. If we obey him, he protects us because he loves us.
Bible passage
The story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in 1. Moses 19:1-29. Here is the text from the Schlachter 2000 translation:
“And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; But Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up and went to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground, 2 and he said, “Look, sirs, come to the house of your servant and spend the night and wash your feet.” Tomorrow morning you can get up and continue your journey! But they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the square.” 3 But he pressed them hard, so that they came to him and came to his house. And he prepared a meal for them, and he baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the boy to the old, all the people from all the corners of the city. 5 And they called Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight?” Bring them out to us, that we may have intercourse with them. 6 Then Lot went out to them at the entrance and closed the door behind him, 7 and he said, “Oh, my brothers, do no evil! 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not yet known a husband; I will bring them out to you, and do with them as you please; only do not harm these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof! 9 But they said, “Get out of here!” And they said, “He is the only stranger here, and wants to set himself up as a judge.” Now we want to do more to you than to them! And they pressed very hard into Lot and came up to break down the door. 10 So the men stretched out their hand, drew Lot into the house, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were outside at the door of the house with blindness, small and large, so that they grew weary of looking for the door. 12 Then the men said to Lot, “If you have anyone else here, sons-in-law, or sons-in-law, or daughters, or [sonst] any one of your relatives in the city, bring them out of this place. 13 For we will destroy this place, because their outcry has become great before the Lord. Therefore the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up and get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But in the eyes of his sons-in-law he was like one who jokes. 15 So when the dawn rose, the angels pierced Lot and said, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that you may not also be swept away in the iniquity of the city.” 16 But when he hesitated, the men took his hand and the hand of his wife and the hand of his two daughters, because the Lord wanted to spare him, and led him out and left him outside the city. 17 And it came to pass, when they had brought him out, that he said, “Save your life.” Do not look behind you, and do not stand still in the whole plain; save yourself in the mountains, so that you will not be swept away! 18 But Lot said to them, “No, Lord! 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great mercy to me, that you have kept my soul alive; but I cannot save myself on the mountains; misfortune could reach me, so that I would die. 20 Behold, please, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is small; I will save myself there — it is small! —so that my soul stays alive. 21 Then he said to him, “Behold, I have also heard you in this, that I will not turn back this city of which you have spoken. 22 Make haste, save yourself there, for I can do nothing until you get in. Therefore, the city is called Zoar. 23 The sun had already risen on the earth when Lot arrived in Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overturned these cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and all the things that had grown on the ground. 26 And Lot’s wife looked behind her and became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord; 28 And he looked down on Sodom and Gomorrah and on all the land of the plain, and he looked, and behold, smoke came up from the land, like the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it came to pass, when God was destroying the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham and led Lot out of the midst of destruction, overthrowing the cities in which Lot had lived.”
